Page 20 of My Blind Date is a Werewolf

My steps halted just as I walked into my bedroom and caught the curtains swaying in the breeze. Prickles of ice skittered down my spine as I stared numbly at the open window.

I could have sworn… No, I was a hundred percent sure that I’d closed all the windows before I left. Was that window open before I went into the bathroom and I'd just been too lost in my thoughts to notice? Could a raccoon forcefully pry open a second-floor window?

Ungluing myself from the spot, I walked over to the window—but not before I grabbed the baseball bat by the dressing table. It was a gag gift from my brother-in-law after he found out that I didn’t keep a gun in the house.

My bedroom window looked out onto the street, but there was a huge tree blocking most of my view. I thought I saw a dark-clad figure dart across the street, but he disappeared past the house across from mine so quickly I didn’t have time to react. I kept looking out the window, searching for any signs of movement. A dog barked in the distance, and my neighbor’s car pulled into their garage, but that was about all the disturbance we got. The rest of the neighborhood was quiet, everyone having settled in for the night.

I started to pull the window closed when I noticed scratch marks on the window sill and that the latch on my window was mangled. I still couldn’t figure out how whoever broke the latch did it, but this was undeniable proof that someone had been in my house.

Breathing hard, I looked around the room for signs of a robbery, but everything seemed to be right where I left it.

I rushed back downstairs, checking the living room, the kitchen, the spare bedroom, and the living room for signs of a robbery or forced entry, but nothing was amiss. I did the same thing upstairs, but that did nothing to reassure me. Someone had been in my house, and they’d probably been in my room when I came in. What were they doing if they weren’t there to rob me? My jewels, both real and fake, were left untouched, and so were the electronics. Was it necessary to call the cops when nothing had been stolen?

Halloween was only two weeks away. Maybe some teens were getting their tricks in early? For a second, I thought about calling Adrian and asking him to come over before putting a lid on that. Whoever had been in here was gone now and I doubted they were coming back. Chalking it up to a one-time missed opportunity on the robber’s part, I grabbed my favorite blanket and pillow and the baseball bat and went to sleep in the bedroom downstairs. Just because I didn’t call the cops didn’t mean that I felt safe sleeping in my bedroom, not while the latch on my window was still broken. Not to mention that the thought of an intruder in my bedroom going through my things made my skin crawl. I felt violated.

~*~

Sometimes I wished I could chuck the responsibility of running a coffee shop onto someone else. I’d slept terribly, my eyes were dry and crusty, and no amount of caffeine was enough to jumpstart my brain. All the good vibes from my date with Adrian had vanished into the dark with the intruder, and in their place sat the twin terrors of anxiety and paranoia. I’d slept in snatches, waking up at the littlest sound. At one point, I got up to do another walkthrough when I thought I heard someone walking around upstairs. Baseball bat in one hand and a cleaver knife in the other, I’d crept around the house ensuring that all the doors and windows were locked.

And of course, just as I finally managed to crash into what was going to be a fitting sleep, my alarm went off. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do much baking this morning. I was going to be in the shop instead of the kitchen all morning, but the entire day was a drag. I couldn’t be sure if it was my imagination or not, but it seemed like every customer had something to say, both good and bad.

It was one of those never-ending days that went on and on forever and wore on my patience. Peter accidentally spilled a macchiato all over a customer's blouse and I blew up in front of him and all of the customers. Poor boy had tears in his eyes by the time I wound down from my tirade and now I felt like the scum of the Earth for reprimanding an employee. Although Peter was the one in the wrong, I ended up apologizing to him.

I’d almost forgotten that Adrian and I had plans together until I got a text from him twenty minutes before closing asking me what I felt like eating.

“Glad to see you’re still capable of smiling. I was beginning to wonder if we pissed you off without realizing it,” Wendy piped up from across the room, slinging a cloth over her shoulder and placing the chairs upside down on the tables so that Peter could sweep the floor without having to maneuver around them. Lauren was cleaning up in the kitchen and I was dealing with the cash register.

“What?” I murmured distractedly, typing off a reply to Adrian to meet me at my house and pocketing my phone before giving Wendy my full attention. She poked her cheek with her tongue, a thoughtful look on her face as she studied my expression.

“You’ve had a thunderous expression on your face all day. I almost didn’t tell you that we need to order Brazilian coffee beans because I was afraid you’d chew my head off. That’s the first smile I’ve seen on you all day,” she said, wiping down the next table. I grabbed a cloth and surface cleaner spray and got to work as well.

“I wasn’t that bad, was I?” I grimaced. I actually thought I managed to keep my turbulent thoughts under wraps pretty well. Peter made a derisive snort and immediately ducked his head when I turned my glare on him.

“See?” Wendy screeched like she’d just been vindicated. “You’ve had that demoness glare pasted on your face all day. It’s a wonder you didn’t scare all of our customers away!” She sighed in exasperation. “What’s eating you, man problems again?”

“Why would you say that? What did you hear?” I snapped my head up to stare at her. Did someone see Adrian and me together? A lot of Mystic Cove residents often went into Beckford if they wanted a change of pace and couldn’t be bothered to drive all the way into the city for a fun time. A cunning smile spread across Wendy’s round face. She literally hopped up to the counter and slammed her hands on the top, leaning all the way across as if she wanted to jump over it.

“So, it is a new man. What’s his name and how serious are the two of you? Please tell me it’s not that freak who was in here the other day because I can’t see the two of you making it past a few weeks. He has a stick lodged so far up his butt you can probably see it down his throat if he opened his mouth wide enough. Not to mention he looks like he’s the kind of guy who thinks missionary is all there is to sex.”

“What?” Lauren asked, coming out of the kitchen. “Who’s having sex?”

“Okay, wow,” I said, throwing my hands up in defense. “I am not going to talk to you—any of you—about my sex life, capisce?” I pinned Wendy with a stern look. Not that she looked intimidated by it or showed any remorse.

“Yes, boss,” all three of them replied in unison before we finished cleaning up and went our separate ways for the night.

The sun was dipping over the horizon as I pulled my car into my driveway. I’d never felt terrified of coming home ever before in my life, but sitting in the car and staring out at the silent colonial-style house—decked out in fake cobwebs, paper bats, and other Halloween decorations—I broke out in a cold sweat. My muscles tensed and locked up and I couldn’t find the nerve to get out of the car and step into the house. Images of a masked intruder boiled up in my head the minute I put my hand on the door handle.

No matter how many times I repeated to myself that I was being ridiculous, I just couldn’t get myself to move until three raps came on my window, scaring me half to death. My scream echoed around the car as I scrambled to… Actually, I don’t know what I would have done if the person standing outside my car was someone unfriendly and not a laughing Adrian.

“Oh my God, Adrian, you scared the crap out of me!” I gasped, hand on my throat and trying to come down from the momentary dizziness that swept over me. Still smiling, he gestured for me to open the door. In my panicked state, I scrambled to extricate myself from the seatbelt and unlocked the door, pushing it open before Adrian could get away and accidentally hitting him with the door. Adrian let out a pained groan.

“Dang it! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Are you okay?” I jumped out of the car just as he stood up straight, rubbing a hand across his abs.

“Nothing to worry about, darling. I was more surprised by that than hurt. What were you doing zoned out in your car like that? I must have called your names three times before you even realized I was there.” His nostrils flared as he breathed in deep. “I can smell the fear on you, and you’re pale as a sheet. What’s got you so spooked?” He squeezed both my shoulders and left his hands there, leaning down to get a closer look at me.

I was too frazzled to hide the truth from him. Because I couldn’t look him in the eye, I stared down at my shoes, using the curtain of my hair as a shield from his perceptive gaze. “I was afraid of going inside my house alone because—” I paused to draw in a shaky breath. “—someone broke into the house last night. Specifically, my bedroom. I’m not sure if I came home before they had a chance to comb through the rest of the house or what—”

“Someone what?” he roared so loudly my eardrums were under threat of bursting. “Did you get hurt? Did the cops catch him?” He started to rattle off a bunch of questions, cradling my face between his hands and searching for…I don’t know what. Injuries, I guess.

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