Page 6 of The Tracker's Secret
“You’re acting weird.” Rosalina gave me a raised eyebrow. “Ever since you got back from your mom’s yesterday, I don’t know, you haven’t been the same. Did something happen?”
My shoulders slumped forward. I couldn’t keep this from her. “Actually, somethingdidhappen, but it’s kind of a long story. Maybe we can talk about it tonight?”
“O-kay,” she said slowly. “Should I be worried?”
“Maybe. A little.” She probably needed to worry a lot, but it wouldn’t be nice to ruin her day by telling her that. And maybe between now and then, I would come up with some genius idea to help me keep the animal inside me under control.
She huffed, not pleased with my answer. “Fine then. We’ll talk tonight. Now, let’s hurry or we’ll be late. Wanna grab breakfast on the way?”
“Definitely. I’m starving. Let me feed Cupid before we go.” I was determined to be more diligent about feeding my betta fish his yummy pellets. He waved his colorful tail as he gulped his food. I would need to change his water soon. It was starting to look clouded.
On our way to the agency, we got tall cups of coffee and gooey bear claws at a small pastry shop near her condo. The food distracted me for a bit, and when I finished licking my fingers I did my best not to think of anything but our next client.
We still didn’t know much about him except that his name was Aaron Blackridge and that he was a popular Skew DJ that went by the name of Slice. He was a werewolf from a well-known pack. The Blackridges had been in St. Louis for generations. Today, we would create a file for him, go over the contract, and hopefully get some heartfelt tears out of him to start a tracking potion.
We arrived at the agency with ten minutes to spare. Rosalina parked her red Scion in front of our door and we got out. I hurried inside the office, afraid of running into Jake. Without Damien Ward’s spell on me, I was afraid he would be able to detect a change in me, and I wasn’t ready for anyone to know, much less Jake. Even the idea of talking to Rosalina tonight scared me. I didn’t know if I would ever accept myself, and I was afraid others might not accept me either. Though in Jake’s case, I worried that he would instantly receive me with open arms and for reasons that had too much to do with my damn uterus.
The badass Cupid artwork that hung on the wall greeted us as it did every morning, and I allowed my shoulders to relax. I had avoided Jake. For now.
Rosalina quickly took a seat at her desk and fired up her laptop. She handed me the folder she’d prepared for our new client, and I was about to go into my office to settle in when the door behind me opened, and the person I least wanted to see came waltzing in.
“Good morning,” Jake said, inclining his head.
I turned to face him, meeting Rosalina’s eyes with a quick wince as I did.
He stood framed by the door, tall and broad, his hair and beard perfectly styled, and the scent of fresh soap drifting from him. He wore a pair of dark jeans, black biker boots, a gray T-shirt, and a bomber jacket. His silver eyes twinkled with the overhead lights, and my heart did that weird, irregular drumming it always did when he unexpectedly appeared and I hadn’t braced myself to face his mouth-watering hotness.
Red licked her lips at the sight. I did, too.
Coming back to my senses, I took a couple of steps away from him, afraid he might be able to capture a new scent coming from me. He frowned as I retreated, cocking his head to one side. His nostrils widened, and I feared there would be no hiding this from him, but he dismissed my attitude as I put on an annoyed expression.
Disappointment washed over me. It was stupid. Logically, I didn’t want him to know what I was, but my heart had always been a dumbass when it came to Jacob Knight.
“Sorry,” he said, “I won’t interrupt your workday for long, I simply had a question about our landlord.”
Jake’s PI agency sat next door to ours. Only ten days ago, though it felt like a lifetime, he had shown up out of the blue after being away for one and a half years. Shamelessly, he had rented the vacant office space right on our street and had managed to drag me into an ordeal of screwed-up proportions.
Now, all I could hope for was that, since he had no more use for me, he’d decided to vacate the premises. A girl could only hope.
“Ask away,” Rosalina said.
“There are a few things that need his attention before I can officially open for business, do you know another way to contact him besides his email address? He hasn’t answered any of the messages I’ve sent him.”
Nope, he hadn’t decided to leave. Instead, he was making himself comfortable and was on the verge of opening for business. He had been doing repairs to the space. Maybe he had finished getting things the way he wanted them.
Slowly, I backed away toward my office. “I think Rosalina has his phone number, don’t you?”
She nodded, then picked up her cell phone and started scrolling through the contacts.
“I've got to get ready for a client. He’ll be here any minute.” I hooked a finger toward my office, then quickly disappeared through the open door. Once inside, I heaved a sigh of relief. It didn’t seem as if he’d detected anything different about me, but I couldn’t be sure it would remain that way. Maybe the mage’s spell hadn’t completely worn out, and as soon as it did, Jake would know.
The skin around my fingers began to itch. I scratched it absentmindedly, and when I realized what I was doing, I stopped and shook myself. Taking three deep breaths, I calmed myself. The annoying itching passed. Man, if I didn’t know better, I would say that mywerewolfnesscame with mange.
Stupid, shifting urges!
Eager for a distraction to keep my mind off my traitorous body, I sat behind my desk and set the new customer folder in front of me. I had work to do.
***
