Page 23 of Seduced By the Werewolves

“Can I get all the appetizers?” He peers down at the menu. “And one of those... lavender whatevers for me.”

“The lavender lemon fizz?” she asks, giving Jace a shy smile. He is a snack, and I don’t blame her for getting an eyeful of him—but I bristle a little, too, because he’s here with me.

Jace passes her his menu. “That’s it! Thank you.”

Reluctantly, the waitress glances at me. “And what’ll you have?”

“Just a beer,” I say, because Jace already ordered plenty of food for the both of us. “A plain lager.”

When we’re alone again, Jace tilts his head. “Tonight’s on me, you know. You can get something fancy if you want.”

I shrug. “I like a classic beer. I get wasted too fast if I drink cocktails. They all taste like candy, then I can’t help myself and I have too many.”

Jace barks a laugh. “That’s fair. You have a sweet tooth?”

Oh, boy. “Is the sky blue?”

He glances upward, a grin spreading across his wide mouth. “I mean, it’s kinda blue and kinda purple and a little orange right now,” he says with a wink. “The sunset is pretty.”

I can’t help laughing. “The point is, don’t get me near a bag of Sour Patch Kids.”

“That’s me and Junior Mints.” Jace gives a sincere nod. “I feel you.”

Then I remember jogging by the house on Work Street this morning.

“By the way, where were you guys today?” I ask. “I didn’t see you on my run. Did something happen with that landscaping job?”

“Oh, we were down at the coast. Decided to say ‘fuck it’ for a day and get out of town.” Jace leans back in his chair and spreads his arms, the picture of relaxation. “Got in some swimming and played Frisbee on the beach. Fucking Leon, though. So tall. I hate when he’s not on my team.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “What about the job, though?”

“What about it? It’ll still be there tomorrow.” He swishes his drink and takes a big gulp. “I did have to harass my brothers to get me home in time for our date, though.”

All I can do is gape. They just ditch work whenever they want? I can’t imagine having that kind of freedom.

“Do you have a deadline for getting the job done?” I’m prying, but I can’t help it. I want to know how they run their business—and maybe live vicariously through them. I haven’t taken a vacation day all year because I’m afraid it’ll get me fired.

Again, Jace looks mystified by my question. “It gets done when it gets done.”

“What about your other clients?” I ask. “Don’t you have other jobs lined up?”

He bats a hand in the air. “Oh, sure. We’ll get to them eventually.”

My head is spinning. They’re so laissez-faire about their work, I can’t even comprehend it.

“Besides, we’re out of tubing right now,” he adds. “Gotta wait for the wholesale order to come in before we can finish.”

I can’t imagine waiting until you’re completely out of supplies before ordering more.

“You look like I ran over your cat,” Jace says with a chuckle. “I bet you’re the kind of person who has all their ducks in a row, huh, Tiff?”

“It’s my job,” I say, a little affronted because of how boring it makes me sound. But it’s not just the job. Even at home, I can’t help putting everything where it belongs. I arrange my stuffed animals by color, and make sure my shelves are all alphabetical. “My brain just... likes order, I guess. Keeping everything neat and tidy.”

I don’t know how to explain that I just need things to be right.

Jace leans forward on the table. “Organizing is your kink, huh?” He licks his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind. It just takes some color-coding to turn you on.”

Even though we’re talking about filing systems, it makes me tingle a little between the legs. The last thing I want is to be boring and weird, so I change the subject to what it was like for Jace growing up with three brothers.

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