This close, her scent enveloped him so completely it was almost intoxicating. She held on to his hand a little longer than was customary, too. Not that he was complaining. He glanced casually at her other hand, checking for a wedding ring. He didn’t see one. Before he could go ahead and do something completely crazy, like propose marriage right then and there, a dark-haired woman in a short, red dress joined them, two plates of hors d’oeuvres in her hands.
“They were all out of spinach puffs, so I got you these instead. I think they’re squash blossoms with some kind of cheese,” she said, handing one of the plates to Lana before giving Max a smile. “Who’s this?”
“This is Max,” Lana said. “We were just discussing the comfort benefits of wedges over heels.”
The dark-haired woman took the strange topic in stride. “Did you reach any conclusions?”
Lana shook her head. “Not really. We both decided going barefoot would probably be the best idea.”
“I totally agree,” the woman said, then offered Max her hand. “By the way, my name is Brandy Perez.”
“One of my best friends in the world,” Lana added. “In fact, these heels actually belong to her.”
Brandy shrugged. “They look better on you than me anyway. And before you ask, no, they don’t have a bar set up—I looked everywhere. I don’t know why I believed you when you said this would be a great place to party.”
“Because you’re gullible?” Lana suggested.
“Actually,” Max said, “I did see some servers walking around with trays of white wine a few minutes ago on the other side of the room.”
Brandy lifted a perfectly arched brow. “Seriously? You aren’t just saying that to get rid of me so you can be alone with Lana, are you?”
Max’s mouth twitched. “I am trying to get time alone with Lana, but I promise I’m not lying about the wine. They always have it at these award ceremonies.”
Brandy glanced at Lana.
“Go ahead,” Lana told her. “I’ll be fine with Max.”
Brandy’s lips curved as she looked Max up and down. “I’m sure you will. I’ll be back in a few—unless I run into some fine specimen of male hunkiness of my own. In which case, I might not be back for a while.”
Lana laughed as Brandy disappeared into the crowd. “Speaking of award ceremonies,” she said to Max, “I didn’t see you on the stage getting a commendation, so I’m guessing you must be here to support someone who did?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Some of the members of my team got recognized today. How about you? Your boyfriend getting a commendation?”
Max thought he was being pretty damn smooth, but the smile tugging at Lana’s lips told him she saw right through his deception.
“Nope, no boyfriend,” she said. “Actually, it was my dad. Brandy took forever getting dressed. Then we got stuck in traffic. We barely made it here in time to see him get the award. I had to watch from the back of the auditorium.”
That explained why Max hadn’t picked up Lana’s luscious scent earlier. And while he was relieved she didn’t have a boyfriend, it made him wonder which of his fellow cops getting a commendation this afternoon could possibly have a daughter this smokin’ hot.
Max opened his mouth to ask her who her father was when another DPD officer walked by with a plate filled with a collection of various hors d’oeuvres. While Max wasn’t impressed with the selection of food, Lana looked at the appetizers longingly, even though she still had the ones her friend had given her. Maybe she wasn’t big on squash blossoms. He didn’t blame her.
“Would you like me to get you something else to eat?” he asked.
She glanced down at her plate, then shook her head. “Thanks, but unfortunately, the spinach puffs were the only thing remotely edible, which is probably why they’re all gone. I can’t believe they’re trying to pass this stuff off as food.”
He grinned. “I was just thinking the same thing a little while ago. I’m planning to head out as soon as this thing is over so I can get some real food.”
She leaned in close and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “Maybe we can slip out now while no one is looking. I can drop my car keys off with Brandy and we can disappear into the night. I’d just about kill for a slice of pizza.”
Any other time, Max would have been stoked to hear that. In his opinion, there wasn’t anything sexier than a woman who loved pizza. But right then, all he could think about was how his body was reacting to Lana’s nearness. Not only was his pulse racing, but his claws and fangs were dangerously close to coming out. He only hoped his eyes weren’t turning gold.
On the upside, at least he now knew for sure she was a werewolf. He could smell it in her pheromones. That was probably why they hit it off so well. Well, there was another reason, but he wasn’t about to go there—even if a little wolf voice in the back of his head whispered maybe he should.
Lana was telling him about an awesome pizza place that wasn’t too far away, wondering if he’d be interested checking it out, but instead of answering her, he went in a completely different direction.
“It’s so cool finding another of our kind here,” he said. “I totally didn’t expect it.”
She didn’t seem to mind that he’d changed the subject, but she looked a bit confused. “Another of our kind? Are you a pesco-vegetarian, too?”
