A sound making Lee suspect Faelan had swallowed wrong filled the area, followed by a wheezing laugh. “Who?”
“Dillon.” Lee groaned at himself. “He was afraid I’d…eh…and I said there is no way because I’m attracted to strong, competent men, not puny humans.”
Faelan chuckled. “I’m not sure it’s a bad thing, he might have been glad to hear it.”
“Maybe, but it’s not true.”
“It wasn’t a lie, you do like strong, competent men. It’s no secret around here.”
Lee scowled at him. “Yeah, but he’s not weak.”
“Definitely not. I’d have rolled over and died in his place, I think. Drawn-out pain isn’t something I excel in. Four years of it, day in and day out? Nope, don’t think I could’ve done it.” He pushed away his now empty glass. “Don’t worry about it. He has more important things to worry about than if you want to fuck him or not.”
Faelan was right, of course, but it didn’t mean he wanted to hear it.
“There’s a number on the phone?” He slid off the stool, picked up the phone and pushed it into his pocket.
“Yeah.” Lee had watched as Rei had changed the name of the number into Mom. It was the only number in the contact list.
Faelan waved and headed for the exit. As soon as he’d disappeared out of sight, Lee went back to prepping for the night. He was in the middle of slicing lemons, again, when Jala leaned against the bar. “Hi.”
“Boss.” Lee smiled at her. “Good date last night?”
“Date? Oh, you mean Aaron.”
“It wasn’t a date?”
She scrunched her nose. “Everything went well here?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Did Rei come by?”
A tingle of unease shot through him. “Yeah, he came before closing time.”
She nodded. “Escorted you home?”
What the fuck? “Nah, we went to his place.”
“Where does he live?”
Yeah, right. “South side.”
“He has an apartment?”
Lee looked at her. Was she playing him? Didn’t she know Rei lived with a bunch of other shifters? Maybe not. She seldom left her office. “Why do you want to know?”
She smiled, but it looked forced. “Only making small talk. Will he be in later?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Okay. Good job last night.” She knocked her knuckle against the bar and headed off toward the office. So weird.
Chapter 12
Dillon was carrying tray after tray of plastic cups into the house. Devin had said the plants should be outside for a few hours, and they’d left them on the patio all day. He hoped it hadn’t killed them. They looked fine.
Devin was making pizzas. The scents filled the room, and Dillon’s stomach growled.