Anticipation clawed at my stomach. My hands gripped the steering wheel and I forced myself to drive the speed limit. I came home to visit a month ago and wasn't due for another visit yet, but my little sister’s pregnancy was about over and the newest member of the family was expected to arrive any day now. I couldn't miss the birth of her first child. I wouldn't be seeing her right away though, there was one person I always made a point to see first when I got into town.

I glanced up at The Honeyed Peach's familiar sign as I turned into the parking lot. As usual, it was packed and I had to search for a space. It wasn’t normal in most cities for a diner’s lot to be this packed on a weekday morning, but it was always like this at The Peach.

I drove around to the back of the diner and finally found a spot. As I got out of the truck, I slammed the door shut and hurried around to the front of The Peach.

The polished wood door to the diner invited me in. It swung open easily, and the aroma of eggs, bacon, and coffee hit me all at once. I was hungry, but another hunger had me in its grips.

Out of habit, I glanced left to the gift shop to make sure no one was there. The Peach didn’t bother to have someone work it. The locals knew if they wanted anything, they simply had to ask one of the servers.

I halfway expected to see Red waiting for me, but she wasn’t. Even if she had already seen that I was coming, I knew she was too busy to simply be standing around doing nothing. No matter how much I wanted her to be. I was glad to see no one else was there, though. That meant I could drag her in there right away.

I paused a moment, my attention caught by the plants near the door. I knew they were regularly pruned, but they appeared larger, bushier. It looked like Mrs. Greenhaven had recently visited.

I continued on and came around the partition that separated the restaurant and the gift shop. There she was. Red. My Red. Her eyes immediately met mine. She smiled and a dimple formed on the corner of her mouth. It was like a punch to the gut and I felt my body respond. Tension leaked out of my shoulders, while other parts of me stiffened up. I felt a shift in my eyes and knew my cat looked out. It needed to see her, too.

"I'll get you your three coffees, and your iced tea. Take a look at the menu and don't forget to look at the back side," Red said to the four customers at the table, "that’s where the pancake options are. You're going to love the ones with peach syrup." Her gaze briefly met one of the patrons. "I’ll be back shortly." She nodded and turned away from them without waiting for a response.

Even through the din of the restaurant, I heard her clearly. Part of it was my shifter hearing, but I was attuned to her. I felt like I could pick out her voice in any crowd. I smiled at her, and felt my grin widen at the surprised looks on the customers' faces as she walked away from them. Instantly, I knew they must have been visitors from out of town. They all leaned forward in their booth and snuck alternate glances at Red's retreating form.

"How did she know I didn't want coffee?" I heard one of the surprised customers say to the others.

"And that I’m craving pancakes?" another said. "Peach syrup sounds really good, too."

Red paused by the packed counter and placed a coffee cup in front of an empty seat. I noticed how her spotless uniform hugged her curves as she bent over and I itched to touch her. A strand of red hair fell from her messy bun and she brushed it away from her eyes, a simple gesture that never failed to drive me wild. I was so distracted that I barely noticed when she started to walk toward me.

"You're back," she said with a smile as she reached me, but she didn't stop. Instead, she continued to walk past me around the partition I still stood by, to enter the gift shop. I followed right behind her. As soon as we were out of sight, she stopped and turned to face me.

She shook her head and said, "Hair."

I grinned. I loved to run my hands through her hair, but that would pull her bun down and it would take her too long to put it back in place.

Then she was in my arms. My mouth came down on hers and I was kissing her deeply. She kissed me back just as fiercely. One of my hands crept up to the back of her neck. I was about to dig my fingers into her hair when I remembered what she said, and kept my hand where it was.

My cat wanted to touch her, too, and I let my claws out. They gently scraped her neck. I didn't want to stop, but that feeling was exactly what made me lift my head. I had to remind myself we were in a public place. I couldn't get carried away, as much as I wanted to devour her right then and there.

"I missed you," she murmured, her lips swollen and eyes cloudy with passion. Satisfaction curled in my gut. I did that.

"You say that every time."

She smiled. "It's true every time." Her eyes searched mine. "You're back early."

"Meghan," I said.

She looked past my shoulder for a moment, her eyes unfocused.

"No, the baby's not coming yet, but soon. Maybe next week." Her brow furrowed. "I think. It’s a little hazy still."

One of her hands rubbed my back, the other gently petted my neck. When we were alone she always touched me like that. I felt a purr rumble out of me. I loved the way she touched me.

When she turned her gaze back to me, I didn't say anything but couldn't help but grin. I was used to her odd comments. When she wasn't thinking about it, her predictions were spot-on. It was when she tried to make a prediction that she had issues. I don’t think she realized how often they popped out of her.

"Order up, Rose," I heard Sam holler from the kitchen. I didn't think she heard. Plus, her gaze was still cloudy with passion from our kiss. Even if it had been clear, I knew she wasn’t always in the here-and-now. I didn't want to let her go, and that made me step back. She looked at me, her brows drawn in confusion.

"You have an order up, Red," I said regretfully. I wanted to take her away, have my wicked way with her. But she had an order up, and wouldn't thank me for not telling her. The diner was important to her, and I knew she wouldn’t leave in the middle of her shift.

"Oh," she said, disappointment crossing her face, although it was quickly chased off by a smile. "Well, we'll have plenty of time together later! C'mon, sit down and have some breakfast."

She turned and I followed her back into the diner, watching the sway of her hips as she moved in front of me. My erection pushed painfully against my pants. I discreetly adjusted myself and forced my eyes away from that mesmerizing back and forth. It was going to be a long day.

She waved her hand to the seat in front of the counter where she’d placed the coffee cup a few minutes ago.

"Sorry, all my booths are taken," she said with a pout that gave way to a smile almost instantly. She hurried around the counter. "Rhonda will be taking care of you. I’m on the floor. But I’ll check in on you in a bit. The rush will clear up soon." She winked, grabbed cream and sugar and poured them into my cup, then sped around to the pick-up window to get her order.

I slid into the seat and picked up my coffee. I took a sip and smiled. Red had added the perfect amount of sugar and cream, exactly how I wanted it. If I asked her about it, she’d probably wrinkle her nose and look confused. She didn’t think her clairvoyance was strong, but she did things like this all the time, and not just for folks she knew well.

"Maddox, finally! Rose has had her head in the clouds all morning. Well, more than usual. You just get into town?" Rhonda said cheerfully as she stepped up in front of my seat at the counter. She didn’t wait for my answer. "Never mind, don’t answer that. Silly question. What’ll you have, hon?"

I grinned. "The daily special will be great—eggs over medium and bacon."

"I see Rose already got you your coffee. Give a yell if you need a refill." She turned away to help another customer before I could respond. I sipped my coffee and turned around to watch the dining room. I always liked coming home, but this time felt special.

I made the decision to come home last night after talking with my sister, Meghan. She called after I got off the line with Red. She told me she was due any day now and I jumped at the excuse to come home right away.

I usually came home for a visit every other month and had been home only a few weeks ago. It had been getting harder and harder to stay away. Lately, the temptation to stay longer was strong, but I managed to resist so far.

As comforting as it was to be home with my family, friends, and Red, I always made myself leave in the end. My mate was out there and I needed to find her. I didn’t know who she was, but none of the shifters in Fayoak were her. I clenched my jaw as frustration curled inside me. Sometimes I wished my mate didn’t have to be a shifter, but that was the way things were. All the mated shifters I knew were with other shifters.

So, if my mate wasn’t here, she was somewhere out there. Although, after all these years, I was starting to think I would never find her. I’d go crazy if I didn’t have Red to comfort me when I returned home. She made the never-ending search bearable.

I watched her bustle around the dining room. She was efficient and her cheer was infectious as she worked her tables. Her customers all responded with smiles and nods. Somehow, she managed to make hangry people smile.

A low growl from the kitchen drew my attention and I turned around to see what the problem was. When I looked through the large order window, I saw all the kitchen workers frozen in place. Sam, the head chef, glared at a plate, his low growl vibrated through the kitchen. I couldn’t see what was wrong, but suddenly one of the sous chefs stepped forward.

"Sorry, Chef," the man said as he picked up the plate and carefully avoided eye contact with the angry predator. No one wanted to deal with a pissed off bear. "Joe, fix this!"

"On it," someone, probably Joe, said.

The rumble stopped and the chef nodded. I grinned. Sam was a good friend of mine, and though he sounded fierce, I knew he was a big softie. I met him several years ago in a bar in some big city, I couldn’t remember where, and he was trying to drink his troubles away.

I immediately knew from his scent that he was a bear-shifter and that was a bad idea. Bears could drink a lot, but when they got drunk, they were typically very destructive. Usually, it was accidental. They forgot how strong they were. He was already on the far side of sober when I wandered into the bar.

When you looked at Sam, you thought, bruiser. He made me look like a skinny teenager, and I worked construction. He was heavily muscled, as many bear-shifters naturally were, but he took it a step past that. Sam was the biggest bear-shifter I’d met, in either of his forms. His dark skin tone matched his fur. His brown eyes were so close in color to his bear’s eyes that if I wasn’t a shifter myself, I wouldn’t know when his beast was looking at me.

Although he looked mean and menacing, Sam was about the nicest guy you could meet. We started talking, and he told me some stories about his job. For some reason, he thought he could find the answers to his problems at the bottom of a bottle. So did I. While he told me about how horribly the restaurant he worked at treated him, I told him about my endless search for my mate.

The next thing I knew, I invited him to join me when I went home the next day. Come to Fayoak and get a fresh start. He agreed, but I didn’t think he’d actually show up. I was surprised when he appeared as I checked out of my lodgings.

"Hey, man." Sam's familiar, gravelly voice interrupted my thoughts. "How’s it going?"

I looked up and met his gaze as he slid a plate in front of me.

"It’s going," I answered him with a smile and a shrug as I took a bite of my perfectly prepared eggs.

Sam nodded. "No luck finding your mate out there, huh? How long you been searching again?"

I frowned as I added the years in my head. "I left home after high school and traveled around a bit," I said. "About ten years." I couldn’t believe it, and had to do the math again. I had been searching all over for my mate for a long time.

"That’s a long time," Sam said, echoing my thoughts. "You sure you haven’t already found her?"

My surprised gaze met Sam’s calm one. "Yeah."

"How do you know?"

"Every mated pair I talk to said how they simply knew. No shifter, female, cat, or otherwise, has rung the bell for me."

"Huh, I still don’t get why you’re so sure she’s a shifter."

I puzzled over Sam’s comment. Why wouldn’t my mate be a shifter?

"Order, Sam," Rhonda said, placing the ticket on the ticket holder.

Sam nodded at me. "Wanted to say hey. Can’t leave the kitchen for long during rush, though. Catch up later?"

"Yeah," I said. "That’d be great."

He shot me a smile and tilted his head before he turned back to his kitchen.

The delicious smell of my food shoved all other thoughts out of my mind and I dug into my breakfast. It didn’t take me long to eat, but the restaurant was half-empty by the time I finished. Red was right, it did clear out soon. I didn’t credit that prediction to her clairvoyance, but rather to her experience. She’d been working in the diner since she was a teen. Her grandmother wanted her to know every aspect of it since she would run it someday.

Rhonda whisked my plate away as soon as I finished and refilled my cup of coffee. I glanced through the window to the kitchen and saw Sam had his cooks around him and they were doing something. Probably preparing a special for lunch.

Red buzzed from table to table, clearing plates and taking care of checks. I couldn’t help but watch her. I loved the way the white T-shirt hugged her chest and sides. It was respectable, but I knew what hid underneath. A sense of satisfaction ran through me. Mine. She was mine.

A chill of shock ran up my spine. Why did I think that? She wasn’t mine. She was my best friend. We were simply keeping each other company until I found my mate or she found someone. That was all. It was a casual thing. Friends with benefits.

She dropped off a load of plates and bounced back into the dining room. She reached a table just as one of the kids sitting there knocked over a half-full glass with a cry of dismay.

Red whipped out the rag hanging on her apron and had it cleared up before it could travel far. She didn’t miss a beat, and cheerfully asked, "Anything else for you today?"

When they shook their heads, she pulled out the check and placed it on the table.

"No rush. I’ll be your cashier when you’re ready," she said before stepping over to me.

"Why didn't you just give them the check?" I asked. She already had the check printed out when she asked if they wanted anything else. It was clear she knew they were ready to check out.

She smiled and shrugged. "I learned over the years that people expect that question. They find it rude if I hand them the check without asking, even if I know they're ready for it."

The twinkle in her eyes was distracting. I smiled and caught myself reaching out to brush a wayward curl from her face.

"So what time are you off?" I asked.

Her face fell in disappointment. "I have to work a double shift today. I told Cassy I’d cover her shift when she asked me yesterday."

I reached out and ran my hand down her cheek. I couldn't resist touching her again and again. She leaned into my hand, her eyes meeting mine. My body hardened at the look in her eyes. She straightened up and her eyes flicked about, checking to see if anyone was watching. We were getting a little too careless these days.

"Pick you up when you get off work?" I asked.

She smiled. "I can’t wait." She glanced over her shoulder. "I'll be right back; some customers are ready for me."

I watched her walk away but turned around when I heard a snap behind me. Rhonda had slapped my check onto the counter. I raised my eyebrow at the pinched expression on her face.

"What?"

"I heard what you said to Sam," she hissed, her voice low. "I don’t want to see Rose get hurt."

"I don’t either," I said as I handed her cash for my breakfast. "What are you talking about?" But she had already turned her back on me and taken my check to the register.

Rhonda shot me a skeptical look as she made her way back to me and handed me my change. "Oh, you know. You need to treat that girl right."

Before I could ask her to explain what she meant, Red walked over to me and Rhonda scurried to the other end of the counter when one of her customers waved.

"They’re set. I have a few minutes before they need me. So, what’re you gonna do today all by yourself?" The teasing tone in Red's voice made me smile. She could always make me smile. With a look, with a word. Even if I was still confused about what Rhonda said.

"Oh, I have plans," I said, playing with her.

She grinned and opened her mouth to reply when she glanced to the side. Her eyes lit up with pleasure. She walked away from me as if we weren’t in the middle of a conversation.

I looked over and saw a man carrying a large box as he walked in the door. He smiled at Red.

"Who’s that?" I asked vaguely in the direction of the kitchen. My stomach churned for reasons I couldn't place. A feeling of dread swept through me.

"That’s Alex," Sam answered in a low voice. I glanced over and saw he’d come out of the kitchen and stood next to me on the other side of the counter.

"He seems pretty at home here," I said as the feeling of dread grew stronger. "What's his story?"

"He’s Petunia Greenhaven’s grandson. Moved to town a few months ago, and he's been helping out at the family orchard. Rumor has it he’s thinking about making his stay permanent."