Little had she known that he’d been hung up on a redheaded kid with the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen and a smile that brightened his day, not the sweet, hurting Sarah who’d been pining for her mate.
Jim knew now that Gabe had gone away to train as a Hunter, but at the time he’d thought his friend had been abandoned by her new boyfriend. He’d stood by Sarah’s side, trying to keep her spirits up, but in doing so, he’d gotten Chloe jealous. Chloe’s reaction led to misunderstandings galore, because he’d been too afraid to make his interest in her known. Chloe, in turn, had nearly destroyed Sarah and Gabe’s relationship with her jealousy over Jim’s platonic friendship with Sarah. It had been a cluster fuck of epic proportions on all sides.
It made his head hurt just thinking about it.
It had taken Gabe and Sarah a while to straighten out their relationship. He’d been relieved to see his friend get her man, but Chloe’s antics had made Jim believe that she didn’t want him. If he’d known then what he knew now, if he’d been a shifter instead of human, he would have acted completely differently. He would have claimed Chloe the moment he sensed her doubts.
But he hadn’t been. He hadn’t known he was Chloe’s mate, and they were both still paying for their actions.
“Hey.” Chloe tapped him on the shoulder. “Where’d you go?”
Jim smiled down at her. “Thinking about lost time.” She tilted her head, confused. “Remember when Max and Emma got married?”
Chloe grimaced. “How can I forget? Loved Disney, hated Sarah.”
He chuckled and held open the door of Frank’s Diner. “Me too. Except I hated Gabe.”
“Did someone mention my name?”
Jim rolled his eyes as the deep voice of the town sheriff rolled over him. He reluctantly waved hello, ignoring the smirk on Gabe’s face. As much as they needed the Hunter’s help right now, the last thing he wanted was to see him. “Hello, Gabe.”
Chloe clutched Jim’s hand and waved. “Hi, Gabe.”
“Hey, little vixen.” The tone Gabe used with Chloe was soft and sweet, as if he was aware she was far more fragile than she let on. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” Chloe smiled easily at Gabe. Jim held back the growl that threatened to escape, aware Chloe had ignored Gabe’s attempt to hug her hello. She was trying, and so was he. “How’s Sarah?”
Immediately Gabe’s stance softened, his expression changing from concern for Chloe to a happiness Jim could only envy. “She’s good. She set off the fire alarm again yesterday.”
Chloe giggled. “How was dinner?”
“Smokey.” Gabe winked before giving Jim a far more serious look. “I’m going to talk to that new friend of ours, see what he knows about Chloe that we don’t.”
Jim nodded. He hadn’t forgotten about the attack on Chloe. In fact, one of the reasons he wanted to have lunch with her was to discuss something he should have brought up the day before. He’d been so focused on keeping the threat away from her that he hadn’t asked her the most important question of all. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Gabe nodded. When he spoke, there was a tone in his voice that had his Wolf’s ears perking up respectfully. “Look. Chloe’s a good friend, like the little sister I never had. I’ll protect her, I swear it.”
Much to Jim’s surprise his Wolf immediately settled down, causing much of Jim’s tension to ease as well. Apparently the word of a Hunter was good enough for both beast and man. “That means a lot.”
Gabe tipped his hat to them both. “I’ll call once I’ve got some information. You two enjoy your lunch.” He stepped past them, pausing for a moment. “Want to come to dinner Saturday?”
Chloe looked up at Jim, and he couldn’t resist the pleading gaze any more than he could have kicked a puppy. “Sure.” The sheer joy that crossed Chloe’s face, the relief, was worth the pain of putting up with Gabe. “We’d love to.”
Gabe nodded once and walked out of the diner with a single wave.
Jim led Chloe to a booth, seating her before settling across from her. “So. I have a question for you.”
Chloe bit her lip. “Everything all bite?”
“Yes, everything is fine.” He covered her hand with both his own, startled at how she was shaking. “Chloe, calm down. It’s just, I’ve been thinking, and there’s something that would make me feel a lot better about certain…things. And I know I said you were going to, but I never really asked, and you deserve that.” He smiled, hoping she wouldn’t see his own nervousness. “Move in with me?”
Her mouth opened, but the only thing that came out was a cute little yip.
“Oh, good.” All his tension eased at the expression of sheer want on her face. She needed this as much as he did. Jim patted the top of her hand, beyond pleased. “I’m so glad you agree.” He held his hand up in the air. “Waitress?”
Chloe closed her mouth.
Chapter Eleven
“I never said I’d do it, you know.” Chloe winced as Tabby worked on the kitsune tattoo she’d had done not too long ago. The pretty, feminine, three-tailed fox sat primly on Chloe’s shoulder, the tip of one tail covering its mouth to represent Chloe’s speech problems, and how she was overcoming her handicap. She wasn’t hiding who she was anymore, or what was done to her, and her kitsune tattoo hopefully showed that.
The other two tails were wrapped demurely around the Fox’s front legs, the left paw lifted and slightly twisted, but still delicate and dainty. The claws were barely visible through the fur, but there, a reminder that the fox, though damaged, could still fight with the best of them.
Chloe loved it.
Today Tabby was adding some green to the eyes to match Chloe’s, and some white with subtle gray shading to the body of her Fox.
Chloe had decided to add a wolf to the scene, one with Jim’s beautiful hazel eyes. She wouldn’t have Jim’s tattoo done until she saw him shift and could get a picture, though. She wanted to make sure she got his Wolf exactly right. The only thing she wasn’t sure of was what pose the Wolf would take with the kitsune. Would he stand over her protectively, or would he lay himself at her feet? Neither seemed quite right to her, so until she saw Jim’s Wolf she’d hold off on making the decision.