“We’ll have two sweet teas,” Derrick told her.
“Make mine a strawberry lemonade,” Von corrected.
“That has too much sugar. You’ll be up all night,” he told her. Turning back to the waitress, “Two sweet teas, please, and make one of them half sweet and half unsweet.”
Mindy looked to her for confirmation. Von’s gaze slid to Sean, who made a show of studying his menu. Von reluctantly nodded her agreement with the order, then turned her head to look out the window.
“Sir, would you like another beer?”
“No, this is good.”
“I’ll be back with your drinks and take your order.” She walked off.
“So, Sean, tell me what you’ve been up to since Iraq. Emails and infrequent status updates on Facebook don’t tell it all.” Derrick casually reached out and took Von’s hand in his, holding it on the table in full view while he played with her fingers. Von sat stiffly, watching their reflection in the window, only looking away from it when the waitress returned with their drinks.
“Everyone ready to order?”
“Yes,” Derrick answered, after a brief glance at Sean for his agreement. Without consulting her, he told the waitress, “I’ll have the fried shrimp and my fiancé will have your Chicken Caesar Salad. Put the dressing on the side, please.”
“Mindy, change that, please. I’m having the half rack of baby back ribs and loaded mash potatoes instead of fries.”
Derrick frowned and looked at her. “Pork isn’t good for you, even the bible says so.”
“That’s why I eat it sparingly,” she said in a firm, ‘don’t mess with me’ tone of voice.
“You’ll feel better if you have the salad. It’s much lighter.”
“I don’t want a salad,” she told him fiercely.
He scowled but subsided when he took note of her angry expression.
“Would you like the two-for-twenty? Both of your entries are on the selection items,” Mindy stated helpfully, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two of them before settling on Von.
“Yes,” Von said.
“No, no appetizers,” Derrick said, speaking over her.
Inwardly, Von fumed but since Derrick was the one paying the bill, she accepted his decision.
“Well, I’d like the two-for-twenty, and you can add their meals to my tab. I’d also like the half rack, with fries please, and...” Sean paused and glanced at her. “...since Derrick doesn’t want one, what appetizer would you like, Von? We can share.”
Startled, Von said, “Oh. Um, the onion and jalapenos?”
He grinned. “A woman after my own heart. Bring us that, and I’ll have another beer now.”
The waitress walked off with their order. On his thigh, Sean’s hand tightened into a fist before he consciously relaxed it. The scent of Von’s anger and humiliation rose in the air and he wanted to lunge over the top of the table and teach Hooch not to be such a dictating asshole. Instead he smiled and acted like he didn’t notice the growing tension between the two and answered Derrick’s questions with generalities.
When they first walked inside, Von’s mouth had been swollen like she’d recently been thoroughly kissed, and the faint scent of arousal lingered in the air. Both of them had been smiling and looked so comfortable with each other that Sean thought he’d have to accept the fact that she and Derrick were happy together and settle for having a few days with the woman he loved, even if she didn’t return his feelings. Then he’d discovered Derrick didn’t have a clue of their continued association. If she hid that from him, what else was she hiding?
As the evening progressed, he occasionally caught Von watching him out the corner of her eyes, especially when one of the answers he gave to Derrick’s inquisition glossed over or downright contradicted what she knew to be true. He worried for a moment that she might think he’d lied to her previously and that it would ruin the trust they had built between them. Then he caught the little secretive smile she quickly hid. She knew he was lying to Derrick and the thought amused her.
“Enough about me. What have you been up to? Obviously not the gym. You’re getting soft, man. If the guys could see you now...” he taunted, knowing how obsessed Derrick used to be about his physique.
As expected, he took the bait. “Soft? I can still wipe the court with your tail.”
Sean winked at Von, pleased when she flushed. “Nah, I don’t want to humiliate you in front of your woman. I know how sensitive you are.”
“Bring it on, baby. Tomorrow at twelve. Loser buys lunch,” Derrick said, his chest puffed out.
“I hope you have enough money ’cause I’m feeling steak—porterhouse.”
“Don’t worry about what’s in my wallet. I won’t need it.”
They needled each other for the rest of the evening and Sean even managed to draw Von out of her reserve a few times. There were times when he could see questions in her eyes. She’d open her mouth, glance at Derrick, and fall silent. He knew she was curious about what happened to him, and he planned on telling her, but not in front of an audience. The question was, how did he get her alone without causing problems with Derrick?
“So, you finished your medical training. What field was it, again?”
“Respiratory therapy,” she answered.
“You like it?”
“Love it,” she replied with a wide grin. “The hours are crazy—we work twelve hour shifts—but I’m so glad I went into this field.”
“So what does a respiratory therapist do, exactly?” She’d told him before about her job at the hospital and her patients, but Derrick wouldn’t know that and it would seem strange if he weren’t curious about Von. Besides, he liked hearing her speak.
Von proceeded to tell him about her work, her patients, some of the cases she’d worked on. He listened intently. Every now and then Derrick stirred impatiently, but whenever he interrupted or tried to change the subject, Sean brought it right back to Von with another question. He stared into her eyes the whole time, making sure Von knew she was the sole focus of his attention. With his gaze, Sean tried to tell her what he couldn’t say with words.
He’d done some crazy things in his life, but attempting to seduce another man’s fiancé right under his nose was new. Discreetly sniffing the air around them, under the leftover scent of food he could smell Von’s growing excitement and confusion. He knew from her letters that Derrick ignored her except for when it was convenient for him. For a caring, sensitive woman like Von, being the center of a man’s attention would be heady and seductive, a type of foreplay.
Though it obviously flustered her, she couldn’t help but respond. Taking a risk, he reached out and lightly stroked one of her hands that rested on the table, timing it right when Derrick looked away at one of the mounted televisions near the bar. Von sucked in a sharp, inaudible breath, widened her eyes, and snatched away her hand like he’d burnt her. But underneath that prim and proper shirt she wore, her nipples pebbled and the enticing aroma of her arousal increased incrementally. Being a lycan had its advantages.
Derrick made another restless move. Deciding he’d pushed enough, Sean got his former army buddy talking about his church and his time in seminary.
The waitress came and cleared the plates from the table and asked if anyone wanted dessert. Derrick and Von both declined, but remembering Von mentioning once that she loved cheesecake, Sean ordered a slice. When it arrived, she gazed at it hungrily.
“I love cheesecake but it’s so rich, I can never eat the whole thing by myself,” he lied. “Are you sure you two don’t want any? I’m willing to share.”
“No, I’m sure,” Derrick answered.
“What about you, Von? You gonna do the charitable thing and help me out?”