Page 11 of A Dash of Wolf

“Ciao, Wolfman,” the Maine Coon said as she swished past Mason, her fluffy tail smacking against his legs.

“See you tonight, Cassie?” Adeline called before the door closed behind her.

“You bet!” Officer Casswell called back.

The station went quiet. Or at least, as quiet as it could what with the loud cheers outside from the protesters. They’d obviously caught sight of Adeline coming out of the station.

“What’s tonight?” he asked, then immediately wanted to kick himself. He didn’t want to know. Why did he keep asking questions to things he didn’t want to know about?

Officer Casswell grinned over her coffee mug as she waggled her eyebrows. “Full moon.”

Mason scoffed. “I’m a werewolf. I know it’s a full moon.”

“It’s naked moon dancing for witches.”

Mason couldn’t stop the images of Adeline dancing naked under the moon, no matter how hard he tried. It took him a few seconds to find his voice. “Seriously? That’s a thing?”

Officer Casswell laughed. “Are you fishing for an invitation, Chief?”

Mason stared at her...then turned and walked back into his office without another word. He had another desk in the main room with the others, and he planned on using that as much as possible and leaving his office for meetings and other important things…but right now he wanted some privacy. Something told him he was going to earn every cent he made in Moonlight Bay.

As he sat down behind his desk, he had to wonder if it was too soon to ask for a raise.

5

“Thank you for standing up for the squish-squids,” Nancy Vaughn said as she nibbled on a Prosperity-and-Riches cupcake. “I would have come out yesterday to help protest, but I was called into the hospital.”

“Nothing serious, I hope,” Adeline said as she handed Nancy her change.

“One of the other nurses called in. Her daughter wasn’t feeling well.” Nancy held up the half-eaten cupcake. “This is delicious, by the way. See you tonight at the Thursday Night Market.”

Adeline waved goodbye and slid down to the display case to wait on the next customer. She barely even looked up when she heard the overhead bells chime. She’d been busier than normal all morning, and now that it was lunchtime, the crowd was still rolling in…and she knew exactly why. Every single customer who’d walked through the door had wanted to hear about her run-in with the new police chief. She’d told the story so many times now she could probably do it in her sleep.

She hated to admit she’d spent a good portion of last night thinking about him, too, but she had.

Her three closest friends, Emory Ashgrove, Cassie Casswell, and Tempi Draven, had come over to her cottage last night for the full moon celebration, and as they worked on potions, and talked, and had a few glasses of wine under the August moonlight, her mind would drift and she’d replay her entire interaction with the new chief. Over and over. It didn’t help that each time she focused more and more on how handsome and surprisingly diplomatic he’d been…and not on the fact he’d arrested her on his very first day.

“What can I get you this afternoon, Rachel?” Adeline asked the selkie standing at the counter.

Rachel pursed her lips and studied the display case. “Two of your Time-Twirl cinnamon rolls, please. One for me and one for Henry. He’s been so stressed with the fishing season. We could both use a good memory to go back and relive.”

“You got it.” Adeline boxed them up and slid the box across the counter as the overhead bells rang again. “Tell Henry I said hello and that he needs to come in here himself once in a while. I’m starting to think he doesn’t like me.”

Rachel laughed. “He’s terrified of your cat.”

“Understandable,” Princess Muffin Top said from her bed near the register. “I am terrifying.”

There was a sudden lull in the conversation around the bakery. Adeline looked around to see what had happened, and her eyes went wide.

Chief Wolfe, dressed in his uniform, stood in the middle of the bakery looking around. He nodded at a couple of her customers sitting by the window, but she could tell he was more interested in casing her place than making small talk. His gaze moved from the display cases to the archway to the chalkboard menu on the wall, cataloging everything the way a cop would. Probably looking for exits and general layout.

He finally turned and locked eyes with her.

She saw the confusion flash across his face, followed by surprise. He obviously hadn’t known she owned the bakery. That was interesting. She liked the idea that she’d caught him off guard. It was on the tip of her tongue to call out a greeting when Princess Muffin Top beat her to it.

“Chief Big-Bad-Wolf.” Princess Muffin Top lifted her head from her bed near the register. “Did you run out of innocent women and cephalopods to terrorize, or is this a social call?”

Snickers and muffled laughter rippled through the bakery. Adeline turned and gave her cat the evil eye. The last thing she needed was another public run-in with the new chief.