“That made no sense.I hope that it did in your head.”He said he was just worried about him.“Iam too.I just don’t want to fuck this up with her and end up in jail because I didn’t know what to do with her.Or for her.”
“Just do what comes naturally to you.You’re charming.Not as charming as I am, but you’ll get there.”They both laughed again.“I have to get back.I have about a million things that I need to get done before Sen gets home.She’s working the business now, and she said that it’s stressful because it seems like everyone wants her to fail.”
Sen was to inherit nearly a hundred billion dollars if she were to work in the business that her father had left her for a year.She’d been doing it for a week now, and things on the outside looked good.She only had to show a profit in the first quarter, and with her at the front of the business, she was sure that it would be a piece of cake for her.They all had her back, too, especially Brandy, who was helping her run the business.
“You go.I’ll be fine.I’ll have a nice talk with myself before I talk to her, and things will work out.At least that’s what I’m going to hope for.”He hugged his brother and got out of the car.Things were slowing down at the restaurant, so he made his way into the place to find himself a place at the bar.Ordering a sweet roll and coffee, he decided to practice what he was going to say to her.
She was standing in front of him when he told her what he was to her.She just stared at him for several seconds while he tried hard not to fidget.She was staring at him like he had his dick on his forehead, and everyone knew it.Not the best way to put things, but he was nervous.
“I don’t need a mate.”He told her that he’d been thinking the same thing.“Then how about we forget about this and go on with our lives?”
“I’m afraid that it doesn’t work like that.Once I’ve found you, I have to stay with you, or I’ll go rogue.They’ll have to put me down and not in a nice way either.”She said she didn’t have time for this.“Neither do I.I have my life the way that I wanted it.I don’t even have a house.”
“Good for you.What do we do now so that you don’t have to be put down?I’m assuming that means that you’ll have to be killed.”He said that was right.“I don’t need any more pressure on me.Just so you know.”
“I understand.”She nodded and moved away.“Is there someplace we can talk?I mean, we have a lot to discuss.Like, where would you like to live?”
“I think that could be put on the table for later.Right now, I think we have more important things to talk about.Like, how do we go from here?I’m assuming that there are rules that I’m going to have to follow?”
“No rules.Other than the fact that I want you to be happy, there aren’t any rules that you have to follow.”She said that she’d been around other shifters, and they all had rules.“I’m not sure what kind of shifters you’ve been around, you smell a little like bear and a cat, tiger, I’m thinking.”
“The cook is a bear shifter.The tiger?I’m not sure.There are a few shifters that come in here all the time.”She told him that she got off in an hour.“We can talk then.I’m finished here as of today.I’ve done what was required of me, and now I need to get to work somewhere else.”
“All right.I don’t live close to here.Can we meet at your place?”She shrugged, and he told her that he didn’t know what that meant.“We can meet someplace more out in the open if you’re afraid of me.”
“I’m not.I don’t know why, but I’m not afraid of you at all.”She looked around the diner before speaking to him again.“We can meet at my place.It’s not much.I’ve been saving my money for a place that’s bigger.I’ll meet you there when I get off.Or you can follow me there.That would probably be better.”
“All right.”He ate another sweet roll and drank a glass of iced tea.He was thinking that he could really come here to eat daily, but he’d be a fat wolf if he did.As he was going out to his car again, he decided that he was going to let her do all the talking.He’d have to confess to having a background check done on her, but that was business.He didn’t want to leave anything to chance when they were getting along so well.At least that’s what it felt like to him.
He had a mate and was just about homeless, too.He had a house that he didn’t care for, but thatcould be remedied easily enough.While waiting for her to finish her shift, he used his phone to look up houses.He didn’t know what she wanted in a house, so he marked a lot of them to be seen.After today, he was going to know a bit more about her and was looking forward to it.He only hoped that they could get along as well as they were now.
Chapter 3
Lisa didn’t know what was wrong with her inviting a man, a stranger, to her home without knowing a thing about him.She knew that he’d done a background check on her.The army let her know that someone had done it.She figured as much would happen since there was new ownership in the works.
She realized that after he went out to his car, she didn’t have any idea what his name was.He knew her, but that was all.Lisa realized that he might well have known her from the stitches in her cheeks, but she didn’t care.They’d be out soon enough, and she’d not have to mess with them.They no longer hurt, but they were still there where people could see them.
After taking the bus tub to the kitchen, she set it down on the shelf with the other bus tubs.The diner had been busy today, but nothing unusual for the morning crowd.She’d been bussing tables for the last two days to let the restaurant run without her.Even the new management seemed to be getting along better than it had before with Roman there.She was ready to clock out when the girl running the bar told her about the tip she’d gotten.
“Fifty bucks.Do you suppose he’ll be in all the time?”She said that she didn’t know who it was, but knew his brother.“Oh, the owners.Well, that’s good to know.If they show up, I hope they tip that well every time.It’s really going to help me out in getting diapers.”
Most of the people who worked at the diner had children.Some had them in school, but the rest seemed to have infants.Lisa didn’t care much for children.Not that she’d avoid them if they were around, but she’d not go out of her way to be around them.They were strangers in her world, and she didn’t know what to do with them.Since she’d been an only child and she didn’t babysit when she was younger, she didn’t know what to do with them.She supposed that was why she didn’t have anything to do with them now that she was older.Lisa thought about the man in the car waiting for her and wondered if he’d demand that she have children with her.She was going to put her foot down on that.It was her body and her decisions to make when it came to having children.Or at least she hoped that it would be like that.She didn’t know what his demands would be.
After clocking out, she went to her car, which was parked a few spaces from the man.She pulled out into the lot, and he did the same.On her way home, she thought about how stupid she was being for inviting him to her house, but figured that she had a gun and knew how to use it, so she’d be all right.Unless he shifted.Then she had no idea what she’d do.
He parked in the visitor parking spaces when she pulled up in front of her condo.She didn’t much care for living in one, but it had been all that she could afford when she’d gotten out of the service.And she didn’t want to rent anymore.At least with the condo, she could sell it when she moved out, and that was a good thing.A rental meant that she was paying for a place to live and not ever owning it.She liked her way better.
Once she was inside, she decided that her place was just clean enough for him.She’d been doing her laundry on her days off, and today was supposed to be her first day off from her job.Putting a load in the washer and one in the dryer, she thought that the place looked good enough.The man was knocking on the door almost as soon as she got changed.
“I almost lost you there.I should have gotten your address so that in the event that happened, I could still make it to your home.”She said that she should have thought of that, too.“No big deal.Before I forget again, I’m Devlin Frazier.I’m an attorney for the family for the most part.I do other things too when I want.”
“I’m Lisa Gunther.Today was my last day at the diner, so I’m officially unemployed.I’ve done time in the service that I still get a payment from monthly, so I’ll be all right.”He nodded and looked around.“I’m not thrilled about living here, but it was all I could do when I got out of the service to livein.”
“I had a condo too.I know what you mean about living in one.It’s too noisy.”She said that there must be about a thousand kids around.“Or someone mowing their lawns.I don’t know if it’s a service or not, but it’s annoying.”
After offering him a seat, she sat across from him in her chair.The couch had seen better days, but since she was looking to buy herself a house, she saw no reason to replace it just yet.He finally made himself comfortable after a few moves, and she had to laugh.He was taking things easy, she noticed, and not cursing about the couch.It had a nasty spring in it that would get you if you weren’t careful.
“I wanted to talk to you about the rules you mentioned.”She said that she wanted to go over them as well.“I don’t have any rules for you to follow.If you do for me, that’s fine, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re a grown adult and know how to conduct yourself out in public.”She asked him about children.“It’s your body.I’ll be willing to have them when you’re ready.What I mean is, if you want to have them.I’m all right either way.”
