Page 11 of A Hunter Cursed
“Are you busy?”
“I’m at the facility trying to figure out my game plan.”
“How long do you think that will take? Can you break for lunch?”
Keegan glanced at the files in front of her and the notes she’d made. Nothing had to be finished today. In fact, Morgan had given her much more time than she actually required to plot out the course. Work, however, was a convenient excuse to keep distance between her and Jeremiah. Unfortunately, her brain and her mouth didn’t seem to agree. Instead of telling him she was busy and couldn’t get away, she asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“I thought we could take the ferry over to Algiers.”
Keegan nearly groaned. That sounded so nice and she hadn’t been there in ages but dammit, didn’t he realize she was trying to protect him?
As if he could read her mind, Jeremiah added, “Plus, I’ve been thinking about your curse, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got the answer to it.”
That had her eyes popping wide open. “What? You found something? Where? Who?”
Jeremiah chuckled. “How about ‘When’ meaning I’ll tell you when I see you.”
“Ooh, you play dirty, Jeremiah Durand,” Keegan told him with a mock growl of frustration.
His response was more of that thrill-inducing laughter before he suggested, “I’ll pick you up in an hour?”
“How about I’ll meet you there in an hour,” she countered.
“You drive a hard bargain,” was his seemingly begrudging reply though Keegan could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll be waiting.”
When she arrived, Keegan practically jumped on Jeremiah to tell her what he had discovered. “Patience,” was his happily grinning response which made her want to thump him in her frustration until he added, “Let’s get on board first, then I’ll tell you.”
Deciding she could live with that, she didn’t harangue him for the details, though it was tough. Her mind was blazing as she contemplated the possibilities. As soon as the ferry was moving, she turned to him with an eager expression. “Tell me, tell me, tell me.”
Leaning against the rail, his hair rumpling a bit thanks to a welcome breeze, Jeremiah chuckled. “Look at you, all excited,” he said with a grin. “Happiness looks good on you.”
Keegan could feel her cheeks pinken at the compliment, and those butterflies in her belly once more took flight, but she still narrowed her eyes. “You’re stalling.”
“Just stating the facts,” he returned unabashed, his fingers coming up to touch her chin.
That touch was electric, and for a moment, Keegan could do nothing but stand there, her mind suddenly a complete blank. The moment was only broken once Jeremiah straightened up, his voice all business as he said, “Okay. Here’s my theory. Have you ever dated a shifter?”
Shaking off the befuddled haze that small bit of contact had caused, Keegan shook her head. “What? No.”
“So then, you don’t know if this curse would affect someone like me.”
Her brow crinkled with a frown. “Well, no, but –”
“And we shifters are a lot heartier than humans or witches. It takes quite a bit to bring us down. I could be immune to the curse.”
Keegan considered that for a moment but then shook her head, her lips twisting into a grimace as she pointed out, “That’s speculation, not fact.”
“Then let’s look at it as an experiment.”
Keegan closed her eyes and groaned. “Just being friends with me is risky enough.”
She felt his warm hand envelope hers. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he told her. “Let’s live for the now, Keegan. A couple of dates,” he suggested. “We’ll even keep them during the daytime if that’ll make you feel safer, do things like this,” he said motioning to the ferry and the water beyond. “Just see what happens.”
The thought of her curse affecting Jeremiah made her practically queasy but what he was offering was so, so very tempting. Jeremiah was definitely becoming her weakness. “I’ll think about it,” she finally conceded.
His grin was brilliant. “That’s not a no, so I’ll take it.”
Over the next few weeks, Jeremiah came up with more and more intriguing outings to lure her out until they were practically spending almost every day together for at least an hour if not longer. While mornings were spent with Morgan at the facility, planning, and preparing, Keegan’s afternoons were spent with Jeremiah talking and laughing.
