“Stacy, have you gone in and dry mopped the studio after Zumba like I asked you to?” the cyclops asked as he leaned out of the door of his office.
Stacy’s cheeks flushed. “I was just on my way to, but I was greeting a customer first.”
She turned blue eyes in my direction and fluttered her lashes.
I shifted from one foot to the other, feeling suddenly uncomfortable under her gaze. Most humans didn’t flirt with supernatural creatures. There was mixing, of course, but the majority of the humans that lived in Port Haven were usually already paired off with their monster mates.
“Well, congratulations you’ve done that. Now go. We’ve got late-night yoga in twenty minutes.” Anders shooed her away from the desk, his single eye narrowing as she scurried off. “Sorry, Cash.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine, has it been a busy night?”
One glance at the main floor of the gym confirmed it. Nearly every machine was in use.
“It’s nearly the start of the holiday season, so everyone’s trying to get ahead of all of the holiday food weight gain,” Anders said with a grin.
“Think I’m going to be able to use the heavy duties tonight?” I asked, leaning against the counter and glancing down at my taloned feet. I couldn’t use regular treadmills thanks to them and putting on running shoes was out of the question.
Anders checked his watch. “I think so, Mary’s been on hers for almost an hour. So she should be getting off soon.”
Mary was another regular at the gym, she was a harpy that worked at one of the restaurants on the Wharf.
I grunted, acknowledging Anders’s words as my thoughts drifted once again to the human with whisky colored eyes. I’d never seen a human with that eye color before, a vivid, shifting hazel.
As if my inner thoughts magically conjured her, Anders leaned around me and grinned. “Was everything okay today?”
“Yes… thank you,” a soft, familiar voice said from behind me.
I whirled, probably too quickly, around to find our new receptionist standing behind me. She flinched back away from me, those whiskey eyes of hers going wide when she realized who had been standing in front of her.
Her pink hair was in a wet plait that hung over one shoulder, the end of it still dripping with water. It was clear that she’d just taken a shower and the mixture of the gym’s shampoo and her naturally sweet scent made my head feel foggy.
She had a bag clutched to her chest and her arms tightened around it as she stared up at me. Then my eyes landed on her neck and on the faded pink dragonfly that was tattooed there.
Surprise filled me. Why had she covered it up earlier when she was literally going to work at a tattoo shop? It didn’t make any sense.
Her hand flew up to cover it, a pink flush filling her cheeks as she finally looked away from me.
“She’s the new receptionist at the shop, right?” Anders asked from behind me.
“Yeah, this is Daphne.” It was the first time I’d ever said her name out loud. My chest buzzed strangely and I rubbed at my collarbone, feeling suddenly irritated.
My words seemed to unfreeze the human in front of me. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she whispered so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
Then she waved at Anders and turned on her heel, hurrying out of the gym.
Frowning, I turned back to Anders. “Did she come to work out?”
The cyclops shook his head. “Nah, just to use the showers.”
My frown deepened. Where was she staying that didn’t have showers? I had a sneaking suspicion about the answer and was half-tempted to follow her out.
“The treadmill is free,” Mary said as she rejoined us, wiping at the back of her neck with a towel.
“Thanks,” I grunted and headed for the locker rooms to change into my gym clothes.
Working out usually distracted me from all of my worries. It was one of the few times I could truly push my body and feel the same endorphins that I used to get when I was still able to fly.
But tonight as I pounded away on the treadmill, all I felt was frustration and confusion about the little human that had stumbled into our lives just a day ago.
