Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
Mila. Her name was Mila. It was a beautiful name and he was glad to finally have a name for his mate. Ethan and Mila, or Mila and Ethan. He smiled to himself.
Seeing her again today had made him feel whole for a bit. It had made Maverick relax and his wolf was busy looking through his memories from his time with her today. Maverick was desperately wanting to see her for himself but the last thing they wanted to do was freak her out. It wouldn't be a great way to start a relationship with her. One day, when she knew the truth about what he was.
She'd actually talked to him this time, seeming a bit more comfortable around him. But those few moments when they'd been standing over by the plants and she'd been studying him so intently, he'd realized she was aroused, which had completely startled him. He hadn't expected that to happen so quickly. His little mate was very attracted to him. Of course, she should be. It was what the bond did, drew you to that person. It wouldn't make him fall in love with her, or her fall in love with him, but it did make him want to get to know her. It drew him to her and apparently she felt it more than he'd realized. Enough that she'd been turned on during their second meeting. If they'd been alone, he might have considered kissing her, but they weren't, and he'd been caught by surprise when the scent had hit him. Even now, thinking back on it, he was growing aroused.
He was very attracted to her himself. She'd looked beautiful today. Her brown hair had been up in a ponytail again, and he still wanted to see it down. She'd been wearing heavy makeup again too, which he'd expected, and he couldn't blame her. He still wanted to know about the bruises but he couldn't ask her about them. He wasn't sure if she would ever tell him. Her eyes were large, and beautiful and had studied him quite a bit today. He'd returned the favor, wanting to have every feature of her perfect face stored away in his memory so that he could think about her later. He couldn't wait until tomorrow, when he'd actually get to spend more than a few minutes with her.
Nick had given him a knowing smile when he'd walked back outside to help load the mulch. Did you find out her name at least?
I did. It's Mila. He really loved it. And I'm having coffee with her in the morning.
Good. "Let's get this mulch loaded."
He'd been aware of eyes on him while they'd worked and wondered if she was watching him. The way she'd been studying him inside, he had a feeling she was. Not that he minded. She could look all she wanted. He'd finally gotten in the truck with one last glance at the building. Tomorrow, Mila.
Ethan had already begun to make a mental list for himself of what he was going to need if he was going to be living here. He'd sort of already looked at apartments on his phone and he knew he was going to need a car. He'd thought of flying home and getting one of his own cars, but he'd be gone much too long. Now if she with him.. but there was no way she was going to travel across the country with a guy she barely knew.
They arrived back at the pack house, and Ethan got out of the truck and headed inside, Nick right behind him. Ezra would take the mulch to wherever it needed to go. Ethan wasn't even sure what it was needed for. Ezra had cleared it with Nick before he'd placed the first order.
"So how did it go?" Noelle asked when he walked into the Alpha's office.
Ethan smiled happily. "Her name is Mila and I'm having coffee with her in the morning." He could not wait. There were way too many hours between now and his date with her.
"Great! And I think I found you an apartment," Noelle stood and walked over to him.
"You did?" He hadn't even been aware that she was looking for him.
"Yup. And we're going to go look at it." She grabbed a set of keys off the table, then walked over to Nick, who immediately wrapped his arms around her. They kissed and Ethan looked away. He couldn't wait to kiss Mila for the first time. Would kissing her after coffee be weird? He really didn't care if it was or not. If today was any indication, she'd probably welcome it.
"Come on, bro. We'll be back, Nick," she said to her mate.
"I'll be waiting, Darling," he called after her with a half smile.
"You two," Ethan muttered as he followed her out, rolling his eyes. "It's not like we're going to be gone that long."
They still acted like two horney teenagers, sneaking off to have sex at the most random moments. Like no one knew what they were doing. He only hoped to have a relationship like that with Mila one day. Hopefully not too far into the future.
"You'll be the same soon," Noelle said as they walked outside, and over to the pack vehicles. She hit the button on the key fob.
"Hopefully." He climbed into the passenger seat of the vehicle Noelle was using.
"Probably. If not, you should strive to be," Noelle told him, starting the car.
Ethan snorted. "So where's this place at?"
"In town," she replied with a cheeky smile.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Hope so."
"It's near the garden center, which is very convenient for you. Probably more bedrooms than you need, but it's really nice. And it's furnished," Noelle said.
Furnished was good. He didn't want to have to buy furniture. Not yet. Not when he was hopefully going to be starting a new life with a new mate that he could pick out furniture with. "I'm going to need a car as well."
"Yeah, I thought about that too," Noelle said.
"Did you spend the day looking for an apartment and car for me?" Ethan asked her.
"Just the afternoon. I found a used car lot we can stop at as well. You have no idea how bored I am looking at numbers. My eyes are starting to cross. Good news though, I'm almost done." She smiled happily at that.
"That is good news," Ethan agreed. He was more than glad that she was doing that. He'd have no idea about it. Math did not interest him at all.
"Is that the garden center she works at?" Noelle asked as they drove by Mila's work.
"Yes," Ethan said. He couldn't help but look for her even though he knew she was probably inside. Probably taking care of the plants she adored. Maybe he would get himself one for his new apartment.
"Should we stop there on the way back?" Noelle asked him.
"I'm not going in there with you," Ethan protested. He wanted to, though.
"Why not?"
"Because how's it going to look if I walk in there with another woman?"
"Good point," Noelle agreed.
The apartment was much nicer than Ethan had expected it to be, and he really liked the furniture inside. It was a year lease, but Noelle negotiated the man down to a month to month, so Ethan could get out at any time he chose. He had no idea how long he was going to be in Texas. He had no clue whatsoever about human relationships. He just knew that they moved along much slower than they should. Much slower.
He watched the man scratch his head after negotiating with his sister and smirked. He'd been steamrolled by the tiny she-wolf and wasn't even sure what had happened.
Ethan signed the contract and left with the keys. Well, he now had a place to live. That was one thing off of his list. He just wished he was moving in with Mila.
On the way back to the pack house, they stopped at a small used car lot and Ethan found himself a car. The salesman was happy that he paid cash for it and he left the lot behind Noelle. It wasn't as nice as some of the cars he had at home, but he didn't care. It would get him around while he was in Texas. Though looking around at the other vehicles on the road, he wondered if he should have bought a truck instead.