Chapter 5
Dylan ran a comb through his hair and looked in the mirror.
It was an image he’d seen thousands of times, but now he leaned forward and looked into his own eyes, questioning himself.
Pierce had reported back to him the previous night, explaining that he’d seen a boy and a girl heading back to what had formerly been the Sutton home.
He’d kept to the shadows of the hydrangeas near the clanhouse, his ears pricking as the boy talked about wolves.
Stacey had dismissed her children’s talk of wolves as nothing more than a bit of fun, and Dylan himself had encouraged that line of thought.
She didn’t have a clue that shifters were nearby, and she probably didn’t know that one was about to go pick her up for dinner.
Well, fine. Dylan put the comb away and thumped down the stairs to put his shoes on.
If she believed he was just as human as she was, wasn’t that precisely what he wanted?
That was what he and the other Brighams wanted people to think.
They were just regular folks. But these humans lived right there next to the clanhouse.
That meant these humans had to be kept at such a distance that they’d never guess, or he’d have to convince himself that they were safe enough to understand their secret.
His bear pounced on that concept, liking the idea of finding someone he could confide in.
It certainly had plenty of other thoughts about Stacey, ones that had been difficult to control earlier that day.
Well, it would just have to shut the hell up and let him do his job.
Dylan had accepted Stacey’s invite because he couldn’t think of any better opportunity to get to know her and determine exactly what the clan needed to do about her.
Heading into the garage, he fired up his Jeep.
It amused him to back it out of the driveway only to pull it into the next one, but Dylan would do everything he could on this outing to make her feel comfortable around him.
He needed her to open up, to tell him more about who she really was inside before he could figure out what to do about her.
Stacey was ready as soon as he pulled up, stepping out her door before he had a chance to come up and knock like a gentleman.
She’d worn a pair of pale shorts, strappy flat sandals, and a button-down blouse.
It was a simple outfit, but Dylan found himself admiring the way it flowed over her curves.
It turned out she was just as sexy whether wearing her swimsuit or fully dressed.
“Hey,” she said as she hopped into the passenger seat.
“Hi.” Backing onto the road, Dylan headed out along a familiar route that he took at least a few times a week. “I’m not taking you away from your kids or anything, am I?”
“No, they’re fine. Mom is entertaining them tonight. When I left, they were eating pickles and olives on the living room floor.”
Dylan laughed. “Sounds like a nutritious meal.”
Her earrings jangled slightly as she shook her head and smiled.
“She’ll feed them more than that. I’m sure she’ll feed them almost anything they want.
There’s nothing she likes better than spoiling them.
I’m sure they’re pretty happy about the pickles and olives because a few weeks ago, I would’ve probably told them no. ”
“What made the difference, if I can ask?” She’d mentioned earlier that she’d needed a change, which had sent his mind wondering just what would spark a drastic measure like leaving a job and moving. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, though.”
“Oh, it’s all right,” she said.
Dylan adjusted his hands on the wheel. There was something about telling someone they didn’t have to speak on a subject that always made them want to.
That wasn’t necessarily the case, especially since he didn’t know Stacey well enough to say for sure, but it still made him feel like he was setting a trap for her.
It didn’t feel right to do that when she might be…
well, he’d figure that part out later. Either way, he needed to know more about her and what brought her there.
“I know this is going to sound crazy,” she began, “but I had a near-death experience when I fell off a ladder.”
He ripped his eyes from the road to look at her. “Shit.”
“Yeah,” she agreed as she swiped a bit of hair from her face.
“I won’t bore you with all the details, but I saw my late father and felt all sorts of things.
The general message was that I had to get back to my life, that it wasn’t my time yet, and that there were people who needed me.
I was working constantly for this big marketing firm.
Work was my whole life, and it meant I wasn’t spending enough time with my kids.
I thought I was doing well by them because my job meant I could give them a nice house and new clothes and all that, but they needed hugs and time and sunshine. ”
“So you left the ‘burbs and moved to the beach,” Dylan finished for her as he pulled up into a little parking lot in Provincetown. It was a short drive, which he normally thought of as a good thing, but that night, he wished it were longer. He didn’t know if a story like that would’ve interested him any other time, but the fact that it was her story made him want to know all about it. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“I think you’re the first person to say so, other than my mother.” She unbuckled and slipped out of the car, not giving him time to come around and hold the door for her.
There was no chance for him to be the gentleman his bear demanded him to be, but they’d never said this was a date.
She was just repaying him for the help, right?
“Family is important. My daughter Lila has been splitting her time between Boston during the school year with her mother and out here with me in the summer. She seems happy, and I know it’s what’s best for all of us, but I also feel like I just want to spend all my time with her.
” Dylan did at least get the chance to open the door of The Dune Stop.
“What a cute place,” she commented as they stepped inside.
“It’s been here forever.” Dylan lifted a hand to wave at Harold behind the bar before he guided Stacey to a table out on the porch overlooking the water. “It’s not the fanciest, but they’ve got the best seafood on the Cape. Don’t tell my brother Ross, though. He owns a restaurant up in P-Town.”
Her head turned as she took in the various fishing-themed décor. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“I highly recommend the lobster rolls,” Dylan advised.
“Maine or Connecticut?”
“Both, actually.” The waitress stepped up to their table and handed them menus. “We offer a little bit of everything for every taste. How are you, Dylan?”
“Just fine, thanks. Any good specials today, or is Harold just going to toss me the scraps like he usually does?”
“I’ll have to ask,” she replied with a smile. She took their drink order before returning to the kitchen.
Stacey was frowning at the menu.
“What’s the matter?”
“Everything just looks so good, honestly.” She scanned through the options, her eyes skimming over the simple paper menu. “I was going to leap on that lobster roll as soon as I found out they have the mayo-based one here. That’s my favorite.”
“Better than butter?” Dylan challenged. “With that griddled bun? No way.”
“Yes, way,” she countered. “Some nice lettuce to line the bun, the contrast between the cold lobster salad and the warm bun, mm! Nothing better than that!”
Dylan laughed. “Good thing they have both here.”
It was a small gesture, but it was enough.
Dylan’s bear had been simmering under the surface of his skin all day.
He’d made a practical decision to help her with her furniture, but he hadn’t anticipated just how sexy it would be to see her moving and sweating, especially as she smiled and chatted the entire time.
Her new home was one he was familiar with, and yet it was now distinctly hers.
Being inside it, touching her things, had created an intimacy he couldn’t have predicted.
Now, sitting there across a table from her, with the sun setting out over the bay, Dylan found that he was starting to lose control of the beast inside him.
It wanted her. He tamped it down, reminding himself that he was on a mission.
“So you know how I wound up here,” Stacey started after their food had arrived. She’d decided on that lobster roll she’d initially found so enticing. “What about you? How long have you lived out here?”
His muscles tightened as he watched her take another bite of her sandwich.
It shouldn’t be a turn-on to watch someone eat, but there was something about the way her lips wrapped around that bun that made him think of things other than food.
“I’ve lived here my whole life. Generations of Brighams have, actually, right there on our little stretch of the beach. ”
“Wow, that’s impressive. I’m sure your daughter enjoyed the summers with you.”
Their conversation roamed from parenthood to careers to the weather.
It drifted back to parenthood several times, of course.
Dylan liked the warmth in her eyes when she talked about her children.
Though he couldn’t truly find out how she might feel about his kind during a simple dinner out, he knew with certainty that she was a devoted mother.