Elle, who was pulling shots at the big red-and-chrome espresso machine, turned to face them. “Inquiring minds want to know, Malia. What have you been up to?”
Malia glanced around the crowded café. All of the patrons were out-of-towners. Not a shifter or pack member among them to overhear.
She lowered her voice. “So, do you two remember Lucas? That hot cat guy at The Hair of the Dog a couple of nights ago?”
Maggie’s dark brows shot up. “I thought he turned you down!”
“He did,” Malia said. “But you’ll never believe this—he’s renting the cabin right next door to mine! We ended up having dinner together last night.”
Ellie abandoned the espresso maker. Hazel eyes sparkling, she came to stand alongside Maggie. “Anddessert, too?”
Malia’s face heated. “There was possibly averysweet dessert involved,” she confessed.
Ellie whooped and punched her fist in the air. “You go, girl! That man’s yummier than a hot fudge sundae.” She put both hands on the wide marble counter and leaned forward. “So, spill. What happened?”
“Um.” Malia swallowed hard. “He was amazing. It’s like he could read my mind, and he knew exactly what I needed.”
“Maybe it’s the benefit of experience,” Maggie said, grinning.
“If that’s what dating an older man is like, sign me up for one!” Ellie exclaimed. As she spoke, the old-fashioned shopkeeper’s bell fastened to the bakery’s front door chimed, announcing a new arrival. “That sounds like an amazing date! Does Lucas have a single brother?” Then she looked past Malia and her eyes widened. “Oh, hi, Mr. Jacobsen.”
Malia’s heart sank. Of all the rotten luck!
“Hi Maggie, hi Ellie,” Great Uncle Bill said warmly. “Malia, what’s this I hear about a date? Is someone courting you?”
“No one’s courting me,” Malia said quickly.
At the same moment, Ellie, grinning, announced in a voice too low for the café’s other patrons to overhear, “She’s dating a cougar shifter! He’s one of the hunters.”
Malia closed her eyes, regretting her decision to share a bit of gossip with her two best friends.
“Ellie,shut up!” she whispered fiercely.
Too late.
The cat—literally, in this case—was out of the bag.
Between Maggie, Ellie, and Great Uncle Bill, the rest of the pack and the Swanson clan would know about Lucas by the end of the day.
Reluctantly, Malia turned to face Great Uncle Bill. He looked like an older, more weathered version of Uncle Kenny. He’d served as the town’s Chief of Police for many years before he retired and Mom was promoted to fill his shoes.
Despite his age, he was still tall and vigorous, his lean frame as athletic as ever, even if his once-sandy hair had gone pure silver. His blue eyes were sharp as he studied Malia.
“A cougar shifter, hm?” Great Uncle Bill asked in a carefully neutral tone. “Are you going to introduce him at our next pack meeting?”
“No! It’s nothing serious,” she protested. “Just…a fling. He’ll be heading home in a few days, and that’ll be that.”
Her wolf let out an unnerving growl of protest at her words.
Shush, Malia said silently.You know it’s true.
“A fling. With an out-of-towner.” Was that disapproval she heard in her alpha’s voice? “And what’s the young man’s name?”
Malia gritted her teeth. The question rubbed her the wrong way. Pack alpha or not, it was none of Great Uncle Bill’s business who she chose to spend time with. “Lucas Winter,” she said reluctantly. “He lives in Boise.”
“Oh,him. I heard he’s been seen in Travis Bickham’s company,” Great Uncle Bill stated, his tone heavy with disapproval.
He liked to keep track of all the shifters who came to Bearpaw Ridge. He considered them guests who brought important income during fishing and hunting seasons, but they were still technically infringing on pack territory.