That kind of thinking could only spell trouble. When we turned to head toward the B&B, Gwen suddenly nudged me with her elbow. “Oh look,” she murmured, far too pleased, “the broody librarian-hater is at it again.” I nearly choked at her description. What now? But I obediently followed her gaze.
Luther stood inside the General Store behind the wide front window. He’d clearly been facing our direction because, the second our eyes met, he pivoted sharply away—too sharply—like someone caught sneaking a peek. My heartbeat did a little stupid flutter, entirely too pleased by that.
Gwen let out a low, delighted hum, clearly noticing the same thing I had. She nudged my arm with her elbow a second time, but not to get my attention, but just to invite me in on the secret. “Someone’s got an admirer.”
I recoiled, and the horror on my face must have been very obvious. “What? No. Absolutely not.” Okay, perhaps it wasn’thorror, perhaps it was that damn blush from earlier catching me by surprise again.
“Mmm-hmm,” she sing-songed, guiding me across the street by linking her arm through mine. Today, Luther was not the only one who appeared to be at their store window, staring. I caught movement at the pristine but ever-so-quiet diner, and some shadows shifted by the window of the repair shop, too.
“He was not watching me,” I insisted. Just like the rest of the town wasn’t watching, either. I couldn’t help but feel a little unwelcome and unwanted when those eyes felt so hostile. “He was plotting. Strategizing. Figuring out how to get rid of me in record time.”
Gwen laughed, loud and warm. “If that’s his plotting face, honey, you’re in trouble.” I groaned, but couldn’t help smiling as she looped her arm through mine. Maybe Luther wasn’t plotting, and perhaps Gwen wasn’t entirely wrong, but I wasn’t ready to unpack that yet. Not when my heart still hadn’t quite learned how to behave around him.
Chapter 10
Luther
Standing by the counter, I polished its deep oak shine carefully with a rag. It was a ritual I never missed each evening as I closed up the shop. It had been an unusually busy day, and I’d had little sleep, but at least I could be satisfied. I had done a lot of good work, including the gift one surly werewolf had ordered last night.
Kai had stopped by earlier to pick it up. Silent as a winter storm as always, but the faint tension around his mouth had eased when he saw the package I’d arranged for him. Well, technically it was for Freya, but Kai had held it like a man accepting a priceless artifact. He’d only grunted, which for Kai meant ecstatic gratitude.
I was still imagining the way Freya’s eyes would light up, Kai really had no idea how to court softly, when I heard the familiar flutter from upstairs. Belfry drifted downward like a piece of midnight cloth, wings half-open, eyes bleary from sleep. He landed on the branch sculpture behind the counter, curling himself upside down with the ease of long habit.
You look smug,he said, voice bright in my mind, far too awake for someone who’d just rolled out of a six-hour nap. Then again, sometimes he slept the whole day away, so he might actually be short on sleep for once. That’s what his curiosity got him, so I wasn’t inclined to feel any pity.
“I’m not,” I muttered, straightening a display of antique bells. It was there purely for Mr. Peters, who liked to browse them to deck out his goats with cheerful sounds. He only accepted the finest ancient bronze bells from Greece or Italy, so that’s what I had on display. “Kai liked the gift,” I added with a final jingle of the biggest bell.
He grunted, did he?Belfry preened his wing.That’s practically a love sonnet.I didn’t bother to answer that statement; we both knew it was true. It was a good thing he and Freya were soulmates, and she happened to like her man quiet. A conversationalist he was not.
I could check on them,Belfry offered.Just a quick peek in their window…He had already lifted his head, snout wriggling up and down as he scented the air. It was aimed, without error, in the direction of the small cottage Kai and Freya had restored on the edge of town. I imagined this was not an altruistic offer, nor just about finding some juicy gossip. The flowering shrubs that lined their garden would be teeming with fireflies this evening.
“No.” I turned so sharply, the bells tinkled on their hooks. “You are not spying on anyone’s mating rituals. Again.” I remembered how that went last summer, when Rosemary had first come to town. You did not bother a dragon in full mating drive, and Belfry had come fluttering home with singed fur and blisters on his fragile wings. I’d had to nurse him back to health and listen to his endless moaning for weeks.
He sighed dramatically.You’re no fun.Before I could reply, a soft rustle reached my ears, a sound I’d learned to differentiate from the general noise of the street, not that there was much ofthat to begin with. Belfry perked up instantly.Oh look, he sing-songed,the moth hears his flame.
“Shut up.” How embarrassing to be caught in the act like that. How soon would Belfry flutter off to inform on me to his buddies? It was a small comfort that most of the animals my bat talked to couldn’t talk back. At least I didn’t think so.
The sad truth was that he had a point, even if I did not want to admit it. I seemed to be extremely finely attuned to everything Jade did—move, sigh, bat her lashes—it all drew my eye. It had been excruciatingly difficult to focus on my work today, knowing she was right next door, elbow-deep in possibly dangerous mold and dust. Oblivious to my turmoil, Belfy continued in the same singsong tone:You hear her, don’t you? I swear the air changes every time she…
“I said shut up,” Belfry hissed in warning, displeased, but I was already moving toward the window, it wasn’t like I could stop myself. It silenced him, and the air behind me thrummed with his amusement. There she was, stepping out of the old library with Gwen beside her, sunlight catching on her hair. My chest tightened the way it had no business tightening.
Belfry cackled, delighted.Oh, you are hopeless.I ignored him, but mostly because I’d temporarily lost all ability to speak. She was gorgeous, and even dressed in simple jeans and boots, she was still elegant and enticing. Now, I did not need to imagine the shape of her thighs beneath her skirt; I could see the lush curve of her hip and ass in perfect detail.
I was so caught up staring that I didn’t notice in time that I’d been spotted. Gwen said something, and Jade lifted herhead and looked. I jerked back from the window like a thief caught mid-crime. “Dammit.” The last thing I needed was for her to realize I was already halfway to obsessed; I’d never been obsessed with a woman before.
Want me to fly out and distract her?Belfry not-so-helpfully offered as he watched me retreat. I definitely felt like a thief, a horrible, slimy, ill-mannered bastard caught mid-peep. Not that Jade was in any state of undress, unfortunately.
“NO,” I practically shouted as I stomped deeper into the store, ignoring the bat’s wheezing laughter. The need clawed upward in my throat, cold, sharp, demanding. Feeding always hit wrong when I was irritated with myself. Today was definitely one of those days: I felt entirely unbalanced and put on display. “I need to eat,” I snarled.
Try not to brood on the bottles,Belfry offered, with a lazy curl of his left wing, claw stretching toward his belly to scratch. I dropped through the trapdoor into the cellar before I said something I’d regret. Down there, surrounded by shelves of neatly labeled supplies, I opened a bag of preserved blood and drank; like I was a freaking caveman, instead of pouring it in a glass and letting it air first. It dulled the hunger, but not the frustration, and definitely not the… other thing.
I tried to think. I needed to strategize and figure out a way to handle a problem I’d never expected to have. Jade Whitaker was supposed to be temporary—a complication, yes, but a manageable one. I was beginning to suspect she was something else entirely.
I really didn’t feel like facing Belfry and his taunts, and I felt even less like dealing with the possibility of prying eyes. That led me to the very poor use of time: reorganizing my fully stocked shelves in the cellar. I was right, there was far too much venison in the freezers already. With Kai’s added payment this afternoon, storage was overflowing. That meant venison for dinner tonight, but at least that was something I couldn’t complain about.
The need to stay busy, distracted, was so powerful that I contemplated calling both Drew and Gregory right this instant. If I could spend a few hours doing physical labor, perhaps I’d actually manage some sleep tonight. Gregory would complain, loudly, and who could blame him, when he had a lovely mate in his bed? He’d come, though, because he was a loyal friend.
I was halfway to the stairs when the store bell chimed. The scent hit me first, warm, bright, utterly unmistakable. Old books and perfume: an incredible combination that shouldn’t have smelled so good, but did anyway. No, that was impossible; I had to be imagining it. But when I climbed up, there she stood, awkward and lovely, shifting her weight in the doorway like she wasn’t sure if she was welcome.
