“Like any of these?” she asked, hoping to draw him out of his concentration.
“I like all of them.” The low intimacy in his voice made her skin crawl.
Erica lowered the camera and gave him her usual cordial grin. “I’ll upload all of these later this evening and share them through my gallery website. Would that be okay?”
Wyatt didn’t have the chance to see through her. “Why don’t you put all these on a thumb drive, and you can deliver them to me tonight?”
“That’s not the way I prefer to get the files to my clients.”
He flashed her a set of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. “Well, I guess that would also ruin my plans to ask you out for dinner. The thumb drive was just an excuse to get you to my place.”
A flush flowed down her back at the thought of having dinner with this guy. Before she could form a more polite response, she blurted out, “I have plans tonight. I’m sorry.”
It was a lie, and by the displeased look on Wyatt’s face, he must have known it was a lie. He quickly recovered and took the rejection gracefully. “Rain check then? I’d love to learn more about you. Maybe I could—”
“I’ve got your number.” Erica’s cheeks ached with the effort to maintain her smile. “When I’ve got a free night, I’ll call you.”
It seemed to click for Wyatt, and his smile died. “Sounds like a plan.” She took a step toward the foyer to signal that this appointment was over, but he waved her off. “I can see myself out. You have a great night. And thanks for your time.”
When the latch on the door clicked and Erica was alone again, she let out a long breath. She didn’t care if Wyatt was disappointed by her refusal. If she couldn’t feel safe in her own house with him standing next to her, there was no way she could last through dinner with him.
What made her palms sweat and legs weak was the greater possibility that there was something supernatural about Dominic, as Wyatt suggested. It figured that she would fall for someone she couldn’t have, but to want someone who wasn’t even human was totally unexpected. She needed something to debunk this entire crazy idea that Dominic was a werewolf. She needed there to be a better explanation for everything she had seen.
But she couldn’t think of one.
Chapter Twelve
Dominic slowly stirredhis coffee, his gaze distant and unfocused. The rumble of pummeling rain against the roof and the sound of the spoon hitting his ceramic mug drowned out the incessant nagging in the back of his head that he shouldn’t be at the Lunar Lantern. He should be at Erica’s house. He should be holding her, satiating this need to be close and putting a little less strain on their mating bond.
Instead, he sat in a booth at the far back of the diner, his phone silent on the tabletop as he waited for Cole to show up. They scheduled this meeting hours ago, shortly after he broke up the bar fight between Rick and Lincoln. Though the sheriff wouldn’t tell him why he wanted to meet, Dominic picked up on the slightly frazzled, frantic undercurrent in his words. When Cole requested that he make sure no other shifters would be in the diner to listen in on their conversation, Dominic knew this had to be serious.
He speculated whether this meeting was about what happened between Erica and Cole earlier that day. Something significant must have happened but common sense told him that Cole would be more forthcoming with the details than Erica. His curiosity and respect for the older alpha were the only reasons he didn’t try to bail on the meeting and walk to Crescent Lane in the pouring rain to be with Erica.
The diner door opened, and Dominic looked up to see Cole, dressed in civilian clothes and shaking off his thin raincoat, droplets scattering across the already wet tile floor. He had seen Cole in jeans and a plain shirt before, but not in months. The coptold him once that he sometimes felt more comfortable in his uniform than in any other outfit. Maybe that was why the shifter looked like he was about ready to bust out of his skin.
Cole dropped into the booth across from Dominic and seemed to ignore his analyzing stare as he glanced around for any other shifter.
“I told Gwen and Jaime to take a break for an hour. Do you need more time than that?”
“What about Madison?” the sheriff asked. Madison sometimes did her homework at the diner when her parents worked late.
“I told her mother not to let her out in public too often until she had a handle on sensory control. Madison didn’t seem to do well at the festival yesterday… What’s gotten into you? You look like shit.”
Dominic saw a bit of redness in the whites of Cole’s eyes, as if the man had been crying or perhaps he was sleep deprived. Cole appeared haggard and drained, but he could tell that the sheriff was putting on a brave face in front of his superior.
“I feel like shit.”
The other part-time waitress came up and offered coffee. Cole eagerly agreed and she poured him a cup before walking away.
Dominic was unable to wait long enough for Cole to come out about his private troubles. “So, what happened with Erica earlier today? I assume that’s what this is about.”
The Prime Alpha had hit a nerve. At the utterance of Erica’s name, Cole stiffened, and he looked at Dominic from below his brows.
“That bad?” he questioned.
Cole gravely shook his head and took the first sip of his black coffee. “Not bad. Not bad at all… Too good, maybe… I’m not sure yet.”
Dominic pulled out the spoon from his own mug and set it on a napkin. “Are you going to give me the play-by-play or make me guess?”
