Chapter Three #2
Jackson shrugged. “I like sharing. It builds a bond—”
“I don’t want a bond.” She glanced up and Liam was standing up from his table, and striding closer, his steely gaze on Jackson. “I don’t want anything with you, and you keep showing up wherever I am.”
“Because I like being around you.”
“I’m going to go,” she said, pulling out her wallet so she could pay Hannah for her drink and food.
“Oh, come on. The night is young. Look, this place has a great atmosphere. Great music, great food. Just hang out with me. Get to know me and you’ll like me. I swear.”
She didn’t answer, just pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to Hannah.
Liam’s words repeated in her mind. No is a complete sentence.
“Come on, Nory—”
“You know what?” she snapped. “No.”
Jackson frowned. “No, what?”
“No to you following me, and no to you badgering me into hanging out with you and fuck no to you eating my food! Also, no to you staying here. This is my spot. I come here. You aren’t taking my spot away from me. No.”
“Yeah, but—”
“What in the fuck is so confusing about what she just told you?” Liam gritted out as he slid into Alese’s chair right beside Jackson. “She was clear.”
“And who are you? Her fuckin’ boyfri—”
Liam grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him—dragged him!—out of the bar. Just dragged him right out the front door and thew him onto the sidewalk. He yelled something she couldn’t quite hear, but oh, Liam sounded pissed.
There was a strange heaviness that sparked in the air, and behind her, Liam’s date murmured, “Well, that solves that then.”
Nory didn’t know what she meant, but the woman shouldered her purse more securely and made her way out the front door, past the two men, and turned right to walk toward the parking lot.
Liam said something to her, and then turned for the bar again, his eyes full of fury.
He pulled on a pair of sunglasses, but she’d seen it.
His eyes were nearly white, they were glowing so brightly.
Out the front window, she could see Jackson scramble up and walk back in the direction of the apartments, thank goodness.
Liam grabbed the basket of half-eaten fried green tomatoes and tossed it in the trash, set the empty basket beside the garbage with the others, and returned to push her soda toward Hannah.
“Hey, is there any way we can get a re-make on her drink and food?” he asked, as he handed Hannah his credit card.
“I was going to say, I don’t think she should eat or drink after that creep,” Hannah agreed. “Want me to add it to your food tab?”
“If you don’t mind. I don’t think the lady will be returning.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nory said softly as he sat back down in Alese’s chair, and she settled into hers. “I didn’t mean to ruin your date.”
“Blind date, set up by my people, and I’m pretty sure they don’t know me at all at this point.”
Nory thought he was joking, but he looked angry still. “You’re joking, right? That woman was perfect.”
“She picked all breading off the fried pickles because she is watching her figure.”
“Well, that’s kind of fair, she has an amazing figure.”
“She insulted this place a dozen times.”
“Well…that’s a little mean.”
“She told me she will accept nothing less than two carats for her engagement ring.”
“Okay, that’s crazy.”
“Crazy. All my blind dates lately have been crazy.”
Nory pursed her lips, trying desperately to keep her curiosity inside of her.
“Ask,” he said, taking the orange soda from Hannah’s outstretched grasp as she began making another drink. He set it in front of Nory.
“It’s just if you hate doing blind dates so much, why do you keep saying yes to them?”
“Because I need…” He inhaled deeply. “There is some pressure from my…family…to pair up.” He swung his gaze toward her and arched his eyebrows like he was trying to convey something to her. She didn’t get it though.
“Your mom wants grandkids or something?” she guessed.
“No, it’s a rule I have to mind.”
“Procreation—”
“Ew, don’t say it like that.”
“Boinking—”
“No,” he said sternly, but she didn’t miss it. A smile was tugging at the corners of his masculine lips, and now he was leaning back into the chair, relaxing a bit as the tension left him. “Why are you shaking?” he asked.
“Because I told Jackson off. That was the first time I have ever done something like that. I feel bad.”
“You feel bad about setting a boundary? Woman, you’re going to have to toughen up.”
“I’m not the toughen-up type. I’m the quiet, everyone-can-walk-on-me, I’ll-do-it-myself-and-never-complain type of person.
He nodded thoughtfully, then pulled his sunglasses off his face. His eyes were back to the blue color that at least could pass for human.
“I heard what you said earlier. About me telling you I wore contacts. Why did you tell your friend that?”
Nory glanced at Alese, but she was busy talking to a guy she’d been interested in for a few weeks. “Well, Alese would tell people.”
“And you won’t?”
Nory shrugged. “If you wanted people to know, I feel like you are the type of man who would tell them yourself.”
He nodded slowly, gaze glued to her. “You’re interesting, Nory. For a human.” He said the last part quietly and with a wicked little smile on his lips.
“I’ve heard about the chaos and violence,” she whispered. “I’m really not tough. I can’t handle that stuff.”
“Well, lucky for you I get big protective instincts for submissives.”
“Oh. Am I a submissive?” she asked.
“If you were a wolf, you would be at the bottom of the Pack.”
Well, that sounded terrible. “Are you really a werewolf?” she asked in a whisper.
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just wearing contacts.” He winked and ordered a beer for himself from Hannah, who had just asked if they were doing all right.
“Is your family going to be upset that the blind date didn’t work out?”
Liam shrugged. “That’s a problem for tomorrow.”
She huffed a giggle and scooted her chair closer to the bar. “That is going to be my new motto. That’s a problem for tomorrow.”
“Do you cook often?” he asked.
“Unless I have leftovers, I cook most nights. I like it.”
“What do you like about it?”
And Nory thought about it. Really thought about it. “Cooking makes my mind go quiet.”
Liam nodded and took a sip of the beer Hannah put in front of him.
“What makes your mind go quiet?” she asked after a few quiet seconds.
“Hunting.”
His answer lifted the fine hairs on her forearms.
“Hunting what?”
He only offered her a slight smile as an answer and then changed the subject. “Your stew and cornbread were the best I’ve ever had. I’ll set the containers on your porch before I go to work in the morning.”
“I appreciate that,” she said, excited by the fact that he was making a time to go to her apartment, even if it was just to drop something off. “Where do you work?”
“For my Pack.” He seemed surprised that he had uttered those words though, and his smile morphed to a frown, and he lowered his eyes to the fried green tomatoes Hannah had just set in front of them. “Let’s talk about you. Not me.”
The shift in his tone confused her. “I’m not really good at talking about myself. Or talking about anything really. It would actually probably be less awkward if we just sat here and were quiet.”
He snorted. “You’re talking just fine.” He twitched his head toward Alese. “She hasn’t checked on you in a while.”
Alese had her back to them and was laughing with the guy she liked. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Isn’t it girl-code to watch each other’s backs when you are out drinking?”
“Ah. Well, I’m only drinking soda and I’m fully sober, so I think she’s off the hook tonight.”
“She allowed Jackson to sit at your chair with your unattended drink and food.”
“Do you…do you not like Alese?” she asked, bristling defensively.
“I don’t know her. It’s just different for humans maybe.”
“Different from a Pack?” she asked softly.
He frowned and took a bite of a fried green tomato, and she did the same. God, these were so good, and they were even better when she dunked it in the ranch that came on the side.
“I guess I don’t know much about female dynamics in a Pack either,” he admitted low. “There aren’t many females.”
Nory whispered, “There aren’t many girl werewolves?”
He shook his head.
“Was she one?” Nory asked, pointing at the door where the blond beauty had disappeared earlier.
He nodded and then frowned down at the glowing screen of his phone, which from here looked lit up with a text. His face lost all emotion, and his eyes lightened by two shades at whatever he read in the message. He inhaled deep, and then rumbled, “Subject change, where do you work?”
She wanted to ask who had texted him. Oh, she wanted to know so badly, but his expression looked utterly shut down right now. She should lighten the mood for him. “I’m waiting for a sugar daddy to pay for my expensive lifestyle, so I don’t work.”
He froze, and she cracked a grin. “Just kidding. I’m a dog groomer. Hey if you or any of your friends ever need a flea bath, I can get you a twenty percent off coupon.”
His face had frozen into a dead-eyed expression.
“Joke,” she said with a nervous laugh. “So anyways, what’s your salary?”
“Are you moving us toward a sugar daddy joke?”
“Obviously. If you make less than thirty thousand a year, I don’t know if I can move forward with this,” she said, and then sipped her soft drink.
The bubbles tickled her throat, and she coughed.
“My studio apartment is very expensive, and I’m having to try and break the lease, which will cost you another twelve hundred dollars. ”
He frowned. “I know you’re joking about the salary, but why are you trying to break the lease?”
“J-J-Jackson.” Oh gah, there was her awkward self. “Eek, sorry. I stammer sometimes. Not on purpose! I just get all…” She waved her hands around in the air like that would explain her weirdness. “You know?”