Page 267 of Flirting with Darkness

But she was alone.

His eyes narrowed when the humans kept their distance from her, even the males who were notorious to hit on anything with tits.

Dex would have to get close enough to assess what she really was.

He sighed. This was the last fucking thing he wanted to do tonight.

At least she was kind of cute.

He smirked when her purple hair caught the neon light, accentuating the deep plum color.

Definitely cute.

Focusing, he heard her order a drink. She enunciated each word like she was nervous the bartender couldn’t hear her, and still he scented nothing.

A purple haze? Such a girl drink.

Dex signaled the bartender and even across the dark room, the witch caught it. He was a survivalist, and he knew Dex doled out the Corp’s punishments. So, he bent over backwards every time Dex was there, but he was one of the few that also respected when Dex just wanted to be left alone.

The witch leaned over the bar to whisper in the girl’s ear, pointing at the monster in the shadows.

“Your drink is on the house.” Even with the noise and the whispered words, Dex could hear him.

He didn’t know why he did it, but something about a girl coming out alone, ordering a vodka drink that matched her hair…

It was interesting, and Dex rarely felt intrigued by anything.

He rarelyfeltat all.

She glanced over her shoulder at him again, and he could see her cheeks flush even under the neon lights, but there was still no scent of embarrassment.

Based on the lack of power, he’d say she was a shifter with access to magic, but it would be easy enough to find out if he could just get her to talk to him.

Walking across the bar would draw too much attention. Dex didn’t want her on anyone’s radar when it was a simple assessment. But a girl coming up to him? It happened all the time.

He smirked again when she took the bright purple drink and walked straight towards him.

Dex inspected her from head to toe, glad she couldn’t see his face in the shadows.

The leather jacket had a high collar that hid half her face, the buckle across the throat glinting blue, red, and then green with the lights as she walked through the various neon colors.

When she ducked her chin down even farther, her hair fell forward, covering even more of her face. Was she really that shy?

The confidence in her steps would say otherwise, but he wasn’t sure. It was difficult to get a read on her.

“Thank you for the drink,” she murmured. Her voice was huskier than he’d anticipated, the words soft but clear.

Dex didn’t say anything as he considered her bare hands – both wrapped around her glass like she was afraid to spill it, or maybe worried someone would try to spike it. The fingers were long and nimble, but her nails were short and plain.

The rest of her was completely covered by clothes or hair.

“I should go,” she finally said, her cheeks pink over the collar of her jacket. “Thanks again.”

“Sit?”

He’d meant for it to be a command, but for some reason it had come out as a request. Dex gritted his teeth, his hand tightening on the bottle of vodka ever so slightly.

Why was she in focus? Why her? Nothing else could ever pull him out of the trance he preferred to live in when he had to be out here, mingling. Dex never looked twice at anyone.

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