by Terra Wolf
He stopped at the first drive-through he spotted and ordered a breakfast meal to go. “I’ll drop you at your motel. You can eat and shower and then I’ll come pick you up, and we can get started,” he said.
He lingered at the window, tapping his fingers in impatience. Every time Delilah’s stomach growled, he did too. The cashier seemed like a nice enough girl and Jake’s manners wouldn’t let him fuss at her, but his bear’s patience was waning. Over getting her some breakfast? He definitely needed to rein it in. He couldn’t fall for her. Not if it meant her death.
By the time he pulled away from the window with the bag of food, Delilah was staring at him with brows raised.
“What?”
“How much do you think I eat, exactly?” she asked.
“Oh, this first bag is for me. That one’s for you,” he said.
She peeked inside the one he’d gestured at for her. “There’s enough food in here to feed me for a week,” she said.
He shot her a look, trying to ignore the thrill it gave him to think of her spending that many days with him. “Don’t you plan to be here that long?”
Her gaze hardened. “Hopefully not,” she muttered and then stared out the window.
He frowned. Had he said or done something to offend her?
She didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride and by the time he pulled up in front of her motel, he knew he’d done something wrong. Just as well. Maybe if she were pissed at him, he’d be forced to keep his distance. Nash’s stupid vision couldn’t happen if she hated him, right?
He walked her to the door and handed her the breakfast bag. “Call me when you’re ready to go,” he said.
She nodded, her mouth set in a hard line. “Will do,” she said and turned for the door.
He waited while she inserted her key card and stepped inside. She caught the door just before it closed, her lip caught between her teeth. Jake stared at the shape of her mouth.
“You know, your low opinion of humans is a little hypocritical, don’t you think?”
He blinked at that. “What?”
“You called me out here to dig into who has a problem with you all being shifters, and here you are doing the same with humans. I know it’s not my business, but I’m just saying. Pot. Kettle.”
Jake cocked his head. “Woman, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have anything against humans.”
She glowered at him. “You don’t have to lie about it. I heard what you said to Xavier about me. I’m human. That’s clearly a problem for you. Not to mention how much you despite my wavy hair and pale skin… I’m sorry if I’m not your type.”
Jake closed his eyes and shook his head. This was not going how he’d planned. “I don’t dislike you for being human,” he said.
“That’s not what you said before.” She eyed him stonily.
Tough as nails, this one. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. At Xavier. At her. At himself for going about this all wrong. “It’s not dislike,” he insisted. “It’s the opposite. You being human… it just means you’re more my type.”
“Oh.” She un-scrunched her nose, and her expression went slack.
Jake sighed. He was pretty damn sure he’d made a mistake telling her that. He didn’t actually know if it was true yet. But he couldn’t take it back now. In fact, maybe if he just got her into bed once to get her out of his system, his animal would let it go. Move on. Forget about her.
He watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “Listen, Jake. I think I should clarify right now that I have a strict policy when it comes to client relationships. I don’t get involved in that way while on the job. So it doesn’t really matter whether I’m your type or not. I’m here to work. That’s it. Got it?”
He blinked, surprised at the way she’d so neatly shut him down. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had done that. And so effortlessly. What the hell had just happened?
He cleared his throat. “Got it,” he said.
“Good. I’ll see you later then.” She hesitated a second longer, and he caught the look in her eyes—uncertainty flashed, quick and sharp—and then she clicked the door shut.
Jake rocked on his heels, speechless.
For a split second, he’d thought she actually meant what she said. That she didn’t feel the attraction he felt. But that look… and her full lips as her tongue darted out to wet them. She wasn’t nearly as certain as she’d tried to sound about keeping a professional distance. She was just going to make it damn hard for him to get to her. Not that he should want to, with Nash’s vision on the table.
Fuck. He was torn. And grumpy. And he was never grumpy.
He groaned and turned for the truck. She’d left him wanting and hungry. Maybe his breakfast would do the trick.
Three
Delilah sat back in her chair and sipped casually on the beer Jake had brought her. Mack’s Brewery was a happening place for dinner even in the off-season. Inside, the bar and tables were filled with locals all gathering at the watering hole after a day’s work. Outside on the patio, she was the lone human with a pack of shifters. She felt the tension and the invisible line drawn between the two groups even if Xavier and his crew didn’t.
Jake was too busy avoiding eye contact with her from the other end of the table. After the tense goodbye they’d shared that morning at her hotel when she’d had to draw the professional line, he’d been a stone wall all day when he’d picked her up again. Only speaking when she asked him a question, polite but curt as he’d shown her around town. She’d appreciated the professional distance for about ten minutes. Now it was pissing her off.
He was attracted to her. She was flattered by it, and if she was honest, she was more than attracted to him. She wanted to take him out to the truck and tell him she’d changed her mind. That she could do the job and do him. Multi-tasking at its finest. But his cool demeanor stopped her. She was afraid she’d been too harsh, that he might reject her now.
Her fear made her wonder if she’d been right all along. She just wasn’t built for keeping people around. No one ever stuck. Maybe her dad, if he hadn’t been killed in the line of duty. But otherwise, not a single person had stuck around in her life. Maybe Jake was just another in a long line of revolving acquaintances. And that fear of loss made her too scared to get attached.
She’d already been introduced to everyone. Nash, the hippie with the blond hair. Lucas, the brooding, serious one off to the side. Harley, the mouth. And while they’d all made her feel welcome—except for maybe Harley, who had legitimately snarled at her when she’d tried to shake his hand—she wasn’t sure they trusted her yet. Judging from the awkward silence and attempts at small talk, they hadn’t decided to let her in. Fine, they didn’t want to talk about anything important? She’d do it herself.
“You’re Nash,” she said, and the guys all looked up, silence falling over the table. Okay, maybe that had come out a tad strong.
“Yeah,” said the guy with the shell choker two seats down and across.
“You have anything against humans?” she demanded.
Nash narrowed his eyes, but it wasn’t anger that had his blond brows furrowing, it was confusion. He shot a look at Jake, then Xavier. “No?” he answered.
“Well, is it a definite no or a question?” she asked, and Jake gave her a scathing look.
“No,” Nash said more firmly now. “Why?”
Jake was up and out of his chair before she could accuse Nash of anything. He hauled her up by her arm, and she had no choice but to follow where he dragged her across the deck or risk spilling her beer. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Getting some answers about earlier today,” she said, feeling silly now that he’d yanked her away from everyone.
“I gave you answers earlier,” he said, and she shifted her weight at the memory of how he’d looked when he’d told her she was his type.
“I know, but you said Nash—”
�
�Nash has nothing to do with this. And neither do you or I since you made it clear we’re keeping it professional,” he said.
“Is that what you call today?” she shot back, angry at what felt like a rejection. Didn’t matter that she was the one who’d shut it down. He was being an ass.
He shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“You were cold and distant and… rude all day,” she said, feeling sillier by the second for her complaints. Why should she care if he was any of those things? She hardly knew him, and she claimed not to want to.
“I was… Gah, you’re making me crazy, woman.” He huffed and started to pace away but then doubled back, looming over her so close that it sent a delicious shiver down her arms. “I was doing what you wanted. Staying professional or whatever. Not easy when you insist on always walking in front and shaking your ass. Or filling the cab of my truck with that damned frou-frou perfume.”
She could smell him. Mountain air and bar soap and Lord, she wanted to break her own rule right now. Jake River was the hottest and most tempting offer she’d had in a long time. Okay, ever. Maybe she’d been too rash. “Is that a compliment?” she asked, brows rising.
“Of course it is. You’re gorgeous,” he said, exasperated, and the absurdity of their argument hit her. He was yelling at her to tell her she was pretty.
She giggled. “I’m sorry. I’m making this difficult, aren’t I?”
“You have no idea,” he muttered, and she felt a pang of remorse for how rude she’d been. She had only meant to protect herself from getting hurt when this inevitably ended. But now, she felt like an idiot saying that out loud.
“Truce?” she asked instead.
Jake’s hard expression softened, and he took her outstretched hand. Energy shot up her arm, a pleasurable zing that sent a shiver down her spine. Jake’s eyes never left hers, and she knew he noticed her reaction. She couldn’t hide her attraction, and she wondered how long it would be before they both gave in.
“Truce,” he agreed quietly. He didn’t let her hand go as he led her back to the table with the others. Delilah wondered if all she’d managed to do was blur the line between them.
The conversation came easier after that. Delilah marveled at how the rest of the group seemed to pick up on the eased tension between her and Jake. The way they fell into an easier banter, talking and joking more with each other—and with her. It should have bothered her more that they’d taken his side so obviously, but she was impressed. And touched. This was a family. They had each other’s back down to their very demeanor.
Delilah watched them, ignoring the pang of longing that came with sitting inside—yet outside—such a tight-knit family. Jake sat next to her now, his arm brushing hers often as he spoke to Lucas and Nash about the upcoming rescue season. She didn’t take a single note as he listed off “trouble spots” up on the mountain or people that tended to take too many risks with their winter sports.
“Wait, there’s a place called Cripple Creek?” She interrupted Xavier’s story about his rescue a couple of weeks ago when he had to carry a mountain biker out of a ravine. “Do I even want to know how it got its name?”
Jake grinned. “The wilderness is a dangerous place, little lady,” he said, pretending to tip an invisible hat.
She giggled, but her amusement turned fast to attraction when his dark eyes smoldered. Her insides heated as she pictured Jake in a cowboy hat. And maybe some chaps. Hot dang. She could get used to country living.
“So, Delilah, where are you from?” Xavier asked, drawing her back into the conversation.
She took a pull from her beer. “The city, born and raised,” she said.
“Do you like it there?” Xavier asked.
Jake wrinkled his nose. “Too many people. Not enough trees.”
“You’ve been there?” she asked, turning to him.
“Don’t look so surprised,” he said. “I might be a small town redneck but I’ve been beyond the borders of Blue Hole once or twice,” he said.
“Well, then I’m ashamed to admit this is my first time venturing out,” she said. “But I might never leave. These mountains are beautiful.”
“Cheers to that,” Xavier said, lifting his beer, and they all did the same. Jake’s hand reached for hers under the table, his fingers brushing her knuckles as he drank. She found herself leaning closer after that, letting her shoulder brush his and ignoring that little voice in her head telling her the lines weren’t so much blurred as fading away.
“Colorado’s the only place that even comes close,” Nash agreed.
“Are we talking about scenic views or people?” Harley asked.
Delilah listened as the rest of them talked about past trips elsewhere and how none of those places compared to Blue Hole. She tuned out, watching the patrons inside the bar as they watched her back. None of them looked friendly. In fact, they’d been mean-mugging Xavier and his crew all night, especially the four men seated at the window booth. She wondered who they were. Maybe Jake knew them. Maybe they were the lead she needed on Xavier’s secret hater club. She took a thoughtful pull from her beer, never letting her eyes leave the men at the window.
“What is it?” Xavier asked.
She looked up to find Xavier watching her, and one by one, the rest of the crew fell silent and also turned to study her.
“Do I have something on my face?” she asked, wiping her nose.
“Yeah, it’s covered in bullshit,” Harley said from across the way.
She gave him the finger and Jake snickered. “Seriously, why are you all looking at me like that?” she asked.
“You look like you’re thinking something,” Xavier said, and it took her a minute to realize he was talking to her. “You’re staring at us and then back at the bar like it means something.”
“Two things,” she said. “One, for a pack of shifters, your spidey-senses are lacking if you can’t sense the tension between you all out here and the people inside.”
“What kind of tension?” Nash asked, cocking his head as if testing the air.
“The kind where you’ve been getting dirty looks all night from the four men at the booth by the window. And everyone who walks in or out glances over here like you’re all wearing scarlet letters on your foreheads.” She set her beer down and leaned forward. “How do you not notice this?”
“We’re used to it, I guess. They think we’re fun to look at from a distance, but they won’t get too close. Like the zoo,” Nash said with a shrug, and Harley snorted.
“That’s Lyle Abrams. He’s a real piece of work,” Jake muttered.
Xavier frowned in the direction of the four men, but then immediately brightened as his eyes landed on something else. Footsteps sounded over the wooden deck, and Delilah turned to find a pretty brunette in a tailored suit approaching fast. She smiled, and her eyes lit as she reached Xavier. She dipped low, planting a smacking kiss on the alpha’s lips before sliding into the empty seat beside him.
The rest of the crew called out hellos, and she saw a warmth pass between them that made her feel suddenly outside of it all somehow. A streak of jealousy shot through her.
Xavier motioned between the women, and Delilah did her best to cover her own longing. “Laurel, this is Delilah, the PI Jake mentioned. Delilah, Laurel, my mate.”
“Hi there,” Laurel said with a smile. “I hope these guys haven’t given you too much crap. Harley’s a teddy bear, really.”
Nash laughed, and Harley glared, then spit over the side of the deck.
“More like a Chucky Doll,” Jake said, and Nash high-fived him.
Delilah snuck a glance at Lucas. He sat off to the side, watching it all. She wondered exactly what he saw and why he never engaged. Maybe it was her. The human thing again.
“Nah, they’re behaving,” Delilah told her. “Much better than those guys inside the pub anyway.” Laurel followed her head-nod to the four men still at the booth by the window. She inhaled sharply.
&nb
sp; “You know those guys?” Delilah asked.
“The one on the left,” Laurel said, her brows wrinkling. “He was in the office the other day. I’ve never met him. He came out of Gerald’s office.”
“Gerald is…?” Delilah prompted.
“Her boss,” Xavier explained. “Head of DOT in Blue Hole.”
“Do you know the guy Laurel saw?” Delilah asked.
Xavier shook his head. “Never seen him before.”
The others muttered the same thing, all of them now glaring at Lyle Abrams and his mystery bunch.
“If that guy came out of the DOT office, I’d like to meet him. And your boss,” Delilah said, jotting down notes on the pad in front of her on the table. She dropped her pen and grabbed her beer. “That’s handy, you working there,” she said absently, and Laurel sighed.
“I’d like to think so, but so far, nothing’s come of it,” Laurel said. “Even after they found out I was a shifter, no one’s said a word sideways about it.”
“You’re a shifter?” Delilah looked up, excited. “What kind? Oh, is that rude? Sorry, I don’t know the rules about this stuff. It’s just—that’s cool.”
Laurel smiled, and Delilah was surprised to see a flush creep into the woman’s cheeks. Was she embarrassed? About being a shifter? “I’m a red fox,” she said.
Delilah resisted the urge to write it down on her notepad. “That’s very cool,” she said, and Laurel dipped her head.
“Thank you,” Laurel said, and Xavier kissed her, whispering something into her ear as he rubbed her back.
“So, your boss is meeting with a guy who is giving everyone out here the stank-eye,” Delilah said mostly to herself. She tapped her pen on the paper and bit her lip. “I’d like to go by there when we get a chance.”
“Jake can take you by there one day,” Xavier said.
A thrill of anticipation ran through her. Jake. Right. She’d almost forgotten she would be spending her days with him for the foreseeable future. No, now wasn’t the time to get distracted. This Lyle guy could be the lead she needed. He sure looked disgusted at the sight of Xavier and his crew.
