Chapter 6
The moment Trick walked through the door of The Coffee Shop Next Door Friday morning, he knew something was different with Cassidy.
He could tell she was aware it was him, but her vibe had gone from cautious to professionally detached.
As a guy who worked with the public and had to deal with his fair share of drunks and troublemakers, he could tell she was looking at him through the lens of someone who needed to be dealt with and kept at arms’ length.
Damn.
“Good morning, Cassidy,” he said, when it was his turn at the counter.
“Morning, what can I get started for you?” Perfectly pleasant. Not an ounce of we’ve kissed and been naked recently.
She looked like she hadn’t slept well again, her hazel eyes a little dull, her shoulders drooping.
His wolf wasn’t crazy about it, but she’d put up the warning sign, and he wasn’t going to knock it over.
“The same as yesterday, please.”
She gave him a tight smile and rang it through, he paid and tipped, then stepped aside. And it was so freaking business-like that it bordered depressing.
A few minutes later, he took his coffee and left.
He walked to his truck and sat behind the wheel, taking a drink and pondering what had just happened and what the hell he was supposed to do.
She’d been warmer toward him yesterday, but today her smile hadn’t reached her eyes and everything about her warned him to steer clear.
That polite, customer-service smile was a punch in the face.
And he still hadn’t gotten over it when he’d shown up at The Howl that afternoon to help open, sweeping and flipping chairs.
“What is going on with you?” Dare asked.
“Huh?”
“You’re like a zombie. Are you having a stroke?”
“I’m just thinking.”
“I thought I heard wheels grinding.”
“Ha ha.”
The front door opened and Sigh and Juliette walked in, thick as thieves and moony-eyed, and he turned away and got back to work.
“Hi, Trick,” Juliette said as she came to the table.
“Hey.”
“Do you mind if I tell you something?”
“Not at all. What’s up?”
She stared at him, glanced at Sigh who shrugged, and then said, “Sigh said I needed to think twice before I got involved in this any more than I already did, but I don’t like to see my bestie all twisted up in knots.
So, I’m sticking my nose in a little bit, but only because I saw you two Wednesday night and I know that’s what it looks like when truemates find each other. ”
He put the chair down on the floor and looked at her. “What’s going on?”
“Cassidy is not a love at first sight person. She’s very practical.
Not that she doesn’t have a romantic side, because she does, she’s just cautious.
And, unfortunately, between me disappearing into my relationship with Sigh, and her sister talking to her last night, I’m afraid she’s decided it’s easier to walk away than risk getting hurt. ”
“Her sister, Lauren?”
“Yeah. She’s protective of Cass but has kind of a shitty outlook on love because her ex was a piece of work and their parents’ marriage was definitely not a match made in heaven.”
“But I’m not trying to hurt her.”
“I know.” She gave him a sad smile. “Her parents’ marriage was bad. I remember going to her house when I was young and… oh, how they fought. I guess they were hot and heavy and it burned out fast, and then they stuck with each other long enough to ruin everything for their kids too.”
“So she thinks because we jumped into bed that we’ll burn out fast too?”
“I’m afraid so. And apparently Lauren also said that I personally am special because Sigh has mated me, and that normally shifters stick with shifters and only look for sex from human girls and nothing long term.”
He snarled.
Cassidy must be listening to her sister to have cooled toward him so fast.
“So she wants space?”
“Yeah, but that’s the last thing you should give her.”
“Come again?”
Juliette chuckled. “If you steer clear of her, no matter the prickly-barbed-wire warning signs she’s throwing off, you’re just proving that you’re not in it for the long haul.
So you need to show up for her. You can give her some space, but don’t disappear.
Show up with proof that you want to bring her into your life.
I needed that from Sigh, too. Great sex is great, but you can’t just have a relationship built on orgasms and pillow talk. ”
His wolf, perpetually restless since she’d left them Wednesday night, settled finally. “Then I’ll prove it to her.”
“Good.”
Sigh joined them, and Juliette leaned back against him, and the way it was so easy with them made something click for him.
They might have fallen fast, but that’s what happened when truemates found each other.
The fast feelings came because the knowledge was there – fate had aligned to bring them together and they just fit. The way that he knew Cassidy fit with him. She just needed him to show her that he wasn’t just looking for a quick lay, he was looking for forever.
By closing time at the coffee shop, Trick was waiting on the sidewalk, a block down. Cassidy walked out and shut the door behind her, took a few steps, made eye contact and froze.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to invite you to The Howl. It closes at eight tonight, because we’re auditioning a band on the new deck for our summer band series. The deck isn’t going to open until June to the public, but it’s safe for us to be out there and jamming with a band to see if they’re a good fit.”
“You want to invite me to that?” she asked, her head tilting slightly.
“Yes. We could sit out on the deck and get to know each other.” When he saw the indecision in her eyes, he added, “I’d really like you to be there with me, Cassidy. Think about it. You know where the tavern is. I’ll be there.”
He smiled at her, hoping he didn’t look as feral as he felt, because his wolf was banging at him from the inside to get close to her.
“Hope to see you,” he said, then he walked away to his truck and drove off.
When he got back to The Howl he walked out to the deck, and found Luke, a bear shifter and part of the Five Pines Construction Company, tightening something on a railing.
“You sticking around for the band?” Trick asked.
“Not this time. Maybe the next band that auditions.”
Trick nodded and looked beyond the railing to the Pine Run River and Mill Creek beyond it. The sun was setting, the stars already appearing in the inky darkness above the amber and orange glow.
Luke put his wrench in his toolbox and snapped the lid shut. “All good for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with Colt. The inspector is coming tomorrow to give the all clear and we can move forward next week.”
“That’s awesome. Thanks, man. See you.”
Trick stood on the deck and watched the sun set, then went back inside, hoping that Cassidy would show up.
By the time eight o’clock rolled around and the main room was quiet, Trick stayed near the door, hoping to hear a car pull up. Outside on the deck, the band – a group that was made up of humans and shifters and played classic rock covers – was setting up.
Dare was out on the deck watching them.
Their server and line cook had gone home, and Sigh was in the kitchen with Juliette making food for everyone.
He was about to join his brother on the deck, when he heard the sound of tires on gravel and his heart jumped into his throat.
He opened the front door and saw Cassidy’s car.
She parked and got out, locking eyes with him across the parking lot.
For one second, everything inside him went very still. And then his wolf surged up and he had a hard time controlling the desire to howl in happiness.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said.
“Hi Trick.”
“I’m glad you came.”
She stepped inside and he pulled the door shut, twisting the lock to ensure no one tried to get in while they were closed.
The drummer clacked his sticks a few times, and then the first chords came through, and he saw Cassidy’s eyes light up.
“You like this kind of music?” he asked.
“Old school rock? Yes! My mom raised us on this and eighties hair bands. She had some wild stories. And she let me dress up like an eighties punk rocker when I was in elementary school for Halloween, spiked hair and heavy eyeliner. I loved it.”
“I love this kind of music, too,” he said. “I don’t know new music, because I only listen to stuff I know.”
“Me too.”
She smiled at him, genuinely, sweetly, and he wanted to fall to his knees.
“Are you hungry? Sigh is making burgers for everyone.”
“Very.”
After letting Sigh know to add another burger for Cassidy, they walked out onto the deck and moved to the railing so she could see the band and the view of the river. The music rolled around them, and Cassidy stood next to him, tapping her foot and singing along quietly.
When the band switched to another song, she turned to Trick.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“This is nice.”
“The deck?”
“All of it.”
The doors opened and Sigh walked out with a tray, and Juliette waved at Cassidy. They sat with his family at two small tables pushed together, to listen to the band and eat Trick Smash burgers and piles of fries.
To his surprise, while Cassidy talked to Juliette, she spent most of the next several hours talking to him.
And when the band was finished and had packed up and left, she shared her input about the band when Dare asked her, and then she helped carry the dishes to the back with Juliette.
“Walk me out?” she asked Trick, when she came out of the kitchen.
“Of course.”
At her car, she said, “Thanks for tonight. I had fun.”
“Me too. And the band was good.”
“You guys will hire them for the summer?”
“Yeah, for one weekend in July and one in August. We’re really looking for a house band, we just have to find the right one, then we’ll have live music on the deck until the weather goes to crap.”
“That would be great.”
She stared up at him, and he felt the gravity of the situation settle around them.
He wanted to ask her to come home with him, but he knew it was a bad idea to suggest that so soon. He was making sure she knew he wanted all of her, not just her fun zones.
She went onto her toes and kissed his cheek.
“Sleep well, Trick.”
“Goodnight, Cassidy.”
“You can call me Cass. My friends do. The people who matter to me do.”
His wolf went still, but his heart damn near triple-thumped and broke through his ribs.
“Okay. Cass.”
Her smile was real this time, and it was glorious.
He watched her drive off, and while he was bummed the time with her was over, he was deliriously happy to have had the chance to get to know her.
Cass was looking for proof he wasn’t a one-night-guy, that what had sparked between them wasn’t just fluff and no substance.
He’d show her.
There wasn’t a more reliable, forever-minded male in all of King Lake.
He wanted forever with Cass.
And he’d wait as long as it took for her to believe it.