Birdie frowned. “You mean you aren’t going to let the deputies enter?”
“They can enter. But we aren’t planning it. Not a single kilometer. We’ll provide security. That’s it.” He opened his office door. “Hold my calls. And no visitors unless a serial killer comes to confess.”
“That reminds me. Ivy called.” Birdie grinned.
He frowned. “Serial killers remind you of Ivy?” Not the most flattering comparison to his wife.
“No, you ninny.” Birdie frowned right back at him. “The hold-my-calls part.” She smiled again. “Hannah Rose said her first full sentence.”
Hank’s heart clenched at the mention of his little girl. “What did she say?”
Birdie’s grin widened. “Check your phone. Ivy sent a video.”
“Will do.” Now he had a real reason to hide away in his office. “Thanks.”
He went in, shut the door, and picked up his phone off the charger on his desk. He pulled up Ivy’s text and hit play.
Hannah Rose appeared on the screen. She was at the side of the couch. Off-camera, he could hear Ivy saying, “Go ahead, tell Daddy.”
Hannah Rose laughed and lifted her chubby arm in the air. “I love you, Daddy.”
The words were clear and distinct, and Hank had to swallow against the knot of emotion suddenly clogging his throat. The sweet words of his baby girl wiped away all the stress of the last few minutes.
Ivy turned the camera around, her beautiful face filling the screen. He smiled. Was there a more perfect woman than his wife? She blew him a kiss. “I love you too. See you for dinner, honey.”
The video ended. With a full heart, Hank sent a text back, telling Ivy he loved her, too, and would definitely see her for dinner and did she need him to pick up anything at the store.
And just like that, Titus and Jenna and the race were forgotten.
* Six months later *
Titus had better things to do than sit down for yet another meeting with Jenna Blythe. She might be a great deputy and one of the tougher supernaturals in Nocturne Falls, but she was also a royal pain in his—
A knock on his open office door made him look up.
“Chief?” Sam Kincaid, Bridget’s boyfriend and a fellow pack member, stood in the door. “Jenna’s here.”
Six minutes early too. He sighed and nodded. “Send her in.”
Sam grinned. “Don’t you think she makes that uniform look good?”
Titus narrowed his eyes and decided to torture the younger man a little. “I’m sure Bridget would love to hear that.”
Sam’s smile faltered. “I wasn’t saying that I… I was wondering if you’d noticed. I’m all in for Bridget.”
“Good to know.” Titus had noticed. But Jenna’s ability to fill out a deputy’s uniform didn’t negate that she argued with him over every detail of this race. Just like the way she smelled like lemons and sunshine didn’t change how she’d double-checked all the flyers and posters to make sure the sheriff’s department had equal billing. Oh, sure, she’d claimed it was to look for typos, but he knew better.
What kind of valkyrie smelled like lemons and sunshine, anyway? Shouldn’t they smell like…brimstone and sadness?
Jenna walked in. Her dirty-blond hair was back in its usual knot, up off her collar as per regs, but a narrow strand had escaped and now hung down over her right eyebrow. It seemed to point to her lush mouth. He swallowed and made himself stop staring. Thankfully, she tucked the wayward lock back behind her ear. “I brought you the updated sponsor list.”
He leaned back in his chair a bit. She did look good in her uniform. Any man would notice that. But he was a red-blooded werewolf. He couldn’t be expected to ignore an attractive female. Even if she was annoying. “You could have emailed that to me.”
Her crystal-blue eyes narrowed. “This is easier. I’m on patrol today. Not sitting at a desk.”
Like some people. Like him. That’s what she seemed to be implying. He frowned.
“Besides,” she went on, “I wanted to tell you about the two new ones I just firmed up. Big Daddy Bones is donating two seventy-five-dollar gift cards. And—”
“Have you eaten there? I hear the barbecue is pretty good.”
She looked up from her notes. “Yes, I eat there every once in a while. Not enough to be a regular, but they seemed to remember me. Probably the uniform. You?”
“No.” He knew he should change up his routine a little, but most nights he ate at Howler’s, seeing as how his sister owned the place. Okay, almost every night. “I should check them out.”
“You should. Especially because they’re sponsoring.”
Maybe he’d ask her if she wanted to go with him, just to see the look of shock and horror on her face. He snickered at the very idea. Then wondered what she’d look like out of uniform. Well, not out of her uniform altogether. But in something different. Although, now the first image was kind of stuck.
She frowned. “Why is that funny? Why are you smiling like that?”
“It isn’t, sorry, just remembering something someone said earlier.” He realized he was still smiling. He tried to clear his head and focus.
“Good to know I’ve got your full attention,” she snarked.
He sighed. If only she knew what he was thinking about. “You do. Go on.”
With a rather stern look, she did. “I also got the DIY Depot to donate a room of flooring.”
“Hey,” he said. “That’s pretty good.”
She lifted her gaze to look at him. “I’m very persuasive.”
He could see that. Maybe it was a valkyrie thing. She probably ground people down until they gave in. Except, her sister didn’t seem that way. But then, Tessa was a librarian and not quite so…direct. “I’ve been talking to people too.”
“And?”
“Guildman’s is donating a two-hundred-dollar gift card and two hours of wardrobe styling.”
Jenna’s mouth bunched to one side. “Nice. I can think of a lot of guys who could use some of that.”
“Really? What do you
