Page 23 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

Pierce gave his older brother a look. “Are you actually trying to do that same thing Dad does? Getting all subtle while indirectly telling me what to do?”

Hayden put his hands up. “Hey, all I can say is it works on the kids. You do what you want.”

“That’s easy for you to say now,” Pierce grumbled. “I’m taking an extended lunch hour. I’ll let you tell the chief, or maybe you can just drop an understated hint.”

“I’ll do that,” Hayden promised.

Pierce got in his truck and headed across town. He wasn’t actually mad at Hayden for trying to give him advice, and he couldn’t blame either him or Rick for being light-handed with it. That was just how the three of them were. They didn’t feel the need to boss each other around when being a little more laid back about things worked so well. No, the irritation in Pierce came from a completely different situation, one he hoped he could do something about.

Numerous thoughts raced across his mind, each dismissed as quickly as it came. Could Holly have lied to him because she wanted to date Kyle instead? No, there was no way. Pierce could tell Holly had the same dislike for Kyle that he did. Even if she had to put up with him, she wouldn’t have stayed there for him.

Had Pierce done anything wrong to chase her away? If he had, it would’ve made more sense for her to just go back to Cape Cod and never speak to him again. It wouldn’t explain her presence in Eugene.

She was a gifted writer. Perhaps her boss had seen that and had asked her to stay longer for some important meeting. Holly wouldn’t have told him because they’d already said their goodbyes, and dragging things out after that would only make it harder. That was at least as close as Pierce felt he could get on his own. With a little luck, he’d known the truth in a few minutes when he got to her place.

He just hoped she was still staying there. How far out of her way would she have gone to avoid him?

His wolf leaped up when he saw the same beige rental car sitting in the driveway as he came around the corner. So she was still there, and he’d have his chance to see what was happening. He’d already told himself several days ago that he wasn’t going to try to make her stay, and she’d told him she had her own life to go back to. Pierce understood they could probably never work things out, so he wasn’t there to change her mind. He was just there to find out why. He pulled in a deep breath and knocked on the door.

He waited, then knocked again. He looked for a doorbell, but there was none. Rubbing his teeth over his lips, he stepped back down into the driveway and laid his hand on the hood of her car. The metal was cold under his hand where the shadow of the house fell across it, so she likely hadn’t driven anywhere that day, yet she wasn’t there. Pierce went back up to the door and knocked again, just in case she’d been busy.

Why was she hiding from him, and why would she spend any time with that creep Kyle? What the hell was happening?

11

“Here we are.” Kyle glided the car to a stop against the curb. He quickly turned off the headlights and made sure the dome light wouldn’t kick on.

Holly spotted Selene’s through the windshield. Kyle had parked on a side street across from it so they could see the front and side of the club. “I thought you said you didn’t want to go back in there.”

“I don’t. We’re just going to watch the place,” Kyle explained. “We’re going to document everyone going in and out of there. Some of them very well may be the same people who were there when we were, and they might even be the same guys I followed. They’re the ones I’m really after, but I’ll take whatever data I can get.”

Holly’s chest tightened as she spotted Max at the front door. She didn’t doubt Pierce’s other pack members, like Rex and Lori, were in there. He’d introduced her to several others throughout the night, though they were a blur since she’d been so focused on him. “But you don’t know if any of these other people are shifters,” she reasoned.

“They’re still associating with them. I can’t explain it, but I’ve got a feeling this place is a big hangout for them. I’ve got a buddy in the tech industry. I’m going to send all the information to him to see if he can run it through a recognition system or see if any of them have features in common. We have to figure out how we’re going to spot these guys.”

Damn. He was starting to sound like he actually had a plan, even if it was complete lunacy. “It doesn’t seem right to just sit here and spy on people.”

“There’s a lot of that in my line of work,” Kyle insisted. “Investigative reporting is all about patience and observation. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a handsome face. It gets people to open up a little more easily.”

Oh, great. He’d gone back to arrogance again. Holly didn’t want to feed his ego since it was already stuffed full, but she had to be careful. She’d already made too many sarcastic or critical remarks, and it wasn’t like she could stop this investigation by telling Kyle it was silly. She had to find a way to convince him, but for the moment, he had to believe she was on his side. “I’m sure that’s true.”

His eyes had been focused on the rock club, but he quickly turned to look at her with a smirk. “So you’ve finally noticed?”

“I mean, um—” She floundered for a good reply that wouldn’t completely shoot him down nor encourage him too much. “You did get that one woman to open up earlier today. The one outside the pizza shop.”

“Yes, she certainly had a good story to tell. I have a feeling her entire life will change once we get the truth out there.”

Holly wasn’t convinced. The woman had been sitting on the corner with a cardboard sign, begging for money and food. Holly had given her a bit of both without asking for anything in return, but Kyle had decided to interview her about strange activity in the neighborhood. He’d made the mistake of feeding her information about exactly what he’d wanted, and the woman had instantly agreed with him. “Oh, yes! I’ve seen them! I see them all the time! They’re everywhere!”

“You know, your entire life is about to change, too,” Kyle continued. “You’ve been right here with me for every step of this work so far, and I know your writing is going to really bring this thing to life once we have all the evidence.” He leaned over the console, his eyes shining in the streetlight. “What do you say we share more than just a byline?”

Holly blinked. Kyle had always hit on her at previous meetings, and he’d never really seemed to take the hint that she wasn’t interested. In fact, it wasn’t until this whole idea of exposing shifters came about that he’d started behaving more like a normal person. Apparently, he’d just been biding his time. “What?”

He tipped his chin down, trying to give her a smoldering look. “Come on, Holly. We’re both mature adults, and I think it’s time we were honest with each other. We’ve been spending an awful lot of time together, and the tension between us just keeps building.”

The only tension she’d been feeling was just how awkward it was to go around town with him while he interrogated random strangers. “Uh, I don’t know about that.”

“I admit that I brought us on this little stakeout because it would help our project, but there were some other motivations behind it.” He reached out and put his hand on her knee.

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