He started walking again. She fell into step beside him. Town gossips weren’t an actual threat. “Anyone sets off your sixth sense, you let me know.”

“I will.”

“Where’s your bike?”

“In the free lot by the library.”

“I’ll walk you over there. Park at the station from now on.”

She stared at him. “You’re scaring me. Stop that.”

They crossed the street and walked toward her bike. Traffic stopped for him instantly. The power of the uniform. “I want you to be safe. That’s all.”

She linked her arm around his. “I know. It’s nice. I’ll be fine, though. It’s not like I can’t protect myself. I’ve got all the same shifter strengths you do.”

He nodded as they came to a stop beside her motorcycle. “That alpha possessiveness is built into me. I can’t help it.”

She combed her hair back with her fingers and started braiding it. “Hey, I meant to ask. What are all those posters for the Zombie Prom?”

“It’s the town’s June event. There’s one big thing that happens every month. It’s why there are so many people around right now.”

“Do you go?”

“Not always, but this year, yes. We rotate the security shift. I picked the short straw this time.”

“Not your thing, huh?” She tied off the braid and unlocked her helmet.

“I did prom in high school. That was enough. And putting on zombie make-up? Not for me.”

She nodded, helmet on her hip. “I can’t imagine it would be.”

He caught the wistfulness in her eyes and realized how dense he was. Again. “You…want to go with me this year? I’ll be on duty, but there’s no rule that says I can’t bring a date.”

Her smile was answer enough. “I would love that. It’s this weekend, right?”

He nodded. Seeing her all dolled up would go a long way toward making the night bearable. “The night after the full moon. You have a dress?”

“No, but I’ll figure something out.” She pulled her helmet on. “And just for the record, I don’t think your possessiveness has anything to do with you being next in line for alpha. I’ve never known a shifter who wasn’t.”

“Too much?”

She smiled and kissed him. “Nope. But I’ll let you know.”

He kissed her back. Not as deeply as he would have liked to, but they were practically in the middle of town. “We’ll leave for Titus’s around six thirty.”

She climbed on the motorcycle. “Then you need to be home by five thirty.”

“It doesn’t take me that long to get ready.”

She revved the engine and her eyes went gold with desire. “It’s not about you getting ready.”

A bolt of need shot through him, and his mouth opened, but he was too dumb-struck with happiness to answer. Instead, he just nodded as she rode off, grinning and wondering how he’d gotten so damn lucky.

The look on Hank’s face had been everything. She’d practically giggled all the way home, but that giggling had pretty quickly turned into fantasizing about all the things she was going to do to him. That man was amazing. And then there was the surprise of the ring. She’d never thought a ring would even be a part of the equation, but the fact that he was insisting on it really made it feel like he was taking this marriage seriously.

If she wasn’t nuts about him already…but it had gone far beyond being nuts about him.

Her only option now was to figure out how to survive the inevitable broken heart.

She pulled into the driveway of his house—their house? No, she couldn’t quite make that leap yet. It was still his house and would be for a while. Maybe always, once he found out about Charlie’s troubles.

But for now, she was going to pretend that everything was fine and that the man she was most definitely falling in love with was going to magically accept her child, shortcomings and all.

She got off her bike and walked up to the keypad on the side of the garage to punch in the code he’d given her when something on the front porch caught her eye. Hank had gotten some packages. Well, not exactly packages.

She climbed the steps to investigate. One was a vase holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers, all wrapped up in a cloud of tissue paper. A business card-size envelope was taped to the front. And her name was written on it.

She pulled the note off and opened it.

You’re prettier than the GTO. –Hank.

She laughed, not only because he’d sent her more flowers but the message was so…him. That man.

The second package was a basket covered in a gingham dish towel. She lifted the towel. Inside was a plate of cling-wrap-covered cookies. A note dangled from red ribbon tied to the basket’s handle. Had Hank sent her cookies, too? Maybe it was a thing the florist did.

Hank had just mentioned that new shop. Delaney’s Delectables. Maybe these had come from there? She took a long look at the cookies. They seemed pretty normal. Could they have actually been made by a vampire baker? Talk about a first.

She glanced at the note. The writing was a strange combination of flowery and shaky, like an old woman’s penmanship, which could totally belong to a vampire. Weren’t they all like a thousand years old? Ivy just barely made out what it said.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Ivy.

Hmm. If they weren’t from the florist, they might be from one of Hank’s neighbors. Wasn’t that nice? She glanced around at the other houses. To think someone had made cookies for her. She’d never in her life lived in a place where the neighbors did things like that. Maybe it was because Hank was the sheriff? Whatever the reason, it was sweet. She couldn’t wait to show Hank when he got home.