Page 9 of A Hunter Cursed
Keegan shook her head and let out a chuckle. The man was incorrigible. Standing, she pointed her finger at him, “If something happens to you, I’m going to be so pissed.”
Jeremiah stood as well, his smile brilliant in his triumph. “Look on the bright side. You’re a witch. If I die, you can use a Ouija board to yell at me.”
Keegan snorted. “Don’t think I won’t, buddy. There’ll be no resting in peace for you.”
“Duly noted.”
∞∞∞
“So, you’ve heard my sad story. Care to share yours?”
Their server had just deposited their food on the table at the busy outdoor café where Keegan had met Jeremiah, insisting on taking her own car so she wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the training facility to pick it up.
Grabbing hold of his shrimp po’boy with two hands, Jeremiah took a big bite. His eyes rolled back and he groaned. “So good,” he said around a mouthful of food. Or at least, that’s what she thought he’d meant to say since it came out sounding more like ‘oh, ud’.
Taking a bite of her own sandwich, which she had to agree was delicious, Keegan waited patiently.
“Not much sad to tell,” he finally told her matter-of-factly before taking another bite.
She eyed him skeptically. “Everyone has a sad story.”
Jeremiah shrugged his shoulder. “I’m just lucky I guess.”
She almost grumbled, ‘Must be nice,’ but she bit back those bitter words, saying instead, “Okay then, tell me something about yourself.”
“What do you want to know? Ask me anything.”
Keegan considered for a moment before settling on, “Tell me about the women you usually date.”
His mouth pinched just slightly at the corners, betraying his aversion to the subject matter. “I don’t date a lot,” he finally said. “My responsibilities to Archer usually keep me pretty busy.”
Keegan nodded and took a sip of her sweet tea. He’d said he didn’t date a lot, not that he didn’t date at all, but considering his obvious discomfort, she was willing to put a pin in that line of questioning for now. “Langley owns a construction company, doesn’t he? I thought I heard that somewhere.”
Jeremiah visibly relaxed now that she’d changed the subject. “He does. Between those jobs and our regular duties, we’re all kept pretty busy.”
As they ate, Keegan continued to pepper him with questions, asking about how he’d become Archer Langley’s second, whether he’d attended a regular public school growing up or if they, out of necessity, homeschooled. Things about pack life she was curious to learn. It was only when the questions turned to his personal likes and dislikes that he got that pinched look once more. Why in the world would someone get uptight about being asked what kind of books they liked to read or what kind of movies they enjoyed?
Her curiosity too piqued to let it go, she asked, “Why does that bother you? Are you afraid I’m going to judge your tastes? I promise I won’t. I’m not exactly cultured, you know,” she added with a laugh.
His continued pained look despite her assurances, had her offering, “Here, I’ll go first so you can hear how low the bar is set.” Ticking off the point on her finger, she told him, “I honestly don’t much like to read, so the only books I’m cracking have to do with sp-” nipping that statement in the bud, she quickly glanced at the full tables around them before clearing her throat. “Work,” she amended. “As for movies, I’m all about the rom-coms, the chick flicks, give me those Hallmark Christmas specials, baby, I’m all over it, all year long.”
Jeremiah chuckled and then groaned. “Not the Hallmark Christmas special,” he said with a hand to his chest as he slumped dramatically in his chair. “Anything but that.”
Keegan couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Oh, yes. And I will sing Christmas carols all day, every day at the top of my lungs from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Heck, sometimes I’ll break out into a rocking rendition ofHere Comes Santa Clausin the middle of July.”
“Wearing a Santa hat?” he teased with a chuckle.
She shook her head. “Oh, no, I have antlers with bells on them and a flashing red nose.”
His laughter was loud, full-bodied, and he tipped back in his chair with it until Keegan thought for sure he was going to fall over. They were having such a good time, she hated to ruin it, but she needed to know. Waiting until his merriment had died down and his chair was back on all four legs, she asked, “Why did my questions bother you?”
Jeremiah cleared his throat, sobering. He didn’t want to talk about Cara, but hell, Keegan had trusted him with a shitload of personal stuff. It was only right that he did the same.
“My last girlfriend,” he began and then shook his head. “She would ask me stuff like that and then swear up and down that those were her favorites too.”
“Even though they weren’t?”
“I’d say no, but honestly, I have no fucking clue, if you’ll excuse my language. She never told me anything real about herself as far as I can tell.”
