"Nice bracelet," a male voice murmurs from the seat beside me.
I finish scanning the plastic menu in front of me and turn to my right.
Although I'm surprised that I'm being hit on, given my lack of showering, what's interesting is that the guy sitting at the pizza counter with an empty plate sitting in front of him isn't human. Not completely anyway.
My nose is telling me that I have a shifter on my hands, and not an unattractive one. With his thick platinum blond hair, tanned skin, bright white smile, and hazel eyes, he's definitely a guy worth a second look.
Pretty.
"I'm trying out a new style," I say before turning back to my menu.
He may be pretty, but I've never been the type of girl who's gone for model handsome. I'll take a rough and rugged specimen of a man with irregular features, scars, and plenty of character over pretty any day of the week.
I feel him leaning toward me. "And how's it going for you?"
Maybe I should tell him about my wet wipe shower. Maybe that will get him to back up.
"Not sure I like it yet." While I'm not being outwardly rude or anything, I'm clearly not giving off any sign that I'm interested.
But then again, a guy wearing a tank top as tight as his probably isn't used to a woman taking one look at him and not immediately crawling into his lap.
"It's cute," he murmurs, leaning even closer. "But not as cute as you."
Yeah, again probably used to women throwing themselves at him, which means Romeo has likely never needed to put the work into coming up with half-decent pick-up lines.
"How sweet of you." I raise my hand and an older guy in a red apron wanders over clutching a small notepad and pen. "Can I get the pepperoni? Two slices, and the salad."
While I could easily put away an entire pizza, when eating in public I like to pretend I'm a normal girl with normal appetites. "Uh, and a diet coke."
The guy scrawls my order down. "Anything else?"
I smile. "No, that's all. Thanks."
When he walks away, I reach for my phone.
"So, first time in Dexter, then?" Romeo murmurs, proving to be the persistent sort.
"Yeah, just blowing through."
"Maybe I can convince you to stay a little longer."
When I turn to find his eyes fixed much lower than my face, it's clear how he intends for us to pass the time. "No thanks. I'm just visiting a friend."
"A friend, huh?" He lifts a hand and brushes hair from my face. It's such a practiced move that I can see it working on most girls. Maybe they'd blush and lower their gazes at the intimate act.
Kier said I wasn't like anyone else he'd ever met before. Whether he meant it as an insult or a compliment remains to be seen, but he's right. I'm not like most girls.
I regard him steadily. "Yes, a friend."
Romeo's smile doesn't shift, though there is a slight tension around his eyes that suggests he's not pleased things aren't moving as swiftly as he'd like. He opens his mouth, probably ready with line three of his pick-up-girls checklist, but before he can get to it, the door behind us blows open.
We both turn and there, blocking the doorway with his heavy build, is Kier.
He's still in the jeans and flannel shirt that he was wearing before, but this time he's wearing boots. And strangely enough, he still has the one pink fluffy handcuff around his wrist. I'm guessing he had the same problem getting it off as I did.
I don't even try to hide my smile. While I'm busy taking in his new accessory, his eyes go to me, the shifter beside me who still has his hand inches from my face, and then back to me again. Throughout this brief study, his expression is unreadable, as it always is.
I turn away at the sound of approaching footsteps to take the glass of diet coke that the guy behind the counter is sliding toward me. "Thanks."
"No worries. Pizza and salad should be out in five." He steps aside, his gaze shifting from me to Kier, still somewhere behind me. "You eating in or taking out?"
Since we're the only ones in the small restaurant, I wait with bated breath to find out what Kier will do.
The second I stepped in, I realized the pizzeria was not so much a restaurant as a counter and a booth for a handful of people to eat in. I guess takeout is more popular in Dexter.
"Eating in."
As always, the sound of Kier's voice, like smooth caramel over ice, has more of an effect on me than any honeyed words Romeo could dream up. He doesn't need to bother with pick-up lines. He can just growl my name in my ear and that'd be it. I'd be good and ready for him.
Realizing where my thoughts are going, and probably shouldn't be, especially not while I'm sitting next to a shifter who, if he scents my arousal, might start believing I'm into him, I re-focus.
Romeo leaves me alone just long enough for me to take two sips from my glass before he's leaning closer again. "So, this friend you came to see…"
When my phone vibrates, I fish it out of my back pocket, taking a second to scan the email before tapping out a quick response.
As a blogger, I'm used to running my business on my phone, which means dealing with emails is a task that feels like it's without end. I've always found it better to tackle them as they come in before they grow so numerous that I start avoiding my inbox. "Hmmm?"
It's a struggle to keep my attention on my boring email when I feel Kier approaching. I don't have to wonder for long if he's going to sink into the red booth behind me or take the seat at the counter.
A second later he drops heavily next to me and I take it as yet another sign that Kier and I aren't over. He has to be a little bit jealous at walking in to find a pretty shifter touching my face not ten minutes after he told me we were done.
"You close friends?" Romeo, who doesn't look like he's about to give up anytime soon, asks.
I lower my phone and turn to him. "You mean, are we having sex?"
His eyes widen a touch as if surprised I'd be that forward. In the brief silence that follows, the scent of spicy pepperoni tickles my nose. I turn to take in a plate filled with pizza and salad sitting on the counter in front of me. "Thanks."
Proving he's probably seen and heard a lot in his time dealing with customers, the man who I'm guessing is the owner of the pizzeria doesn't even blink. He nods before moving along the counter toward Kier, fishing out a notebook from his apron as he goes.
I turn back to the shifter. "Look…"
"Leo." His smile kicks up a notch, nearly blinding me. Beside me, I hear Kier ask for three slices of pepperoni pizza and a coke, no salad.
Of course his name would have to be Leo.
"Right. Leo, I'm not really-" I stop talking to glance at my ringing phone. It's Nathan. Even though it's only been ten minutes since I asked him to go to my place and get the keys for the handcuffs, I'm hoping he isn't calling with bad news. "Sorry, but I have to take this," I say, smiling apologetically.
"The handcuffs didn't come with keys," Nathan says the moment I answer the call, because clearly, that's the first thing you say when you call someone. No hello, no how are you doing, but that's Nathan, likes to get straight to the meat and potatoes.
With two shifters sitting on either side of me, there's no way on this earth that they didn't just hear him.
One darting glance in both directions is enough to confirm their heads angled toward me. I swiftly return my gaze to my plate. "Uh, maybe we could talk about this-"
"At least I don't think they did. I can check on the website if you want?"
I grab a forkful of salad. "No need. It's fine, I'll figure it out."
"You should be able to snap them off pretty easily, though. If you really wanted to tie someone down, you'd want-"
"Yeah, now isn't a good time. I'll call you later." I immediately hang up and lift my head. Since the owner doesn't have shifter hearing, he must be wondering why Kier and Leo are staring at me. I don't even need to glance in their directions because I can feel their attention on the sides of my face.
"That the friend?" Leo asks, sounding like the handcuffs have gotten him excited.
Oh boy.
"No. That was… a different friend."
I pause because that didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but before I can speak, Leo leans so close he's in danger of sliding right off his stool. "You in the market for another… friend?"
When his gaze dips to my breasts and stays there, my annoyance overtakes my determination not to upset him by being harsh. And not just because my pizza is getting cold while I figure out how to let Mr. Friendly down gently.
That Kier is sitting beside me, literally beside me, while this guy is trying it on with me and isn't doing a damn thing to help-not that I need it, but still-is only pissing me off even more. I'd have thought he'd care. At least a little.
"I'm not, thanks." I pick up my pizza and prepare to take a bite.
"You didn't tell me your name," Leo murmurs.
I put my pizza down before turning to face him, my patience finally at an end. "No. I didn't."
"Maybe we could-"
"No thanks."
He opens his mouth.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"But, I-"
I give him a smile that tells him he will only ever be a friend. The gentle, distant kind that you'd give an old lady telling you about her many, many grandkids that you have no interest in.
From his brow furrowing in confusion, I guess it's the first time he's seeing a smile like it. That's when I realize it's time to stop being subtle. "Look, Leo, you seem like a nice guy and you're really pretty to look at. I'm sure girls everywhere go crazy for you."
Beside me, Kier snorts. I ignore him.
When Leo narrows his eyes at Kier, I put my hand on his shoulder, instantly distracting him. The last thing I need right now is to be caught in a shifter fight in a restaurant when my time could be better spent eating, or convincing Kier we're on a date.
"But that girl is not me." I take my hand off his shoulder to swing back to my priority: my rapidly cooling pizza. "You want someone fun and interesting and perky. And my tastes run a little… darker. I need a man who's a little more… man."
I take a bite of my pizza and chew before swallowing. "No offense or anything."
Without a word, Leo gets to his feet and stalks out.
I turn to watch him go. "I think I offended him."
"Perhaps it was hinting he wasn't a real man," Kier says dryly.
"That isn't what I meant. I was trying not to be rude. If I had, I'd have, you know, said he had a tiny package or something."
I wince at the sight of Leo's back tensing, just before he disappears from view.
Shit, I think he heard me.
Since there's nothing I can do about that, I turn to Kier. "And thanks for stepping in."
He takes a large bite of his steaming hot pizza before chewing. "You had things well in hand. Now, what are you still doing here?"
"Eating. I have a long drive ahead of me."
Not that I intend on going anywhere until I discover what Kier is doing here, whether it has anything to do with his reason for leaving Hardin, and last but not least, why Leo didn't react to Kier's presence when loner alphas aren't welcomed anywhere.
"As long as that's all it is."
I pick up my pizza. "It is."
Although I feel Kier's gaze on the side of my face, probably filled with suspicion, I don't turn because it would take one look in my eyes for him to know I'm up to something.