dinner. Some music—Zachary Richard’s gonna play a set at the Gator. My first marriage didn’t last as long as it’s taken us to go on a real date. Talk about foreplay.”
“I can do outrageous, and I can definitely do Zachary Richard—well, you know what I mean.” I wanted to say I could do foreplay, but knew Alex’s head would explode and Jean would want foreplay defined. “What time?”
Jake and I finished making plans. If he was cracking jokes about his failed marriage that began just before his Marine deployment and ended just after his discharge, he must be handling life okay. Alex shouldn’t worry about him being an enforcer. He was a Marine. Weren’t they always prepared? Or was that the Boy Scouts?
As I ended the call, I glanced at the rearview mirror again and locked gazes with Alex briefly before he turned his attention back to the road. He’d just have to get over it. Jake and I were going to eat dinner at a restaurant and listen to one of my favorite musicians. No big deal.
Around us, ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss gave way to more suburban clutter, and a burnt-orange sunset eased us toward nightfall. It was only five thirty, but already the shortening days felt like a clock running down and drifting toward winter.
“Your rogue wolf might not have adjusted as well as you hope, Jolie, ” Jean said in a soft voice. “The loup-garou will find it difficult to live here, where his heart is.”
“Exactly what I’ve been telling her,” Alex said, flicking his glance to my mirror image again.
What strange bedfellows those two annoying busybodies made. I watched the traffic flow around us and ignored them.
“Most of the loup-garou live in the Beyond, right?” Alex asked Jean.
“ Oui. The legends say the Acadian settlers brought a demon with them, one who appeared as a man unless the full moon shone overhead or he became angered. The loup-garou are larger than your werewolves and do not join packs. Even other werewolves fear them.”
I got sucked in despite my determination to pretend I wasn’t listening. “Since so many weres are mainstreamed, why do most of the loup-garou live in the Beyond?”
Jean and Alex exchanged a look. “Because their self-control is so bad,” Alex said in a flat voice. “They can change in an instant, putting everyone around them in danger.”
“Not Jake.” He might break my heart but he’d never hurt me physically. I hadn’t known him that long or that well, but I was a decent judge of character. “The enforcers wouldn’t have let him come back here unless he could handle himself.”
“I hope you’re right,” Alex said, his grim focus on the road ahead. “For all our sakes.”
CHAPTER 11
When my front doorbell rang after dinner, I figured it was Alex, ready to do his alpha dog routine and give me hell about embroiling him in the hot Corvette fiasco.
Instead, I opened the door to a pretty brunette in her early fifties, with soft brown eyes, a clear olive complexion, and an ability to strip a person’s heart bare with a single look. Tish Newman had been a fixture in my life since childhood, present for all the highs and lows as I grew up with the love of her life. Gerry’s death had opened a crevice of pain between us. My fault, not hers.
“I got your message and thought I’d drop by instead of calling,” Tish said, hugging me hard.
Unexpected, unshed tears pressed behind my eyes and I pulled away. I didn’t want a trip down memory lane right now. Stress and magic had worn me down today, and seeing her ripped the scab off a wound that had festered instead of healed.
“I just closed on a modified shotgun house up on Carondelet.” She threw her purse on the coffee table and shrugged off her light jacket. “I can’t decide whether to rent it out for the extra income or move into it myself because it’s closer to work—and closer to you.” She looked around at the double parlors. “You’ve done some redecorating
“I can do outrageous, and I can definitely do Zachary Richard—well, you know what I mean.” I wanted to say I could do foreplay, but knew Alex’s head would explode and Jean would want foreplay defined. “What time?”
Jake and I finished making plans. If he was cracking jokes about his failed marriage that began just before his Marine deployment and ended just after his discharge, he must be handling life okay. Alex shouldn’t worry about him being an enforcer. He was a Marine. Weren’t they always prepared? Or was that the Boy Scouts?
As I ended the call, I glanced at the rearview mirror again and locked gazes with Alex briefly before he turned his attention back to the road. He’d just have to get over it. Jake and I were going to eat dinner at a restaurant and listen to one of my favorite musicians. No big deal.
Around us, ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss gave way to more suburban clutter, and a burnt-orange sunset eased us toward nightfall. It was only five thirty, but already the shortening days felt like a clock running down and drifting toward winter.
“Your rogue wolf might not have adjusted as well as you hope, Jolie, ” Jean said in a soft voice. “The loup-garou will find it difficult to live here, where his heart is.”
“Exactly what I’ve been telling her,” Alex said, flicking his glance to my mirror image again.
What strange bedfellows those two annoying busybodies made. I watched the traffic flow around us and ignored them.
“Most of the loup-garou live in the Beyond, right?” Alex asked Jean.
“ Oui. The legends say the Acadian settlers brought a demon with them, one who appeared as a man unless the full moon shone overhead or he became angered. The loup-garou are larger than your werewolves and do not join packs. Even other werewolves fear them.”
I got sucked in despite my determination to pretend I wasn’t listening. “Since so many weres are mainstreamed, why do most of the loup-garou live in the Beyond?”
Jean and Alex exchanged a look. “Because their self-control is so bad,” Alex said in a flat voice. “They can change in an instant, putting everyone around them in danger.”
“Not Jake.” He might break my heart but he’d never hurt me physically. I hadn’t known him that long or that well, but I was a decent judge of character. “The enforcers wouldn’t have let him come back here unless he could handle himself.”
“I hope you’re right,” Alex said, his grim focus on the road ahead. “For all our sakes.”
CHAPTER 11
When my front doorbell rang after dinner, I figured it was Alex, ready to do his alpha dog routine and give me hell about embroiling him in the hot Corvette fiasco.
Instead, I opened the door to a pretty brunette in her early fifties, with soft brown eyes, a clear olive complexion, and an ability to strip a person’s heart bare with a single look. Tish Newman had been a fixture in my life since childhood, present for all the highs and lows as I grew up with the love of her life. Gerry’s death had opened a crevice of pain between us. My fault, not hers.
“I got your message and thought I’d drop by instead of calling,” Tish said, hugging me hard.
Unexpected, unshed tears pressed behind my eyes and I pulled away. I didn’t want a trip down memory lane right now. Stress and magic had worn me down today, and seeing her ripped the scab off a wound that had festered instead of healed.
“I just closed on a modified shotgun house up on Carondelet.” She threw her purse on the coffee table and shrugged off her light jacket. “I can’t decide whether to rent it out for the extra income or move into it myself because it’s closer to work—and closer to you.” She looked around at the double parlors. “You’ve done some redecorating
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