CHAPTER FIVE
~
Drew and Heath walked into the bar and up to where Amy stood, polishing glasses fresh out of the dishwasher. The witch had one eye on Zeke and another on Darcy, determined to follow their every move and keep them apart as much as humanly possible.
Heath slammed his hand against the counter, jolting Amy out of her musings, and grinned at her. “I’m feeling adventurous.”
Amy cocked an eyebrow at him. “No judgment here, but you should be talking to True, not me,” she said. “And no, I’m not giving you any pointers in that department, but I hear Nana will.”
Heath swallowed hard at the thought. When Amy turned her attention back to Darcy, he glared at Drew, urging him to get involved. The beta grumbled to himself. “Me too, adventurous,” Drew said, not selling it the same way Heath had.
“A foursome?” Amy said, turning her nose up at the idea. “Do mates do that?”
Heath’s wolf rumbled a growl at the thought of another man touching his mate. “Hell no!” he growled.
Amy’s eyebrows matched, high on her forehead, and she folded her arms with a bored expression. “Then what the hell?”
Heath looked at Drew, and the beta shrugged. “I got nothing,” he said, eyeing the area instead of looking at Amy. This wasn’t his thing, and the foursome thing had thrown him completely for a loop. His wolf wasn’t best pleased either at the talk of sharing their mate. “And I wish witches would stop talking about my love life.”
“You should think yourself lucky you have one,” Amy said, eyeing his up and down.
Drew looked at her then, square in the eye. “I know,” he said, as if it was a given.
“Ah, that’s sweet,” Amy said. “And a good answer.” She turned a disapproving look at Heath. “Now, if only your brother would come up with something like that, he might be worthy...”
“Of not being killed by the evil eye?” Heath asked, a quirk of amusement playing on his lips.
Amy cocked an eyebrow at him, tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Now that you mention it, sounds like a good idea.”
Drew shot a look over his shoulder and noted Zeke had perked up. It was little wonder, considering Darcy was headed in his direction. “Cocktails!” he announced, slapping his hand on the bar and drawing a confused look from Amy.
“What about them?” Amy asked, unsure where a big bad shifter was going with that.
“It’s adventurous,” Drew said, sounding more enthusiastic that time and moving a little into her eye-line so she couldn’t see the back decking and Zeke. He elbowed Heath. “Right?”
Heath felt the urge to growl. “Right,” he said reluctantly.
Amy snorted a chuckle. “You two want cocktails?”
“Hell yeah,” Drew said. “Why not?”
Amy lifted her chin slightly and narrowed her eyes on them. “I got just the one.”
Heath shook his head and pointed at her. “None of that Rocket fuel you make for guys that miff you off,” he said, avoiding mentioning her last victim, Zeke. He had her attention and was going to try to keep it, reminding her of her prey would only put them back to square one. “Something…” He looked to Drew for help.
“Classy, that our mates would like,” Drew said, elbowing Heath to keep up the distraction.
“Right, classy, mates,” Heath rushed out.
Amy eyed them suspiciously for a long moment. “Because?”
“Because we’re good mates, and we want our mates to be happy,” Drew rumbled on.
“Happy wife, happy life,” Heath said.
“And Nana said,” Drew added, knowing nobody, not even Amy, would argue with what Nana said.
“Nana,” Heath said, nodding in agreement.
Amy scowled. “Okay, sure,” she said, shrugging. “But if I make them, you had better drink them,” she warned.
“Deal,” Heath said.
“Done,” Drew agreed. Amy grunted and turned to her equipment on the back of the bar. He leaned in toward Heath. “He owes us big time for this,” he growled.
“And then some,” Heath said. “If there is an umbrella in my drink, I’m gonna use it to stab him in the eye.”
Drew grunted happily at the thought. “Can we get umbrellas with those?” he asked.
~
“You need anything?” Darcy asked Zeke, flashing him a dazzling smile as she flipped a look back into the bar at Amy. She saw Heath and Drew at the bar blocking Amy’s view and felt a little more comfortable talking to him without Amy meddling and making a big thing of it.
Zeke did the same. “Sit, talk,” he said, motioning to the chair opposite him.
“Can’t, working,” Darcy said.
“Oh, yeah,” Zeke said with a grimace. His beast was as agitated as he was; if it was up to the wolf, it would chow down on Amy, leaving the path open for Zeke to woo their mate.
“But I’m off in a few hours,” Darcy said.
“Before Amy?” he rushed out.
Darcy frowned. “Yeah, why?”
“Oh, she doesn’t like me,” Zeke said.
Darcy slipped onto the chair and placed her pad down on the table. “Amy doesn’t like anybody until they prove to her that they aren’t weird, insane, serial killers, or bad guys.”
Zeke offered her an easy smile. “And I thought it was just me she hated.”
“Nope, pretty much everybody she doesn’t know until she knows them, and then she’s a friend for life,” Darcy replied.
“Like mates,” Zeke said, trying to broach the subject.
Darcy offered him a wicked smile that sent his pulse racing. “Yeah, like mates – only without the fun part.”
Zeke leaned his elbow on the table, missed, and it slipped off the edge. He jolted to attention. “Fun part?” he said before clearing his throat.
“Sure, the fun part,” Darcy said, pushing to her feet and shooting a look inside the bar where the shifters still blocked Amy. “I was thinking about driving to town later.”
“Coincidence, me too,” Zeke lied.
“I hear there’s a shifter shop selling ice cream,” Darcy rushed out, knowing she might not have long before Amy caught her talking to Zeke.
“Right by the seafront.”
“I want to see if it’s as good as ours,” Darcy lied.
“Better,” Zeke said, lying too. It was the same stock, and they both knew it.
“About four,” Darcy said, twirling her hair between her fingers and eyeing him from beneath her long lashes.
“Coincidence, I’m going to be there at four,” Zeke replied.
“What are the odds?” Darcy said, flashing him a teasing smile.
“From where I’m sitting, really damn good,” he replied, a cocky grin spreading on his lips.
“Cool,” Darcy said, spinning on her heels and walking inside the bar.
Zeke watched her go with the biggest grin, and his wolf was practically doing cartwheels inside him. Then he remembered Amy and the challenge. “Damn,” he grumbled, knowing he was never going to complete the challenge by four o’clock. He sighed. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t get to know my mate,” he said, grinning.
~
“I’m free!” Jennifer called as she rushed across the bar towards Hope and Faith.
“You’re early,” Faith said, eyeing Evie as she approached the door behind her. She looked harassed already, and it wasn’t even the first full day of the holidays.
“Half day, end of term, and I’m free!” Jennifer said, dancing on the spot to show her newfound liberations from all things school. “Can I get ice cream?”
“Ask Evie,” Hope said as Evie walked toward them.
“Can I go and see Verity?” Jennifer said, beaming with enthusiasm for the start of her school holiday.
“No!” Everyone said together.
Jennifer frowned. “Why?”
Faith grimaced. “We want you where we can keep an eye on you for a few days…”
“Why?” Jennifer said, folding her arms and tipping her chin up stubbornly.
“Because we’ve missed you,” Hope said.
“Why?” Jennifer demanded.
“Because you’ve been at school, and now you’re home, we need to get used to having you around,” Faith said.
“Why?” Jennifer said, pushing everyone’s buttons.
Serendipity came out of nowhere and jumped onto the counter, making Hope pull back in surprise. “There are other letters in the alphabet; someone needs to reboot her; she’s stuck on Y.”
Jennifer chuckled, and the stubborn mood was gone. “You’re funnier than Mr Paws.”
“If only I were your cat, you’d treat me right and wouldn’t leave me with an evil elder all day, every day,” Serendipity said, rubbing her head against Jennifer’s hand when the child reached out to stroke her. “I’ve escaped, don’t tell anyone.”
“Me too,” Jennifer said. “From school, but that’s not a secret.”
“Stick with me, kid, and we’ll have all the ice cream we can meow for,” Serendipity said.
“Great idea,” Faith said, looking to Evie for confirmation, Evie nodded. “Ice cream, over there, ask nicely and say thank you…”
“I always say thank you, Aunt Faith,” Jennifer said, rolling her eyes, but she wasted no time and took off on fast feet.
“Me too,” Serendipity said, about to jump down when Faith stepped in her way. “What gives?”
“You’re putting on the pounds, porky,” Faith said.
“Have you seen your backside lately?” Serendipity replied.
Faith scowled. “I’ll forget you said that, and I’ll rescue you from Nana…”
“If I do your evil bidding?” Serendipity said. “Like I haven’t been blackmailed before.”
“You want out or not?” Faith demanded.
Serendipity sat and eyed Faith. “Who do I have to kill? Not that I’m complaining.”
“Stay by Jennifer’s side no matter where she goes and what she does…”
“I’m not going in the sea after her…”
“She’s not going in the sea without me,” Evie said.
“Deal,” Serendipity said, pushing to her feet. “But I want ice cream.”
“And you shall have it,” Faith said. “By her side, every moment of every day…”
“I got it, I’m her fur coat,” Serendipity said. “Now get out the way; I have a child to protect.” Faith stepped aside, and the feline dutifully dropped from the counter gracefully and stalked towards her new prey.
Faith drew a deep breath, folded her arms and turned to watch the kitty doing an infinity loop around Jennifer’s ankles, making the child chuckle. “Doesn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyeballs on her,” she said, as much to herself as to the others.
“It’s Jennifer, disappearing is her speciality,” Evie said. “Let’s see if Serendipity can keep up with her,” she chuckled.