“Aren’t you warm in here?”
Destiny picked at the bent corner of her plastic menu. “I’m self-conscious now that you said some guy was staring at me.”
Dodger shrugged. “So? Let him look.”
She frowned at him. “This feels like a trap. Werewolves are possessive. If I take this off, are you using it just to try and start a fight with that guy?”
“You’re overthinking this. Three times I have gotten a glimpse of the low-cut shirt you are wearing under that hideous jacket, and three times I have been rewarded with the top of your cleavage. I don’t give a fuck about the guy checking you out. He should be. More will check you out when you take off that potato sack. I’m in this for selfish reasons. I want to see your figure. Let that guy stare. You’re sitting here with me. No one will mess with you.”
Okay, truth-be-told, Destiny loved dominant men who could walk that tightrope between confident and overbearing. So far, she had seen only confidence from Dodger, and it was so hot.
With a little clearing of her throat, she unzipped her jacket the rest of the way, shrugged it off her shoulders, and settled it onto the back of her chair.
When she looked up, Dodger’s gaze was glued to her low-cut V-neck top. He lifted those ice blue eyes back to her, and a slight smile curved up his lips.
She answered him with her own smile. “Would you like me to stand up?”
“Yes.” The deep bass in his voice was sexy.
“I’m hungry,” she said low. “I’m going to walk to the bar and tell Byron we are ready to order.”
“I’m suddenly hungry too,” he rumbled as he watched her stand up.
On her trek to the bar, she dared a glance back once.Be cool, she thought to herself as she tried to keep her balance smooth. She rarely wore heels. Dodger leaned back in his seat with his arm draped across the chair beside him. His eyes were locked onto her eyes. He did indeed look hungry, and God, it had been so long since anyone had looked at her like this.
The butterflies in her middle turned to dragons. Oh, she was in it. She’d been thinking about him too much since yesterday, but now? She was in deep trouble with this one.
Byron was talking to a customer, so she leaned against the bar and waited. Her phone vibrated, and it was her dad asking,Is the wolf being a gentleman?
She knew she could text her dadno, and he would be here in a minute flat, and there would be hell to pay.
She smiled. He was trying to be patient with her dating again after all that heartache. It didn’t matter if she was sixty years old. She would always be his little girl.
He’s very interesting to me. And yes, he’s being a gentleman. Held the door open for me and everything.Send.
Can you text me or your mother when you get home safe tonight?
She smiled.You got it. Enjoy your date night.Send.
You too.
She read that last text from her dad a few times. This wasn’t a date night. She barely knew Dodger. She looked up at him and he was watching her.You okay?he mouthed.
“My dad is worried,” she said at normal volume, holding up her phone. Destiny understood werewolf hearing. He would hear her just fine, even over the steady murmur of the crowd in here, and the music playing over the speakers. It was getting busier in here.
Tell him he should be worried, he mouthed back.
“You’re bad,” she chastised him, pointing her finger at him.
I know, he mouthed, his dark eyebrows arched high as he nodded.
Her mom had sent her a couple of videos. She clicked on the first one, and it was of Dodger carrying her across the ice. She thought she had been griping at him, but in the video, she was looking up at him with googly eyes. Good Lord. She scrolled to the next video, and it was of Dodger opening the door for her and them disappearing inside, chatting easily. The last was a simple image of them through the window by their table. They were each leaning forward on their elbows, eyes locked, smiles matching as they talked. Mom had put some silly black and white filter on it to make it moody and then traced a clumsy heart around them with the drawing tool. When had she even taken the last two? She must’ve circled back around in dad’s truck.
She really was too much sometimes. Mom had wanted Destiny to start dating years ago, but she hadn’t been interested.
“Ready to order?” Byron asked, pulling her from the picture on her phone.
“Oh! Yeah, and can we order food, and also shots?”
