“Told you what?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew.
Ruby looked around before whispering, “She’s a wolf shifter. I never knew, although now that she told me, I can’t believe I never saw it before.”
I could. Humans were clueless about the world around them.
I gestured for us to walk. “Let’s talk in the car,” I said.
I’d feel better once we were not so vulnerable. The security here at the stadium was shit. I’d already decided to ask Lois to send the team to make some recommendations. Even without this stalker situation, everything was too open here. It put all the players in jeopardy.
It also pissed me off. I’d been in enough stadiums that housed men’s teams to see the disparity. There was no way someone could just wander over to the locker room in those places.
Once we were safely in the SUV, I turned to my mate. I inhaled sharply as I realized I was calling her ‘mate’ in my head. How was I supposed to keep my distance when I was already feeling so possessive?
“What do you know about supes?”
“Supes?” she asked.
“Supernatural beings. Shifters. Vampires. Witches.”
She looked upward, thinking.
“I’ve heard a bit here and there, mostly from my grandmother. She comes from a very small village in Poland, and I always thought she was just superstitious with her talk of magical beings living among us. But today when Dad asked you if you were a vampire, and then Eleanor told me she’s a wolf shifter,well now I’m looking at things differently. I’m realizing you two are not the only non-human people I’ve met.”
“They estimate about ten percent of the population is supernatural,” I told her. “More than that if you count the people who are mixed.”
At her confused look I clarified, “People who have one human parent and one supernatural one.”
“Ah.”
For someone just realizing that the world wasn’t what she thought it was, Ruby was taking it well. A lot of people freaked out. I had a feeling that my mate was one of those people who took most things in stride. Even when we were talking about the message that the stalker left in her apartment she was pretty calm about it.
“What happens now?” Ruby asked.
I realized I was just sitting in the car staring at her, my mind preoccupied with her sweet scent. She’d changed into faded jeans that hugged her strong legs and a fitted white tee shirt. Her long hair was wound into a messy bun on top of her head, but a few tendrils were already slipping out to frame her face.
“I’d like to do some more planning, and also it would look weird for me to go right home with you. Maybe we should go to my office.”
Ruby placed a hand over her belly. “I’ve got a better idea. I’m so hungry I’m ready to eat my own arm. Let’s go get food.”
She paused, giving me a cautious look. “You eat food right? Not just blood?”
“I love food,” I said. “How would you feel about Chipotle? It’s fast but healthy.”
“That’s perfect.”
On the way to the restaurant I told her about the first time my friend and former coworker Darla had gone to a Chipotle. We were guarding her mate, a doctor who’d got on the wrong side of an illegal experiment, and somehow Darla had never heard of Chipotle before.
“She was obsessed,” I said. “She kept going on and on about it. It was like that kid who found the chocolate fountain inWilly Wonka. The original movie, not the abomination of a remake.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ruby smile. She had a pretty smile, with just the perfect amount of teeth showing.
“Agreed. Gene Wilder is so cute in that movie.”
“Will your friends think it’s strange if you’re dating a woman?” I asked. “For our cover story?”
Ruby shook her head. “I haven’t dated any men since high school.”
Thank the gods,I thought, before reminding myself that she was my client and I didn’t want a mate so there was no reason for me to care who she dated. I inhaled sharply as I felt my vamp claw at my insides, clearly disagreeing.
