Her brain latched onto that thought. Amber meant shifter, right? So he was…maybe a wolf? Which made sense considering the tavern had howl in the name, and she was in King Lake, which was all shifters. She should have expected to run into shifters. But she hadn’t thought one would come over to her table, or look at her so intently, as if he’d been waiting all night for her to walk in.
She glanced at the kitchen door again.
She hoped he came back out.
A few minutes later, the kitchen door creaked as it opened and Juliette could not help herself and turned around to see who was coming out.
Sigh.
He held her plate in one hand and strode with purpose toward her. He set the plate in front of her and then sat down in the seat across from her.
She stared at him in surprise.
“Don’t you have food to cook?”
“The line cook’s got it handled. I wanted to see how you liked my burger.”
She looked from his brown eyes – they weren’t amber anymore – to the plate. It looked even better up close than it did in the picture on social media, and it smelled incredible. Cheese was melted over the thick patty, and the scent of grilled meat and cheese made her mouth water.
“You’re really going to watch me eat?”
He rested his forearms on the table and smiled. “Yes.”
She picked up the burger and took a bite. She promptly forgot how to do anything but moan at the incredible taste. Sheput the burger on the plate and pressed her fingers to her lips and savored the taste. “This is ridiculously good. I think it’s the best burger I’ve ever had in my life.”
He relaxed with a broad smile, like he’d been tense until she said she liked it. “I’m so glad to hear that.”
Sigh stared at her intently, and that same flush crept up her neck again. She’d never blushed so much in her life.
“Try another bite,” he encouraged.
She picked up the burger, took a bite, and shook her head at how good it was. After picking up a fry and trying it, finding it crispy and salted perfectly, she asked, “Do you always do this?”
“What? Sit with a beautiful female?”
Her brows lifted. “Yes.”
“Nope.”
Oh. That was… significant.
“Then why me?”
He didn’t answer right away, he let her question hang in the air between them like a tangible thing. Then he said, “Felt right.”
Her breath froze in her chest, her heart constricting for a moment. Had she forgotten how to breathe again?
She met his intense gaze, seeing a flicker of amber in the chocolate brown depths, and suddenly she knew what he meant when he said it felt right to sit with her. Because it felt right to have him there, to be near him. She couldn’t really explain it, because it seemed like she’d come there that night just to see him, even though she couldn’t possibly have known he’d be there.
Had it been a fluke that she’d seen the social media post for a burger and come to the tavern that night?
Or was it something more? Like fate.
“Sigh?”
“Yeah, beautiful?”
“I really…I’m glad I came here tonight.”
