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Briar Lake

Six Months Later

Hailey

“Jillian. He’s here,” Keri said in a stage whisper. One that was loud enough for the entire diner to hear.

I knew exactly who Keri was talking about. And, without turning around, knew exactly what he’d be doing—swinging one long, lean leg over the counter stool at my station. It was the same motion he used to climb onto his motorcycle and... sexy as hell.

Next, he’d grab a menu, which was pretty pointless considering he always ordered the exact same thing—coffee. Black.

Finally, he’d run a hand through that thick ebony hair of his and hunch his shoulders while glancing down at the greasy plastic in his hands. Whether he was really reading it or not, it didn’t really matter. He never changed his order. It was always the coffee.

A shiver of anticipation ran through me as I thought about his handsome face and intense gaze. Those piercing blue eyes were unnerving. They actually had a physical effect on me. It was almost ...scary.

The first time he hit me with that gaze reminded me of the time I’d gone a*s-end over the handlebars of my bike, back when I was ten. I’d landed hard on the pavement, the wind knocked out of me. I’d almost forgotten that feeling until I looked into his eyes for the first time. They were the color of the ocean and just about as deep. When our eyes met, it had felt like everything around us had disappeared. Including the air. Or maybe I’d just forgotten how to breathe.

“Jillian...your man is waiting,” reminded Keri in an amused voice.

Pulling myself together, I gave her a dirty look.

Amused, Keri winked, giggled, and flounced her way to the other end of the counter.

Smoothing down my apron, I approached him, reminding myself to get my s**t together before he looked up. I was there to make money, not moon after strangers. No matter how hunky they were.

“Hi. Are you ready to order?” I asked, mentally kicking myself as the words left my lips. He’d been coming in since Monday, and I’d said the same thing, exactly, five times.

Was it so hard to think of something, anything, other than that?

He looked up and his eyes did their magic—stirring up the butterflies in my stomach. “Coffee, please. Black,” he replied. “Shocker, huh?”

I grinned stupidly. “Yes. I mean, no. Uh, you said black?”

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Normally, I was great at building tickets. With anyone else, I’d ask if he or she might enjoy a muffin or cinnamon roll with their coffee. Hell, even toast. But, just like before, I couldn’t seem to get more than a couple of words out.

I was so pathetic.

“You have something on your cheek,” he said, pointing toward his own.

I raised my fingers to my face. Sure enough, I’d been walking around with ketchup on my cheek.

Thanks for nothing, Keri.

I wiped my fingers on my apron. “Ketchup. I, um, I was refilling the bottles. Some were hard to open.”

“No worries. I just thought you’d want to know.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I slipped my pen and pad back into my apron while making a mental note to volunteer Keri for ketchup duty next shift. Of course, not before I tightened the hell out of them first.

He leaned forward to put the menu back, but it slipped out of the metal holder on the counter. I tried retrieving it and his fingers brushed against mine. What happened next hit me like a tidal wave. Images flashed in my mind of gray and white fur and sharp canines. It was followed by an intense urge to rip off both of our clothes and rub my n***d body against his...

What the actual hell?

Trembling, I staggered back. The menu hit the floor with a slap. In shock, all I could do was stare down at it while the blood rushed through me.

“You okay?” he asked, looking startled.

Our eyes met, only this time... I wasn’t so clueless. I knew why I’d been reacting so strongly to him.

He was a Lycan.

“I’m fine,” I squeaked.

The front door jingled and more customers walked in, startling me out of my daze. Turning, I stumbled away and headed to the back of the diner, where I ran into Keri.

“You okay?” she asked, staring at me with concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Wait a second, did it have something to do with hot-stuff back there? Did he say something inappropriate? Sometimes guys that good looking are real assholes.”

I forced a smile to my face. “No. He was fine. I’m fine. We both are... fine,” I replied nervously. “I’m just... clumsier than usual today. I probably should have gotten more sleep.”

“Okay. You had me worried there for a second.” Keri lowered her voice and smirked. “Let me guess. He wants just coffee again? Black?”

“Yeah.”

“I can tell you like him.” Her eyes searched mine. “Maybe you should ask if he’d like a little pie with his coffee?” she added with wicked grin.

“Hah. Funny. And I don’t like him, so give it a rest.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Whatever you say.”

“By the way, thanks for letting me know I had ketchup on my face,” I said dryly.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You did?”

“Yeah. He told me.”

Keri’s cheeks turned pink. “Seriously, I didn’t notice. I lost a contact and can only see out of one eye.”

I relaxed. “It’s fine. Just a little embarrassing.”

“I once had black pepper in my teeth all day and nobody told me. Not just one speck, either. An entire fleet of pepper flakes. I know your pain, girl.”

I smiled and hurried over to the coffeepot, my mind returning to the other Lycan. I was almost certain that he had no clue about me. My mother, before she’d died in a car accident, had taught me how to mask everything that might give away my true self. With humans, keeping that secret was a piece of cake. With other shifters, it was a whole different story. But, over the years, I’d gotten pretty damn good at it. I’d stayed hidden and hadn’t run into any trouble.

The real question was—why wasn’t he hiding who he was, and were there others in town?

Of course, it was possible that he was the only shifter in Briar Lake, which was why he didn’t bother to mask his scent. I could only hope that was the case.

I stole a glance in his direction. The guy was more questions than answers. The only thing I knew for certain was that he was dangerous and I had to be careful.

I walked back over and poured him a cup of coffee, slopping some of it into the saucer because of my shaky hand.

“Sorry,” I said, avoiding his face.

“No problem. You okay?”

I looked up and our eyes met. “Yeah.”

His gaze held mine and I wavered between walking away, and drilling him with questions. Now that I knew he was a shifter, my reaction to him made sense. I could now deal with it. What I couldn’t figure out was why he’d been coming to the diner every day, sitting in my section, and not doing anything but ordering coffee.

Did he know about me?

Had I actually slipped?

I didn’t think so. Being a female shifter, one had to be on constant guard. There were fewer of us and I wasn’t about to become anyone’s b***h. Not to mention, I had to stay hidden for my own safety.

Still, I was dying to know more about him and whether or not he was a threat. I was tired of moving from town-to-town and had gotten comfortable in Briar Lake.

I took a deep breath, ready to ask a few idle questions, the normal kind a waitress might ask a customer, when all hell broke loose.