Page 119 of Fangs and Fudge

“I won’t keep you girls long because I know you’re busy, but look how adorable you both are in those uniforms. Am I right, boys?” Mrs. Hunter asked.

Shepard dutifully nodded while MC undressed Vena with his eyes.

“I’m so happy you all work here together,” she continued. “I know my Vena can take care of herself, but it’s good to see she has people to look after her as well.”

“I’ll always look after her, Mrs. Hunter,” MC said.

Vena’s foot lifted, but I’d anticipated it and twirled her around to the bar.

“We have to get our drink orders,” I said and hurried her away.

MC glanced from Vena to her parents. He then smiled and made himself comfortable at the table. I sent a warning look to Shepard, but he left the table with MC still there.

Giving me a slight shake of the head like the other D.C. wolves had been doing since we arrived, Shepard indicated he wouldn’t stop MC. It made sense. MC was being a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t harming anyone.

Mrs. Hunter laughed at something MC had said.

“We’ll switch sections,” I said to Vena. “Let me just serve the drinks that were already ordered; then you can take over.”

Within a few minutes, we were in our new stations. MC noticed the change and flagged me to the table.

“Why isn’t Vena over here?”

“Her regulars just showed up,” I said, which wasn’t a total lie. The friendly dwarves who were regulars at the club had just sat down after other customers had left. “They tip well.”

“She doesn’t have to worry about money. I’ll take care of her.”

Mrs. Hunter smiled. “I love that you are so willing, but Vena is an independent girl. She’ll get her own money. And thankfully, it’s here at the club instead of with her obsessive love of treasure hunting. I swear that girl will bring the end of civilization with one of her discoveries.”

Mrs. Hunter was joking, but after the whole Cross wake-up fiasco, the vampire uproar, and now the alpha challenge, Vena might actually succeed at bringing about the end of civilization.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“You’re welcome any time,” I heard Mrs. Hunter say to MC as I took the next table’s order. “In fact, the five of you should come back this weekend. It’s been a long time since I had a full house like that, and I enjoyed it. You did too, dear, right?”

I knew she was asking Mr. Hunter without looking at them. And even if he hadn’t enjoyed a full house, he would nod and go along with his wife. How much longer were they going to stay? They’d been nursing their drinks for over an hour already.

“I’ll make it happen,” MC said. “I really enjoy spending time with Vena but haven’t been able to pin her down. She just broke up with her previous boyfriend, so I’m trying to be patient.”

Vena was going to kill MC. I might, too.

I smiled at my table, assured them I'd be right back with their order, and moved to the Hunters’ table, unwilling to allow MC to manipulate Vena into a corner. A cornered Vena was an extremely dangerous Vena.

“Actually, MC, Anchor was never officially Vena’s boyfriend, so there was no break-up.” I looked at Mrs. Hunter. “He went out of town unexpectedly a few days ago and hasn’t yet reached out to Vena. She’s understandably upset, but I’ve never seen her as interested in a guy as she is with Anchor.”

My gaze slipped to MC, who looked like he was struggling to keep his cool. I smiled politely.

“They’re slammed behind the bar, and since you came all the way from California to help Shepard, maybe you can take some pity on the guys and fix my next order of drinks for me?”

He smiled back at me as he stood, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Duty calls,” he said to the Hunters. “I’ll be back as soon as things settle. I enjoyed talking to you.”

I walked away from the table with him.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but what you aren’t doing is endearing yourself to Vena. She doesn’t like being pushed, cornered, or commanded. She’s going to come out swinging, and all the muscles in the world aren’t going to save you. Understand?”

He paused and looked down at me.

---