“You don’t need friends like those, Cecilia. They’re wolves.”
Archer’s ears picked up not only their voices but also the sound of belt buckles and drawers closing. They must have been getting ready for bed.
“They were nothing but nice to me,” she insisted.
Noah laughed. “They might seem nice, but you know what happened to Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Don’t be obtuse. That was just a story.”
An uncomfortable stretch of silence followed. Archer’s wolf wanted to stand up on his hind legs and peer in the window, but Archer coaxed him away.
Their voices dropped so low that he couldn’t hear them anymore.
Archer visualized the road again and running in a field.Let’s go!
His wolf ignored him.
“Can I get a scooter?” Cecilia asked.
Noah barked out a laugh. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Turn off the light.”
Archer’s wolf cocked his head and whined.
“What put that idea in your head?” Noah asked.
“I thought it would be cheaper than a car. Mercy has one, andit looks easy to learn. You wouldn’t have to drive me to the bookstore or pick me up anymore.”
“You’ll kill yourself on that thing. Driving you around is how I know you’re safe.” There was another pause before he continued. “I don’t want you to pull another stunt like you did today. You can’t take off without asking. All my money’s tied up in that place, so if you don’t sell those books?—”
“I’ll sell them. But a scooter?—”
“Is dangerous,” he finished. “Absolutely not. End of discussion.”
This was what couples argued over. Even so, it pissed Archer off. It sounded like Cecilia was asking his permission instead of it being a discussion. Tak had put his foot down with Hope once or twice when she wanted to get on the roof, or the time she tried climbing a tree to chainsaw a limb. But her pregnancy made it a unique situation.
Then again, the thought of Cecilia riding a scooter on a dirt road and bouncing around would make him feel uncomfortable too.
“I thought you were supposed to be working late,” she argued. “So why did you go to their house to exercise?”
“What I do with my time is my business,” he fired back.
When their voices fell to low murmurs, his wolf lost interest and trotted around to the front of the house. As he glanced back, a light caught his attention from the living room.
“It was only two drinks!” she shouted, opening the front door.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“I want to sit outside. Leave me alone.”
Archer stood frozen, hoping she wouldn’t notice him. Cecilia sat on the porch step in only a T-shirt. He watched the way she folded her arms across her knees and rested her head on them.Then he couldn’t see her face anymore, only wisps of hair caught in the breeze.
His wolf snorted loud enough that she lifted her head.
Fearing she would see him, Archer forced his wolf to flee into the night.
Chapter 8
It took longer than expected to sort through the inventory. Two days, to be exact. Some books were untitled, and I had to read through them to figure out their category.
