~*~
To Lucy’s utter amazement Gabriel not only sounded happy to hear from her, he jumped at the chance to come to her grandmother’s for dinner. Lucy had a confusing moment where she envisioned Gabe as a cute little puppy, wagging its little puppy tail, and then said puppy morphed into a huge, fur and fang and claws and bulging muscles werewolf. The image was as unsettling as it was exciting.
And then Lucy broke the news that her grandmother knew about him being a werewolf. “And I kind of told her about Delia… and our little arrangement.”
She heard Gabe’s breath hiss through the connection. “You told her!”
“She kind of could smell you and Delia on my clothes.”
“She could smell us?”
“Yeah, and she knew right off what you were, so since the… since the wolf was out of the bag, I sort of just spilled my guts.”
“How was she able to smell us? And how did she know?”
“Long story.” She still wondered about that herself. Would she be able to do that little trick someday? “It’s a thing. So can you still come? I don’t think she’ll take a no on this.”
Lucy couldn’t believe it, but Gabriel laughed. “I wouldn’t miss it. Your grandmother sounds intriguing… and I…” His sudden silence wasn’t very long, but it did have Lucy straining to hear what he said next. “And I’ve been thinking about you.”
Okay… sound the alarms! This wasn’t good. Even though Lucy had been thinking about him all day too, the fact that he was returning the favor made Lucy feel like the earth was shaking beneath her feet. Her heart was thumping fast, and she had a delightful tingling running its way up and down her spine. Yet the feeling that she was stealing something, another woman’s love, it filled her with a clash of guilt.
“Well…” Lucy found herself speechless, even with all the things swirling in her head, things that she wanted to say, things she should say, things that if she had a conscience at all she would say—that he still had a girlfriend.
Still…
Just having that word in that thought made Lucy feel even worse.
“Well Gram will be anxious to meet you. I told you six o’clock, right?”
Gabriel paused before he answered. “You did.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you then.” And Lucy hit the end button on her phone. That wasn’t a bit awkward. Not a bit.