She laughed. “No, silly. That’s just for the bubbly. I’ll be right back with your bill.”
After reading the label on the bottle, Christian stared daggers at me. “Well, isn’t that justgrand.”
I took the bottle and curled it in my arms like a newborn baby. “Put on your coat, and we’ll split the bill.”
“Don’t be daft. You don’t have a dime in your pocket.” He lifted his jacket off the floor and shook it out.
“I’m new here. They can start a weekly or monthly tab for me like everyone else. I’ll pay them later.”
After he put on his coat, he lifted the collar. “You started a riot in here to win your bet. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“My head feels like it’s in an oven, this bra is too tight, and I don’t think I can spend another hour watching you stroke your chest as if it were the eighth wonder.”
He slowly opened his coat, a look of mischief in his eyes. “Would you like to touch it yourself? You might discover how magnificent it is—like placing your hands on a Greek god or anointing them with holy water.”
I sputtered with laughter. “The only thing holy about your chest is your sweater collection. You might think about dropping a few mothballs in your drawers.”
I froze in terror when a white panther rubbed his entire body against my legs. It wasn’t uncommon in a fight for Shifters to morph to animal form, and that was one reason I’d always preferred hanging out in human bars.
Christian eyed the animal as it lapped its sandpaper tongue against the palm of my hand. “Do you two need a room?”
A growl resonated deep within the animal’s chest. When he rubbed his body against mine again, Christian lunged and squeezed the panther’s neck. Two wild creatures faced off for what seemed like an eternity, the animal swiping his razor-sharp claws. Christian got up and straddled him, the animal’s head in a viselike grip.
“I can snap your neck,” Christian growled between clenched teeth. “Do that again, and I will. Now feck off.”
The panther roared, exposing his deadly fangs. When Christian shoved him away, the animal reluctantly stalked off.
My heart skipped a few beats as the room closed in on me. All the noise, the action, the energy—it was giving me sensory overload.
“I need to get out of here,” I whispered.
I was already heading toward the door when the waitress snagged my arm. “Wait a minute. You didn’t pay.”
Damn.When I looked back at the table, I caught the most spectacular moment of the evening. A Chitah knocked Christian’s hat off, and it sailed across the room like a bird in flight.
“See Adonis over there with the glum look on his face?” I asked, nodding at Christian. “He’s picking up the tab.”
Chapter 7
Neither Christiannor I was in any condition to drive his Ducati Scrambler back home. We decided to get a couple of rooms at the hotel across the street and sleep off the alcohol. If anything new developed in the case, Viktor would send a message to Christian’s phone. Since I didn’t have one yet, we’d have to stick together.
My legs dangled from the roof of the five-story hotel, the heels of my boots tapping against the brick wall. At night the city came alive, and it was my favorite time to be out. The twinkling lights stretched across a thin veil of fog, casting imperfect halos of light as far as the eye could see. A kid with bright-orange shoes was spraying graffiti on one of the walls in an alleyway, and two lovers stood beneath a yellow streetlamp, lost in a kiss. I took a deep breath and gazed upward. The air was somehow cleaner up here and didn’t smell of exhaust fumes, pizza, or wet garbage scattered in the gutters. I’d forgotten how much I missed the city at night.
“Thought I might find you up here.”
I peered over my shoulder, recognizing the familiar Irish accent. “Did you bring my hat? My ears are cold.”
“Why don’t you come away from the ledge.” It wasn’t a question.
“Why don’t you sit beside me?”
“You’re drunk. You might tumble to your death, and I didn’t bring my shovel to scrape you off the street.”
I sighed and faced the city. “I’m not drunk anymore. I just needed a place to think.”
His shoes crunched against the roof as he closed the distance between us. “Well, come away just the same.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Are you afraid of heights?”
