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I snorted. “â??‘Crazy’ is a good word for it.”
Abe shot Caleb a sly look. “Oh, I like her. You deserve her, buddy. I’m looking forward to watching how this plays out. You in a relationship? That’s like one of those shows about guys who wrestle with wild gators. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but it will be bloody, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to laugh.”
“Is Trixie here yet?” Caleb asked, ignoring Abe’s jab. “I would like to snap her up before these guys figure out I’m taking away their entertainment. That could get ugly.”
“She’s not due for another thirty minutes or so,” Abe told him. “You got a minute, man. And I need a favor.” Abe jerked his head toward his office. Caleb gave me a skeptical look, as if he didn’t want to leave me alone, but I waved him off.
“Go have fun,” I told him. “I’ll be fine.”
“The last time you said that, you ended up offering to show Jerry your boobs,” he said.
Abe’s mouth popped open to comment, but instead, he asked, “You hungry?” The blond man laughed at himself. “What am I saying? You’re with Caleb ‘Jerky Hog’ Graham. Of course you are.”
Before I could respond, Caleb protested. “That was one time! And you left the bag in the truck. What was I supposed to do? Starve?”
Abe shook his head, giving me a knowing look, and flagged down his bartender, a pretty brunette. “A beer and a crab special for the lady. Anything she wants is on the house.”
I started to protest, but Caleb lifted me up and deposited me on a bar stool.
“Eat,” he told me. “Sit here. Stay in one place. Please try to stay out of trouble.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” I informed him.
“You’re right, but as someone who cares about you, I am only asking that you eat a good meal and try not to jump directly into harm’s way, waving a sign that says, ‘Here I Am!’ in big red letters.”
I hated it when he made sense. “I don’t have a sign,” I grumbled.
“It’s invisible to everything but trouble,” he told me, making me laugh.
“Augh,” Abe groaned. “I was wrong. This isn’t funny. It’s adorable. I wasn’t expecting adorable. I hate adorable.” He grabbed the scruff of Caleb’s neck and dragged him toward a door marked “Office.”
“I will never understand men,” I told the brunette behind the bar. The airbrushing on her shirt identified her as Pam.
Pam shook her head. “We’re not supposed to, honey.”
“Well, that’s comforting.”
In a few minutes, I was served a surprisingly delicious sandwich consisting of a whole-wheat roll stuffed to the brim with a spicy, fresh King crab salad. Not exactly the greasy fried bar food I’d come to expect. I dived into that sandwich as if seafood was about to be declared illegal. The cold, delicately seasoned crab was perfectly complemented by a peppery citrus dressing. It was the perfect accompaniment to the creamy wild-rice soup and beer. I hadn’t eaten this well since the valley. I savored the dish and the opportunity to eat in a little island of silence in the crowded, conversation-filled room.
And it gave me an opportunity to consider the implications of our conversation with Mary Ann. Caleb was one of those werewolves who played sex roulette with tavern wenches. How was I supposed to feel about that? But I wasn’t sure I wanted to follow Mary Ann’s act. She looked like the kind of girl who knew tricks. Or turned them.
“Don’t pay what Mary Ann said any mind,” Pam said, sliding a fresh beer in front of me. “She’s been after him for the better part of a year. Never could take a hint.”
“So they never . . .” I left that question hanging in the air, along with several vague hand gestures.
“Oh, no, they probably did,” Pam said. “But Caleb never made any promises or anything.”
I thunked my head against the bar and groaned.
He’d never made me any promises, either. He clearly liked me. But he’d never said he loved me. And although I’d tried to skirt around those feelings for a good while, I knew they were there. I still believed in love. It was impossible not to when you were surrounded by a bunch of people who mated for life. I saw how fiercely werewolves could love, with everything they had. But Caleb never mentioned anything about love, just safety and protection. And he certainly didn’t say anything about the long term, just that I should stay with him. He never said how long he wanted me beside him.
“But I’m sure that you two . . .” Pam continued. I looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed. She pursed her lips. “I’m going to stop talking now.”
“Probably for the best.” I nodded.
Pam busied herself behind the bar, leaving me to pick at the remains of my sandwich.
This was such an inconvenient moment to figure out that I was in love with Caleb. It wasn’t unreasonable. There were so many reasons to love him. Yes, he was handsome. And yes, he was strong. But Caleb was also a good man, as different from Glenn as night is from day. He was pragmatic when it came to his job, but he was kind. He didn’t hurt people because it felt good to him. While he might be aggressive, he wasn’t passive-aggressive. When he was upset, he still talked to me. He made me laugh, even when I didn’t want to. He didn’t tell me what to do, what to wear, who to talk to. If he told me he was trying to protect me, that’s what he was trying to do. He wasn’t trying to separate me from people who might see what he really was, how he was treating me, that what we had wasn’t normal.
