Page 7 of Handcuffs & Honey

Julian cleared his throat several times before he finally turned his attention to Dominic. “You?”

“My dad died in a hunting accident.” It hadn’t been an accident. Some humans had killed him before his father had a chance to get away. Fucking poachers. That was why Dominic hated them so much. Poachers, not humans.

“Your mom?”

“When she was giving birth to me.” Now it was Dominic who had a burning lump in his throat. There had been complications, and she’d lost a lot of blood, too much to recover. Thankfully Dominic’s dad hadn’t blamed him for her death, like some fathers would have. Instead, he’d poured all his love into raising Dominic, and that was why Dominic was who he was.

A protector of those who couldn’t protect themselves.

“Subject change,” Julian announced.

“Okay, so where did you live before you moved to Midnight Falls?”

“Another subject change,” Julian said, though with less enthusiasm. “How long have you lived here?”

“My whole life,” Dominic said. “Where do you live?”

“You want to know where I live?” Julian looked suspiciously at him, but Dominic had no idea why. “Why would you want to know that?”

And here Dominic thought Julian trusted him. From his mate’s reaction to his question, Dominic’s gut told him that Julian was hiding something or had something in his past that made him skittish to have a stranger at his home.

“Because I’m driving you home,” Dominic said. “Unless you want me to drop you off at the diner and you can walk from there, but then that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me.”

“Oh!” Julian erupted in laughter, which made Dominic smile. Maybe he was wrong about Julian’s reaction. “The way our conversation was going, I assumed… Never mind.” He gave Dominic the address. “I guess since you’re a cop, the sheriff, I can trust you.”

More than he knew. Dominic would rather gnaw off his own arm than hurt his mate. All too soon they were in front of Julian’s small two-story white house with dark green shutters. His mate lived on the outskirts of town, in Mr. Gregor’s rental. Dominic knew the owner. A really nice guy. The house was well maintained, with the leaves all cleaned up, and had a porch swing, which he doubted was in use because of the chilly weather. The porch light was on.

Dominic had enjoyed himself and didn’t want their time together to end so soon.

“Thanks for a nice time.” Julian just sat there, not reaching for the door handle. It seemed like he didn’t want this to end, either.

“You’re more than welcome.” Dominic didn’t notice a car in the driveway and wondered if Julian had left it at the diner. Then again, if he’d had a car, he would have asked Dominic to take him back to work. “What about coffee?”

Julian frowned. “Now?”

“No.” Dominic chuckled. “In the morning. I could pick you up, and we could go to Bluebird.”

“Don’t let Roman hear you say that,” Julian teased as he laughed softly. “He swears Ajax is trying to put him out of business.”

Dominic frowned. “But Ajax only serves pies and cookies with the coffee.”

“Tell that to Roman,” Julian said.

Truthfully, Dominic loved Bluebird Café. It was a cute little coffee shop with cozy couches and books. String lights hung on the back wall, and personal touches could be seen throughout the place. There was even a back patio, which had stringed lights and candles in mason jars when it was warmer out and in use.

People who weren’t from Midnight Falls were always shocked to see that Ajax, a guy who was built like a linebacker, owned such a dainty place. They would be even more shocked to discover that Ajax was a wolf.

“I have to be to work at six,” Julian said.

“I have to be at the station at the same time,” Dominic replied. “How about I pick you up at five thirty?”

Dominic didn’t like the idea of Julian walking into town, let alone how cold it was early in the mornings. He would have offered a ride sooner, since Julian had been in town for a month, but until today, Julian had given Dominic a wide berth. Dominic was honestly stunned, but grateful, that Julian had agreed to hang out with him.

Dominic got out and walked around the truck, opening Julian’s door for him. His mate sat there with a frown.

“What?” Dominic was confused as to why his mate seemed that way.

“I just never had a guy open a door for me.” He looked up at Dominic. “Thanks.”

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