Page 39 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

“She said things are going very well. That you were doing a good job.”

It was amazing to him that even though he was convinced she didn’t care about him beyond how he could help bolster her image, pride still filled him at the approving tone of her voice. “The office isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“Good, um, and how is your mate?”

“Jake’s great.” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “I’m happy I ended up with him.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Her sentiment was genuine. He hadn’t heard her voice sound like that since before she took office. “And you? Everything going okay?”

“I’m fine, son. Just…happy you’re doing well.”

He didn’t know what to do with any of this, and the darker parts of his mind were screaming that she wouldn’t be fine at all if things weren’t going smoothly. That she wouldn’t care then how he was doing, only that he wasn’t doing what she thought he should be. He stuffed that down. Because the truth was, she could think whatever she wanted. He was done letting his life be defined by what she thought of him. Maybe when the dust settled, they could have some kind of relationship. Or maybe they couldn’t. Either way, he wanted to keep moving forward. “Thanks, Mom. Glad you’re good, too. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Bye, Cane.”

9

Jake watched Cane fiddle with the cloth napkin he’d discarded on the table, shifting around in his seat like that would somehow make the chair comfortable. Banquet chairs were never comfortable. Even at a white tablecloth, black tie affair like this one.

The gala had been mostly what he expected—boring—but the food had at least been good. Not as good as the Tavern’s, but tasty in its own right. He and Cane both owned a tuxedo so that part had at least been easy.

His gaze wandered around the room, catching on Calliope at the table with the other council members. The other guests at his table were the other newly mated couples in Lenette’s little experiment. Derek and Hollis seemed the most comfortable with each other out of all of them. But Jake would wager that he and Cane were doing better than Merrick and Leander. There was a definite distance there.

Cane leaned over and whispered against his ear, “Promise me we can bail as soon as these speeches are done.”

Jake smirked and whispered back, “You don’t want to dance?”

The look Cane gave him could have incinerated stone, and he had to cover his laugh with a cough.

Derek shot a look at him across the table, one eyebrow raised.

He cleared his throat and nodded to show he was good. Cane was still glaring at him when he turned to face the front of the room again.

He leaned up and whispered, “Of course we can.”

“Oh, thank god,” Cane said, turning his head back toward the speaker and starting his fidgeting all over again.

* * *

“I thought you were going to shred that poor napkin,” Jake said with a laugh, walking up the sidewalk toward the front of Saint’s Tavern with Cane. As promised, they’d left as soon as the speeches were over and they’d said their goodbyes. Deciding they needed a beer to recalibrate, they’d parked in the lot behind the bar like usual but headed for the front entrance instead of the stairs up to their apartment. They’d both stripped out of their jackets and ties, leaving them in their white dress shirts. Cane was rolling up his sleeves as he walked. Jake was trying to remember to put one foot in front of the other while he stared at Cane’s muscular forearms.

Cane glanced over at him with a smirk. “Forearms, huh?”

“They’re fucking sexy, man. What do you want me to say?”

When they reached the door, Jake pulled it open, holding it for Cane to walk through. The place was pretty full, most of the regulars in their usual spots. Their clientele ran more toward paranormal, but they did have some humans who enjoyed a quiet drink on the regular.

Jake led the way to the bar, returning greetings to several people as he went. Behind the bar, Elara and Dom were laughing at something one of the guys on the end had said.

“Hey, Jake,” Dom said as he slid onto one of the empty stools in the middle. Cane took the stool to his left. “Cane. How was the ball?”

“We need beer,” Cane said. “Badly.”

She laughed, turning to grab two glasses. “That good, huh?” Dominique—everyone called her Dom—was a wolf shifter and worked for them on a part-time basis. She was also a private investigator and mated to a vampire named Madeline. Maddy wasn’t there tonight as far as Jake could see, but she usually made an appearance when Dom was on the clock.

Setting the two full pints in front of them, Dom asked, “Anything from the kitchen?”

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