Chapter Eight
Ergog
The hunter and possible murder aside, Henry was glad he’d brought Nora with him to the fair.
He’d never have been able to score five grand on his own.
The next few hours went by like a breeze, the kind that made you want to kick back on your porch with a beer in hand.
For some reason—whether it was the cartoon-themed T-shirts on display or the flyers they’d distributed to passersby that had attracted them, Henry wasn’t entirely sure—more customers had flocked to the animal rescue tent, and Henry had spent at least a couple of hours on his feet, educating kids and adults alike on animal rescuing, selling T-shirts or letting some of the animals be petted.
A cat and a couple of dogs had even been adopted by one rather pleasant family, much to his delight.
By the time the crowd gathered right outside the tent began to disperse, the donation jar was half full.
“Five thousand bucks and a couple of hundreds,” he declared with a chuckle as he counted their earnings for the third time. He shook his head. “That’s higher than today’s goal, and it’s not even four o’clock yet.”
Seated at the table, Nora brushed her hair out of her face, those lovely golden eyes fixed on him. “I told you, all you needed was a bit of branding. I’m sure you’ll have made well over ten grand by the time the day ends.”
“Wouldn’t that be amazing.” He grinned down at her, feeling his chest swell with gratitude. “Thank you, really. I couldn’t have done this without your help.”
She folded her arms across her breasts. “Hey, you scratch my back, I scratch yours.”
Henry thought that he would like to do a lot more than just scratch her back right now, but he refrained from mentioning that.
He also held back from pointing out that he wasn’t entirely sold on the matter of her innocence just yet.
Right now, all he wanted was a break. It had been a long day, between the customers and this stunning woman who’d tumbled into his life just this morning.
Besides, he’d already hit today’s goal. A break was in order.
So he said, “I could use a drink or a bite to eat. What do you say we check out a couple of the other stalls in this park?”
The look she gave him made him wonder whether she thought he was crazy. “Are you sure? What about the...?” She gestured around them at the tent and everything in it.
“It’ll be within sight at all times,” he assured her. “We’re not going far away. Besides, the odds of anyone stealing with so many eyes around are pretty slim.”
In all honesty, all he wanted was that whiskey from Angelica’s, and the Rubicon Valley stand wasn’t further than a couple of tents away.
Thankfully, Nora didn’t object any further.
Without another word, she got up, exiting the tent with him.
He brought down the tarp, covering the animals on display and shielding the tent’s contents from view of anyone who walked by, and then he and Nora turned to leave.
A man was pushing a hot dog cart through the crowd, and Henry bought a couple, handing one to Nora.
“Thanks,” she said, her eyes lighting up as she bit into it. “It’s the first thing I’ve had to eat in a while. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was.”
Henry suspected a while could mean anything from twelve hours to a couple of days.
Maybe getting whiskey shots wasn’t such a great idea right now.
He took her hand in his, leading the way through the crowd, his eyes surveying their surroundings until they landed on a stall with more food.
By the time they turned back, she’d wolfed down the hot dog and was eyeing the shawarma in her hand with even more interest.
They came across a vendor selling smoothies, and Henry was grateful for the opportunity to properly sit down and eat. He and Nora sat across from each other at one of the two tables, sipping and eating silently for a moment.
It was Nora who finally spoke.
“This feels a little like a date,” she remarked. A teasing grin tugged at her lips. “Need I remind you that you and I only just met this morning?”
“You didn’t seem to have that objection when I kissed you earlier,” Henry shot back.
That wiped the smirk off her face. Nora’s face reddened slightly, and he could tell she was thinking about the kiss. She cleared her throat, looking like she was more than prepared to change the subject.
“So...” She took another sip of her drink. “I feel like I barely know anything about you. I mean, I know your name and that you’re a dragon shifter—and an animal rescuer—but there’s got to be more than that to the man I’m trusting with my life.”
He lifted an eyebrow, trying to hide his amusement. Shouldn’t he be the one asking the questions? “I’m an open book. Ask away.”
She said nothing for a moment, simply observing him as she took a big bite out of her shawarma. “Okay. So you’re clearly around my age. Forty-three? Forty-four? Any relatives around here?”
“None at all.” He shook his head. “My parents passed on many years ago.”
“Sorry about that. So did my mother. Never really knew my father, but he was a wolf shifter.”
“And she was a witch,” he guessed, the pieces flying into place in his head.
“That’s why you’re a hybrid.” Mixed breeding among supernaturals didn’t always work that way, of course.
Typically, the child took after only one of the parents.
Except when one parent happened to be human, in the case of half-witches or half-shifters. Even so, hybrids were very rare.
Nora gave a nod, staring at him over her shawarma. “How long have you been an animal rescuer?”
“Less than a decade. About seven years.”
“You say it like that’s not a lot of time.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes I wish I’d become an animal rescuer even earlier. The way I and the others at the sanctuary see it, shifters are the bridge between humans and animals. We’re best equipped to look after animals, and to protect them from humans. We’re protectors.”
“A safe space for every wild heart,” she said, reciting the sanctuary’s motto. She cracked a grin. “Guess that includes me, huh?”
He simply stared at her.
“I was kidding.” She reached across the table, playfully batting his arm, and Henry felt a tingle race through his body. “I think it’s a noble cause, being an animal rescuer. It’s also nice to see someone like you do something like this.”
“What do you mean, someone like me?”
Her golden eyes gleamed with some humor.
“I mean, you’re a dragon shifter. You’re huge, muscular.
You don’t look like the sort of guy who just looks after animals.
You look like you could be a bodyguard, or serving in the military.
It’s a nice contrast—and a nice combination. I’m sure the ladies love it.”
Henry couldn’t resist a slight grin. Truth be told, it wasn’t the first time he’d been told something along those lines by women of different ages. “Maybe.”
“So they do love it. How come you’re single, then?” She paused then, her eyes widening slightly. “You are single, right?”
“I am.” He held up a hand as though to calm her down. “I just haven’t really considered getting into a relationship in a while.”
“Oh.” Nora reached for her smoothie, her gaze locked on him as she brought the straw to her lips. “Don’t tell me you’ve got no exes at all. You don’t strike me as a forty-year-old virgin.”
Henry almost choked on his food. He chewed and swallowed, shaking his head.
“No, of course not. It’s just...” He shrugged and said no more.
The last thing he wanted now was to explain to the hybrid before him that he’d stayed away from dating because the last woman he fell in love with had also been a hybrid and had tried to kill him.
“Crazy ex?” It was her turn to lift an eyebrow.
“That’s definitely one way to put it.”
They continued eating without talking for a while, and Henry looked away, gazing around them.
The crowd was still lively, although from the look of it, more than a few people had decided it was time to head to their homes.
Pop music blared from a speaker he couldn’t see.
He glanced toward the animal rescuer tent.
No one seemed to be approaching it so far.
Cal and Melissa were nowhere in sight. If he had to guess, they must’ve headed back to the sanctuary by now.
Either that, or they were still somewhere else in the park, out of view.
Overhead, the sky had darkened a little, a few clouds dimming the sunlight.
Was it going to rain? Maybe later tonight, if they were lucky.
Henry’s lips twitched. He’d reached his goal for today.
What better way to celebrate that than by spending a rainy night in his bedroom at the sanctuary?
A sudden image snuck into his mind: Nora lying curled up against him in bed. Immediately, he felt his body respond, his cock pulsating slightly between his thighs. Wrenching the image from his mind, he looked across the table at her and found that she was also staring at him.
Damn.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked. “You’ve clearly got something on your mind.”
You don’t want to know. Clenching his teeth against his arousal, he reached for his smoothie. “It’s nothing important.”
She stared at him for a few seconds longer, and Henry thought she might press further for an answer. To his relief, she simply leaned back in her chair, sweeping her gaze around a little.
“It feels good to be out here, like this,” she said, rubbing her arm. “It feels...normal. I’m not on the run, not looking over my shoulder as much. Just sitting here and enjoying lunch.”
Henry understood what she meant. She looked somewhat more relaxed than she had this morning, although every once in a while he’d caught her gaze darting about like she was expecting the eyeless hunter to appear out of thin air.
Her shoulders sagged with some relief, and the panic in her eyes was slowly fading.
Looking at her, Henry couldn’t help but think that she looked even more beautiful.