Frost Security(17)

“Water while I put some coffee on? After I feed my boys, of course.”

“Sure, that sounds fine.”

I retreated into the kitchen, a stupid little smirk on my lips as I went about the task of feeding my dogs. They each got half a can of wet, mixed with some dry food, and a little pumpkin puree to go with it, to keep their stomachs settled and regular. “How long have you lived in Colorado?” I called back into the living room.

“A couple years. Moved out here when Peter and I met.”

When they met? Were they? Crap, I hadn't gotten that vibe from them at all! I stopped in my tracks. “When you two met, huh?”

He cleared his throat in the other room. “Yeah, he had the idea for the security agency, so we came up here to open it together.”

I bit my lip, sighed. Oh well, I thought. Win some. Lose some. And some are just gay.

Dammit.





Chapter Seven


Richard



I realized what I'd said, and the implication of it, as soon as the words left my mouth. I swore quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear me, and made a face. I scratched behind my ear nervously, worried I'd given her the wrong impression. “Yeah, he and I met at a bar in Texas.”

“Uh-huh,” she said from the kitchen, her voice a little confused sounding.

Dammit. I was digging the hole deeper. “But, I mean, Peter's a great boss. And a friend. And, uh, you know, that's it.”

“Oh,” she said, a little surprised sounding as she plopped the dog's food down in their bowls. “Okay. I was um, a little confused. That's all.”

I laughed uncertainly. “Yeah, we're just like family, that's all. Like brothers, more than . . .”

She laughed. “It's okay. I get it, Richard. You can stop backtracking.” She moved around in the kitchen, prepping coffee and getting it brewing.

I breathed a sigh of relief, ran a hand back through my hair.

Then, I shook my head. I was here, being nervous around this woman, and losing focus of what I should be doing. I suddenly was more concerned about whether or not she thought Peter and I had a thing going with each other than I was about her safety.

This was about me doing my job, not getting a date, I reminded myself. I needed to stay with my head in the game.

I went into the kitchen, glanced around. “While that's brewing,” I said, “I'm going to go take a walk around the area. You gonna be fine in here alone?”

“Yeah,” she said, glancing back at me, brushing a strand of dark hair back behind her ear, “of course. Coffee should take a minute anyways.”

I nodded and went out the back, the dogs too focused on their supper to even think about me.

Dogs and shifters had a special arrangement, it seemed. For whatever reason, probably one that Peter could explain in greater detail over a couple beers, we had a certain affinity with domesticated animals. They didn't treat us like humans, or like wildlife. Instead, they were even more friendly than normal. Maybe it had to do with our knowing how to treat them? The way we smelled? I wasn't sure one way or another, I just knew I'd never had a problem with dogs, or even cats, before.

I stepped out onto the back deck and whistled low. It was quite the view from back here. The mountains rose up just a short distance away on the other side of the valley, majestically poked their heads through the piney trees. A swath of green and yellow grass lay between the cabin and the mountains.

I won't lie, I missed Texas' big open sky, where the azure heavens seemed to stretch endlessly above you. But, there was still something to be said of the awe-inspiring Rockies, and their peaks that dwarfed every living creature on the planet.

I stepped down off the deck and began to walk the area. The marks of a hundred wild animals, and their nightly passing, filled my nose. Had I been in my wolf form, it'd be a sensory overload, like staring into a Pollack painting you could somehow discern the madness from. But, now, in my human one, it was just curious and intriguing. Over it all, of course, I could smell her scent. Jessica's.

I shook my head again, trying to get my attraction out of my head. “On a job, Richard,” I muttered as I walked down to the little creek at the back of her property, out into the yellow and green grass. “On a job.”

The sun would be down, soon. Not official sunset, of course, but behind the mountains entirely. I still needed to discuss with her where I should park the Jeep for my watch. Did she know of a place I could park it up the road, or on the property where I could put it with drawing attention? I'd seen a spot when I came up the driveway, but I wanted to know if it was stable before I parked the Wrangler there.

With my head a little more clear, I turned back from the creek and began to head back up to Jessica's little cabin, with her two dogs and all her turtle paintings and statues. “Of all the things to have in the middle of the mountains,” I muttered, laughing a little. “Turtles.”