Page 13 of Fae Devoted
“What did you want to talk about?” Abby washed her hands, then dried them with a kitchen towel imprinted with a colorful floral design. Another new addition to the onetime bachelor pad.
“I hate smoothies,” she said, eyes filling.
“But I thought you…” Abby’s voice went soft. “What happened?”
“It was delivered.”
“What was?”
“The Riverfront Café brought this to my office at closing.” Johnnie tossed the untouched drink along with the half-eateneclair into the trashcan beside the kitchen island and sighed. “It was from Jacob.”
“That’s sweet,” Abby tilted her head to the side, “isn’t it?”
“He’s never sent one to me before tonight.” Johnnie flopped onto the massive sectional and placed her head in her hands. “Ever.”
“Oh.” Abby nodded in understanding. The gift of food from an unmated Ferwyn male’s hand to an unmated female was considered an act of courtship in shifter society. “Well, maybe Tucker—”
A hard knock followed by Penny bursting into the apartment called a halt to whatever Abby was about to suggest as an excuse for Jacob’s abrupt change in behavior.
“No, absolutely not,” Penny hissed, whirling to confront the Ferwyn guard nipping at her heels. She gave the door a vicious push, intending to slam it in the shifter’s face.
“You know the routine.” Hop slapped his hand on the center of the door, effortlessly keeping it open.
“Are you kidding me?” Penny screeched. “Youdoknow whose apartment this is, don’t you?”
Hop didn’t budge, a hint of color on his high cheekbones the only sign of his irritation.
Although Johnnie’s hair bent more toward auburn than Penny’s bright crimson, they were both born with the fair skin and freckles often found in redheads. But that’s where the similarities came to an end. Johnnie was slow to anger, her disposition typically sunny, while Penny swore like a sailor and had a temper to match her fiery locks.
Penny threw the stylish yellow tote hanging on her shoulder in the general direction of the chair. It hit the cushion and toppled onto its side. Several bridal magazines spilled to the floor.
Using a painted fingernail as scarlet as her curly hair, Penny pointed to the two Anwyll stationed in the hall. “You can see the witches guarding thecommander’sroom, right? I know you’re getting up there in years, and your vision is probably failing, but I assume you can at least smell them.”
Johnnie’s eyes about popped out of her skull. Penny did not just imply the virile, attractive male nearing two hundred and fifty, which was middle age in shifter years, was old and half-blind?
Robert smirked, eliciting a stony glare from Hop that wiped the smile from his face. Evelyn stared straight ahead as though her life depended upon it.
“Abby,” Penny said with deceptive calm. At five-foot-eleven, she could shoot daggers at the unyielding shifter without lifting her chin. But this was a stand-off Johnnie could have told the irate woman she wouldn’t win. “Tell this…male,” she sneered, “that he doesn’t have to search the apartment before I can come inside.”
“Penny, please.” Abby shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her cheeks flushed.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Fine.” She folded her arms over her nearly flat chest. “Make it quick, Blackwater.”
Two months ago, Penny was with Abby when the two were robbed outside a restaurant downtown. Since then, either Hop or one of the human’s three ex-military brothers shadowed her every move. It seemed like overkill to Johnnie, but Alphas were protective of their packs, and as Abby’s best friend, Penny was considered an honorary member.
Hop gripped his charge’s slender bicep, gently moving her aside before entering and making a sweep of the open living area, walk-in closet, and solitary bathroom. “All clear.”
“Of course, it’s all clear,” she griped, marching to the couch and flopping down next to Johnnie.
“I’ll be waiting in the hallway.” There was a gleam of challenge in Hop’s eyes as he added, “Call when you need me.”
“As if that’ll ever happen,” Penny shouted as the door closed behind him.
Johnnie refrained from laughing, but it was a near miss.
“This is getting ridiculous. I can’t take a piss without one of my brothers or mister stick-up-his-ass waiting outside the bathroom door. It’s been months since you were…” Her expertly made-up blue eyes darted between Johnnie and Abby. “Sincewewere…um, robbed.”
“You mean since I was kidnapped.”
