She looked over at me. “Did you just growl?”
“Um.” Had I? “Maybe.”
“Is that a werewolf thing?”
“Yes.” Although I hadn’t noticed that I’d made a noise. I’d been too busy fantasizing about punching this Tommy bastard. “I don’t like the idea of your boyfriend hurting you.”
As soon as I said the words, I knew they were too much. I should have kept them to myself.
“That’s unexpectedly sweet.”
“Don’t get used to it. I’m a miserable grump, remember?”
“Oh, right.” She smiled. “I almost forgot. But maybe I’m willing to revise that. You’ve been very helpful today.”
“Just trying to get rid of you, remember?” I made my voice gruff, wanting to return to the safety of being a bastard.
“Ah, yes. There’s the miserable grump I remember.” But still, she smiled.
“Good. Don’t forget it.” I finished the pasty and stood. “I’m going to get back to work.”
“It’s late. You should quit.”
“Soon enough.” I spoke without looking at her, hoping she would go. As long as she was near me, it was difficult to stay in my protective bubble. “I’ll see you later.”
“All right.” If she sounded a bit hurt, there was nothing I could do about it. And when she finally left, I breathed a sigh of relief and got back to the kitchen.
I finished the project I’d started in the pantry, then went outside. The cool moonlight bathed my skin, and I breathed a sigh of relief. A run would sort me out. At the very least, it would help me fight this endless desire to kiss Isobel.
As the night air came alive around me, I called upon my wolf and shifted into my animal form. My clothes disappeared, and my senses grew twice as strong. Soon, I stood on all fours, feeling immensely better. Then I began to run.
Chapter
Fifteen
Isobel
Rafe spent the next three days helping me at the house. The second morning we were working, he arrived just as I was finishing the spell that would give me enhanced speed. At his request, I enchanted him as well.
It made all the difference. He was so incredibly skilled that the kitchen came together in no time once he was able to work more quickly than his usual pace—which, as far as I could tell, was already quite fast.
I was really starting to feel hopeful about this place. The house was still grumpy, but less so. It would need to get a lot better before I could convince an electrician or plumber to come in. And the roof would need professional help, but I really couldn’t let innocent people up there if I was worried the house would find a way to fling them off.
On the third day, during a lunch of cheese and pickle sandwiches that I’d packed for us, I asked Rafe why he’d chosen to work with wood. We sat on the porch, with the autumn breeze blowing our hair back and the sea sparkling in the distance.
He hesitated before answering, and for a second, I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to talk at all.
“I used to be an investor. I liked numbers because they were simple.” He didn’t say it, but I was pretty sure he’d liked the fact that numbers weren’t people. “And that worked out well for me, for a while.”
I remembered what the bartender had said about him making a lot of money, but he didn’t mention that. “But?” I asked. “There’s clearly a but coming.”
He nodded. “I was unfulfilled. There was just something so cold about it all. So I decided to refinish my kitchen. I wanted a project to do with my hands, and it needed some work.”
“And you weren’t keen on having people in your house, mucking about with installing a new one.”
He smiled. “True. There was that added benefit.”
“Where was this?”
“London, about six years ago.”
“Wow, you would have been young.”
“Twenty-six. Once I started refinishing on the kitchen, I realized how much I preferred working with my hands. It was…calming. I can disappear into the work. So I left my job and started to learn woodworking. First cabinetry, then boats.”
“So you started a whole new life?”
“Essentially.”
“Did you get a job with a cabinetmaker?”
“No, I did it on my own. Self-taught.”
“So you could avoid people.”
He just shrugged. But in this whole story, he’d made no mention of getting a job, which meant he’d must have been very good at investing, even though he’d been super-young.
“You’re a talented guy, aren’t you?”
“Just at one thing.” He smiled. “But that’s good enough for me.”
It wasn’t just one thing, but I didn’t say it.
“All right. I’m back to work.” He packed away the rubbish from lunch, then headed to the kitchen. As I watched him walk away, I realized that in all of the story he’d just told about his life, there had been no mention of his pack.
There was damage there, I was sure. Something about his life was just so…solitary. That couldn’t be good for a wolf.
And yet, he was totally unwilling to talk about it. Not that I should be interested. I was starting to like him a little too much, and I still didn’t want to fall for someone so soon after Tommy.
We avoided each other for the next few days, though I did always make a point to bring him lunch. It was different than it was with Tommy, though. Rafe was helping me out in a big way, and the least I could do was make him a sandwich. But we didn’t talk as much, even though I could feel his eyes on me every time I walked by.
On my twelfth morning in Charming Cove, he didn’t show up at Lavender House. In fact, he was gone before I even woke. I knew because I’d peeked into his open bedroom door and found it empty. He hadn’t been up at Lavender House, either, and he didn’t show up all day.
Where did Grumpy McHottiePants go? Poa asked in the afternoon. I thought he’d be here.
“Me, too.”
You sound disappointed.
“I shouldn’t be. He doesn’t owe me anything, and he’s already helped me so much.”
You miss him.
“I don’t. I just need the help with the house.”
Liar.
My familiar could see right through me, but I didn’t confirm it. “I’m getting back to work.”
Rafe
I should have told Isobel that I wouldn’t be at Lavender House today, but I’d been an absolute coward instead. I rarely felt any kind of nerves, but I was meeting the Jade Sorceress. It felt like she was my last chance to remove this damned curse, and I needed to focus only on that.
I’d left while it was still dark. The drive to London was a long one, and I couldn’t be late. My mind spun the entire way there, hours of thinking about what was at stake.
The Jade Sorceress lived and worked in Shoreditch, an eclectic neighborhood entirely dedicated to supernaturals. Humans didn’t know it existed and couldn’t enter—if they tried to turn onto one of the streets, they had a sudden and overwhelming desire to go the other way.