Page 9 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

"Good one," he said with a smile. "But really, what’s your name?"

I licked my lips and looked down towards Al. He was engrossed in a conversation with Missy and not paying attention, but I knew I could use him as an excuse anyway since Rory hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he entered the bar.

"Sorry," I said. "Al just pointed to the back room, which means he needs me to bring out some more bottles and do some, uh, inventory." I talked fast, hoping that it would make up for my lack of a decent excuse. I didn’t want it to be too obvious I was lying. "Settle up with Al when you’re done with your drink." I stepped back from the bar.

"Wait, I didn’t catch?—"

"I’m coming, Al!" I yelled, prompting the man to look away from Missy and frown at me. I nodded to him as I passed, muttering under my breath, "Just go with it. I’ll be in the back room." Then I disappeared through the open door and found myself in Al’s office and not the place where he kept the extra liquor bottles or any sort of inventory. Now, my lie felt even more ridiculous.

I overheard Al saying something to Rory a few seconds later, and then the bell over the front door rang out, announcing his departure for the second time that night. I waited a little while longer, just in case, then stepped back into the main room and smiled meekly.

"Is he gone?"

"Yeah, he’s gone," Al said. "But he didn’t believe your cover story for a second."

I winced. "I was afraid of that. It wasn’t my best."

Al cleared his throat. "Listen," he said. "I know I was going on about Rory earlier, not being too nice, but I don’t actually think he’s a bad guy. He just bugs me, that’s all. But he seems to like you. He looked like a sad puppy when he walked out just now. Maybe go easy on him next time."

"It’s not personal," I said. "I’m just not looking to date right now."

Al put his hands in the air. "Fair enough. It’s your business anyway. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t rejecting the poor boy because of something I said."

"No, it has nothing to do with you," I said somberly. "I have my own reasons."

CHAPTER 4

RORY

Matt gave me a strange look when I returned to the other bar ten minutes later. Cornelius and Nic were well drunk at that point and hadn’t noticed I’d been gone longer than your average bathroom break. Matt, on the other hand, was trying to stay relatively sober, and he saw right through me. I tried to ignore his penetrating gaze as well as his knowing line of questioning, but when he cornered me near the bar while I waited for someone working there to get me a glass of water, I knew I had no choice but to fess up.

Matt had a face you couldn’t lie to.

It was really annoying.

“You went back to Smart Choice, didn’t you?” he asked, digging an elbow into my ribs. “To talk to that cute bartender.”

“Maybe I did. So what?”

He smiled. “So, did you get her number?”

“I didn’t even get her name,” I scoffed.

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, well, what can you do? She’s obviously still mad at me for spilling all those fucking beers on her. I can’t believe I did that. Hands down the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done, and it had to happen in front of a literal goddess.”

“She wasn’t that pretty.”

My eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? She was stunning! Did you see her eyes? They were almost amber-colored! And the way her short hair framed her face? She looked like an elf or something. Like she belonged in a storybook.”

Matt laughed. “Wow, she’s really got you on the hook, doesn’t she?”

“I’m not on the hook,” I said. “I just don’t like being patronized. She truly was that pretty.”

“Alright, fine. You win. She was a 10 out of 10, but if you like her so much, then maybe you need to go back and try to seal the deal. Explain yourself. Apologize again. She has to know that you knocked into her by accident. Is she really going to hold that against you?”

“Seems like it.” I waved a hand in the air. “Besides, I can’t go back there a third time. I’ll look totally desperate.”

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