He wouldn’t. Jena wasn’t a regular employee. Like Ted, she helped out when Ollie needed her and she wasn’t a flake. She was a chef and owned the only other restaurant in town, the Blackbird Diner. She also had two boys at home and another on the way, thanks to her hot-as-sin new husband, Caleb Gilbert.
“Hope it’s nothing serious.” Ted tried not to worry too much. If it were medical, her phone would already be ringing. She was the only doctor in town.
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
Ted grabbed a pad and headed out to the floor, nodding along to the music. It was a new band. Some boys from Las Vegas and they were good. The Cave was Ollie’s bar, but all of his closest friends helped out occasionally. It was fun to hang out on quieter nights, and they always drank for free. Jena and Caleb usually got a babysitter for the boys and helped out on the weekends, when live music filled the bar and things were busier. Jena waited tables and made drinks with Ollie while Caleb would hang out and keep things from getting too wild. Having the Cambio Springs Chief of Police in the corner of the room tended to keep out the wilder elements.
Well, the wilder human elements. There wasn’t anything they could do about the shapeshifters. The visiting humans mixed among the locals, never suspecting the large man who served them drinks was a bear on full moon nights. Or the lean guy at the pool table slid into a rattlesnake to sun himself on the hot desert rocks that surrounded the small desert town. The three brothers nodding along to the blues-rock howled at the moon on Friday nights, and that wasn’t just a figure of speech.
She was picking up empties when she felt warm breath on her neck. She was about to turn and bare claws when she heard his voice.
“Hey, Ted.”
Son of a bitch.
Alex McCann leaned down and gave her neck an obvious sniff. Ted tried not to roll her eyes. Wolves. It was all about the nose.
“What are you doing here, Alex?”
He took another deep breath and smirked. “Pissing you off and, apparently, turning you on a little.”
“Go away, Alex.”
“I’m also helping out Ollie. He called and said Jena had to take off. He knew I wasn’t busy tonight.”
“Well, Tracey asked me to help, so you can go home.”
He looked around the chaotic bar and Ted tried to keep a straight face. Even with Ollie and Tracey’s husband Jim behind the bar, Tracey and Ted out on the floor, they were still short-staffed. The Cave wasn’t a large bar, but that night, they were stretching fire code with all the people crammed in to see the band.
Apparently, Alex thought so, too.
“I can stay.”
“Don’t you need to get home?”
He cocked his head. “No, I told you—”
“I mean Los Angeles.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Work’s done for the week. Shouldn’t you be scurrying back?”
He looked close, a quiet look of challenge on his face. “I am home, baby. You’ll get used to it eventually.”
She stepped on the toe of his boot and ground her foot down. “Do. Not. Call. Me. That.”
It didn’t do anything but bring up painful memories.
He clenched his jaw and Ted could see the faint golden glow behind his eyes. “Don’t go furry now, McCann.”
“Then keep your claws in, Vasquez.”
She stepped back and smiled. “You only wish my claws were in you.” She was fairly sure there was a scar or two on his shoulders that proved it.
Alex stepped back, and people cleared a path. They always did. “Patience is a virtue… baby.”
Ted ignored what she knew he was trying to say and turned back to finish picking up the tables.
Her tables kept her too busy to think about Alex. Too busy to think about their history or how she still—even after years apart—turned toward his side of the bed to reach for him at night.
Too busy to think about her struggling practice. Too busy to think about her family or the rumbling in the cat clan that her mother and great aunt were trying to quell. And definitely too busy to think about the new spa resort Alex was building in the heart of the place the Vasquez family had called home for generations, Cambio Springs.
Some in town hoped the resort would use the natural mineral springs that gave the town its name to draw wealthy visitors to the luxury resort that McCann Holdings was building. Others worried the secrecy the seven original families of the Springs had carefully maintained for over one hundred years would crumble, and humans would discover that one of the springs, the one hidden in the canyon wall, had turned the original town founders into shapeshifters.
Cats, wolves, snakes, birds, and bears. There had been others marry in, but the seven original families had passed on their strange quirk to their offspring, and now the isolated desert town was unique for more than just the mineral springs. It didn’t matter if your mom or dad married a human. If one of them changed into a bobcat on the full moon, you would too.
“Hey, can I get a beer here?”
“Miss? Miss?”
The shouts, laughs, and mild chaos around her had the odd effect of quieting Ted’s mind as she focused on the immediate task. It was what had made her so good in trauma. She’d been in her element during her time in the ER. Part of her hated that she’d had to go into general practice.
“Why’s it so slow tonight?” a whiny voice at her next table asked.
“It usually isn’t. Oh my… look at him. He is so hot.”
Ted smiled at the table of clueless human women who ordered four margaritas and couldn’t take their eyes off the singer in the corner. He was cute, Ted had to admit, but he didn’t hold a candle to the eye candy standing behind the bar, laughing and mixing drinks with a smile and a wink to the girls. Ted knew she wasn’t the only one who noticed.
The Southern California business gloss was slowly wearing off of Alex the longer he stayed in town, and Ted tried not to notice how much more attractive he was without it. It reminded her of when they’d been living together when she was in medical school. He’d had been working construction then, not closing real estate deals. He’d been rough and callused. And when he came home dusty at night, she was reminded of home. He’d even had a beard for a while. The human girls then hadn’t liked it—beards were out of fashion then—but the blatant masculinity of it had turned Ted on. It still did. That animal attraction hadn’t lessened between them, Ted had just gotten better at ignoring it.
She also ignored all the women flirting with Alex.
The Cave was the unofficial boundary line of Cambio Springs, so humans came in to drink the beer and listen to the quality bands that Ollie managed to pull in, but they didn’t linger in town. Most were just passing through. The few who showed more interest were quietly discouraged, mostly by Ollie or any of the other bears in her friend’s clan who acted as the unofficial guardians of Cambio Springs.
She saw Ollie smile at her and knew he’d caught her watching Alex. She rolled her eyes and rushed to another table. Ollie may have been Ted’s second or third or fifth cousin, but he was one of Alex’s best friends, too. And he had opinions. Quiet opinions, but he hadn’t held them back.
“He’s back now, Ted. Work your shit out. You guys belong together.”
Simple problem. Simple solution. Typical bear.
Sure, Alex was back. Until the resort was finished, and then Ted had little confidence he’d stick around. He’d misled her too many times.
When are you coming home?
Soon.
When are you coming back?
Soon.
“Soon” had turned into seven years. Seven years since Alex McCann had broken her heart. The first time.
The second time… Well, she’d learned her lesson.
But Ollie wanted the people around him content and happy, and she knew he missed when Alex and Ted had been together. She was his family, and Alex was his best friend. In Ollie’s opinion, the solution was obvious. Get over it and move on with their life together. The problem was, O
llie believed Alex was staying in the Springs—which Ted didn’t, even a little—and the bear’s heart hadn’t been broken one time too many by the wolf behind the bar.
She pulled her eyes away from Alex and Ollie joking around and went to grab empties. The band started in on an edgy rock cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends” and Ted risked a glance at Alex. It was one of their songs. She remembered dancing in their tiny kitchen in Venice Beach, Alex singing the lyrics in her ear after a particularly bad day.
They’d been friends before they were lovers. Good friends. And sometimes, she missed that most of all.
“Take a break.”
He stood behind her; she didn’t even need to look to know. The band had taken off at midnight and someone had put a Lucinda Williams tune on the jukebox. Just fast enough to not be considered a slow song, but slow enough to hold your partner close.
She never said Alex didn’t know what he was doing.
“Can’t.” The crowd had died down and she and Tracey were cleaning up the floor. It was after midnight, and her mind was clear. If she went home now, she’d sleep well. If she danced with Alex, she wouldn’t sleep well for a week.
“Dance with me, Ted.” He slipped a hand around her waist to pull her back from the table she’d been clearing. “As a friend.”
She scoffed. “Right.”
“Friends dance.” He leaned closer, his heat pressing against her side. She could smell a hint of bourbon on his breath and wished it didn’t draw her in. By the ease of his voice, he was happily buzzed. Not drunk. Just at that happy place that made him even harder to resist.
She patted the hand at her waist. “You should get Jim or Ollie to drive you home.”
“I will. One dance.”
“Alex—”
“You told me we were friends.”
She had. In a moment of weakness, after Ted had loaded her oldest friend into her Jeep so Caleb could drive her to the hospital in Indio. In those moments when the prospect of losing Jena had terrified them both, she’d turned to Alex. Held on. She needed a friend, and he’d been there.
“Friends dance with each other, Ted.”
“Fine. One dance.” Just to prove that she could. She dropped the rag and turned to him, letting Alex guide her between the tables and toward the small dance floor by the juke box.
He held her loosely, and Ted set her hands on his shoulders.
One dance. Between friends.
She ignored the happy purr of her cat and tried to lean away from his body, but Alex still managed to surround her. With his arms, his scent, and that indescribable hum that always seemed to follow him. Like a live wire, her body reacted. She could feel the spark of awareness as he scented her.
Damn wolf.
He leaned in, his rough voice licking along her nerves. “So when we get back together, would you be okay with adding on to your house, or should I look for a bigger place before we have kids?”
“A dance between friends?” She dropped her arms and glared. “Right. I should have known.”
“What?” His face a picture of innocence. “Friends… get married, have lots of sex, and procreate. Are you saying I shouldn’t look for a bigger house?”
She didn’t even respond, just turned and walked back to the table.
“Ted!” He tried to follow her, only to trip over the leg of a chair that Tracey had propped up while she cleaned. Ted ignored his muttered curse and darted into Ollie’s office, intent on escaping before Alex could catch up with her.
“Whoa.” She almost ran smack into Ollie. The big man held up his hands in defense. “What’s chasing you, cat?”
“An annoying mutt you asked to help at the bar tonight.”
“Ah.” Nodding in understanding, Ollie stepped aside. “You know he misses you, right?”
“I know he misses jerking me around then leaving me.” She gathered her purse and grabbed for the light sweater she carried to ward off the night chill. She started pulling it on as Ollie stood in the hall.
“Come on, Ted. There was way more between you guys. Have you considered talking to him about it? You know he’s not moving back to LA.”
“No.” She gripped her purse in both hands and clenched her eyes shut. “I don’t know that.”
“He says he’s back for good. You don’t believe him?”
“No.” Even though a part of her heart wanted it to be true, she didn’t trust that part. Her heart had let her down too many times.
“Ted—”
“I can take a lot of shit, Ollie.” Her voice was hoarse; she cleared her throat. “But I’m not setting myself up just to get knocked down again.”
Damn Alex. She’d come out tonight looking for a little peace among the crowd, not an emotional slap in the face. Ted shook her head and walked to the office door, only to see Ollie with a hand to Alex’s chest, holding his friend back. His friend who had obviously been listening to their whole conversation.
Ted ignored the bare pain on her former lover’s face.
Not again.
She looked up at Ollie and whispered, “Thanks a lot. Don’t call me for favors anytime soon.”
Neither one spoke up when she walked out the door.
If the crowds didn’t work, then maybe wine would.
Ted took a long sip of red wine and leaned back in the recliner she’d stolen from her mom’s house. It had been her dad’s. On days she missed him, sitting in it felt like the big warm hugs she still missed. She’d closed her eyes for approximately thirty seconds when the knock came at the door.
“Oh, for the love…” She swung her legs down and stood, marching toward the door.
If it was Alex, she was going to kill him. She’d done grunt work at the medical examiner’s office in LA, and she was very well read. She could figure out how to kill someone and make it look like an accident. Probably. If not, the jail time might be worth it.
“Alex, for the last time—”
She realized it wasn’t Alex before the door swung all the way open.
“Allie?”
The petite blonde’s face was swollen and red. She sniffed but said nothing. Her eyes shone with tears in the lamplight.
“Allie, what on earth?”
Ted started pulling her into the house, every protective instinct on alert. A car door slammed in the dark, then Jena was walking up the path.
“Hey.”
“What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”
“Not exactly. Do you have wine? Please tell me you have wine.” She put a hand on her five months’ pregnant belly. “I’m running low, and Caleb only drinks beer.”
Jena looked exhausted, too, though not as wrecked as Allie. Both walked into the house in silence.
Ted said, “Will someone just tell me—”
“Joe left me.”
Allie’s voice was so soft, Ted barely caught it.
Her mind wanted to scream, Oh thank you, Lord. Finally!
Luckily, she held back.
“What happened? I mean, I knew you guys were having problems, but—”
“He just took off. Left me and the kids. Walked out while we were sitting down for dinner.”
Of all the asshole ways to end things…
“He said he didn’t want to be married anymore. Like it was no big deal.”
Ted was going to kill him. But not before she neutered the scrawny coyote.
Jena said, “That’s why I left the Cave. Kevin called my cell.”
“My baby…” Allie started to cry. “What kind of man leaves his thirteen-year-old son to clean up his mess?!”
“A shit one.”
“Ted!” Jena said.
“What? You know I’m not good at the comforting thing! Joe is an asshole, and Kevin is an awesome kid who shouldn’t have to deal with his father’s shit.”
Jena said, “Not helping.”
“He’s a douchebag. There. I said it. I’ve wanted to say it for years, and I didn’t.”
“My babies…??
? Allie didn’t even seem to hear her. “Oh, God. He was an asshole to me, but they loved their daddy. What am I gonna do?”
It was true. Joe had gotten Allie pregnant her senior year and planted four kids in her before Allie finally said “enough” after the birth of her daughter four years before. Joe seemed to love being a dad, and Allie had three boys and a girl, all under the age of thirteen. Before the base had closed and Joe lost his job, they’d struggled, but they’d all still laughed a lot.
But laughter over the past three years had been scarce, and Ted had suspected more than once that Joe was cheating on her friend. They’d been friends once. All of them. Close friends. But Ted hadn’t thought of Joe as anything but Allie’s asshole husband in a long time.
“What? Friends get married, have lots of sex, and procreate.”
Alex’s words—meant to tease and flirt—now taunted her.
Talk about a lesson learned the hard way.
She hugged a crying Allie to her chest as Jena grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass from the kitchen. Ted couldn’t help but notice that most of Allie’s heartache seemed to be about Joe leaving the kids, not her husband leaving her. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she figured they’d figure it out as they went. That’s what friends did.
In the back of her mind, she heard him whisper again.
“Dance with me, Ted. As a friend.”
Never again.
Chapter Two
The car door slamming shut sounded louder than normal in the still desert night. Ollie rolled down the window.
“You got it, or you need help in?”
“I’m good.”
His best friend didn’t say anything, just lifted an eyebrow. “Right. No more bourbon, man.”
“Go home. I’m fine.”