ope no one’s worried about me being here. I don’t want to make anyone feel as though they’re not safe.”
“Don’t worry,” one of the men at the beer-and-coffee table, Carlos, called over. Carlos was the father of the three dolphin shifters Arlo had pointed out to Jacqueline earlier. He was sitting with another local, Dave Oxley.
Arlo relaxed. Carlos was—he hesitated to say “one of the good ones”, but he had only moved to Hideaway with his kids a decade or so back. He wasn’t one of the old guard like Ma and Pa.
“Harrison already sent around the message,” Carlos explained. He raised one hand and counted off his fingers, slightly slowly, as though he was hunting for each number through the bottom of his glass. “One. Lady from Dunston. Two. Came along with those three seal kids. Three…”
“Three, be nice,” Dave said, thwacking him gently on the back of the head. “Though that last one was from Harrison’s girl.” He gave Jacqueline a friendly nod. “They seem like good kids. Be good to have someone who can give your lot a run for their money, eh, Carlos?”
“Pff. Ain’t no one can beat my Ana.” Carlos Ramirez raised his glass to Jacqueline. “Welcome to Hideaway, miss. And damn, Arlo! Can’t wait for the Sweets to hear about this. Tell me you’re going to sell tickets to—”
“That’s enough of that.” Caro swept in from the kitchen, armed with a picnic basket brimming with Tupperware containers. “Here’s your order, Carlos. You’d better get it home before your kids start eating the furniture.”
Dave gulped the rest of his coffee and bundled the basket under one arm. “I’ll look after him, Caro,” he said, and cuffed Carlos to his feet. “Come on, man, don’t let your kids see you like this.”
“It was one beer…” Carlos complained, and blinked. “Half of one beer.”
“Yeah, and you’ve got the tolerance of an underweight bee,” Dave grumbled good-naturedly, slinging Carlos’ arm over his shoulder. “Come on…”
Beside Arlo, Jacqueline stiffened. He put one arm around her. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s just… that’s something my ex used to say.” Jacqueline shook herself. “Not in the same context, though. I’m sure if I’d gotten myself shamefully tipsy on half a glass of beer he’d have…”
She raised her hands. “You know what? I’m going to make a promise to myself right now. No talking about my ex while I’m on the first date in five years.” Her hands dropped. “Or make that ten, because—no, I’m not doing this. I’m enjoying the moment.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe I’m still not ready. Or I’ve left it too long. I should have done some practice… windows… before now.”
Despite the anxious edge to her voice, she hadn’t pulled away from Arlo’s arm. And he didn’t want her to.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he said, and her hand slipped into his.
“Oh?”
“I’m out of practice, too,” he said, his heart hammering. Out of practice? Christ. That was one way of putting it.
Jacqueline smiled. “Good,” she said. “Then no teasing if I mess it up.”
“Oh my God,” she moaned some time later. Arlo’s toes curled. “Oh. God. Mmmm.”
Her eyes were closed. Shivers of ecstasy made her eyelashes flutter.
“This is incredible,” she breathed. “So much cheese.”
She cracked one eye open and hunted out another crispy cheese dumpling from her bowl.
“I’m really sorry,” she said as she lifted the dumpling to her mouth. “But after this, I’m wondering if I should—mmm—be asking Caro on a date instead.”
Arlo’s wolf whined. He cleared his throat to cover it, even though he knew there was no way Jacqueline would be able to hear it.
“Good luck,” he said. “Caro’s married to this place.”
“Damn.” Jacqueline sipped broth from her spoon. “No wonder this is the only restaurant in town. Anywhere else would go out of business in a second.”
“You know, I worked here for a bit when I first arrived in Hideaway. The couple who took me in wanted to make sure I had a skill to build a career on.”
“They sound like good people.”
“They… are. They’ve done a lot for Hideaway. They’re my pack,” Arlo said, his voice becoming more confident.
“Your pack? Is that another—” Jacqueline cut herself off. “God, I must sound like the nosiest person in the world.”