Page 19 of Handcuffs & Honey

Julian enjoyed a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream as Dominic ate his dinner. His mate had ordered a lot, and now Julian saw how he could put away so much food. His bear was massive, just like Dominic was.

He smacked his mate’s hand when he kept trying to steal bites of Julian’s pie. “Get your own.”

“But yours tastes so much better,” Dominic said.

Julian got up, walked behind the counter, and cut Dominic a huge slice of pie. He set the plate, along with the can of whipped cream, in front of the sheriff. “Have at it.”

“I like that you work here.” Dominic wiggled his brows, making Julian smile. “I can get bigger helpings.”

“No you can’t,” Roman called from the kitchen.

Julian chuckled as Dominic smiled then dug into his pie.

More customers started coming in, and Julian felt guilty for not helping out, but there were already three servers there. They weren’t going to need him, though it felt weird being a customer himself.

Dominic stood, threw some cash onto the counter, and slipped on his Smokey Bear hat. That was what Julian called the hat, though he knew it went by another name. And damn, Dominic looked gorgeous in his.

“I have to go to the station to do some paperwork. You want to join me, or I could drop you at home.”

Now Julian wondered which home Dominic was referring to. “Your house?”

“Our house,” Dominic said without hesitation.

“I think I’ll go home.” The second day Julian had been there, Dominic had shown him how to use the security system. Dominic had said he really didn’t use it because Midnight Falls was safe, but after what happened to Julian, he was using it. “I have to be up early for work, anyway.”

And Julian didn’t want to be in Dominic’s hair while he tried to get his paperwork done.

Just as they were about to leave, Julian saw Elijah giving him a big, goofy smile. Julian rolled his eyes, waved goodbye to Elijah, and walked out with Dominic.

It felt damn good that Julian and Dominic were no longer in a tiff. He hated tension. It had been like that dating Rob. Whenever they argued, Rob would give Julian the cold shoulder for days.

Now Julian felt as if he could go to Dominic’s house and relax instead of worrying that his mate would be upset with him for the next few days. That was a damn good feeling.

* * * *

“You got a sec?” Deputy Cannon Lowry asked as he rapped his knuckles on his boss’s open office door.

“Just finished my report.” Dominic waved to the chair in front of his desk. “What’s up?”

“Finally found someone who interacted with our suspect.” Cannon slid a folder over Dominic’s desk. There was a single piece of paper inside the folder, but that paper would help them, hopefully, figure out why that shifter had gone after Julian Sanders.

Dominic looked the paper over, and then his gaze rose to meet Cannon’s. “How did you get the results this fast?”

Cannon smirked. “It helps when you fool around with the lab tech.”

Nothing was ever going to come of that relationship. It wasn’t even a relationship. What Cannon and Donny had was more like fuck buddies, and both were okay with that. Neither was looking for anything long term. Donny was human, and not Cannon’s mate, so that took a lot of pressure off of things, too.

Dominic leaned back in his chair, leaving the sheet of paper on his desk. “How did you get the prints?”

“The suspect was at Fearless Fox,” Cannon explained, “having a drink. He dropped the glass, and Jake missed a shard of glass when he cleaned up the mess.”

There were more details than that, like how Cannon had practically gone to every business in town, asking about the stranger and giving the description Ajax had given him.

He hadn’t hit paydirt until he’d gone to the tavern. Jake, the owner, hadn’t been pleased with the shifter’s behavior. He’d said that the stranger tried to start several fights then smashed the glass on the counter before he’d walked out.

Cannon had searched the area where the guy had been sitting and by sheer luck had spotted the piece of glass. He told Dominic as much.

“Fine police work,” Dominic said. “I just wish I knew who this Robert Martin was.”

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