Chapter One
Savannah Orman muttered a steady stream of curses as she made her way through the smoky pool hall, heading towards the bar. She hated the Watering Hole. Hated it, hated it, hated it. The fact that she not only had to come here, but she had to talk to Austin Bronson, was the cherry on the crud sundae that was her day.
First she’d woken up to her scatterbrained sister Jessamine wailing about her missing shoes. As if Savannah would ever have stolen Jessamine’s garishly hand-painted combat boots. It turned out that their brother, Niall, had hidden them in the chicken coop because the day before, Jessamine had embarrassed him in front of some fox he had a crush on.
Then she’d gone out to get the mail and there had been a notice from Algernon, Lord of All Foxes, reminding them to be ready to vacate their home and restaurant in thirty days. Not the kind of thing she was likely to have forgotten.
She’d quietly tucked the letter in the top drawer of her dresser. No point in showing it to her mother and ruining her morning.
And then she’d gotten the news from one of her lookouts. Austin had gotten to Torrin first. She’d been planning on snatching Torrin up tonight, when he went to visit his on-again off-again girlfriend. But Austin had beaten her to it.
And now…she’d actually had to come here and confront the big, stupid wolf who had more muscles than anyone had a right to. The jerk who made her tongue twist into knots and her stomach turn fluttery, when what she really needed to do was hate him. And avoid him.
He’d seen her come through the door. She’d spotted him looking in the mirror behind the bar, almost as if he’d been waiting for her, and his lips had quirked in a smile of satisfaction. But why would he expect her to come here, to this dive? And why did he take so much pleasure in riling her up?
Well, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t letting him get away with stealing her mark. Not again.
The curvy, red-haired fox shifter dodged a flying billiard ball and stepped over a passed-out wolf-shifter who lay face down on the filthy wooden floor, without breaking her stride. She breathed through her mouth, but the fog of cigarette smoke and beer sweat was so thick that she could taste it. She ignored the catcalls and whistles from the various species of shifter clustered around the pool tables.
“Hey, foxy lady!” a wolf shifter yelled from across the room.
“Original,” she snorted.
A wolf shifter sidled up to her, and his hand snaked out in the general direction of her rear. She spun around, grabbed his wrist, and bent it back, forcing him to his knees. His friends howled with laughter.
“Try that again, pervert, and I’ll slap the taste out of your mouth,” she said pleasantly, before releasing him. He rubbed his wrist with a whimper and scurried off.
* * *
“Refill?” Barry, the bartender and owner of the watering hole, asked Austin. The surly, one-eyed wolf shifter had a graying beard that brushed the top of the bar, and a perpetual scowl stamped on his face.
Austin shoved his glass at him. “I’m sitting here, and my glass is empty. You have to ask?”
Barry gave him a sour look, but he stuck Austin’s glass under a tap and refilled it. He set it down just as Savannah stormed up to him and slapped her hands down on the scarred wooden bar.
“You’ve got some nerve!” she snapped.
Austin took a long sip of his beer, then set it down on the bar and swiveled to look at her. His lips quirked in amusement, and his dark mood receded. He’d been hoping Savannah would show up and find him here. It was one of the reasons he’d deliberately parked his truck outside the Watering Hole. He knew that she had lookouts everywhere, even if this town was more wolf than fox.
She and her family had lived in the area for generations. They knew just about everybody. It was a pretty good bet that someone would call and tell her that he was there.
He lived to annoy her. It was so fun and so easy.
“A lot of nerve,” he agreed with her. “In fact, one might say that I was born with extra nerve. Actually, I’m exceptionally gifted in a lot of areas. Want a drink? We could talk about it some more.”
Savannah glared. “No, and now I want to barf.”
Austin’s lips curled in a smile. Cute little fox. She shouldn’t lie to a wolf.What big ears you have.With his enhanced shifter hearing, he could pick up the increase of her breathing rate and the thudding of her heart.What a big nose you have.With his exquisite sense of smell, he could scent the spicy aroma of her arousal.
To say nothing of the delightful visual evidence of her nipples swelling against her blue scoop-necked shirt. Savannah always dressed like a tomboy, in T-shirts and jeans that failed to hide her generous curves, and he loved it.
Too bad he had a severely shortened lifespan to look forward to. She called to his animal like no other woman ever had – which was exactly why he wouldn’t saddle her with his crazy-ass wolf problems.
But he might as well enjoy whatever time he had left. He couldn’t pursue her the way he wanted to, but he could at least flirt with her and drive her insane.
He called out to the bartender. “Barry! My friend here wants a mojito, made with white rum, of course, and don’t skimp on the mint leaves.”
He glanced at her and saw her eyes widen in surprise and her nostrils flare.
