Page 10 of Art of the Hunt
“Going with you to find this missing ice cream truck. Do you happen to have a description? Because that looks like an ice cream truck to me.”
She pointed at the intersection, and Hunter lifted his gaze to watch a white, rectangular vehicle cruise past at a much higher rate of speed than an ice cream truck would normally troll at. The music was playing at warp speed. A little boy came running up the sidewalk, waving a fistful of bills, but whoever was driving completely ignored him and barreled on.
“Shit,” Hunter said, hopping into his car and cranking the engine. He’d deal with Artemis later. First, he had a feeling she was right.
That was probably the missing ice cream truck.
***
“That was fun,” Artemis announced after they’d apprehended the suspect and returned the truck to its rightful owner. “I especially enjoyed the part where that portly man offered me free ice cream for the rest of my life. I don’t think he quite understands what that means.”
Hunter shook his head and, without thinking about it, opened the passenger side door to his car and waited for her to slide into her seat.
“That was very gentlemanly of you,” she said once he was seated next to her.
“Habit. I was raised by my mom and have three bossy sisters. They did everything they could to try to make me a good catch.” Why was he even telling her this? This wasn’t a date; he was working, and she kept tagging along, unfazed by his attempts to ditch her.
“Has someone caught you?”
He snorted and guided the vehicle out into traffic. “Nope. Then again, I haven’t been trying to get caught.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. When I first left home and went to college, I spent all my time hanging with the guys. I’d been surrounded by women for my entire life, and it was nice to just be a bro for a while. Then I joined the academy and became focused on learning what I needed to know to do this job. Then, when I joined the force, I spent all my time trying to climb through the ranks. Hopefully, I’ll be a corporeal soon. Meanwhile, I’m a single, forty-year-old guy who’s set in his ways. Even if I decided I was ready to date, I wouldn’t have the first clue what to do. And holy shit, did I really just tell you my entire life story?”
“Not your entire life, no. You summed up eighteen to forty pretty well, though. Also, I now understand your terrible fashion choices. You were on the tail end but still old enough during the ’90s to develop a strange fixation on flannel.”
Hunter glanced down at the checked shirt tied around his waist. “Flannel is a timeless fashion choice.”
She patted his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. “You keep telling yourself that.”
He shook his head, fighting off the grin he could feel tugging at his lips. He would not acknowledge that she was right. He would not. “Look, I’m hungry. Do you want to grab some lunch?” And then he’d drop her wherever the hell she lived and get back to being a detective focused on proving to his boss that he deserved that promotion.
“Sure. Eating sounds divine. I’d like a burger, with extra cheese. Oh, and that delicious condiment humans like to slather onto cooked meat.”
There were a whole lot of condiments that could be used on burgers, and Hunter was willing to bet she wasn’t talking about something so innocuous as mustard and ketchup.
And then he smiled. “I know just the place.”
Chapter Four
“A vegetarian restaurant?” Artemis wrinkled her nose as she surveyed the tiny diner, with its wood floors and exposed brick walls and the giant, glowing sign declaring the establishment Meat Free.
“I thought humans preferred to eat cows, not eat like them.”
Hunter chuckled. “I decided to become a vegetarian about five years ago.”
She canted her head. “So you’re a gatherer, not a hunter.”
He laughed, and the action transformed his whole being. Yes, the man was attractive—quite good-looking, as a matter of fact—but it was in a surly, hard way. He was always on edge, never relaxed, and he rarely smiled.
Granted, they’d not known each even a full twenty-four hours, but Artemis was good at reading people. She’d spent three thousand years observing and trying to protect the human race, after all.
“I like that,” she said after the server placed the smallest water glasses she’d ever seen on their table and promised to be right back to take their orders.
“Like what?” Hunter asked while scanning the menu.
“Your laugh.”
