Blind Wolf (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #1)(10)

"Coffee, definitely," Julia said.

"What about violets?" Damien asked.

"How did you know that?!" Julia cried out. Damien sensed her apprehension.

"I have all of the super senses," Damien said. "Your perfume yesterday."

"Oh!" Julia said. "Oh, right. I forgot I wore that yesterday."

"It was violets, right?"

"Yes," she said. "That was my mother's favorite perfume."

Damien sensed a darkness that rose up quickly from the depths of Julia's heart. The sorrow pierced him, and he felt his useless eyes welling up with tears despite himself. He blinked and reached forward to take Julia's hand, knocking over the coffee instead. He could hear the splatter of the liquid on the sidewalk and Julia scrambling to right the cup.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Damien pulled his hand back, shocked that he had bumped into the cup. Julia's emotions must have clouded his senses. He hadn't knocked over anything in months, years maybe.

"It's no problem," Julia said. "I'll clean it up."

"Please, let me," Damien said, pulling a wad of napkins from the dispenser and trying as hard as he could to block out her emotions, which were putting his senses into complete disarray.

"Did I get any on you?" Damien asked.

"No, no, I'm fine," Julia said, but the scrape of napkins against fabric told him that she was lying to him.

"I'm sorry," Damien said again. He was unused to apologizing for being clumsy, and his hands seemed awkward no matter what he did with them. "Can I get you another one?"

"It's okay, I have to get back soon anyway," Julia said. Damien didn't know if the disappointment radiating from her was because of his clumsy or because she had to leave. He hoped that it was the latter. "Just let me have a sip of yours?"

"Sure," Damien said. "I'll let you pick up the cup on your own. It's less dangerous that way."

Julia chuckled and sipped his coffee. "So tell me about yourself."

"Me? There's not much interesting to tell."

"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you around town before."

"Well, I'm actually thinking about moving here."

"Oh? What do you do for a living? Teach?"

"I'm a writer," Damien said automatically. It was his go-to response whenever anyone asked him what his job was. Writing was an easy career to fake, and a difficult one to prove wrong. He had actually penned a couple of books a few years ago, when he was paranoid about being found out. But now Julia lit up, and Damien realized that he might have chosen the wrong occupation to lie about.

"That's so exciting! What do you write?" Julia said. "Half the reason I applied to work at the library was because I love reading books. That was before I knew that they actually frown upon reading during work." She giggled.

"You mean you don't just lie down in the back and read all day? There should definitely be a position for that job," Damien said. "I mean, somebody has to read all those books!"

"I know, right?" Julia laughed. "So what kind of books do you write?" she asked, turning the subject back to him.

"I can't tell you. You'll laugh," Damien said.

"Let me guess, then," Julia said. "You write erotic romance novels. Bodice rippers with pictures of skinny girls with flowing hair clinging onto half-naked men on the covers. And they're all pirate themed."

"Close," Damien said. "But no, no romance novels."

"Fantasy?" Julia guessed. "Dragons and wizards and that kind of stuff?"

"Nope."

"Tell me," she said. Damien could hear her heart beating a bit faster.

"Well, if you must know," he said. "I write about folklore."

"Is that why you wanted the book about legends around here?" Julia asked.

"Yes," Damien said, feeling just a bit bad about lying to her. He was desperate to find out if she was secretly a werewolf, but at the same time he hesitated to ask in any manner that seemed too blatant.

"That's interesting," Julia said. "You must know some weird stories."

"Some of them are pretty fantastical, I have to say. Do you have any weird stories to share?" Damien asked, listening intently.

"Nope," Julia said, taking another sip of his coffee. He reached out to take it from her and touched her fingers with his as he did. The connection between them flashed into sharp relief for that brief second, and Damien threw himself intensely into the awareness. He couldn't sense any kind of deception from her, though; she had nothing to conceal.

"I'll have to tell you some of mine, then," Damien said, hoping to draw her a bit further out.

"It'll have to be some other time," Julia said. "I need to get back to work. I'm going to be late as it is."

"That's a shame," Damien said, standing up. "Thanks for letting me spill coffee all over you."

"Thank you for spilling coffee all over me," Julia said, laughing. "I had a great time."

"Maybe we can do it some other time?" Damien asked. "We can try something new. Maybe you can spill tea on me."