“It comes with my job,” Luna laughed. “I’m a travel writer, so I guess that means travel! But lately I’ve been focusing more on domestic stuff – Ilikeinternational travel, don’t get me wrong. But I think there’s only so many 12-hour flights you can endure in a one-month period before you start to get a bit worn down.”
Henry let out his own small laugh. Talking to Luna seemed so…easy, somehow. He wouldn’t exactly have described himself as the social type, but with her, he felt himself loosening up a bit.
“How about you?” Luna asked. “Are you like… a woodsman or something? You kind of look the type. And with what you said about going into the mountains… well, that’s pretty hardcore! You’ll probably laugh when you see my fancy B&B – I mean, call me a soft, spoiled city-dweller if you like, but I admit, I do need a pillow to rest my head on at night.”
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Henry said, smiling a little. “Believe it or not, but I’m a city-dweller myself. Definitely not a woodsman. I work in… security.”
He winced a little. That sounded like he was being evasive, but he was aware of the impression he made, being so tall and big, and then telling people he worked as a nightclub bouncer.
She is our mate,his hellhound told him.She would not reject us for something like that! She can see past our exterior. She can see into our soul.
Henry swallowed. He supposed it was right. He really ought to have more faith in the mate bond – and in Luna herself.
Perhaps his hesitation had been obvious, because Luna looked over at him for a moment before turning her eyes back to the road ahead. It had only been the briefest of glances, but there had been no judgment in it.
“Well, securityisimportant,” she said lightly, eyes still on the road. “More important than regaling the reading public withThe Twelve Stinkiest Cheeses in Southern France, Ranked in Increasing Order of Stinkiness, anyway!”
He couldn’t help but smile a little. “Well, I don’t know aboutthat. But it’s kind of you to say so.”
“Seriously.” Her fingers tapped against the steering wheel in what looked like an unconscious gesture. “It’s good to feel safe, you know? God knows there’ve been enough times when I’ve been on a work trip in a particularly, ah,interestingplace, and I’ve wished I had someone there to watch my back. I love my job, but I’ve gotta say – it’s nice to be visiting somewhere where I feel perfectly safe.”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “Even with a perfect stranger in your car? Who you’re taking back to your accommodation? Surely that’s got to rank up there in terms of danger.”
“You know what, it should,” Luna mused, turning the car off the main road and down a well-maintained dirt track that wound its way around some impressively tall trees. “And normally I would never even dream of inviting some enormous, strange muscle man into my car. But there’s something about you that just sayssafety, you know.” Abruptly her cheeks turned pink, her voice taking on a sudden stutter. “Not to sound weird or anything! I just meant that you don’t give off creepy stalker vibes. I mean…” A pained sigh escaped from her lips, followed by a very faint sound that could have been a mumbledoh myGod.
The hellhound preened.
Our mate thinks our vibes aren’t creepy! She is the one!
Calm down,he hissed back.I’m not about to go pick out wedding rings just because our mate doesn’t think I’m a stalker!
No, you should pick out rings because she’s ourmate, you fool, the hellhound sneered.You should be showering her with all the precious jewels and rare items in the world.
Are you forgetting that I’m currently unemployed, and also unemployable? Even if I wanted to buy her something – which I don’t yet, since she doesn’t even know me! – I wouldn’t be able to. But if you want to go out and get yourself a 9-to-5 so that you can buy her precious jewels, then I’m all for it. I’m sure there’s an office out there with a hellhound-sized gap that needs filling. Go on. I’m waiting.
The hellhound huffed, then curled up and turned its back on him.
… Yeah. Thought so, Henry muttered. The hellhound was terrible at ending arguments, but he knew that it had chalked this one up as a win under its name anyway. Logic wasn’t its strong suit.
Dragging his attention back to the situation unfolding in the car, he realized that he had been sitting there silently after Luna had made her comment about creepy stalker vibes, probably inadvertently giving off actual creepy stalker vibes. Luna, for her part, had the steering wheel in a death grip, muttering imprecations against herself under her breath.
While her flustered state was admittedly kind of cute, he hated seeing her getting down on herself, especially since she hadn’t even done anything wrong. She’d said hewasn’tgiving off creepy stalker vibes! That was a compliment! Especially since, as a hellhound, giving off creepy vibes was basically his whole deal. She’d pretty much given him the ultimate compliment.
He realized with a start that this was probably the longest conversation he had ever had with… well, anyone, for quitesome time. Even as awkward as it was, it was… really nice. He’d always just thought that he was a little withdrawn and standoffish, but if this was what it was like to talk to someone who didn’t automatically cringe away from your hellhound aura, then maybe he was actually just a social butterfly that had never had the opportunity to emerge from its cocoon and spread its wings.
Let’s not get too carried away with ourselves. Sheisyour mate. Of course it’s nice talking to her.
The silence, he realized, was now excruciating – he hadn’t gotten a lot of practice with social niceties. If hewasgoing to try letting his inner social butterfly fly free then he’d have to come up with something, and fast. Because this was rapidly becoming a social nightmare.
On his lap, Fillmore nudged him with his knobbly little head.
Even the dog thinks you’re doing a terrible job. Come on, step up your game.
“Ha ha,” he laughed awkwardly, and immediately cringed. He had no choice but to keep going, though – the situation would be even worse if he just laughed out of nowhere and then shut up again.
He tried again. “It’s no problem, really. I can see why I might give off that impression. When looking intimidating is your job, then you can’t really complain when people find you intimidating –”
“We’re here!” Luna yelped, the car jerking to a halt. She glanced across at him. “Um. Sorry, I cut you off there. What were you saying?”
