“That word is beneath you, Katy.”Lola pursed her lips.“Do better.”
Katy laughed, which is what Lola intended.“You’re right, that was completely subpar for my intelligence.How about he’s getting indomitable, or valorous?”
Lola pushed through the door back into the dining area.“That’s more like it.Live up to your full vocabulary potential, Katy Dire.Just because you live in the poor part of the city and work at a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint, doesn’t mean you have to behave like an uneducated street rat.”
“Wow, that’s cold, Lo.”Maddie handed her a tray bearing five glasses of water.“Table eight.”
“I’ve had an irritating morning.”She glanced over her shoulder at Katy.“I’m feeling a tad supercilious.”
“Nope,” Katy said, raising her voice as Lola walked off.“Fancy words aremything.You can’t steal them.”
“Tell that to your nipples,” Lola said.She hadn’t realized just how close she’d been to the table of customers waiting on its drinks until she heard several men burst out laughing.Lola looked down and saw five, very, attractive guys staring up at her.She tried to keep her face from turning red, but knew she failed.Hot, not attractive.And I mean hot with a capital, ‘Can I Have Your Babies, Please?’Another note to self, maybe slow down on the number of supernatural-romance books I read.
Chapter 2
I’ll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours.
“Have you ever had that feeling something big was coming your way, huge and unstoppable, but you didn’t know if it was good or bad?Like a built-in radar trying to prepare you for the unexpected, but you don’t know how to prepare.No?So, just me then?Fantastic.Good to know.”~Lola
Guy Number One smirked, Number Two grinned, Number Three winked at her, Number Four simply raised an eyebrow, and Number Five… Well, she didn’t know how to describe his expression.She met his shining, gray eyes, and they swirled like liquid silver.Lola kept herself from gasping, but looked away in a hurry.With a shaky hand, she pulled her order pad and pen from the pocket of her apron.It was when she encountered guys at this level of attractiveness, she felt the most conscious of her appearance.Which really annoyed the crap out of her.
“Good after-”Wow, why is my voice so high?Lola cleared her throat and began again.“Good afternoon.”Argh, now why is it so low?I don’t talk like that.She wanted to crawl under one of the tables and disappear until the men left.“What can I get you…” Lola swallowed thickly, and she knew her face must be showing the most hideous of grimaces.“...gentlemen today?”And no, I’m not on the menu, but the menu is completely adjustable based on the needs of the customer.Holy crab apples, did I just think that?I have lost my ever-loving mind.
A faint chuckle resonated, prompting Lola to lift her eyes back to the men.The chuckle came from Guy Number One, the smirker.“We’re far from gentlemen,Little One.”He glanced to Sal as he said the words and then back to Lola.His grin stretched wider, drawing Lola’s gaze to his canine teeth.Again, she had to stifle a gasp.The man’s canines were remarkably different from any she’d seen before.Sharpened to a fine point, they were twice the normal size.Lola blinked, trying to dismiss what she saw as a mere trick of the light.Maybe they’re dental implants?People do all kinds of weird things to their body.Fake, pointy teeth are surely among them.Yes, implants, she convinced herself.When she reopened her eyes, his lips were sealed, though his playful smile remained.See?There’s nothing to worry about.Despite her reassuring words, a sense of unease flooded Lola, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Are you alright?”Lola’s attention shifted to Guy Number Three.A deep dimple peeked from his right cheek as he spoke and his blue eyes narrowed on her.“You seem a bit spooked.Wyatt didn’t mean any harm.”He gestured toward Guy Number One with a nod.“He’s a flirt, though not a very adept one.”
“You just wish you were as skilled with the females as I am,” Wyatt retorted, tossing a rolled-up straw paper at his friend.
Lola attempted to smile, but judging by their concerned expressions, she probably looked more like she was trying to pass a kidney stone.“I’m fine.I just thought I saw–” She started to point toward Guy Number One’s face, then hesitated.It might come across as impolite to draw attention to his teeth.“I thought I saw someone I recognized.”She gestured in Wyatt’s general direction instead.
“Rest assured, if we had met before, you wouldn’t have forgotten me.”Wyatt’s words held a suggestive undertone.
“Seems like you’re not as successful with the females as you think if they forget you so easily.”Guy Number Three chuckled, making the dimple even more prominent.
Lola found it peculiar that they referred to women as, “females,” rather than ladies, women, or even chicks, which were the terms usually uttered by her customers.‘Female’ seemed unnatural in discussions involving attraction or desire, more fitting for medical contexts…or possessive, alpha werewolves.The hero of Lola’s latest paranormal-romance novel flitted through her mind.
“I’m sure he does just fine with the, uh, women.They probably find him quite memorable.Not that I would know… or care,” she finished lamely.Lola silently scolded herself to keep quiet, but her mouth had a mind of its own, particularly when nerves took over.“I mean, I’m certainly not one he’s had any involvement with or anything…” She shook her head as her tongue tied itself into knots.“I… uh… haven’t been one of the… uh…femaleshe’s been…” She cleared her throat.“...fine with or anything.Goodness.”Their low chuckles were growing louder.“What would you gentlemen like to eat?”she blurted out.“Um, food, please.What can I get you?”
“Meat.Rare.But I’m sure you all don’t have that here.”It was Guy Number Two who spoke.
Lola looked up from her pad.He was completely serious.What a weird thing to say.We’re a pizza joint, not a steakhouse.“Um, no, I’m afraid not.”A five o’clock shadow and eyes framed by dark eyelashes gave him an air of danger.His firm jaw clenched when Lola met his eyes.They flashed, the pupils becoming as tiny as pin-pricks.People do not have pupils that small.At least, not any humans that she’d ever seen.Are there any other kinds of people other than humans?No.No, there are not,she answered her own question.But how cool would that be?Lola also noticed the shape of his eyes almost seemed to change and become more pinched in the outer and inner corners.They reminded her of the shape of her cat's eyes.Tilting his head, the light landed in his eyes reminding her of Dog’s eyes and the luminescent quality they processed.
“Do you wear contacts?”Lola blurted out, unable to contain her curiosity.Though she felt uneasy in the presence of these five, stunningly attractive men, her inquisitiveness still got the better of her.Even when her instincts were screaming at her to shut the heck up.One day her insatiable curiosity would land her in trouble.Or, as Katy put it,‘It’s going to get your cute little mug put on a poster in a grocery store.’“Is that your way of subtly telling me you like my eyes?”The man shifted in his seat to fully face her.
“No.”Lola shook her head.“If I liked your eyes, I’d say, ‘Hey, I like your eyes.’I mean, they’re not ugly or anything.But I don’t particularlylikethem.”
“Ouch.”One of the other men muttered, though she didn’t know which one.
“But you have tiny pupils, and your eyes kind of glow.Since I’ve never seen someone with such small pupils, or glowing eyes, I can only assume that you must be wearing contacts.”
His eyebrow quirked.“If you’ve already figured out that I wear contacts, why ask?”
Lola shrugged.“When a person has a hypothesis, the only way to prove it for certain is to get confirmation.”
“Rafe,” Wyatt said in a low voice, sounding very much like a warning of some kind, as the other guy leaned closer to her.
“You’re hypothesizing about me?”His voice was almost a purr as he spoke.“Is that a smart girl’s way of flirting?Or were you also flirting with Wyatt when you thought you remembered him?”
