Sucking in a sharp breath, Keely hurried behind the counter to log into her register and began ringing them up with a speed that was haphazard and sloppy. Malachi was fairly certain she didn’t even scan some items. When she grabbed the packages of underwear, she almost dropped them with a choked sound. Quickly, they were scooped into plastic bags with the store’s logo emblazoned across the front. After she scanned the last item, she rattled off a total so fast that it was nearly gibberish. Fortunately, the large display screen showed the amount owed, so Chuck wordlessly swiped a credit card and continued her steady, unblinking perusal of the clerk.
Gathering up all the bags, Malachi hoisted the large sack of dog food over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. He winked at Keely, whose mouth had dropped at his show of strength. Chuck, however, was not so impressed.
“Seriously, Malachi, I can carry some of that! I’m not helpless. You of all people know that.” Her tone was pointed and sharp, clearly offended by something as she stomped away.
“I absolutely know that, Chuck, but now that I can shoulder more of the burden, I want to help however I can since you’re taking care of me,” came his soft reply as he followed her angry stride to the door.
Coming to a sudden stop, Chuck’s shoulders drooped. She grunted in surprise as Malachi ran into her.
“Sorry! Sorry,” he called anxiously, trying to steady her. “I uh, didn’t realize you were going to stop.”
“You can let me go now.”
Malachi glanced down and realized he had his arm around her waist, holding her to him. He’d been worried she was going to fall, so he’d quickly dropped the dog food and grabbed her in his panic. Slowly, he unwound his arm, letting her straighten up.
“Thanks.”
“Welcome,” he murmured as he leaned down to lift the food again. He hurried out past her and waited by the back of the car to load the purchases when she opened the trunk. Standing there in the parking lot, he stripped off the too-small shirt and rummaged through the bags until he found a new one, then ripped the tag off. He heard a small, choked noise and noticed Chuck was staring at his upper body again, heat filling her expression as she took him all in with the sun shining on his skin.
He was about to call her out on it when they both turned at an incredulous voice.
“Chuck?”
Evan's Half-Naked
Great, Detective Dumbfuck has to show up and ruin it all,Malachi thought uncharitably.He rolled his eyes in exasperation as he stretched the shirt a bit before pulling it over his head. Snugging it down over his chest and arms, he nearly moaned in satisfaction at the way it hugged his body without strangling him. Now he refocused on Chuck and Jaxon’s discussion.
“I mean, I guess I just wasn’t expecting to see you here with a half-naked guy in the parking lot,” Jaxon declared hotly, raking his gaze over Malachi in what was assuredly meant to be intimidating. Instead, it merely came across as possessive, and Malachi suddenly realized Jaxon now saw him as competition for Chuck.
“Not half-naked, more like quarter-naked,” Malachi interjected with a friendly smile full of innoncence he certainly didn’t have. “Just exchanging my shirt since Chuck here was kind enough to buy me a new one.”
Staring at him through narrowed eyes, Jaxon snorted in disdain as he raked his gaze disparagingly over his perceived rival. “I guess I missed it, but who are you, and why is Chuck buying you a shirt?”
“I’m Malachi—” he started, but Chuck cut him off.
“Malachi’s former owner!” she blurted. “This is Evan. He saw the story about Malachi on the news and realized it was his missing dog. He reached out to talk about it. Turns out, Malachi went missing while he was visiting the area, and he’s been looking for him since. But anyway, he agreed that Malachi is happy with me and thought it was cool that he’s a K-9 now, so we started talking and anyway…” she trailed off. The flurry of lies she had told was dwindling down as she ran out of ideas.
Grinning at her adorable attempt at lying, Malachi held out his hand, trying not to stare at her wildly flickering aura. “Nice to meet you. Like Chuck said, I’m Evan. And I was overwhelmed by how amazing she is and how happy Malachi is with her. He’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him. I can tell he really enjoys the work and adores Chuck. It was so fascinating, I couldn’t help but want to know more about this incredible woman who captured Malachi’s heart.” He ignored Chuck’s startled expression as she tried to figure out what he meant by that. “Anyway, we went out to eat, and Miss Butterfingers here dumped pasta sauce all over my shirt. So, she kindly offered to get me a new one. Since the airline lost my luggage, I took her up on it.” He continued to grin at Jaxon as the other man stared at them with an open mouth, leaving Malachi’s hand up in between them. Ignored.
“You went on a date? With a stranger?” Jaxon exclaimed, staring at Chuck as if she’d grown three heads.
“Not a date!” Chuck snapped indignantly, her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Even if I did, that’s the point of a date, to get to know the other person.”
Chuckling uneasily, Malachi held up his hands. “Look, buddy, I didn’t know she had a boyfriend, okay? I wasn’t trying to move in on your territory. I just wanted to make sure Malachi was alright. He’s a great dog. Veryloyal. I’m glad she’s looking after him. It wasn’t a date, just a friendly meal. And I’m under no delusions that Officer Charles here couldn’t swiftly kick my ass if I stepped out of line. She’s an amazing person. You’re lucky!”
Not missing the look of horror on Chuck’s face and the shock on Jaxon’s, Malachi tilted his head. “I’m sorry, did I misread this?” He gestured between the two of them.
“We aren’t dating!” Chuck hissed.
“Just friends!” Jaxon added quickly, although he glanced at Chuck with sadness pinching his eyes.
“Oh, well, in that case, my further apologies,” Malachi offered sheepishly. He turned to Chuck and eyed her speculatively. “But I’m glad to hear that.” He gave her a soft smile, just the slightest curve of his lips, that she returned without seeming to think about it. It was an instant response, letting him know it was genuine.
Jaxon cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable as he shifted on his feet. “Well, good to see you, Chuck. Glad everything’s okay. See you tomorrow?” At her distracted nod, he huffed and turned to Malachi. “Nice to meet you, Eric.” He held out his hand with a slight smirk.
“Evan,” Malachi corrected and took Jaxon’s hand. He squeezed harder than necessary, adding some of his demon strength to the grip. As Jaxon winced, Malachi leaned forward and whispered in low warning, “But you knew that… didn’t you, Jaxon?” Straightening, he gave a mild smile. “Nice to meet you, too. I hope we can all get together again soon. I would love to meet more people who are important to Chuck.” He glanced over at her and was pleased to find she was still smiling at him as if he were the only one there.
Backing away, nodding like a sycophant, Jaxon tried to discreetly shake out his hand without letting on it had hurt. “Yeah, absolutely.” Turning, he hurried off to his own vehicle.
