The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,24
was fine. That was safe.
But just thinking that way made her die a little inside. She was a valkyrie. Safe shouldn’t be what she settled for.
And yet the pain of Eric’s betrayal still lingered, making her accept safe as good enough.
Eric hadn’t just broken her heart. He’d broken her spirit.
There was nothing okay about that.
After a quick call to Alice, Titus took a long, hot shower, then put on jeans and a Howler’s T-shirt and went barefoot onto the back deck to fire up the grill. He stretched, enjoying the sunshine and breezes of the early summer evening. The fresh, earthy scent of the forest behind his house filled the air, along with the subtle buzz of insects.
Life was good, other than the current crazy spells he was under. And even then, there were worse people to be stuck in those spells with. For all her bluster and attitude, Jenna was beautiful and smart and never dull.
There were definitely worse choices.
He leaned on the railing and inhaled, filling his lungs with the clean air. Nocturne Falls was a great place to live. Especially up here in the hills. He couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, really.
Tonight’s run would be new and different with Jenna along. He hoped she would be able to enjoy herself. He needed this run. Needed to let his wolf burn off some energy.
He cranked up the grill, then went back inside to season the steaks. Bridget might wonder where he was when he didn’t show up at Howler’s, but then again, she knew what had happened today. She might just figure he went home to rest.
He sent her a quick text anyway. Eating at home tonight. Then he put his phone away and got to work on the steaks, sprinkling them with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Jenna walked in wearing dragon-scale-print leggings and an NFSD T-shirt. Her hair was in a messy knot on top of her head, nothing like the perfect bun she wore for work. This was casual Jenna. Not a side of her he’d seen before.
He approved very much. “Hey.”
“Hey. You have the grill going?”
“I do.” He studied her. She looked…defeated somehow. Was the spell getting to her? “I put salt and pepper on the steaks. You good with that?”
“Yep. That’s how I do them at home. Simple.” She took a seat at the island, her lips pursed like she was struggling to find words. After a moment, she said, “Can we move past what happened earlier? Maybe start over and just be civil? And agree to keep it that way?”
He got out plates and utensils. They weren’t going to need them for a while, but the activity kept him busy so he wouldn’t have to look at her. “Sure. That’s fine with me.”
“Thank you. I need to say, too, that I mean it about keeping it civil. No matter what this spell does, I don’t plan on giving in. It’s not you. It’s me.”
He laughed without much humor as he put the plates and utensils on the counter. “That line usually comes at the end of a relationship, not the beginning.”
“Well, I’d like our relationship to stay the same.”
He finally turned to face her. “I wouldn’t. Our relationship is…antagonistic. You said ‘civil.’ That’d be better than what we have now, so if that’s what you really mean, then let’s do that. I’d prefer it. We need to be able to work together.”
“I know. The race.”
“Also to figure out who set that bomb.” He hadn’t said a word about the creepy, shadow figure he’d seen, mostly because he was pretty certain it had been a hallucination. Also because he hadn’t wanted to look like an idiot for telling her about something that had just been a figment of his imagination.
“No disrespect, but that’s really more my job.”
“I realize that, and I’m not looking to step on your toes. But I’m the only other eyewitness. And I’m trained to be observant. I can help, you know.”
She nodded. “I know. I suppose that would be all right.”
“I won’t get in the way of your investigation.”
She shrugged. “Not sure how much investigation I’ll be doing from your office at the fire station. Not saying I won’t work on it as much as I can, just that not being able to go into the field makes it harder.”
“I’m not always at my desk, you know. I’m the chief. I can go where I need to. And you need to investigate, so we’ll make that happen.”