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Now it was Alex’s turn to groan. She knew it had to be Kade, even before she pivoted in her seat and shot a searching look into the small crowd of men gathered at the bar. He towered over the others, his silky, dark head at the center of the throng.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered as the waitress left the table.

“Do you know him?” Jenna asked.

“He’s the guy I saw at the back of the church last night. His name is Kade. I saw him again today out at the Toms settlement when I was making my supply run.”

Jenna frowned. “What the hell was he doing out there?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I found him in Pop Toms’s cabin, looking like he’d just rolled out of bed in the middle of the afternoon. And he was well armed, too—I’m talking high-powered rifle, knife, handgun, and rounds intended for some very large game. I gather he’s looking to help out with our supposed wolf problem.”

“No wonder Big Dave seems so fond of him,” Jenna remarked dryly. “Well, I couldn’t possibly drink another beer, free or otherwise. I’m beat. I need to stop by Zach’s to drop off some files he asked me for, then I really should head home.”

Alex nodded, trying not to think about the fact that Kade was in the same room with her, or the unnerving way her pulse seemed to skitter at the idea.

Jenna stood up and pulled her long down coat from a hook on the wall. “How about you? You want me to give you a ride to the house?”

“No.” Late as it was, and as crowded as Pete’s seemed to be getting now that Kade was there, it still beat the thought of what awaited her at home. “Go on, don’t worry about me. I’m going to finish this pie and maybe have a cup of coffee to wash it down. Besides, I’d rather walk the two blocks home. The fresh air will do me good.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” At her nod, Jenna gave her a quick hug. “No more talk of moving away, all right? Not without consulting me first. Got it?”

Alex smiled, but it felt like a weak effort. “Got it.”

She watched her friend wade through the tavern, the cop in Jenna unable to resist stealing an assessing sidelong glance at the stranger in town. Above the noise of the place, Alex heard the hollow jangle of the old cowbell on the door as Jenna slammed it shut behind her.

Alex cut into the pie with the edge of her fork, but stopped short of bringing it to her mouth. What the hell was she doing? She wasn’t the least bit hungry, and the last thing she needed was a cup of Pete’s crude oil–quality coffee to keep her awake all night once she finally did work up the nerve to go home.

God, she was being ridiculous. What she really needed was to go home, feed Luna before the dog tore up the house in retaliation for being abandoned all night, then try to get some solid sleep for a change. She could think about everything else in the morning, when her head was clearer. Things would make more sense then. At least, she hoped so, because she wasn’t sure what could possibly happen to throw her off balance any more than she was now.

As soon as she stood up and shrugged into her parka, Alex felt the two beers she’d consumed make a quick rush to her bladder. Great. Using the restroom at Pete’s meant walking right past the bar—and Kade. She considered ignoring the urgent press of her plumbing, but the two blocks to her house from the tavern, in the frigid cold, would be torture. Maybe even disastrous.

So what if Kade might see that she was there? She sure as hell didn’t need to talk to him. She didn’t even need to so much as look at him.

Yeah, brilliant plan. Too bad it fell apart the moment she took two paces away from her table.

She felt Kade’s quicksilver eyes slicing through the crowd to zero in on her like twin laser beams. His gaze went through her every nerve ending in much the same way—hot, electric. Alex tried to ignore the effect he had on her, which was made a bit easier when she separated Big Dave’s grating voice from the others and heard him bragging about his recent hunting exploits while Kade smiled and nodded along like he was hanging out with his