Julie shrugged. “You are a strange one.” She winked at Alex.
But Alex was staring at Kieran, watching his tongue catch the moisture on his lips. If he’d tried to lap the water, it would have been awkward—and a lot easier to remember he was Shadow.
She pulled her gaze away as the waitress returned with their orders. Kieran hesitated only a moment before picking up the burger with surprising delicacy and biting into it. In no time at all the burger and fries were gone.
Julie laughed. “You been starving the man, Alex?” She pushed her half-finished burger toward him. “Go ahead. I’m not that hungry.”
He took her plate without demur as Julie rose and headed for the counter. A strange relief eased the tension from Alex’s body. Wolves were opportunistic eaters—they’d gorge themselves after a kill, because there were no guarantees at all about the next meal.
Kieran’s behavior was perfectly understandable—for a wolf. He’d probably eat until he couldn’t move if she gave him a chance.
“You can have more if you need it, Kieran,” she said, patting his arm. “But there will always be enough. You won’t have to hunt your food from now on.”
Comprehension sparked in his eyes, and the muscles of his jaw bunched. He pushed Julie’s plate away. “I am a man, Alexandra.”
Alex felt the full weight of his emotion, too complex to be mere anger. Shame. Pride. Pain. It was like looking into a mirror—a mirror that reflected not the outside but all the things that were hidden underneath. She dropped her gaze to her plate.
Julie reappeared to break the uneasy silence. “I asked Wanda if she could bring another burger—”
Kieran stood, skin flushed. He pushed his hands into his pockets. “I have no money, Julie.”
“I do,” Alex said, before Julie could offer to pay. She pulled a bill from her wallet. Kieran watched her, his expression taut.
In an ordinary man Alex would have called it masculine ego. She passed by that thought quickly. He clearly remembered money. Maybe this lunch hadn’t been such a bad idea after all. It had jogged Kieran’s memory about several essential things, with little prompting from her, and nothing had gone wrong. After the initial stares, everyone had safely ignored them.
“I think we’d better go, Julie,” she said. “We can get a doggie bag for the burger.”
Kieran stared at her, absolutely still. Her stomach knotted as she realized what she’d said and how Kieran had interpreted it.
She reached for him. “Kieran, it’s not—”
But he had already turned away and was taking Julie’s hand in a firm clasp. “I have enjoyed meeting you, Julie.”
Julie looked up at him, her round face almost sober. “You too, Kieran.” She glanced at Alex. “Listen, before you go I wanted to ask you—both of you—if you’ll come to an early supper with my family tomorrow afternoon.”
Alex started. “With your family?”
“Yeah. On the rez. You’ve never been there before, and, well, after what happened with Deanna, I wanted the rest of my family to meet you. And Kieran.”
Supper with Julie’s family. With Kieran. Alex pushed down a surge of panic and managed a smile.
“That’s very nice of you, Julie—”
But Julie was already addressing Kieran again. “You’ll like the spread my mom puts out, Kieran. My family’s big, and we’re big eaters.” She grinned. “You won’t starve there.”
Kieran returned Julie’s smile. “It sounds very good.” He looked at Alex. She knew challenge when she saw it—in a wolf or in a human being.
“Remember the work we were going to do, Kieran?” she said tightly. “The… urgent research you wanted me to help you with?”
“I haven’t forgotten, Alexandra.” Veiled anger still hummed under the soft huskiness of his voice, triggered by her earlier words but touching on something far deeper. Something that came from his past. Alex felt control slipping out of her hands.
“You work too hard, Alex,” Julie said. “You’ll like my family. They’re good people—no problems with chimookamon—whites.” She grinned wryly to take the sting out of the label. “In fact, my grandma is son of curious about all this wolf research business.”