“An electronics store or something. I want to get a doorbell camera.”
Rick’s brow wrinkled. “Why do you want that?”
I pictured Nate again, leaning against the wall outside my apartment. Two things happened whenever I thought about those few minutes I’d spent with him. First, I got annoyed and irritated at him coming to my home unannounced and unwanted. Second? A faint warmth crept across my body, slidingfrom my chest to between my legs. That, coupled with my worrisome realizations about my relationship with Rick, made me uncomfortable.
Shaking my head to snap out of those thoughts, I said, “One of the other reporters said it might be smart. Apparently, when you start covering more intense stories, you can end up with some unsavory people poking around. I figured it would be good to have a little extra security if I get assigned to the crime beat full-time.”
It was a white lie, but still possible. Maybe there were mobsters or someone who’d try to strong-arm me if I got hot on their trail. Either way, it was easier to go with that story than the real reason. I didn’t think Rick would enjoy hearing about some tall, dark, and handsome private detective who’d now invaded both my nightly dreams and my daydreams.
Rick chewed his lip. “Do you need me to do anything? To help you guys stay safe?”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “Take me to buy a doorbell camera.”
“What if someone tries to break in or something, though? You guys aren’t in a rough part of town, but it’s not the safest, either.” He shot me an anxious glance.
“If anyone’s that stupid, then they’ll have to deal with my mother. That should be good enough as a deterrent.”
Rick pulled up in front of a store and let out a heavy sigh. “I wouldn’t want to go toe to toe with Sophia, that’s for sure. I’m your boyfriend, but I always get this vibe coming off her that she hates me. I can only imagine what an intruder would get.”
That was true. My mother and Rick were not bosom buddies, and Mom made her opinions on him clear when he wasn’t around. Her judgments hadn’t changed, no matter how much I tried to smooth things over between them. She refused to change her mind about him. From what I could tell, she didn’t takekindly to the way he flaunted his money. Also, I got the feeling he simply rubbed her the wrong way.
Half an hour later, after I’d bought a very simple Wi-Fi-enabled doorbell camera, Rick pulled up outside my apartment.
“Let me walk you inside,” Rick said, getting out of his side of the car.
“You don’t have to. Really.” I did my best to give him a confident smile so he wouldn’t worry about me. And honestly, I really wanted to be alone.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I mean, if no one’s home, we could… enjoy the afternoon a bit? What do you say?”
I smiled, but the nausea returned with urgency. Imagining Rick above me, sweaty and grunting, made my gorge rise. A mental image of his cock sliding into my mouth nearly made me dry-heave again.
What the hell was wrong with me?
“I think I need to sleep off this bug or whatever. I want to be well for that gala dinner,” I said, taking an unconscious step back to get away from his smell.
He winked. “Ifit’s a bug, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I walked toward the door. “It’s a bug,” I called over my shoulder.
“We’ll see about that. See you later?”
“I’ll text you.”
The nausea abated as soon as I was inside. Strange. Maybe I needed to tell Rick to get rid of that awful cologne. I used to love it, but I was clearly having a reaction to it.
That was all that made sense. Why else would being close to him make me want to puke?
6
Nate
Isipped at my espresso and watched the crowds move past the coffee shop. A wave of humanity, flitting to and fro, all of them in their own little worlds. None of them knew a shifter was watching them. Over the years, I’d learned to keep myself as inconspicuous as possible—not entirely easy with my size and the power of my alpha aura. Even humans could sense it sometimes if I wasn’t extra careful. Still, it was always surreal to think about how little they truly knew about the world.
My mind drifted, as it had so many times these last few days, to Cameron Torres. Since meeting her at her apartment, she’d been stuck in my brain, like a splinter under the skin you couldn’t quite work out. A very attractive splinter. My inner wolf enjoyed thinking about her, too. Each time an image of her face flashed through my mind, he gave a low, hungry growl. Surges of desire flooded through from him, echoing my own.
As I watched the sea of people stream by, I compared every woman to her. That wasn’t something I’d ever done with anyone before, and it confused me. I didn’t do romance. A one-nightstand? Sure. But thinking about some woman I barely knew, imagining myself with her, was strange. Especially for me, who preferred to stay hidden and unconnected from both human and shifter societies.
Even here, in the shadow of an alleyway between the coffee shop and a bakery, I felt a bit exposed. Finishing my coffee, I tossed the takeout cup in a trash can and moved farther back into the shadows. I made my way to the nearby park, trying to put Cameron from my mind. Based on the map I’d made after triangulating the addresses Ollie had given me, there were two possible options for the chlorinated water. One was a health club a bit north of where one of the bodies were found, the other was the park. Online pictures showed it had a big fountain, and I wanted to see if it was chlorinated. It was much closer to two of the bodies, so it was a better lead.
