“I—” Caught. Mortification uncurled in her gut as she fought back the instinctive rush of pride.
She could try to lie to Julio, but lies took skill with shapeshifters who could hear a too-quick heartbeat or a breathless reply, could catch the tiny twitches in body language that were all but impossible to hide.
Julio might let her get away with a lie—if her coyote hadn’t trembled at the sheer defiance of even thinking it. Focusing on his chest—that gorgeous, solid rock wall of a chest—she offered the truth. “I don’t mind it and I need the money. But I always have Sundays off, anyway, so it’s just tonight, and maybe by Monday this’ll be resolved.”
“Fair enough.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m not trying to pry, Sera, or get up in your business. But from what I know of you, either was a possibility. I didn’t want you to feel trapped into working when you really want to get away.”
“I don’t mind working. But tomorrow…” It was like revealing an awkward secret, one few who knew her would have guessed. “I, uh, usually go to church on Sunday morning.”
“Where?”
“St. Louis Cathedral? Usually.” She eased one shoulder up, even though her shrug probably looked more defensive than casual. “Sometimes I go different places. Making friends would be awkward, since I’m fairly sure the Catholic church isn’t a fan of spell casters and shapeshifters.”
“Probably not.” He smiled ruefully. “The psychic stuff fits their dogma surprisingly well, though.”
The fact that he hadn’t laughed at her eased some internal tension. Sera relaxed and propped both elbows on the table. “I don’t know why I still go. I guess because it’s peaceful, and it makes my mother happy.”
His gaze sharpened inquisitively, but he only said, “It made mine real happy too.”
She’d have to tell him eventually, because the one thing she wasn’t willing to do was skip a visit to her mother. “After church, I visit her—my mother. She’s at a place outside of town. It’s a sort of…” The words felt like glass in her throat, painful to push out. “A mental institution for supernaturals, I guess.”
His jaw tightened, and he released a long, slow breath. “I’m sorry.”
“She’s been there most of my life,” Sera said quietly. “It’s how things have always been.
She’s happy, I think. The priestesses take care of her.”
“Franklin never mentioned it.”
No, he wouldn’t have, she supposed. Not only because he thought he’d failed, but because he’d spent too much time apologizing for moving on. “He can’t visit her. It upsets her too much.
But I go every Sunday. I could skip tomorrow, if I had to—” Julio spoke over her words. “Or I could go with you. If that’s all right.”
She finally lifted her gaze to his face. She hardly ever looked straight at him. She couldn’t, almost as if the unchecked dominance in his eyes sent her sliding away like pushing the wrong ends of two magnets together.
Now he looked careful. Cautious, but his dark brown eyes held a hint of protectiveness that warmed her.
She could drown in him. It would be so easy. So very, very good.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and her lips tingled. Her whole body felt wild with the urge to climb over the table. Or under it. Curl up against him, stroke and touch and kiss. Rub against him until their scents were unmistakably entwined.
She just wanted him.
“You’re welcome.” He stretched his hand across the tabletop, open and waiting.
So dangerous. She held her breath as she settled her hand on top of his, her fingers looking pale and small against his callused palm.
“What time do you attend mass? Eight? Eleven?”
“Nine.” Oh, she was breathless. “Though I have to work late, so maybe eleven’s smarter.”
“Eleven,” he agreed. “Then we’ll get lunch and go see your mom.”
“Okay.” Temptation beckoned, and she gave in, rubbing the pad of her thumb along the side of his index finger. Her skin was too tight, leaving every nerve exposed.
His fingers clenched for a split second before sliding free of hers. “Okay.”
The loss hit her in the gut, too hard and too intense for something so trivial, and the truth settled around her like a judgment.
She was entirely, completely screwed. And she hadn’t even taken her pants off yet.
Chapter Five
Anna had called the concealed-carry paperwork a bitch. Sera was starting to think she’d been too generous. “So I still need to go get fingerprinted, get a passport photo and dig up the paperwork from my divorce?”
Jackson finished signing her training form with a flourish. “You can go to McNeely’s station house for the printing. He’ll take care of you.”
Sera reached across the receptionist’s desk for a Post-it note and scribbled down that instruction. The desk was neater than she’d ever seen it, with most of the knickknacks stacked to one side. Holt and Jacobson Investigations was down one partner and one assistant with Kat and Alec out of town, which made the office seem lonely.
It made Jackson look a little worn around the edges too, though Sera supposed fatherhood could be partly to blame for that. “Any luck finding someone to replace Kat?”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I hired a part-timer, but I think we both know there’s no replacing Kat.”
“No, I suppose not.” Sera added passport photo and call about divorce paperwork to her list of tasks. “She texted me this morning. They’re on their way back up to Wyoming soon. I think Kat’s planning to stay there until Nicole has her baby, even if it could still be a few months.”
“Not surprised. Kat’s crazy about that kid already.”
“She really is.” Whatever reservations Kat had about having kids of her own clearly didn’t extend to playing enthusiastic aunt to her cousin’s offspring. Derek and Nicole’s baby was going to have a baker’s dozen of doting aunts and uncles, assuming any of them could get past Derek in overprotective daddy mode.
A baby. Sometimes Sera wanted one so much it hurt, and she couldn’t even pretend it was all the coyote, though the coyote was the reason she couldn’t think about it. Each generation seemed destined to suffer more than the last, and she would not do that to a child.
Though if the father wasn’t a coyote…
She trampled the thought before it could finish forming and swiftly changed the subject.
“Speaking of adorable kids and the people who are crazy about them, how’s Cody doing?”
A sudden smile chased the exhaustion from his features. “Eight going on eighteen. I don’t know how Mackenzie’s going to handle the next ten years without going nuts.”
Mackenzie knew all about being valued only for her ability to save her species from extinction. Faced with the choice between the cougar she didn’t love and the human she did, she’d chosen love. And then she’d chosen to adopt a young wolf who needed a family.
Josh would probably call her a freak, too. Sera could think of worse company to be in. “She brought him around to Dixie John’s a couple weeks ago. He knows how to melt every adult woman in a ten-mile radius already. The servers were fighting over who got to give him milkshakes and cookies.”
Jackson groaned. “Lord help us.”
“He’s your kid all right,” Sera pointed out, trying not to laugh. “Do you think I’ll get to see him before Julio picks me up?”
He checked his watch. “They should be here in a few minutes.”
Sera picked up a pen and hesitated with the tip hovering over the top form. “Can I ask you something kind of personal? It’s okay if you don’t want to answer.”