Kallie wasn’t the only one with uncomfortable jeans. Even thinking of cold showers and mountain glaciers didn’t help. Annoyed, he walked across the deck. After grabbing a cold Sierra Nevada Stout from the ice-packed cooler, he leaned on the deck railing festooned with red and white streamers, and hoped his cock would ease eventually.
Nice setup for a gathering. From the wide cedar deck, the lawn sloped down to a tree-lined creek. Picnic tables and patio chairs held various sets of people: a group of local merchants, a few cops flirting with some of Kallie’s friends, the buckskin crowd, and a handful of loggers who lived in the area. A batch of older citizens kept grandchildren running to serve their requests. Teens hung out down at the creek or playing board games, toddlers and moms had taken over the wading pool, older kids used the waterslide or kicked a soccer ball. Some climbed on the hay bales stacked two and three high and scattered around the lawn. Looked like two poker games going on in the shade, and dominoes reigned at a picnic table. He’d heard about the Masterson’s Fourth of July gathering for years but never realized it drew in the entire population of Bear Flat. And more continued to arrive.
Just as he took a hefty drink of beer, something rubbed against his calf. He jerked his leg away and looked down. Kallie’s monster cat sat at his feet.
Jake knelt on one knee and offered a finger. Hopefully the beast wasn’t in a bad mood, or he’d be drawing back a stump. “You know, I like cats, but I think you’re descended from something a lot bigger.” Maybe the tufts on his ears resembled a bobcat’s, but the thick fluffy mane looked more like a lion’s-if lions came in brown tabby coloring. And those paws were huge.
The dark pink nose touched his finger gently. Jake petted it for a bit and started to stand. The cat deliberately lay down on Jake’s boot, all twenty-some pounds of him. “Ah-uh. If I move at this point, I’ll have scratches all the way up my leg, right?”
A snort came from the direction of the beer cooler, and Jake glanced up.
Kallie’s cousin Virgil, clad in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, opened a can of Coors. “Takes a lot to make him really mad. He’s more mellow than he looks.”
Jake stroked Mufasa and grinned. The beast had a purr like an outboard motor. “You’re the only people I know who keep a guard cat rather than a dog.”
“Yeah, well, Kallie was so upset when my dad’s cat got savaged and died, that he picked one not so tempting to the critters outside.”
“Good choice.” The beast wouldn’t survive a cougar, but any fox or coyote would think twice before taking it on. Jake rose to his feet very, very carefully. His rest disturbed, the cat twitched its fluffy, raccoonlike tail and stalked away. Back to the food, Jake noticed. Not a dumb cat at all.
“So, Hunt. Welcome to the party.” The flat tone didn’t sound welcoming, and Masterson’s eyes were as cold as the icy beer. They weren’t friends, although they’d exchanged greetings a few times. The man had a rep as being an honest, tough cop.
“Thanks. Appreciate the invite.”
“We’ve always invited you. This is the first year you’ve shown.”
A corner of Virgil’s mouth drew up slightly. “Kallie likes that brand, so we indulge her, even though the rest of us prefer light. We like her to be happy.” Virgil gave him an unwavering stare. “And that’s why I’m not busting your chops right now. If she kissed you, then that’s what she wanted.”
Jake leaned a hip against a picnic table and waited. There was obviously more to come.
“I know about you and your brother and the games at the lodge. I’m not going to go into that.” Virgil scowled and then drew a figurative line in the sand. “Kallie’s got a soft heart, and she’s collected some hurts in her life. Don’t fuck with her heart, Hunt, or I’ll pitch the badge and beat the shit out of you.”
“You could try,” Jake said mildly. “But I understand your concern. I don’t play games-but sometimes people get hurt anyway.”
“I hear you. Best it not be Kallie.”
“Fair enough.”
As two other cops raided the cooler for beer, Virgil turned to greet them and introduced Jake. Warning delivered, the cop had moved on, shedding the animosity.
Excellent control, Jake thought as he shook hands and listened to the cops complain about an incompetent coroner who apparently had just retired, to everyone’s relief.
He watched her. She laughed often, almost sparkling with energy. She treated the children sweetly, like a mother, but demons could be devious. Sipping a beer, he stood in a group of townspeople, smiling at the jokes and evaluating the woman.
She was small. Sneaky-sized. Black hair showed the darkness in her soul. Surely the evil had taken her. Surely he needed to act, to destroy her face, her body until pain forced the demon to sink back into the depths. He could almost hear the sound of the club striking flesh, feel the impact as it shattered bones. He shuddered at the memory of a demon’s shrieks as it was torn from the physical world-from a body.
His stomach twisted with nausea. Sweat coated his skin. Forcing his muscles to calm, he carefully swallowed some more beer. His job. To save his brothers, his world. He would do it no matter the cost to himself.
He’d have his reward at the end, when he’d triumphed over the demon. His manhood rose, strong and proud, as he watched her.
Chapter Seven
Kallie smiled at the pies lining the kitchen counter, brought by the townswomen.
On the first Fourth of July party, her uncle had been overwhelmed by offers to bring food. A man who loved rules, he created guidelines for what people should bring. Like the party itself, the guidelines turned into tradition. Women brought desserts, men over forty brought beer, men under forty brought munchies. Teens brought soft drinks. The Mastersons provided hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, and an appalling amount of potato salad.
She found a cherry pie and cut a hefty slab for Jake, smiling a little. He’d not greeted her coldly today-he’d kissed her in front of everyone. She pressed a hand to her chest. That had been a great kiss. He’d noticed her shirt too. If he hadn’t coaxed-bullied-her into changing how she saw herself, she’d never have considered wearing it.
Jake had cared enough to bully her that way. Did that mean he cared a little bit for her?
Dammit, she wanted him to, because he was sucking her willpower away. He made her feel safe. Wanted. Cherished. And dammit, how would she ever find someone like him? She didn’t need gorgeous-although that was wonderful-but who else would have his strength, his intelligence, his sense of humor and honor?
She glanced out the window to indulge in another look at him, and her breath caught. Virgil stood in front of him in a posture that said her cousin wasn’t being polite. He must have seen Jake kiss her, she realized, and her stomach sank.
She’d dated off and on over the years, had a few lovers, but she never, ever brought them back here. It just seemed…safer…to downplay her love life. She didn’t want her cousins to be disappointed in her, to think she didn’t belong with them. She’d sure never tested them with someone who would blatantly kiss her in front of everyone.
When Virgil’s face suddenly turned hard, the air left Kallie’s lungs as if she’d
