Page 3 of Sweeter Than Honey
Chapter Two
Maybetheprobioticshakeshe’d had at breakfast had gone bad and caused some weird mental problem. That’s what this was. She had invasive bacteria in her brain from expired tree hugger-juice and it was causing drunken hallucinations.
“I’m not drunk.” The words burst out.
Sandy scowled. “I would hope not?”
“I’m… I’m Entrepreneur of the Year. I work hard. Pay my taxes. I… I go to the dentistevery six months. How many people do you know that do that?”
“O—kay.”
Cara grabbed the front of Sandy’s tank top with both hands. “Maybe I hit my head.”
“No, you didn’t. Listen to me.”
“Why am I being punished? I’m a good person. Okay, fine, I found a twenty-dollar bill in the Target parking lot last week and I didn’t turn it in.”
Sandy carefully peeled Cara’s fingers off her shirt and held them comfortingly in her hands. “You’re not being punished. You hooked up with a hot guy and accidentally got pregnant. Do you know how many times that happens every day? I know Roan. If he were alive, he’d do everything for his kid. He was a really good man who just never settled down. A lot of his pack were jealous of him and they’re going to want what he had.”
Sandy twisted the top off a bottle of water, then handed it to Cara. “But you have to be careful now. Whatever asshole claims control of the baby gets to claim Roan’s fortune. There’s no way to conceal that this is Roan’s baby. If I smelled it, there’s no way the others didn’t. You need to go into hiding or something.”
It hadn’t occurred to Cara that the bartender was a shifter. But now wasn’t the time to make girl talk about it. In fact, she’d been here too long already. The longer the woman spoke, the more anxious Cara became. Sliding off the stool, she thrust the water bottle at Sandy. “I’m going home now. Thank you.”
Sandy grabbed her arm. “Did you not hear me? You can’t go home. You can’t stay anywhere around here, or they’ll sniff you out now. You walzed in here and hand-delivered the scent and now, they’re going to follow you. The scent is faint right now—just to the detectable levels—but it’s going to get undeniably stronger as you get farther along and then you’re really going to be in trouble. You need to run, girl. Far away from here until that kid is born. And you need to do it now.”
Her hands shook as her heart thundered in her ears. She'd had the instinct to not go into the bar, but she hadn't listened to it. Damn it, why hadn’t pisser taken more time watching his dick for magic tricks? Maybe she would have left after all.
Too. Late. Now.
"How do I get out of here with all those guys out there?"
"There's a back exit, but you have to hurry."
She all but pushed Cara through the kitchen, rushing her to a fire exit where she pushed open the door. "I'll distract them with free taps. It may or may not work. They all saw you come back here with me. So, run to your car. Hear me? Run.”
Damn her Jimmy Choos! What a stupid day to wear them. Except… the heels were pointed and potentially deadly. Maybe great for jabbing a man in a tender area. Quickly slipping them off, she held one in her left hand with the heels pointed out, slipped the other under her opposite arm and put her keys between her fingers.
“Damn, that’s a potential waste of some bitchin’ shoes,” Sandy sighed.
Cara’s lower lip jutted out. “It’s only their second time out of the box.”
They took a moment for silent reverence.
“Well, then you better make it count. Aim for an eyeball. Really jam it in there until you feel a squish and a pop.”
The two women looked at each other. Cara’s lips skewed in disgust. “The eye and not the, you know, groin?”
“Their groins are like steel. I mean, you should know that, considering.” Sandy chuckled and motioned to Cara’s middle, but it quickly faded when she realized Cara wasn’t laughing. Sandy cleared her throat. “The eyes are a shifter’s most sensitive part. It’ll slow them down long enough that you might get away.”
“Aim for the eyeball… got it.”
“This way.”
Sandy ushered her to the back exit and slowly opened the door before peeking her head out and looking around. “Looks clear. Hurry to your car and I’ll distract them.”
A knot twisted in Cara’s stomach at the thought of going into the parking lot alone. How had her life changed this much in ten minutes? The door clanged behind her, making her jump and leaving her no choice. She hadn’t even told Sandy thank you.
Gripping her shoes, she hurriedly picked her way over the bumpy asphalt to her car. Wrenching the door open, she hopped inside, slammed the door, and locked up the car. Settling against the seat, Cara fluttered her fingers over the steering wheel and took a second to gather her thoughts. What the hell had just happened? This was insane! Who knew shifters had such crazy laws about parentage and inheritance? If what Sandy said was true, she was in a huge bind. She could go to the cops, maybe, but what could they do? Maybe she’d have to hire a bodyguard or security team. Like, ones with extra big guns and tungsten handcuffs who could deal with shifters.
