Not that it matters.If anything, young men are more dangerous.
“What is a pretty thing like you hanging around here for?Looking for some fun?”
He’s about to step into my space, and my mind flips between fight or flight.
I won’t be prey.
Before he can loom over me, I step forward, staring straight into his eyes.
“Do I know you?”I ask.
“What?”He stutter-steps with hesitation.
“You look really familiar.”I put on my deep, thoughtful face, then snap my fingers as if I just remembered something.“I know!You’re the guy who’s bad in bed!”
He was not expectingthat.Horrified shock slackens his face.Exactly what I was hoping for.I came here to meet Warner for lunch, not be accosted by a horny, power-tripping werewolf.
“Yeah.The sad sack in the sack.Mr.Pitiful Fuck.Everyone in town told me about you.Said you harass strangers because no one wants to give you a second go since you can’t find a clit, even with a detailed map.”
There’s a little chunk of my brain that wonders if insulting a werewolf’s sexual prowess is the safest route to take.But if a guy is going to harass me, supernatural or not, I figure it’s better to let them know up front that I won’t go down without tearing into them first.
“What the fu?—”
“Ross.”A man with thick brown hair, streaked through with gray, strides toward us.He’s tall, wiry, and coated in authority.Not visibly, but it spills off him in waves as he approaches.
My aggressor turns to the man, red-faced.“Sir.”
That’s when I see, just behind the man’s shoulder, is Warner.He stares at me with wide eyes and a bobbing mouth, as if he can’t decide whether to grin or not.
Guess he heard my comments to his coworker.
“Is something going on here?”The older man glances between the two of us before his eyes come to rest on me.There’s no accusation in them, just scrutiny.
“No.”Ross is quick to assure the man, who I notice now has a vest with the label ofForeman.
“Correction”—I straighten my spine, glaring all three men down—“the thing that wassupposedto be going on here was me picking up my friend for lunch.”I gesture at Warner.“But instead, I have to deal with”—unable to find a descriptor to apply to Ross, I simply let my disgust infuse the next word—“this.”
“You—” Ross begins.
“Yeah,me,” I cut him off.“I had your pathetic number the second you walked my way.You ever tryhuntingme again, and I’ll hit you with a face full of bear mace.”
“Bitch.”He bares his teeth, stepping forward.
There’s a growl and a sudden powerful presence at my back, but this ismyfight, and I can’t back down.Growing up with four brothers made me tough.Or stupid.Jury is still out.
I pull my lips back from my own puny human teeth, getting up in his space yet again.“Try it,wolf.See what happens.”
Ross freezes mid-threatening move, his eyes growing wary.
“Back off.”The command cuts through the air between us, almost a wall.I’ve never heard Warner’s voice so deep and menacing before.His warm arm encircles my shoulders.
For a second, I’m furious, thinking his command is directed at me.But when I glance up, his glare is all for the asshole.
Good.Glad to know he doesn’t automatically side with his pack mates.
Ross opens his mouth, but a sharp throat clearing from the foreman has the young pup snapping his jaw shut.
“Back to work,” the older man says, aiming the words at Ross.
