“Probably?” The new voice was a low rumble as a dark figure cut through the trees next to the clearing and approached Zoe. He towered over her, although she didn’t appear afraid, and the look on his face displayed a lifetime of agitation. “Why didn’t you call?”
“I forgot.” Zoe took another drink of her water. “How did you even find me? I have no bars on my phone out, so you didn’t track me that way. Besides, you know you’re in deep trouble if you ever put a tracer app on my phone again. We talked about that.”
“We did,” Aric agreed, his tone congenial, even though I could sense he was edgy. “We agreed that you’re my wife and I love you. If that means tracking your phone, I’ll do it. That’s not what I did tonight, though.”
“So how did you find me?”
“Sami.” Aric’s answer was simple and caused me to search the darkness behind him for the youngest Winters family member.
“I guess I should’ve seen that coming,” Zoe muttered, shaking her head. “Where is she?”
“Locked in the truck with Trouble and a bad case of the ‘I can’t believe you’re making me do this’ flu,” Aric replied. “She wasn’t happy about being dragged away from the house, but I insisted. What are you doing out here?”
“Testing Charlie’s magic.”
I lowered my gaze and stared at my feet.
“I see.” Aric flicked his gaze to me. “And?”
“And we have no idea what she is, but I taught her to put up a shield. She needs to practice just in case.”
“And that’s what you’ve been doing?”
Zoe nodded. “What did you think I was doing?”
“Checking on Lisa Savage so we could get answers about her husband,” Aric replied without hesitation. “That’s the priority right now, isn’t it? If something is out hunting in these woods we want to know about it.”
“There was a cop in her room. I couldn’t get inside. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
Aric sighed. “Fine. Do what you want.”
“Don’t I always?”
“Yes, and it drives me crazy.” Aric smacked a loud kiss against Zoe’s mouth before focusing on me. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”
“It’s been a long night.” I meant it. “I feel drained.” I wanted to ask how Sami had managed to track down her mother in the middle of nowhere, but I figured that might set off Aric, and I didn’t want to push things. Zoe had already gone above and beyond, after all. “I just want to head back to the inn and go to bed.”
“I need to take her,” Zoe added. “She took an Uber to the hospital, which is where I found her. I don’t want her walking back to the inn on her own.”
“Definitely not,” Aric agreed. “I’ll take her. Give me the keys to your car. You can take Sami back to the house in my truck.”
Zoe was instantly alert. “Why? What’s wrong with Sami?”
“She’s a little upset,” Aric said. “She didn’t like not knowing where you were.”
“Ah.” Zoe pursed her lips. “Okay. I’ll take your truck. You make sure Charlie gets back to the inn. As for you … .” Zoe swiveled to face me, her expression unreadable. “I have your cell number. I’ll call if I get any information.”
“Thank you very much.” I meant it. “You’ve been much nicer than I would’ve probably been in your shoes.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” Zoe patted my shoulder. “Practice the shield. It might become important. I don’t get the feeling that you’ve come up against many magical enemies – which is a good thing – but it’s always good to be prepared.” Zoe started walking toward the trees and then paused. “Before you leave town, I totally want to hear the story about the Chupacabra.”
I chuckled as I nodded, flicking my eyes to Aric to see if he was irritated about having to drive me to the inn before joining his family. He seemed excited.
“You saw the Chupacabra? Tell me all about it!”
ARIC WAITED IN FRONT of the inn until he was sure I’d reached the lobby door. I offered a wave, which he returned, and then let myself inside the blessedly cool lobby. I intended to head straight to my room and pass out. Instead, the sound of raucous laughter in the nearby bar caught my attention.
I found Millie, Bernard and Jack sitting at a small table. They had a pitcher of beer between them and appeared to be having a great time.
“It’s not a freaking werewolf,” Jack announced. “Stop saying it is. That’s just … ridiculous.”
I took a tentative step inside so I could listen.
“You don’t know that,” Millie challenged. “It could very well be a werewolf. The whole point right now is that we don’t know what it is. You don’t always have to be such a downer when it comes to this stuff. Occasionally you could be fun.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jack waved off the comment. I couldn’t be certain, but I was almost positive he seemed a little drunk. I’d never seen him that way before – although he’d seen me sloshed a time or two – and I couldn’t help but marvel at the way his wide smile lightened his handsome face. “Because believing in werewolves is fun.”
“It is. You’re just being a spoilsport.” Millie flicked his ear before reaching for the pitcher. “I think we should get another round.”
I decided to make my presence known. I hadn’t done anything wrong and it didn’t appear that Jack was prostrate with worry about me. “I think you’ve had enough.” I stepped closer to the table and smiled at the trio of flushed faces. “Have you guys been drinking all night?”
“Just for the dark part of it,” Jack replied, downing the contents of his glass and fixing me with a cock-eyed look. He was definitely drunk, which I found amusing. “Where have you been?”
“What makes you think I’ve been anywhere?” I took the seat between Bernard and Jack and shook my head when Millie mimed pouring me a beer. There was already a headache knocking against my skull thanks to my work with Zoe. I didn’t need to exacerbate things.
“I looked for you,” Jack replied. “I went to your room and you weren’t there.”
“That doesn’t mean I left.”
“Which is exactly what I told him,” Millie interjected, her lips curving. “I pointed out the keys to the rentals were on the pegs, but he insisted on checking the parking lot – trusting soul that he is – and then started pacing because he was convinced you were off doing something stupid.”
“Which I’m sure you were,” Jack added, pouring more beer. I worried he had a dilly of a hangover in his future. Of course, that could also be fun because I wouldn’t be the one hungover for a change. “Where were you?”
“I was outside taking a walk.” That seemed like the simplest answer. “I needed some air.”
Jack furrowed his brow. “There’s nothing surrounding this inn but woods. You shouldn’t walk around out there because Millie’s werewolf will get you … and no one wants that.” Seemingly amused with his own words, Jack snickered. “Werewolf. What a stupid idea.”
“It’s almost as bad as me claiming to see the Chupacabra, right?”
I expected Jack to jump on the topic but instead he shook his head. “You were hurt. You were in that basement alone. You were afraid. There’s no telling what you saw.”
I scratched the side of my neck as I regarded him. “But you said I couldn’t have seen what I thought I saw.”
“That’s because I didn’t want you freaking yourself out.” Jack drained another glass of beer – thankfully they were small glasses – and reached for the pitcher. I rested my hand on top of his to still him. “I’m not done.”
“You should be done.” I kept my voice gentle. “In fact, why don’t you let me walk you to your room? That will be a nice change.”
“Fine.” Jack knuckled his eye as he stood on shaky legs. “I don’t remember drinking enough to get drunk.”
I pinned Millie, who looked self-satisfied and smug, with a hard look. “I doubt very much that you did it yourself.”
“No.” Jack, wobb
ly, nodded his head. “Millie peer-pressured me.”
He looked so earnest I couldn’t stop from laughing. “Millie is evil. You should know that.” I directed him toward the door and glanced back at a cackling Millie and Bernard. “You guys should call it a night too.”
“Thanks, Mom, we’ll get right on that,” Millie drawled. “Don’t worry about us. We’re fine. I’m more interested in you. How was your trip?”
I spared a glance at Bernard, but he was too busy staring into his half-empty glass to look in my direction. “It took a turn. I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.”
“Why not tonight?”
“Because I’m putting Jack to bed and then doing the same.” I briefly rubbed my pounding forehead. “I have a headache.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow.” Millie waved me off. “Make sure Jack has water and aspirin handy. He’ll need it tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah. I figured that out myself.”
It took me five full minutes to get Jack up the stairs and to his room. He led me down the wrong hallway twice before remembering his room number. Then he fumbled with his keycard so many times I almost blew my stack before grabbing it from him and helping him inside.
His room was exactly what I’d expected, military neat and sterile. I left him to grapple with his shoes while I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and placed three aspirin tablets on the nightstand.
“Come on, big guy.” I clapped my hands to get Jack’s attention. “It’s time for bed.”
“I’m getting ready.” Jack made a face as he stripped off his shirt, leaving me agog at his body. He was sculpted and lean, his shoulders broad and his chest bare of hair. He clearly liked a little manscaping with his morning shower. While he wasn’t as ripped as Aric Winters, he was pretty close.
Heck, he almost took my breath away.
“What are you looking at?” Jack grumbled, unbuttoning his jeans before I could make an escape. Thankfully he wore simple black boxer shorts beneath the jeans, so I didn’t see anything that would traumatize me … or cause excessive drool.
“Just get in bed, Jack.” I moved to lift the covers and cried out when his forehead smacked into mine. “Ow!”
“Sorry.” Jack placed a hand on either side of my face and stared into my eyes. He was intense and somber. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to do that.”
He was so serious I could do nothing but melt. “I’m fine, Jack. You just took me by surprise.”
“Yeah.” I thought he would release my head, but he merely stared harder. “You weren’t out taking a walk, were you?”
“I was.” I felt uncomfortable under his studied gaze. “It was hot and I needed time to think on my own. I’m not used to all this togetherness. Sometimes I simply need a break.”
“I’m not good at the togetherness either.” Jack continued staring. “You shouldn’t wander around by yourself. It’s dangerous.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“I’ll do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.” I forced a smile for his benefit. “You’re going to be miserable tomorrow morning. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” Jack took me by surprise when he released my head and leaned forward, gently pressing his forehead against mine. It was a soft gesture, something I never expected thanks to his tough-guy persona. “You need to be careful. If you get hurt, it won’t be okay. You were already hurt once, and that was more than enough.”
Being so close to Jack, sharing a moment that felt intimate even though I knew he was beyond drunk, was enough to get my heart racing. “I’ll be careful. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I have to worry about you.”
“Because I’m the newest member of the group?”
“No. Well, partly.”
“What’s the other part?”
“I can’t live with the idea of you being hurt.” Jack heaved out a sigh before running his hand down the back of my head and pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. “Now I need to go to bed. I want to pass out before I throw up.”
I remained rooted to my spot, my cheeks burning in the aftermath of the kiss. It could be considered chaste, I reminded myself. It’s not as if he kissed me on the lips and went for it. The kiss was tender more than anything else, almost brotherly.
And yet … it felt different. I couldn’t put a name to the emotion rushing through me, but it certainly wasn’t chastity.
It took me a moment to shake myself from my reverie. “Um, I’ll check on you in the morning.”
“Okay, Charlie.” Jack was on the verge of passing out, but he cocked one eye and stared. “Lock your door when you get back to your room. Be safe.”
I chuckled. “Ever the security guru, eh, Jack?”
“Be safe.” Jack pressed his eyes shut. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. I won’t fail you again.”
18
Eighteen
I got coffee from the main floor before knocking on Jack’s room door the next morning. I could hear him shuffling around inside before opening it. He looked rough when he granted me entrance, his long hair damp from a shower and his features unnaturally pale.
“How are you feeling, big guy?” I was going for levity, but the look on Jack’s face told me I’d missed the mark.
“If you’re here to make fun of me … or be loud … I suggest going someplace else.” Jack’s voice was low and gravelly. “I’m not in the mood.”
“I’m here to bring you coffee.” I handed the drink over. “It’s got chocolate in it. I thought you could use the sugar.”
Instead of making an offhand remark about how chocolate coffee was for girls – something he’d told me more than once – Jack wordlessly took the coffee and drank at least a quarter of it in one gulp. I sympathetically smoothed his hair without thinking, my mind briefly wandering to the near kiss the night before and the way his lips felt against my forehead. When I shook myself from the reverie, I found Jack staring at me with unveiled interest.
I cleared my throat. “So … how are you feeling?”
“Where did your mind just go?” Jack took another sip as he narrowed his eyes. “I remember something about you from last night. What is it?”
Uh-oh. That was a loaded question. There were so many ways I could go with the answer. “Um … you’ll have to be more specific.”
“I can’t remember.”
My heart inadvertently constricted at the admission. He didn’t remember almost kissing me. Of course he didn’t. He was drunk, and things that you would otherwise never consider always seem like a good idea when you’re drunk. “I’m sure it’s not important.” I worked overtime to sound breezy. “You’ll probably want to take out your hangover frustration on Millie. She’s the one who got you tanked.”
“I remember some of that.” Jack drank his coffee. “I was doing something and she distracted me with a trip to the bar. I … you.” Jack slowly leveled his gaze on me, his expression twisting. “I was looking for you.”
My heart thumped harder. “Why?”
“Because I knew you were going to take off again.” Jack winced at the clink his coffee cup made when he set it down. “That’s what you did. You took off, although I have no idea how since you didn’t take one of the rentals. I remember checking on that.”
“So you’re basically saying that you checked on me because you assumed I was a thief.” I knew getting self-righteous would work against me, but I couldn’t stop myself. “That’s real nice, Jack.” I turned to leave, but he shot out a hand and gripped my elbow. “Let me go.”
Jack did as I instructed, but he didn’t move his eyes from my face as I tamped down my fury. “I checked on you because I was worried you’d take off and do something stupid. You did take off. I know you did.”
“I was getting some air.”
“You seem to need a lot of air.”
“We all do. We need oxygen to survive.”
“
Charlie … .” Jack must have realized he sounded petulant because he adjusted his tone. “I’m allowed to worry about you. You’re my responsibility. I’m not going to apologize for that.”
“You’re not my father.”
Jack chuckled, the sound harsh. “Trust me. I don’t want to be your father. That’s the last thing on my mind.”
“What do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
I realized pushing him was the wrong thing to do and decided to back off. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t take the rental car and I was on my own time. Why does it matter where I was?”
“Because I want to know.”
He seemed so sincere I couldn’t leave him with nothing. “I went to the hospital hoping I could sneak into Lisa Savage’s room and talk to her.”
Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Jack was flabbergasted. “You what?”
“Don’t worry.” I waved off what I’m sure was about to be a righteous diatribe. “I didn’t get close to her. She had a police officer in her room. After that I went to a coffee shop and then came back here.” That wasn’t technically a lie. I did all those things. I simply left out the part where I spent two hours in the woods practicing magical tricks with Zoe. I didn’t think that would go over well so I simply omitted it.
“I can’t believe you did that.” Jack turned gruff as he shook his head. Despite the change in his demeanor, I sensed a cloud of calm descending over him. He was relieved that I went the stupid route and visited the hospital. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about my actions before that. “You need to be more careful.”
“I just wanted to be helpful.” That was true. “I thought if I could get some information we would know where to start this morning. I came up empty-handed. I’m sorry.”
“Well, it’s not the end of the world.” Jack dragged a hand through his hair. “I don’t think it was exactly smart, but it certainly wasn’t the end of the world.”
The Werewolf Whoops Page 16
