Page 18 of Stray Cat

“How’s your mom doing?” Martin asked as he rinsed dishes.

“Fine,” Xav answered, his long-ingrained fondness for Juanita Escobar warming him. “She just got back from a cruise to the Caribbean with her friends. I don’t want to know what they did out there. I didn’t ask.”

Martin chuckled. “She probably went into every kitchen at every restaurant and tried to teach them how to cook.”

“One of her friends told me she tried that on the ship.” Xav grinned. “Thought the food was too bland, and she wanted to pep it up.”

“Your mom’s a good woman.” Martin turned off the water and dried his hands. “But very bossy.”

“Tell me about it. I was the only kid on the block with a room so clean you could eat off the floor. She always said we might be poor but that didn’t mean we had to be slovenly. I tease her about it whenever she leaves a plate on the table.” Xav grimaced. “Which she then makes me pick up.”

“Serves you right.” Martin sent him a quiet smile. “How’s work? And that brother of yours?”

Martin had never, ever discussed Lindsay with Xav, or asked his intentions, or lectured him about how to treat his daughter. His philosophy was to let Lindsay and Xav work things out between them, a mindset Xav was grateful for. In the meantime, Martin had hinted, there was no reason for them not to be friends.

A big regret Xav would have if he and Lindsay really did call it quits would be losing his camaraderie with Martin and Leah.

Martin offered Xav a beer, and the two of them sat down and chatted about Diego, DX Security, and their big bust of the gun-runners at the arena last night. Xav kept Lindsay’s part in the takedown out of it and didn’t bring up the kidnapping either. From the shrewd light in Martin’s eyes, he knew all about it but saw no advantage in discussing it.

Voices signaled that Leah and Lindsay had emerged from the back of the house. Xav took a final sip of beer, nodded to Martin, and left the kitchen, his entire body tensing.

Lindsay had donned a tight pink sweater with a low neckline that made it difficult for Xav to focus on anything else. He forced himself to look away from her curvy and blood-heating body and smile his thanks at Leah. Leah sent him an encouraging nod and slipped past him into the kitchen.

Lindsay snatched up a jacket from a hook beside the door. “If you want to talk, let’s do it outside.”

“Sure.” Xav kept his tone neutral. “There are a million cubs in the back, who will listen to every word. Want to go out for some lunch? Snack? Beer?”

“Let’s just walk.” Lindsay skimmed out the front door, swinging on the jacket as she went.

Xav followed and closed the door carefully behind him.

Lindsay might not be as tall as Cassidy, but she could certainly stride. Xav jogged to catch up to her then matched her pace as they moved down the street toward the open fields at the end of the block.

Most of Shiftertown was at the party today, but those Shifters who weren’t—mostly Graham’s Lupines—lounged on porches on this pleasant afternoon. Xav spied Dougal, Graham’s nephew and second-in-command, who was probably keeping an eye on the Lupines who resented Eric enough to cause trouble at a cubs’ birthday party. Dougal lifted a hand in greeting as they went by, and Xav waved back.

Another Lupine growled at Lindsay but shut up quickly when Xav shot him a quelling look.

Xav wondered why Lindsay was taking a route straight through Graham’s territory full of disgruntled wolves, but it was possible she paid no attention. When Lindsay had a goal in mind, she just went.

They emerged from the cluster of houses into open land on the north side of Shiftertown. A new housing development for humans was being built not far away, but the desert in between was still pristine, full of creosote and native grasses. To the west rose the snowy ridge that held Mount Charleston, to the north and east, where they’d been last night, lower mountains framed the horizon.

Lindsay took in the view for a few moments before she turned and faced Xav. “So, you’re deigning to let me find AC’s brother for him?” she asked without preliminary.

Xav forced his gaze not to drift to the enticing sweater. “Diego is setting up another meeting for you with him.” He shrugged. “You’re going to do this whether I like it or not, so I might as well help you. You know, to lessen your chance of getting killed.”

Lindsay scowled. “I’m a Shifter, Xav. We’re resilient.”

“Sure, but not immortal. AC could still shoot you multiple times until you’re dead.”

“We’re also smart, fast, and strong. I do know what I’m doing, and I don’t need you babysitting me.” Lindsay’s eyes flashed. “In fact, you’ll probably just get in the way.”

Xav blew out an exasperated breath. “Linds, you don’t have to prove anything to me, all right?” he said, recalling Cassidy’s words. “I know you’re capable. I just worry about you. You enjoy taking your life into your own hands, and it scares the shit out of me.”

Lindsay stared at him. “Provemyself to you? Why do you think this has anything to do with you?”

Xav blinked at her in surprise. He’d been following Cassidy’s advice, but he realized abruptly that, in spite of his protests to himself, he’d been thinking of himself and Lindsay as a couple. As though what he did affected her, and what she did affected him. As though they thought about each other all the time.

It became clear, in this moment, that Xav was the one doing all the thinking. Lindsay was saying she’d answered AC’s plea for reasons of her own, reasons that didn’t involve Xav. Her question dealt his ego a deep blow, but wasn’t that his own fault?

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