“What’s your name?”
The coffee pot jerked in her hand and some of the hot liquid sloshed over the rim. Just in time, James jerked his hand out of the way.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz.” She’d grabbed some napkins from the dispenser and began to wipe up the spilled coffee.
James didn’t like the fear that edged her voice or the way she kept apologizing. “No harm done. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She stared at him, her huge eyes blinking slowly as if she couldn’t quite figure out what to make of him. “It was my fault,” she began tentatively.
“No,” he corrected. “It was my fault for startling you.” He shifted in his seat, surprised by just how tight his jeans were becoming. He hadn’t had a spontaneous erection in too many years to count. He prided himself on having total control of his body and this was more than a little disconcerting. “I shouldn’t have asked you your name. After all, I’m a stranger to you. Forgive me if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Shelley,” she blurted out. “You can call me Shelley.”
He nodded, instantly intrigued by the way she’d phrased it. She hadn’t said, “my name is Shelley”, but rather, “you can call me Shelley”. Maybe it meant something, maybe not.
He held out his hand. “James. James Riley.”
She glanced at his hand and wiped her own on the front of her uniform before shaking his. James noted the way the material pulled tight against her chest, briefly outlining her full breasts.
He gave her hand a quick squeeze, but was careful not to hold it for more than a second. She was as skittish as any wild creature around an unfamiliar beast.
“Order’s up!” a deep male voice bellowed from the bowels of the kitchen.
Shelley jumped and laughed, a deep red creeping up over her cheeks. “I’ve got to get back to work.” She all but ran from his table to the kitchen.
James sat back, picked up his mug and sipped his coffee. His nose hadn’t lied at all. The lady was definitely one of his kind—a werewolf. And he was certainly attracted to her.
She obviously didn’t want anyone to know what she was. He could understand her trying to hide her true identity from humans, but why was she afraid of other werewolves finding her? And why was she working in such a public place if that was a problem? Where was her pack?
And furthermore, why didn’t she recognize him as a werewolf?
Because she hadn’t. There had been absolutely no recognition on her face or in her demeanor to signal that she had any idea he was a werewolf.
He continued to watch the room, and Shelley, as he sipped his coffee and pondered the mystery surrounding her. She was continually in motion, her movements fluid and graceful.
James was surprised that she seemed to be the only waitress on staff this morning. It was a fairly busy spot and she hurried from the front counter to the kitchen and back into the dining room. In between, she cleared tables and pocketed the few measly tips that had been left. More than once, he’d seen the disappointment on her face as she’d cleaned off a table where the occupants had left nothing but crumbs and spilled coffee behind.
Not too much time had passed when she bolted from the kitchen, tray in hand and hurried to his table. She deposited a huge platter of food in front of him. It was filled with a decent mound of scrambled eggs, golden-brown hash browns, crispy bacon and four slices of toast. If it tasted as good as it looked, he wasn’t surprised that this place was busy. Truckers always knew the best, and cheapest, places to eat.
“Can I get you anything else?”
“More coffee, please.”
“Be right back.”
The crowd in the diner was beginning to thin out and only a couple other tables were filled. Shelley checked on them, pouring more coffee as she worked her way back to him. He waited until she’d topped up his mug again. “Thanks, Shelley.”
Her shoulders tensed and her lips tightened. Once again, he’d startled her by using her name. Wasn’t she used to anyone using it? Was it her real name?
James thought about just finishing his meal and leaving, but something inside him persisted in making him ask questions. “How long you worked here?”
“Not long.” She started to back away again. From him or the questions or both?
“A year, a week?” he prompted.
“A few months.” Another group of men got up from their table and Shelley hurried away before he could question her further.
Frustration gnawed at James as he finished the last few bites of his meal. He really should just pay his bill and leave. He’d already spent too much time away from Wolf Creek on business. With his leadership still so new, and rumblings of unrest from certain clans in the pack, it didn’t pay for him to be away for too long.
He had his plate full with pack politics and finances at the moment. Why then was he so worried about a woman he’d just met?
Shelley took the men’s money as they stepped up, one at a time, to pay at the register. All the while she made change her attention was drawn back to the man sitting in the corner. Although he hadn’t done anything to draw attention to himself, he seemed to dominate the entire room simply by being there.
He was incredibly handsome. No, that wasn’t quite right. His features were too rough, too blunt to be considered handsome. There was just something about him that she found attractive and scary at the same time. He was tall and lean, and his shoulders were so wide he took up almost the entire bench seat on his own.
Butterflies had fluttered wildly in her stomach when he’d asked her what her name was. The way he’d looked at her, studied her, had made her very uncomfortable. She knew she wasn’t pretty. Knew she was flawed. Then why was he so interested in her?
Her heart had stopped when he’d called her a werewolf and had started pounding frantically when he’d denied saying anything important. Somehow, someway, he knew.
Was he a bounty hunter? He smelled like they did sometimes after they’d been hunting—a wild, musky scent that sometimes permeated from her own skin. Fear and shame filled her. She knew she was different and different wasn’t good. If she’d learned anything in her life, it was that.
Memories started to crowd into her brain, threatening what little peace of mind she’d achieved these past few months. She shoved them ruthlessly aside. That part of her life was over.
She shivered, her entire body trembling as two more men stepped up to the counter to pay. She gave them a wan smile and hurriedly checked them out.
Only the man in the corner remained. James was leaning back against his seat, mug in hand, sipping his coffee. All she needed to do was act normal until he left. She could do nothing that might arouse any further suspicion.
Shelley glanced at the clock on the wall. That was the last of the late breakfast crowd. It would be quiet for about an hour or so, until the early lunch group began to trickle in. This was the time of day when she managed to mop the floors and clean the restrooms.
First, she needed to finish clearing all the tables and reset them for the next group. Grabbing her tray, she worked her way from front to back, clearing and cleaning tables. When it was full, she carried the load into the kitchen, always aware that the stranger’s eyes were on her.
She piled folded napkins, paper placemats, clean cutlery and mugs on her tray and returned to the dining room. Conscious of James watching her, she managed to drop several knives and spoons as she finished setting the places at each booth and table.
She’d just finished the last one, which was close to the booth where James was still seated, when he said her name. It was spoken so quietly she almost didn’t hear it. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned to face him. “Can I get you anything else?”