“Not to complain but I feel like you are arresting me.” Koira shrugged her arm to indicate his hand wrapped tightly around her upper arm. “Are you leading me to your squad car, officer?”
Heat rushed to his cheeks. When they had stepped out of her apartment, she had held her arm out and he grabbed it that way out of habit. “I’m sorry, I don’t usually get the opportunity to escort a beautiful woman around town.” He grabbed her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. “Let me try that again.”
“Much better, I feel like such a lady now. Carry on, good sir.” He loved that she felt comfortable teasing him.
“I do have a question, I thought we were past the sunglasses?” He stared at his reflection in her lens.
“You may be okay with me but I’ve found it’s easier to wear them, plus I don’t know your town yet. Let’s take it one step at a time.” She turned back to the street and waited for him to walk.
Caeden understood exactly what she was feeling, when he first moved here he was hesitant to shift in front of others. “Okay, so across the street is a coffee shop, they stay open till midnight so a lot of kids like to hang out there and do homework. If we turn left there is a market that is open twenty-four hours a day. You can get all of the basic stuff but there is a large grocery store a couple of blocks away.”
As they walked, he noticed her mouth moving silently in rhythm with the tap of her cane. Puzzled, he couldn’t help but ask, “What are you saying?”
“I’m counting, I want to be able to come here on my own so if I count the steps from my apartment to the door of the market, I can easily find my way back and forth.”
The idea of walking outside all by yourself with no sight scared him, he was a big enough man to admit she was much stronger than he was. “How did you manage to move away from your mom? I would imagine she didn’t want to let you go.”
“She cried a lot as moving day came and when I first moved out, she called me hourly and wouldn’t let me go outside by myself. Each day the calls got a little more sporadic and eventually she got used to it.”
“I can’t even imagine what that was like, you are so much braver than me.”
“First off, I wasn’t brave, I cried myself to sleep the first week but I was determined to make it work so I pushed through. And what are you talking about you not being brave, you’re a cop. That has got to be one of the most dangerous jobs I can imagine.” Caeden couldn’t help the feeling of pride her words inspired in him. “Then again with how poor you seem to be with giving details, maybe you aren’t a very good one after all.” Her laughter rang down the road, people turned to look at her. They were openly curious about the stranger he was walking with.
“There’s not much to say, it’s a few buildings and trees.” She tsked at him and shook her head. “Okay, the buildings are made of red brick, they have that comfortably worn look that makes you think of home. All of the businesses have big picture windows with scroll work on them and various flowers in planters. There are vibrant green trees the same color as your eyes spaced every five feet along the way. The market has a fruit stand out front, the strawberries are red as your lips and,” Caeden grabbed an orange and split it open, “the oranges are so fresh, they’ll tantalize your tongue.” He slid a small wedge between her slightly parted lips. He knew he was taking a risk but she was his mate after all.
He was glad to see her face was flushed and her breathing had quickened, he could smell her desire stronger than the juice of the orange running down her chin.
“Holy shit, you learn fast.” Koira cleared her throat and took a deep breath, he had definitely gotten under her skin. “What else do you have for me?”
The loaded question had his brain fritzing, so many options were running through his mind. Since he knew her less than twenty-four hours, he better keep it light, for now at least.
“Let me pay for this orange you so rudely ate before purchasing and we’ll keep going.” He laughed at her gasp of mock outrage as he handed a dollar to the stock boy and told him to keep the change. “If you are quite done molesting the fruit, can we continue this tour?”
“Deputy Shepperd, I do believe you are a scoundrel of the worst sort. I wonder if my aunt knows how naughty you are. I’m not sure she would appreciate you trying to corrupt her only niece.”
He was corrupting her? Almost everything out of her mouth was sexual. Maybe it was time to embrace her style. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “It will be our little secret.”
Shivers ran down her spine at the heat of his breath on her skin.
“I just remembered Barbara’s son owns the Horney Wolfe Bar just up here on the right. Let’s stop in and see who’s around. I will warn you, though, it is a shifter bar so don’t go wandering off without me. And for god’s sake, if a guy named Raptor is there, just ignore him. He’s a vampire and loves the ladies but from what I hear, he found his mate recently so he’s been tamed a bit. Rumor is he’s trying to be on his best behavior so she doesn’t get wind of his past proclivities.”
“This sounds absolutely wonderful, we had shifters in town but I’ve never been to one of their places.” Caeden enjoyed the look of excitement on her face, it felt good knowing he put that there.
He continued his description of the area as they walked to the bar. He held the door open for her and wasn’t surprised to see Rook sitting just inside. He was the pack enforcer and spent his time between all of the clubs and bars the Wolfe pack owneds.
“Hey man, didn’t expect to see you guys in here.” Rook shook Caeden’s hand then awkwardly held his hand out to Koira. “I’m not sure if you remember me.”
“Mr. Rook, of course, thank you again for volunteering your time and helping with my apartment.”
“Is Mason around? I was hoping to have a quick chat with him.” Caeden scanned the bar looking for the owner.
“I think he’s in the back. I’ll take Koira over to the bar and keep her company while you’re gone.”
Caeden spotted Raptor in the corner and silently pointed to him, Rook rolled his eyes and waved his hand to shoo Caeden off. “Now, Ms. Scott, you are in luck. You get to trade in your current escort and upgrade to a much better one, me.”
Caeden rolled his eyes as he placed her hand on Rook’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”
As Caeden walked away, he heard Rook loudly whisper to Koira, “Thank God that guy’s finally gone, now you can really have some fun.” He needed to start carrying a notebook so he could tally up all the times he was going to repay Rook for his taunts.