Chapter Five

Antoine

I managed to focus enough to get some work done after the alpha left. His appearance had given me some ideas for the painting tomorrow, and I wanted to do some loose sketches. The alpha's polar bear was so close to the surface that even in fully human form, I could sense the shadow over him. Although I never hid the fact I was a shifter, it wasn't something I offered randomly, and few of the humans who attended my gallery showing had a clue. At least I didn't think so.

And my art was not shifter oriented in particular. I loved to showcase the flora and fauna of the Oliver Creek area, but I also included at least one person in each collection. Usually, but not always a shifter. The agency dealt with both and sent the "look" I wanted without taking shifter status into account. But I'd ended up with quite a few and never had the desire to include their other side.

Generally, a shifter could look at another and have a good idea what their animal was, but unless you thought you might have friends in common or came from a very insular group, it didn't really matter.

But my fox was every bit as into this polar bear alpha as I was. Maybe more.

I settled at the dining room table with a pad and charcoal pencil, sketching out what I saw in my mind and getting more absorbed by the moment. It was such an obvious idea to include both that I wondered why I'd never used it before. I could have asked any of the shifters I painted to pose as their beast, and most would have agreed. At least, I couldn't see why they would object.

But I'd have to talk to the alpha before I completed the work. Consent had to come not only from him but from his bear. My fox certainly would be annoyed if I assumed he wanted to be captured in oils.

But the picture coming together under my hand was so compelling, I almost didn't hear the alert on my phone reminding me to meet my friend Roy for dinner. He threatened that if I canceled one more time because I was too involved in my work or on a deadline, he'd come over here and drag me out. We had grown up together, Roy going on to work in city hall, which was a small place where everyone knew everything about everyone. An evening out with him was sure to be an entertaining time where he would share all the local gossip in a way only Roy could. Never mean or even unkind, he managed to amuse without harm, and sometimes that was just the thing I needed to get me out of my head and refreshed.

I tightened my grip on the charcoal, but then let it fall on the table and pushed to my feet. I would only be gone a couple of hours, and when I got home, the drawing would be waiting.

Plus, I hadn't had anything to eat all day, I was pretty sure, and my stomach rumbled. I missed a lot of meals when working.

Roy waited for me outside the venue he'd chosen for our meal. Table for Two. The most romantic restaurant in town, and a little more date night than our usual, but not everyone was there for romance, and their food was fantastic. "You showed!" he marveled when I walked up to him. "Wonder of wonders."

"Ha ha. Like I could chance your coming and dragging me all the way here." I sighed. "What choice did I have?"

He laughed and slapped me on the back, his grizzly lending heft to the smack that had me swaying a little. "Oh, sorry." He steadied me. "Let's get in before they give our table away or make us sit in the section with the dating couples. I don't need to be reminded that I sleep alone in my cold bed."

"Aren't we the cheerful pair tonight. I know…I'll pick up the check. Will that make you smile?"

"You bet. We civil servants can barely keep body and soul together, you know."

"Don't cry poor to me. I know your civil job is only a small part of your income. Wrong person to try that with. I've known you too long." And his gold mining ancestor was one of the few ever to make enough for his descendants to enjoy ancestral wealth. Roy worked because he liked helping people.

We teased each other and laughed while we ordered drinks and then dinner. He, as always, told me funny stories about the people who visited or worked at city hall, and I finally looked at my phone and groaned. "I have to get going."

"Why? Deadline?"

"Yes, now that you mention it, but mostly I have a model coming to the house in the morning. It's the last piece for this showing." I told him how I'd forgotten the centerpiece of the series and how that had indeed put me in a rush situation.

"How did you find a model here? Did you import him from the city?"

"He lives here. Name is West?" Roy knew just about everyone, so his not knowing a famous model had moved in surprised me.

"Oh, is that the West who is going to be opening a shaved ice business? Is he going to do snowballs—that's the one thing this town needs."

"I don't think so. He isn't the type to run a dessert place, I don't think. Not with that body."

Roy hooted with laughter. "Keep thinking that. The stories I could tell you about some of those guys that hang out at the health food store…" And so he did, and it was another hour and a delicious dessert and coffee later before we parted.