“I guess I can.”

Angie let out a breath. “Good.”

“What’s the worse that could happen?”

“But I’m not promising you two bitches anything. There’s no guarantee anything will happen between me and him. I’ve never actually done the booty-call thing, and that’s all a guy like him would want.”

“You don’t know that.”

“And it doesn’t matter if that’s true,” Angelina jumped in before Sara and Miki could start arguing. “The point is not to worry about it. It’s your choice what you do with him, Mik. I just want you to relax and not worry.”

“Think you can handle that?” Sara asked.

Miki took a deep breath. “I’ll give it a shot.”

He hadn’t been able to stop looking at her since she’d walked out of the bathroom. It wasn’t dramatic or anything. A cropped T-shirt, black denim miniskirt, and steel-toe Doc Martens. But it was the stockings. Dark, thigh-high wool ones with garters. And you could see the garters. The total punk, geek-girl outfit, but on her—it made his whole body hard.

She hadn’t said much to him since Angie called. But he could tell something happened. She didn’t seem unhappy or stressed or much of anything. For Miki that was pretty major because she was usually some kind of extreme. She didn’t even complain he’d only gotten one room for the two of them since they had to move. He’d waited for her to bitch, but she seemed more concerned with the great view. He’d had to pay some serious cash for that, but it was worth it just to see her smile.

And he couldn’t stop thinking about the look she’d given him when she was on the phone with Angie. He’d been minding his own business, trying to watch TV and not think about fucking her on the balcony when he realized she was staring at him. All he could figure was that she and Angie had been talking about him. But, for once, she didn’t look mad or annoyed. In fact, she’d smiled at him. And he couldn’t help but think that smile was for him and him alone.

The woman made him crazy. He wanted her so bad he was afraid his palms would start to sweat. As it was, he was having trouble keeping the wolf under control. Every time he smelled her—every time she came near him—he just wanted to bite the back of her neck and mark her as his for eternity.

They parked close to Craig’s house and jumped out. As Conall came around the SUV, he found Miki crouching down, adjusting the laces on her Docs. He growled. He couldn’t help it. Seeing her legs in those stockings was fucking killing him.

“I heard that.” She stood up and grinned at him. “Try not to start howling during the party.”

“Wearing those stockings, woman, I can’t promise you anything.”

She shook her head and moved toward the house. As shepassed him, she grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him behind her.

She’d touched him. The most innocent of touches, but it was the final nail in his coffin. Now he was hooked. And nothing would save him.

As soon as they walked into Craig’s house, he knew that Miki was in her element. When the standing-room-only crowd saw her the entire place erupted into a chant. “Mi-ki! Mi-ki! Mi-ki!”

Vintage eighties music pumped through the enormous standing speakers, as well as some recent tech. And there were enough high-tech geek supplies to take over the Pentagon. Everyone played games on the giant TV screens or plasma monitors or they were dancing…well, trying to dance. He realized that in her world, Miki was a great dancer. Because these people were the worst.

Of course, he was the biggest one there. Several guys were as tall or taller, but they were usually skinny. Like they hadn’t eaten in days. Or extremely overweight. Like they never left their computer chairs.

Conall tried to ignore the guys hugging Miki as she made her rounds. She was being friendly. They were groping. But when any of them got out of hand, she handled them expertly. She actually twisted one guy’s arm behind his back and slammed him up against the wall.

Conall loved watching her kick ass.

Miki had just finished singing “Love is a Battlefield” with five drunken skateboarders when Amy tackled her from behind.

“My best, best, best friend, Miki!”

She was toasted.

“Dudette. How much liquor did we have tonight?”

“Two beers.” Then Amy began to giggle hysterically.

Just like the bartender she was, Miki pulled the bottle of ale out of Amy’s hand and dragged her to the coffee pot.

“Drink coffee now. Or we’re going to have to give you a cold shower.” That way she could be a wet drunk.

“Maybe I like cold showers.”

“I’ll make Ben do it.” Since Ben had been trying for about ten years to get into Amy’s pants, Miki was confident she wouldn’t have to “make” Ben do anything.

“Bitch. Where’s the loyalty?”

Miki handed her a Styrofoam cup filled with coffee. “I have loyalty only to the Pack.” Then Miki laughed at her own joke.

Amy watched her with narrowed eyes. “You’re awfully perky, you know, for you.”

“I’m having a good time.” And she was in a good mood. Listening to Conall growl every time she moved had done wonders for her ego.

“It’s that guy, huh? Masters of the Universe’s He-Man.”

Miki had such geek friends. She’d already heard Conall referred to as Wolverine, The Punisher, Captain America and, her personal favorite, “One of those blond German guys from Die Hard”.