“What are you doing here?” She hadn’t meant to sound so annoyed, but she really didn’t want Allan to see Rowdy here when he arrived.
“Allan said he might be late coming to pick you up. There’s a massive pileup on the road he has to take after he leaves the mountain. Since I live in Whitefish, he called in a favor and asked if I’d pick you up and take you to the restaurant. He knew your car was in the shop, and he didn’t want you out driving in this weather anyway.”
She wanted to groan out loud, but instead, she showed Rowdy in.
“I don’t intend to join you for dinner, so you can’t twist my arm or anything.” He smiled at her.
“Thanks, Rowdy. I…well, I—” She felt terrible that he continued to ask her out and she kept saying no, but then he would rescue her tonight. She felt she owed him a dinner.
“Would you like something to drink? Water? Coffee?”
“Coffee would be good. I came early because I wanted to make sure I got you to the restaurant on time. I’ll hang around until Allan makes it.”
“Thanks, Rowdy. I really appreciate it.” She started a pot of coffee, then turned to face him. “Why didn’t Allan call me or text or something?”
“He did. Or he said he did. You weren’t answering.”
She patted her pocket, realizing at once that her phone was on vibrate and in the jeans she wore earlier today. “Oh, damn. Sorry.” She headed for her bedroom, pulled out the cell, and found she had ten missed calls and five text messages, all from Allan. She shook her head at herself, felt bad that she’d probably worried him, and called him right back.
“Hey,” he said. “I worried about you. Rowdy will be there to pick you up and take you to the restaurant. I’m on my way now, but I might be about five to ten minutes late.”
“He’s here now. My phone was in another pair of pants. I’m so sorry, Allan.”
“No problem. He was happy to check on you and take you over there.”
“Should we invite him to join us for dinner?”
Allan didn’t answer right away.
“It’s up to you,” she added.
“Yeah, hell, sure.” But Allan sounded disappointed to have to make the offer. “It would be the right thing to do.”
“Okay. I’ll tell him. See you in a bit.” Feeling horribly disappointed the way things were working out, Debbie ended the call and tucked the phone into her pocket, then returned to the kitchen where Rowdy was pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Cream?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah.” She went to get the cream. “Allan is on his way. He said he might be five to ten minutes late, and he wanted me to ask if you’d like to join us for dinner for all the trouble you’ve gone through to come and get me.” She handed Rowdy the creamer.
He poured the cream into his coffee. “Think nothing of it. I hope he’d do the same for me if the situation was reversed, and I definitely wouldn’t barge in on a date. Besides, when you didn’t answer your phone, he worried about you. Why didn’t you tell me someone driving a black sedan had been following you? I’d have every one of them pulled over and the driver investigated.”
“It hasn’t happened again. I think he must have left the area. And it might not have been anything. Thanks for coming by to check on me.”
“Any time. About the case, we’ll get whoever was involved in both murders. I really thought we’d have more leads and have them wrapped up by now, but we’ll learn the truth before we know it.”
“Do you still think the murderer of the woman was a werewolf hunter?”
“Yeah. And the other guy in the stolen car. Why else would they have guns loaded with silver rounds?”
“They were both crazy.”
Rowdy glanced at his watch. “It’ll take me ten minutes to get you to the restaurant, and we’ll make sure you get your table. Captain O’Keefe’s is always busy on Saturday nights. I was surprised Allan could get a reservation at that late a date.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I’m a homicide detective. I saw the surprised, then relieved look on your face when he said he was taking you out. He hadn’t planned it, just winged it, hoping you’d agree.”
“I…”
“When I say ‘relieved,’ I mean that you were glad he finally asked you out. Hell, why do you think I keep asking you? Not that I don’t want to take you out, but I’ve been attempting to give him an incentive to quit delaying the inevitable.”
“Even if he’s a wolf with a wolf pack.”
“As many cases as Paul and Allan have solved, and people and animals they’ve rescued, they’re some of the good guys. So if he’s intent on making you his mate and you’re intent on wanting the same thing, who am I to say what is right or wrong?”
She smiled and shook her head at Rowdy. “You’re a good detective. And not bad at making up stories either.”