Page 17 of Shattered

“It’s nothing. Normal day for me.” Keeley brushed Aurora off with a flip of her wrist. It surprised her when Keeley leaned forward, dropping her voice. “Take my advice, stay clear of all the men in this town… Most of them are assholes.”

Okay, that was totally out of left field, especially after what happened at Keeley’s house. “At this point in my life, I don’t really have time for a relationship. Abby is my priority.”

For the last couple of days, she’d watched her niece like a hawk, too. Abby’s rosy cheeks had faded into a soft pink, and though she waited for the coming fever and subsequent sickness, it never came. Abby had been right as rain, shocking the hell out of Aurora. Abby’s medical issues took up a lot of her time. Not that she was complaining. She’d loved the little girl from the moment they placed the squirming, squawking infant in her arms. Aurora would do anything for her niece.

“Smart woman,” Keeley said before taking a long sip of her drink.

A lock from Keeley’s mussy braid slipped free and fluttered in the breeze. Aurora’s gaze lowered to the reddish-purple mark on Keeley’s neck and the slight swell of her skin. Curiosity gripped her. She’d seen the feature before on a couple of people in the Sheriff’s Department. Noticed it more after the “run,” with those who were married, or dating after they disappeared the other night at the party. These two, though—Keeley and Kalkin, were famous, according to the talk around the new trainees.

“Should I even ask?” Aurora inquired.

Keeley sighed, and her hazel eyes twinkled with amusement. “I don’t want to scare you off or skew your opinion of your new boss, especially after the party.”

Aurora smiled. She pushed aside the incident with Mackenzie, believing it’d been a one-off situation. If he hadn’t shifted in all those years, his senses or whatever had to have been pinging and out of control. “I think I’ll survive, considering technically, he’s not my boss. I report to Justine Locklear.”

“Semantics,” Keeley declared. “Since Justine reports to Kalkin.”

“True.”

“Jiminy Crickets, this man is driving me bat-shit crazy,” Keeley mumbled.

Aurora glanced over her shoulder.

“No, don’t look,” Keeley snapped.

“Sweet cheeks,” Kalkin grumbled. The deep and dark sound sent a shiver down Aurora’s spine. “Aurora.”

“Damn it.”

Aurora didn’t know if Keeley was messing around or if she was being serious. From all she’d seen between the two, they loved each other. When she glanced at Keeley, though, she had a sour look on her face, and she kept her hand on her drink.

“Sheriff,” Aurora replied.

Kalkin spun one of the chairs around at their table and sat. He rested his massive forearms on the back of the chair while staring at Keeley. Holy shit, the intensity in his gaze and the way he watched every little movement she made, had Aurora anxious. She didn’t understand it. She also didn’t understand why the hair on her arms stood on end any time he’d been around.

She gulped.

“Aurora.” Kalkin nodded his head. The hardness eased from his features, and his cool gaze softened, filling with love and adoration when he turned his attention back to Keeley. “Whatcha girls talking about?” He snatched Keeley’s drink, and sucked back more than half her drink all while silently daring his mate to do something. How Aurora knew that, she couldn’t say.

The by-play between the two of them could scorch anyone who dared to step into their vicinity, including Aurora. However, as much as she should walk away and give them space to deal with whatever sparked between them in that particular moment, she stayed, interested in what would happen next.

“Gimmie that, Kalkin.” Keeley sneered before removing the clear plastic cup from between his fingers. Her delicate features twisted in disgust as she examined the straw he had used. “Now I’ve got Kalkin cooties all over my drink.”

Kalkin snorted, opened his mouth, and before he could utter a word, Keeley smacked her small hand over his mouth, stopping whatever he was about to say. Pity. They were amusing as hell. She wondered if she had enough time to go grab a bucket of popcorn and watch the show.

“Don’t youfreakingdare, Kalkin,” Keeley snarled before removing her hand and wiping it on her pant leg. The glare she tossed his way, would have cut any other man down to size, not Kalkin, though, he seemed to get off on it.

He cocked a brow at Keeley and chuckled in amusement. Yeah, living here was going to be fun. “So, what are you doing, mate?”

“Talking,” Keeley snapped after taking a sip of her tea.

“I got that, but what about?”

“Things,” Keeley bit out.

“About?” Kalkin asked, continuing to push his mate. “Mackenzie maybe?” For the first time since he sat down, Kalkin gave Aurora his attention. “Perhaps about the party?”

“Keeley and I were talking about Abby.” She straightened her shoulders.

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