“Yeah. Uh, thanks. I’m happy to show it to you anytime. I’m in a trailer but hope to have the entire first floor finished by the first of December so I can live in it and finish the second story and rest of the build over the spring and into the summer.”

  * * *

  “I wouldn’t say I was a carpenter or anything, but I’m good with landscaping and painting and the like and happy to help out a neighbor,” Ruby managed to say as she wrenched her gaze away from his forearms where the hair there shone bronze and copper in the lamplight.

  The dogs had belly crawled their way ever closer over the time they’d been in the living room and were now looking up at her with hopeful eyes. “Yes, you two can nap there awhile. But no more treats. You’ve had a lot today as it is and you ran a lot and had so much love and exercise you’ll be sick if you eat another thing. And then you’ll be so embarrassed that he saw you like that.”

  K Mags gave a furtive look in Damon’s direction and with a sigh, he turned in a neat little circle and dropped, propping his chin on Ruby’s slipper. Biscuit, well, he was far more food motivated and therefore more stubborn when it came to wheedling treats.

  “He knows if he overrules me I’d kick him out of the house instantly,” Ruby told Biscuit, who’d been giving starved eyes at Damon.

  “Don’t get me in trouble with her, little man,” Damon said in a surprisingly deep grumble. Biscuit held his gaze for about a quarter of a second before he plopped down, using his brother for a pillow.

  “Don’t think I didn’t hear that little huff at the end,” he told the dog and she was happy to be sitting because her knees went all rubbery. It was bossy, but also sort of cute and affectionate. Damon was most likely being their alpha too.

  Biscuit opened one eye and wagged his tail hopefully before going back to sleep.

  “I don’t know how you do it without laughing. Or giving in,” Damon said.

  “I don’t,” Ruby admitted. “Not always. That one in particular,” she pointed at Biscuit, “is very sassy. He tends to act out if he gets bored and he very much needs a firm hand and to know who’s in charge of the family.”

  “Okay. That makes sense. Hierarchy and discipline are important when you have sharp teeth.”

  Ruby sucked in a breath at the very carnal response to the way his voice had gone low at the end of the sentence. Naturally, because he was a shifter, he noted it instantly and one corner of his mouth rose.

  “Anyway.” She only barely managed not to fan herself. “We didn’t only call him Biscuit because he’s perfectly golden. Even when he could just barely walk, he always showed up for any meal, ready to sop up any delicacies, sweet or savory. Like a biscuit. And obviously, you can see from his shape, he was just a dumpling from day one. Well, day two really.”

  “I’m afraid to ask about day one,” Damon said.

  “I was only supposed to be a foster home for them for a few weeks. A whole litter had been found after their mom got run over by a car. I took two because one of my friends was dating someone who ran a dog rescue. Day one was pretty much full of bathing. They were dirty and had fleas. I actually thought Biscuit was gray, but after the third bath most of the dirt and oil had been washed away and he was his golden brown self. They were a handful. So smart and so much energy. By the end of the first week I knew it was a case of a foster fail because there was no way I was giving them up.”

  Ruby bent to give them both a scratch under the chin before sitting up. “They’re really good with kids and older people. They come with me when I visit some of the care homes. They’re fearless and very empathetic so they’ll hop up and be charming the grumpiest old lady in the place before I blink an eye. I’ve had them at two births and a number of different appointments. They’re a natural soothing element. It’s harder to be scared of a shot when K Mags is in your lap. When they were puppies I realized quickly that Cairns needed exercise and they loved brain challenges. I’d hide treats and let them search the house or the park or yard. That’s when I started thinking about different ways of dealing with pain or fear in medical or healing procedures for witches and shifters. Medication surely, but for shifters, the dosage is high enough to be extra judicious and witches can have bad reactions to certain ingredients depending on what their magical talent is.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Damon said. “I knew that y’all needed specialized care with certain pills and whatnot. But not why. Fascinatin’.”

  He meant that and it filled her with pride. “It really is. Like shifters, we’ve made do with human medications and the variants our own doctors and scientists have come up with.” She made herself stop there because having witches out in the world gaining the expertise needed to engineer medications and medical procedures that were tailored for the “Talented,” as most witches and shifters generally referred to their group as a whole, was her great passion and she could talk about it for hours.

  “But there are other things to try. Meditation. Music or other types of sound. And animals. Biscuit and K Mags bring sunshine and soft round bellies to rub and that lowers blood pressure. It gives the hands something to do while you’re meeting with a therapist or when you’re in the waiting room for the dentist. They’re part of my practice in important ways.”

  “Sometimes, you don’t plan your story, it just writes itself.”

  Ruby glanced up at Damon and he grinned at her in response.

  “It’s something one of my aunts says.”

  “She’s right. I didn’t plan on being a dog person. Especially not until after I’d come back to Diablo Lake. But I was meant to have them. And they were meant to be my family and to be part of the type of healing I practice.”

  K Mags’s tail thumped against the floor as if he knew she was talking about them.

  Not long after, Damon helped her clear away their snacks and the cider before taking his leave for the night.

  He paused long enough on her back steps she wondered if he was going to close the gap and kiss her. But he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her. He smelled excellent, as he always had. No kiss though as he stepped back at last. “Be seeing you around. If you need anything, I’m just right up that hill there. Good night, Ruby darlin’.”

  Even after she’d closed and locked the door, she watched through the windows in her kitchen. Moonlight fell over him until he disappeared into the trees. She could still feel his presence, as if the earth at her feet connected them somehow.

  * * *

  Back at his trailer, he took his boots off before going inside but paused, the door still open, as he stared down toward the heart of town. Down toward where Ruby most likely puttered around her kitchen talking to those ridiculous dogs.

  It wasn’t—just—the connection they’d shared for years. It wasn’t just her beauty and her magical talent. It wasn’t just that she was funny and intelligent. Though all those things were a powerful lure. When she’d talked about the dogs and the way she’d been able to have them be part of her healing practice had convinced him utterly that Ruby Thorne was the one. The. One.

  Compassion, passion, ferocity, beauty and intelligence all wrapped up into one delectable package. One he hadn’t been ready or able to appreciate fully years ago. Neither of them was the same. Both had grown and learned their respective talents and place in the universe.

  He knew enough to understand he had to be worthy of a woman like her at his side. Sure they had loads of chemistry and sexual attraction. That part wouldn’t be hard. Well, okay, that part was hard but they’d burn up the sheets when the time came. She’d need wooing. And spoiling.

  Damon grinned as he finally closed the door. Good thing he wasn’t afraid of a little hard work.

  Chapter Six

  “Ruby, there’s someone in the waiting area for you,” Erica called out. “I’m leaving. See you tomorrow.”

  “No need to say who or anything. Girl should be glad she’s my cousin,” Ruby muttered as she locked the medication safe and then the room it was in. “Just a moment,” she called out before securing the door leading back to the exam rooms.

  “I’ll give you as many moments as you need,” Damon replied and Ruby heard that smile in his tone.

  “I had to lock everything up since I’m the only one here,” she told him as she went straight toward him for a hug whether he’d been intending to or not. He folded her into his chest a moment.

  Her heart thundered so hard she could hear it in her voice.

  He held her away from him, searching her face before a sly light came into his eyes. “I like the pattern. Dark blue and yellow. Makes your eyes even deeper brown.”

  Okay so maybe Ruby wouldn’t be annoyed at Erica for not saying it was Damon waiting. She touched the scarf she’d used to wrap her hair that morning. “It was a graduation present from my cousin.”

  “Hard to believe Erica is already twenty-three and married. I always think of her as a seven-year-old. Played shortstop on my junior softball team. Never got tired of asking why. Ever. A good shortstop though. Leader.”

  Charmed, Ruby tipped her chin at the bag he held. “She still never shuts up. Good leader still too. What’s up?”

  “I’ve got two root beer floats. Do you have a few minutes to share them with me?”

  She had home visits to make, but she didn’t need to leave for at least half an hour.

  * * *

  “This beats the protein bar I was going to eat in my car on the way to my next appointment,” Ruby told him.

  They’d settled at the little bench just outside the clinic. Her face was tipped up to the sun, eyes closed, a smile marking her lips. At that moment he very much wished he was an artist because she should have been a painting.

  She turned to him before sliding sunglasses into place. “I’m loving the sunny weather. I worked out in the yard and did some furniture painting in the carport most of yesterday but it got chilly fast once the sun set. Feels like this winter is going to be a cold one.”

  He’d driven by her place that morning on the way to work to see she’d been busy. The outside had been manicured a little. Trained into some order but still organic and a little wild. He couldn’t wait to see what the place would look like come spring and summer next year.

  “Let me know how the woodstove works. It’s new so you’ll need to use it a few times to figure out what you like best.”

  Ruby looked his way again and raised her nearly empty root beer float. “Okay. I forgot to say thank you. Sure is nice when a friend brings ice cream by to enjoy in a spot of afternoon sun. How’s your Monday so far?”

  “Boring and annoying until now. Now it’s really good. I think you should come out on a date. With me, I mean in case I wasn’t clear on that point,” he told her.

  He’d meant to be more suave and charming and shit, but as usual, she befuddled him and got his wolf all goofy.

  “All right.”

  “All right?”

  “All right to the date. All right to the date with you,” she said and smiled, revealing her dimple. God. That dimple.

  “Excellent. This moment right here is my favorite part of today.”

  Her laugh brought his own. “Mine too.”

  “I was a little unsure if you’d say yes,” he admitted.

  “Because of the utter lack of chemistry between us?” she asked, deadpan.

  That made him laugh again. “It’s pitiful, really.”

  Ruby leaned in and slid her arm through his, squeezing him close. It had just been a quick thing but he still felt it though she’d moved away and was already talking about something else.

  He took Ruby’s glass and spoon back. He’d drop them at Katie Faith’s on his way back to the Mercantile.

  “I missed the simplicity of this. When I lived out there.” Ruby pointed off to the distance, away from Diablo Lake. “A root beer float in a glass with a tall spoon is a simple pleasure. But a really wonderful one.”

  In a remote town like theirs, they couldn’t afford some of the habits people who lived outside did. Trash needed to be dealt with. It took up space and resources. So they created as little as possible, especially in commercial settings. Take-out containers were nearly always reusable. Napkins as well. The Ruizes, one of the prominent big cat shifter families in town, handled the laundry and the Cuthberts, the other one, handled most of the washing of the dishes, silverware and glassware.

  It would have been hard to adjust to, Damon realized. He knew people would move away from Diablo Lake, either for education or experience before returning or intending to never return. But the world out there didn’t hold the same appeal for him that it had others. Here he was home. Wolf and man were safe. It was idyllic at times, but usually a pain in the ass because everyone knew your business.

  But it was theirs. And it was safe.

  He shook it off. They could talk about it on their date. Or not. “Friday night work for you for our date? Dinner?”

  “Yes, that’s good.”

  They agreed to check in with more details by midweek, though Damon knew he’d try to find a way to bump into her or stop by for a chat between now and then anyway.

  “Thanks for the sweet treat and the flirting. I feel fortified for the rest of my appointments this afternoon.”

  He bent to hug her as she turned and he ended up grazing his lips across the corner of her mouth and cheek. She hummed her pleasure and he made himself pull away before he went in for a lot longer right there in broad daylight.

  “All right then, Damon Dooley. I’ll be seeing you.” Ruby waved and then walked away to her car parked just to the rear of the clinic building. He stood there for a while, a silly smile on his face before spinning and heading back to work.

  * * *

  Later that night, Nichole showed up on Ruby’s doorstep right about dinnertime. “She brings me food and a bottle of wine. How did I get the best friend on the planet?” Ruby hugged her and invited her inside.

  “Pure luck, that’s how. Let’s eat. Greg’s over at the high school playing soccer with all the other guys right around thirty. Really it’s just a prelude to pitchers of beer. I think Damon is there too. He’s in good shape. I mean I’d guess if the state of taut muscles is any indicator. Not that I noticed.”

  Ruby grabbed plates while Nichole unloaded the food at the table. “Super nonchalant way of bringing Damon up,” she said as she sat.

  “I thought so. I’m really sneaky. Like a spy. I could have gone to spy school or whatever,” Nichole said.

  Ruby snorted as she spooned up some macaroni salad. “Yeah, I can really see that. As for Damon being in shape, well, yeah. He’s a total snack, as the kids say.”

  There was smoked turkey to go with the salad and Ruby added a quick pickle she’d tossed together just the day before and a loaf of bread.

  “I’ve been experimenting with a cheesy rice bake that might be really tasty with barbecue. I’ll save you some the next batch I make.”

  Nichole waved a hand with an annoyed growl. “Fuck your rice. We were talking about Damon hot butt Dooley.”

  “Fuck my rice? I would not ever. I am scandalized.” Ruby put a hand to her throat, faking offense.

  “You said you dated and then broke up before it got too serious and then you left town. Greg says Damon always asked after you over the years.”

  “Four dates. There’d been flirting for a while, but he’s three years older and until I was out of high school he wouldn’t have looked twice because that’s just how he is. I liked him then, like I said. We never even got past some making out with a little dry humping. And then he said since I was leaving for so long we should break things off and remain friends. He respected my plans to get my education and all that. And so, I left town two or three months after that. We saw each other around town when I was back to visit. No drama or anything like that.”

  “You two were not looking at one another like two pals supporting one another’s career path when I saw you and Damon sitting on the bench outside the clinic earlier today. You were sitting shoulder to shoulder and had your heads turned, nearly touching noses. Just lasted a moment but there’s something between you.”

  “This town! Of course you saw it.” Ruby had to laugh. “He brought cider to my house that day I moved in. Then he showed up at the clinic today. Brought me a root beer float and then asked me on a date. I obviously said yes. This time is different. We’re both different. We’ve gone through stuff and it’s made us better. I wouldn’t have grown into who I am now if I hadn’t left and gotten the education I needed. It was a good choice and I’m not mad about the original breakup. I’m pleased to see where this version of Damon and Ruby goes.”

  “Okay. I’m down with this plan. I like the way you think.” Nichole tapped her glass to Ruby’s. “And I want all the details afterward. Especially if they’re dirty.”

  “Ha! I hope to have dirty details to share. It’s been a while since I’ve had dirty details.” Ruby had dated on and off over the years. She hadn’t been chaste by any stretch. But none of it had been very serious. Because she was never going to stay out there and she couldn’t bring an outsider back unless it was forever, like Nichole and Greg.

  “I just realized Diablo Lake is probably crawling with women who’ve seen him naked.” Ruby frowned.

  “Whatever. Let them have those cherished memories because that’s all over now. It comes with being with a person who oozes all that charisma and sensuality. Your brother does too and you know there’s more than one person in this town who’s seen him naked as well.”

  Ruby clapped her hands over her ears. “It’s weird because that’s my brother you’re talking about,” she said. “I’m glad you’re happy and um compatible and all that.”