Page 27 of The Wild Moon
Carl threw up his hands. “Okay, whatever! I’ll see what I can do.”
He turned and strode back down the dimly lit hallway, leaving me alone. I turned and headed into the changeroom. I needed a shower.
And a drink.
Chapter Sixteen
Ihalf-flopped into the barstool and signaled at Jakoby, the bartender.
“The usual,” I said when the giant Irishman looked my way and smiled through his bushy beard.
“Sure thing, Dani,” he said, starting to mix up my drink.
I had no idea what it was called, but it had a bunch of colored booze and was tastily addictive. That was all that mattered to me.
“And a water, if you don’t mind,” I added.
The fight hadn’t taken much out of me, but the adrenaline was fading, and I knew I had to hydrate. I wasn’t wounded, but dancing around for fifteen minutes like that still had me working up a sweat.
“No problem, Dee,” Jakoby said, swiftly filling a glass with water and sliding it down the bar top toward me.
I nabbed it with casual ease and downed half of it in one go, barely stifling a sigh of relief at the cool, refreshing wave that worked its way to my stomach. Sometimes, water just hit the spot.
“For someone who’s been here a short while, you sure are making friends quickly,” a voice said from my left.
I slowly turned my head. At some point after I’d sat down, someone had come and occupied that seat.
He was dressed in an immaculate black suit, the material fitting him like it was made for him. As I took in more, I decided it probably had been. The shoes were shiny and expensive-looking, and the watch on his wrist screamed wealth. I didn’t know who he was, but it was obvious he thought he was a big deal.
That impression died when I took in his face.
Pale skin contrasted fiercely with the black of his suit, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. His eyes burned with a blue fire, practically glowing from the inside out, they were so bright. I inhaled sharply as they locked on to me with a stunning directness I simply wasn’t used to.
He had smooth lines and sharp, angular corners to his face, sweeping cheekbones that framed a jaw straight out of a fashion magazine. This man was walking sex, and I could practically feel it oozing out of him and catching me in its web. Like I was nothing but prey.
His predatory gaze did little to ruin that illusion. Whoever he was, he was used to having whoever he wanted. Most women would have trouble saying no to him, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy for me either.
He smiled at me as I stared at him, running a hand through his blond hair, letting it fall messily back into place. It still looked good. I very carefully sat up straighter as he looked at me how a lion did a wounded antelope. Like he was the hunter, and I was his prey.
Not happening tonight, I thought, for once thankful that I was on my cycle. Usually, I hated how my body decided it despised me once a month for not putting a baby in it, but this one time, it actually came in handy, helping to dampen the arousal I could feel flickering to life within me.
This man wasdangerous. I had to remember that. Besides, his come-hither looks and what appeared to be a rock-solid body likely meant he had no idea how to pleasure a woman. He was used to not having to try, I’m sure, and I didn’t feel like adding my name to what must be a long list of disappointed lovers.
Yet, for some reason, my wolf disagreed with me. She spoke up, vocally so. This man wasattractiveto her.
Are we into bad boys and stuff now?I asked her. When the hell had that happened? I was surprised that she was so active all of a sudden. Since we’d left Seguin behind for good, she’d been quiet. Until now.
Something about this man was attractive to my predator side, and that made me even more uneasy about the entire thing. I leaned into my wolf, using her abilities to test the air, but I couldn’t pick up anything that smelled off about him. He wasn’t a shifter, that was for sure.
“Is that a problem?” I asked, replying at last to his initial comment.
“Not for me,” Mr. Unknown said with a smile, leaning back against the bar and staring out at the rest of the open space.
I waited, but he didn’t say anything else. He simply continued to slowly sip at the bottle of beer in his right hand. Ignoring me.
What was the point in initiating conversation, then?I slowly turned away from Mr. Unknown. No way would I give this overdressed fop the satisfaction of having me talk to him more.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the bar as Jakoby brought my drink over. I took a long sip of it, listening to the sounds behind me.
