Page 18 of Handcuffs & Honey

Now Dominic had to do paperwork. But that would wait. First, he had to go to the diner and fix his own damn situation with his mate.

Chapter Five

By the time Julian had finished eating, his anger had waned. Now he felt foolish for what he’d done. Dominic hadn’t deserved that. He was just trying to look out for him. There was a big difference between Dominic and Rob, a vast difference. Dominic seemed to genuinely care, and Rob had acted indifferent most of the time.

Now that Julian sat there and thought about his ex-boyfriend, he wondered what he’d seen in the guy. Whereas Dominic was passionate and sweet, Rob had been… Julian wasn’t sure how to describe his former boyfriend. Rob had been a bit of a jerk, dominant—and not in a good way—and always had an excuse at the ready for why he showed up for their date an hour later, or why he just wasn’t in the mood for sex, or why he seemed to carry a chip on his shoulder most of the time.

He really had been toxic. That was why Julian had moved to Midnight Falls a month ago. To get away from the guy. Even after Julian ended it, Rob had acted like a complete prick. In Rob’s mind, things weren’t over until he said they were over, regardless of what Julian wanted.

Dominic wasn’t like that. As cliché as it sounded, because Dominic was actually a bear, he was a complete teddy bear with Julian.

“Are you sure you’re ready to come back to work tomorrow?” Roman asked as he leaned his arms on the counter.

Julian looked his boss over, trying to picture him as a snow leopard. Roman was tall, built, and handsome, but Julian couldn’t imagine his boss shifting into a cat.

Honestly, it was a bit funny to think of Roman as one.

But Julian wasn’t going to tell Roman that he knew he was a shifter. Julian was still getting to know Dominic, and he wasn’t sure he was even allowed to say anything.

“I’m fine to come to work,” Julian said. “I can’t keep sitting on my ass at Dominic’s.”

Though Julian had had the best few days, minus the nightmares that woke him in the middle of the night.

“Well, I’m glad,” Roman said. “We’re short staffed with you out, and Elijah and I can’t do it all.”

“You have five servers,” Julian said. “Granted, one is parttime, but Terry and Elana are here. Stop acting like my absence is making your business suffer.”

“Just wanted to make you feel needed.” Roman winked. “It’s nice to have you back.” He pushed away from the counter and stood.

“Thanks,” Julian said.

When Roman walked away, Julian let out a deep breath. He couldn’t believe how much he missed Dominic, and he hadn’t been away from his mate that long.

“This spot taken?”

Julian glanced up to see Dominic standing just behind him. His heart did a somersault as he shook his head. “It’s all yours.”

Dominic didn’t seem angry. In fact, if Julian was guessing right, his mate looked a bit worried.

“How did your call go?” Julian curled his fingers around the mug of hot cocoa Roman had brought him twenty minutes ago.

“Sticky situation.” Dominic raised his hand to get Roman’s attention. “You still pissed at me?”

“No.” Julian looked down at his mug. “I’m sorry I lost it on you.”

To Julian’s surprise, Dominic leaned over and kissed his temple. “Water under the bridge, hon.”

Julian frowned. “That easy?”

Dominic lowered his hand. “Just as long as you’re not the type to flip out all the time, which I don’t think you are.”

“I’m not,” Julian said earnestly and then curled his lips in when he realized he’d sounded a little too desperate to convince his mate.

Dominic pressed his lips to Julian’s ear, sending shivers through him. “We’ll talk about this at home. Let me get something on my stomach.”

Home? Had Dominic just referred to his house as their home? That should have scared the hell out of Julian, but… It was kind of nice. Julian hadn’t felt at home anywhere since his dad had died. Sure, he’d had his own place since he was twenty, but it never felt like his.

At Dominic’s, Julian found a peace he’d been craving, a sense of belonging, which was crazy since he hadn’t known the sheriff that long.

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