Warmth flooded her knuckles under his touch.
“I’ll help,” he murmured, then pushed her hand.
Tank howled, and she rushed the last two shots without assistance to avoid the strange tingling sensation that had taken over her skin where Dade had touched her. He took Tank off the exam table, and she gave him a couple of dog treats from the jar. The poor hound slunk around the room, chewing his treaties with his tail between his legs.
Quinn tried and failed to meet Dade’s gaze, then tried again and gave him a smile. “Thanks for earlier. When you covered for me with the other vet tech. That was nice of you.”
“I’m not nice,” he said, slipping his sunglasses back over his eyes.
Dr. Voss bustled through the door. With a squeeze of her hand, she whispered near her ear, “You can take the rest of the day off.”
“But really, I’m okay.”
“It’s only an hour early, and you’ve earned it. Gertie and I can handle the rest of the appointments today.”
Disappointed in herself, Quinn nodded. She dared a glance at Dade, and he was watching her with a troubled quirk to his light brows, as if he’d heard Dr. Voss dismiss her, which was impossible from across the room.
Flustered, she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Whether that man was soft or tough, nice or not, Quinn’s instincts screamed that Dade was trouble.
Quinn made her way to the small locker where she kept her things, then pulled her satchel from inside and slung it over her chest. With a wave to Gertie, she made her way out the back exit and pulled the lock off her bike. She had a car, but she only lived a mile away from the clinic and liked to bike when the weather was fair. New to town, she was still enamored with how fresh the air smelled here at the edge of the Colorado Rockies. But when she swung her leg over and began to pedal, the bike wasn’t moving as smoothly as it usually did.
She dismounted and groaned as she beheld the flat back tire. Today sucked. Holding back another wave of pathetic tears, she pushed her jouncing bike toward the small, two-lane road that would lead her home.
She’d almost made it to Main Street when the sound of a car drew her attention behind her. A forest green Tacoma with giant black rims coasted up beside her. Dade sat behind the wheel and lowered his sunglasses. “Gotta flat?”
Quinn wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. Timidly, she said, “I don’t usually cry every minute of my life, you know. You’ve just caught me on a bad day.”
“I can see that.” Dade looked around, and his eyes settled on a black sedan that was parked on the side of the road. The look he gave that car was downright venomous before he turned back to Quinn. “Good luck getting home.”
His voice had gone cold and empty, and a little noise of indignation crawled up the back of her throat as he sped off. What a jerk. She’d thought he was about to ask her if she wanted a ride home, but nope. He was just stopping so he could kick gravel up at her as he drove away.
Any nice thoughts about the man flitted away as she watched him disappear in a cloud of dust.
Chapter Three
“Dade. Dade!” Cody said, slamming his hand on the table. “Are you even listening?”
Station 6 was quiet tonight, which was fine because Boone, Gage, and Cody were the only ones on shift. Breckenridge had three stations around the area, but this one was the biggest, and usually the busiest. Not tonight, though. Like the calm before a storm, the quiet had the hairs lifting on the back of Dade’s neck.
“Yeah, man, I’m listening,” he muttered, setting down the napkin he’d been shredding. Really, he’d been thinking of Quinn and the way Shayna had watched them when he’d pulled up beside Quinn on the side of the road earlier today.
“Then what do you think we should do?” Gage asked.
Boone narrowed his eyes at him, but it was Cody’s look of utter frustration that held Dade’s attention. He pet Tank’s head as the dog rested it on his thigh. “I don’t think we should go public. It isn’t just us it affects, Cody. What about the Ashe Crew, the Gray Backs, the Boarlanders? Hell, what about every crew across the world? Our decision to expose what we are puts all shifters at risk. Not just the Breck Crew and not just bear shifters.” Dade shook his head and leaned back in the plastic chair. “It doesn’t feel right. Not right now.”
“Okay, so we let Shayna rebuild IESA. We do nothing. We leave them with all the cards and start giving into blackmail again. We allow them to use the cubs, Ma, our mates as pawns in a game that will end up with us all dead. Is that what you’re suggesting?”
“No, Cody,” Dade gritted out. “I just think we need to take more time to think about this. About what coming out to the public will really mean. We’ll be shunned or strung up to the nearest tree and burned. How does that make the cubs any safer? How does that make our family any better off?”