Well, he’d had to talk a little about the DoPP monster hunters he’d gotten involved with, especially since one of them had come to town a year after he’d been here and stirred up trouble.
We were a town full of supernaturals. Gods too. We would be an absolute gold mine for a monster hunter.
Which was why we kept a low profile. Most people in Ordinary didn’t know their neighbors were anything other than what they appeared to be and it was my job to keep it that way.
One more sip of coffee, relax the shoulders, smile, and off I went to the deck.
“Beautiful, but the winters are pretty rough,” Ryder said.
“Oh, RyRy, you know I like it a little rough.”
“Hi,” I said, pushing the door wider and leaning there. “Are we grilling tonight?”
Ryder and the woman—the very lovely woman with wide eyes and tanned skin and golden hair twisted back so most of it cascaded down around her shoulders—glanced up at me.
She looked fresh and carefree, like she’d just come from the forest, or the beach; hemp bracelets on one wrist, the lightest blush nail polish and a couple silver rings on her hands. I quickly cataloged the rest: flowing skirt and white tank—both designer—and perfume with notes of cocoa.
Okay, not the forest or the ocean. She looked like she’d just come out of a boutique that charged big bucks to make you look like a boho babe.
Interesting.
“Hey, Delaney,” Ryder said, not moving from where he sat on our outdoor couch, which gave the best angle of the lake below. “Thought you were busy at Myra’s.”
“We wrapped it up pretty quick.” I stepped onto the deck, glanced at the grill, which was not heating. “Do you want to introduce me?”
“Oh, sure. Say, Vivian, this is Delaney, my fiancé.”
“What?” Vivian laughed and slapped Ryder on the arm playfully. She sat right next to him, cozied up as if there wasn’t any space on the couch except pressed against his side, which was not true. We’d bought that couch and wanted it to last. Wrestling that huge beast of a thing through the door had been a pain.
I knew how big that couch was. It sat three with a dog. Three.
“You didn’t even tell me you had a girlfriend,” she cooed. “Naughty.”
“Fiancé,” I said, leaning forward to offer my hand. “Chief Delaney Reed.”
For just a half second, her eyes sharpened, and her body language projected something dangerous, something ready to spring.
That second passed, then she tossed her hair back and dropped her fingertips into my hand. They were cold and dry.
“I’m Vivian, well, I’ll be Viv to you from now on because I am officially your best friend!” She stood, her fingers hooking and holding. Even though she didn’t use me as leverage, I could feel the coiled strength in her.
Was she a supernatural? Some kind of monster in disguise?
Before I could finish that thought, she threw her arms around me and squeezed, once, twice, three times, each squeeze harder than the last. “I am so happy to meet the woman who makes my RyRy so happy.”
I stood there like a plank, let her get the hug over with, and as soon as I was released, took another drink of coffee.
Human, I thought, from being that close to her. Annoying. Fake. Maybe hiding something. But human.
“Oh,” she said, looking at my drink. “I would love a cup. It was such a drive. And traffic—I thought I’d never get out of LA. Tell me you have more?”
“Kitchen by the toaster.”
She slapped one hand over her heart like I’d just handed her the Academy Award. “I’ll just…” She puppy-dog begged with her hands, dipping them up and down to mimic a trot, and then turned and strolled into our house.
Once she was gone, I studied Ryder. He sprawled with one arm across the back of the couch, his long legs kicked out in front of him. Watching me, relaxed, like nothing was wrong. If I didn’t know him as well as I did, I might believe it.
But his jaw was set and the one hand curled in a fist told me something was wrong.
