While I don’t believe Cade really wants to be just friends, I decide to humor him to pass the time while we wait for our food. I say, “If we do this, there’s no physical stuff at all.”

“Right. Except if you need a hug.” He grins. “I give really good hugs.”

I chuckle and lift my drink to let the mixture of sweet and sour flavor fill my mouth as it disguises the taste of alcohol. “Okay,” I say. “I’m willing to try to be your friend.”

“Great.” His brow knits. “We’re going to need to spend time together to make this work.” He quickly adds, “Doing friend things.”

“Of course,” I say as I continue to play along. “What sorts of things are you thinking?”

He shrugs. “How about what you’d do with girlfriends?”

I picture him in a charcoal facemask and fuzzy slippers. “I’m afraid there’s a reason I’m only friends with girls, unless a manicure sounds appealing to you.”

He nods as he lowers his eyebrows in thought. “And I bet watching a football game and screaming at the TV might not be appealing to you.”

I let out a sigh even though I’m amused. “Perhaps you need to broaden your horizons.”

He chuckles. “We need to broaden our horizons.”

I laugh too. “Fair enough.” I realize I’m having fun with Cade, and suddenly, the thought of spending time with him as friends doesn’t seem so far-fetched. “What about something you might do with your sister?”

He takes a moment to think and then says, “I know. Paint night.” I raise my eyebrows in question, and he adds, “Wine, a blank canvas, and acrylic paint.”

Dan approaches us with two plates of food and thumps them down before us, and I recall seeing a local art center that offers paint night. I reach for a fry and say, “Paint night, it is. You drink wine?”

“Don’t sound so shocked,” Cade says as he hands me the ketchup. “I love a good Zinfandel with steak. Merlot’s pretty good on a rainy day, and I even enjoy champagne.”

My knife taps on the plate as I cut my burger in half. “Paint night and wine. I feel like I’m learning so much about you.”

“Tell me something about you I don’t know.”

“Hmm,” I say as I finish chewing a mouthful of food. “I like hockey. It’s been a while, but I enjoy going to the games. And--” I glance around as if I’m about to reveal a big secret before I whisper, “My favorite part is the fights.” Cade breaks out into laughter, and I add, “I might even get up and yell too.”

My admission makes Cade snort, and the sound of his continued laughter is so contagious I find myself joining him. When he recovers, he says, “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Why’s that?”

He shrugs. “Being attracted to me means you must like things a little on the rough side.”

I do like Cade’s kind of rough, and I flash to the fantasy of his earlier suggestion about pressing me up against a wall for hungry kisses. We’re not going there, Bella. “Uh-uh. Now we’re approaching non-friend territory.”

Cade holds up his hand. “I’m sorry. Let’s go back to the part where a girl who can’t stand her hands to be dirty and makes her drinks sparkle likes hockey fights.”

“I’m a complex person. Besides, you’re a warrior who understands how wine pairs with food. Do your buddies know about that?”

“Sure. We go to tastings and everything.”

I shake my head as I picture the clan’s biggest and fiercest werebears swirling wine and discussing its bouquet. “I’ll bet.”

Cade chuckles. “Okay, so maybe not. But I’m more than I appear to be.”

I gaze at him for a moment and see more than the hot guy. I think about how he seemed sincere when he asked me if I was okay earlier. When he saw tears, he didn’t run. Instead, he offered to listen. “I believe you are,” I say.

“And so are you, Bella.”

His reply makes me consider the way I present myself to men. A long time ago, I discovered if I’m cool and distant, I’m seen as a challenge many guys can’t resist. They love the hard-to-get game. And I loved the game of infatuation. I let past boyfriends believe I was whatever they wanted me to be, and most were only interested in the pretty witch who wanted something physical. But as soon as they started to get serious, I found reasons to become their nightmare. It made moving on easy because I never cared too much. But now that I want more, I need to learn a new game.

I let out a sigh of contentment as I push my plate away. Half of my burger is still on it, and Cade asks, “Aren’t you going to eat that?”

I shake my head. “I’m full,” I notice his plate is empty. “Do you want it?”

He grabs the burger and tilts his head at me in question. “How full? Because something else you might not expect from me is that I’m a dessert guy.”

I smile. “Not too full for dessert.”

“How about chocolate cake?”

I chuckle. “Careful. Now I’m beginning to think you’re either a girl in disguise or playing me.”

“Neither. I’m just letting you see who I really am.”

I smile because I’m pleasantly surprised by who Cade is. “I think this friendship thing might actually work.”

“Good,” says Cade as Dan walks over to us. We order a chocolate cake to share, and I get coffee too.

“So,” says Cade once the dessert arrives, “what made you want to become the clan’s medicine woman?”

I laugh because it’s not much of a choice. Just like most werebear tend to follow in the footsteps of their parents due to their genetics, my job is passed down through generations, and I should have been working alongside my mother until she was ready to retire, but fate stepped in and changed my course. My mother fell in love with a warlock who lived in Canada, and she left our clan to be with him once I assured her I’d take over. I don’t have any regrets, but in the early days, it was tough to command respect due to my age. My mother warned me that I needed to keep a cool public persona. But my revolving-door love life and occasional temper tantrums haven’t helped my reputation.

I say, “Probably the same thing that made you become a warrior.”

Cade nods. “Yeah, it’s hard to fight what’s in our blood.”

I frown, considering how rough his job can be. Although over the years, I’ve had to help heal a lot of warriors, and yet Cade has never graced my doorstep. I say, “You must be good. I just realized you’ve never come to me for help with healing.”

He shrugs. “I’m lucky.” Then he waggles his eyebrows at me. “And I’m good. Very good.”

“Humble too, I see.” I consider for a moment that Cade is probably in his thirties like me, and I imagine it must be hard for him to not have found a true mate yet. Unlike witches, who can fall in love with any human they choose and end up happy, a werebear can’t make the same choice. If one choses to marry for love but not true-mate love, they live with the threat that a true mate could come along and ruin everything.

I lift my fork to take a bite as I ask, “Have you ever considered looking for your true mate in another clan?”

“The thought has crossed my mind,” says Cade. “But I’m not ready to do that yet. I like living here, and I’m afraid if I found a mate in another clan, she’d insist on us staying there so she could be close to family when our children were born.”

I nod as I savor sweet chocolate flavor. “It would be hard for you to leave your friends and family, but isn’t true-mate love strong enough you wouldn’t care? I mean, don’t you get so obsessed with your mate that nothing else seems to matter?”

Cade’s fork stops midair for a moment before he sets it down still holding a piece of cake. He grabs his beer and takes a swig, and his behavior makes me think I hit a nerve. I say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a touchy subject.”

“It’s fine. You’re right. True-mate love does make one feel as if they can’t think about anything else.” He smiles and gets a dreamy look in his eyes. “It’s wonderful and painful at the same time. When you think about the woman, you can’t help but feel a warm glow of love. Your mood improves instantly, and you feel as if nothing is wrong in the world. But when you can’t be with her,” he pounds a fist against his chest, “it hurts.”

“Wow. You sound like someone who’s experienced it.” A terrible thought comes to me. “Oh no. You didn’t have a--”

“No. I haven’t lost a true mate, if that’s what you were going to ask.”

I blow out a sigh of relief. “Good. Because I would have felt awful.” I sip on my coffee as I gaze at him and imagine being that in love. I think the most wonderful part for me would be knowing that it’s forever. “I’m a little jealous,” I say. “Being with someone who could never cheat must be comforting.”

Cade’s face clouds with concern. “Do men cheat on you, Bella?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I never get close enough to care.”

A smile flickers on his lips before he adds, “That’s sad.”

“Really?” The smile he just tried to hide gave him away, but I wonder why what I said made him happy. “Do you really think so?”

He sighs. “No. I suppose it keeps you from getting hurt. But for me--” Cade shakes his head. “You should let yourself fall in love.” His expression is sorrowful. “You deserve it.”

Suddenly, I feel depressed for both of us too. Cade might want love more than I do, though, so I reach out and place my hand over his. “You should too, Cade. Even if it’s just for practice.”

He looks down at my hand and then flips his over to grasp my fingers and give them a squeeze before he pulls away. He takes his fork and scrapes it along the plate to get the frosting remnants. “Should I pick you up tomorrow night, or do you want to meet there?”

His abrupt change of subject throws me, and I wonder if maybe Cade has already had his heart broken. I want to comfort him, and I notice I’m leaning toward him, and my arms ache to tug him close. I pull back, because we’re just friends and I shouldn’t send the wrong message.

“I’ll meet you there,” I say. “The place on Church Street?”

He nods. “At seven. I’ll bring the wine for us.”

“Great. This will be fun.”

“Bella?” Cade reaches out but stops before he touches me and pulls his hand back quickly. “Thanks.”

“Sure,” I say, and it hits me that Cade must need our friendship. At least that’s what I’m telling myself, because the truth might be that I do too.