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The morning sun was warm against her back as Kayla stood on Jameson's porch. She took a deep breath, and knocked.
A second later, Jameson opened the door. "Kayla," he said. "Come on in."
She stepped in after him and glanced around. It looked like Nina had already left for her writing cabin. A pile of colorful yarn lay on one of the chairs in the living room area of the open floor plan. Kayla wandered past the bookcase along the rear wall. The book Dyin' to be Your Lion had prominent placing among more serious volumes of poetry and classic literature. Kayla smirked.
"You doing okay?" Jameson asked from the kitchen. "Can I get you some coffee or hot chocolate?"
"No thanks, I'm good."
He poured himself a cup of coffee and stopped at the couch, giving Kayla plenty of space. "Are you, though? Good? Because last night you seemed pretty shaken up."
"It was just the driving," she said.
"That idiot didn't know."
"I don't want to talk about it."
Jameson cocked his head, blue eyes considering her. "Are you sure?"
"Very. Let's just talk about what I saw at Bronson's."
"Okay."
She took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, it isn't much."
Jameson waited. He didn't look disappointed, so Kayla felt a little better. Then she felt worse—maybe he wasn't disappointed because he hadn't expected anything to begin with.
"So," she said, "all I know so far is that Rhiannon was working on a list for him. She brought out a folder. One of the pages slipped, and I caught the words, Helene Public Library, Rare Books."
"That's it?" Jameson asked.
"Yeah. Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Jameson said in a kind voice. "You went over there and it was brave of you."
"Well, I think I could get more info if I go again. I'll text Sloan right now," Kayla said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She opened the messenger app and started typing a note to Sloan.
Jameson cleared his throat.
Kayla looked up to see him giving her what she could only describe as a "concerned father" look. With a pang, she remembered her own dad giving her a similar expression when he thought she was doing something impulsive and kinda stupid, like when she'd shifted into her wolf to spy on her ninth-grade crush.
"What?" she asked.
"Let's think about this," Jameson said.
Kayla didn't need to think about anything—she wasn't crazy about the idea of seeing Sloan again, but she'd do it in a heartbeat to help her clan.
"You don't have anything to prove," Jameson said. "You belong with us in the RCC no matter what. When you came back in January, I knew you were in for good."
"Exactly. That's why I have to do whatever I can to help us out."
He chuckled. "Not the message I was trying to send."
"This isn't hard work," she said. "Sloan's a dick, but overall he's harmless."
"I remember," Jameson said. "But there's an undercurrent of cruelty to him, and that worries me."
"One more time," Kayla said. "This will be it, whatever I find—or don't find."
Jameson wandered over to the bookcase and picked up the well-worn copy of Dyin' to be Your Lion. "I should let Gemma know that Nina filched her copy again," he said, sounding amused.
"Oh, no, that's probably Nina's," Kayla said. "Gemma tried to claim the hero, Leo, as her own personal book boyfriend, and to prove her wrong, Nina bought her own copy."
"Have you read it?" he asked.
Kayla laughed. "Only about six times. How about you?"
She meant it as a joke, so she was surprised when he said, "I read it once."
"Really?"
He nodded and grinned. "I was curious what had Nina all revved up about it."
"What did you think?" Kayla asked.
"You know, it's not bad," he said. "I expected it to be shallow, but there's a lot more to it. And it's disconcerting how close the author is to the concept of fated mates."
Kayla nodded. She'd appreciated that about the book. Every time she'd read it, she'd thought about Parker and her feelings for him. Those feelings amounted to an all-encompassing need, and a strong affection that defied explanation. Much of that affection had shifted into annoyance and dislike, but if she were to examine the depths of her heart, she expected the reason she would find for the dislike was that it was the only way to channel her feelings. If she couldn't love him, she could most certainly loathe him.
And whenever she checked in with her inner wolf, Kayla would find her gazing at Parker adoringly.
"I guess I should text Sloan," she said.
Jameson stood still, his face passive. "If you must."
She finished tapping out the message she'd started earlier. Do you want to hang out again tonight? I'm free.
His response was immediate. Yeah. And maybe you won't be such a prude this time.
She snorted.
A second later, a new text popped up from him. Wear that red sundress.
Gross. It was sheer luck that she had the thing—it was still on the floor of her closet and she kept forgetting to deal with it. Sloan had purchased it for her last summer. She'd worn it for him a couple of times, but she had hated the way he leered at her when she put it on.
"Everything okay?" Jameson asked.
She nodded, but knew better than to lie about it. "Sloan's just a creep sometimes, that's all."
He gave her a sympathetic look. "There's one more thing."
"Yeah?" She shoved her phone in her pocket.
"Parker would like to drive you."
"Nope. No way." She shook her head.
"He's already been by to volunteer," Jameson said. "He didn't know when the trip would be, but he said if you were to go again, he would be the one to take you."
Kayla groaned.
"He wants to make it up to you, but you're the boss on this. He didn't know about your..." Jameson paused.
"Driving hang-ups," Kayla supplied.
Jameson nodded. "Driving hang-ups. He'll probably explain himself, when he apologizes, but I only want you to be comfortable. Would Parker make you uncomfortable?"
"No," she said. Not in the way Jameson meant, anyway.
Parker made her uncomfortable in all kinds of other ways, though. And she was still pissed at him.
"Then, it's settled," Jameson said slowly. "What time do you want to leave?"
Never, she thought.
Although, as much as she hated the idea of seeing Sloan again, her inner wolf was perked up and happy at the thought of spending more time with Parker.