It was a world I understood little about, even though I was smack-dab in the middle of it.
“You know, I can pay for a salon,” Maddox offered, staring at my roots. My hair had grown out a couple of inches and the platinum dye was fading. Now my natural color of fresh blond was taking over—a color I hadn’t seen in years. Still light, just not white.
“I’m growing it out,” I told him. “It’s time for a change.”
“Speaking of change, why don’t you put on something dressy tonight? I have a business meeting at one of the Shifter bars and I want you to come. We need to look a little social, so wear something fun.”
Jeez, like I had a choice.
***
“Maddox Cane, in the flesh.” A man greeted us with an insincere smile, his voice as rusty as nails.
“How’s life treating you, Randall?” Maddox scoured the man with his gaze. Randall looked like Mr. Clean without the bushy eyebrows. I wondered if he oiled down his head because the light glistened against his smooth scalp.
He smiled invitingly as we approached the cluster of wooden tables in the Breed bar. I knocked a chair over and heard a few chuckles when I bent down to pick it up.
Randall’s eyes narrowed on the choker around my neck. “Well, Maddox. I see you’ve been busy. She’s a pretty one. How old?”
“April, go to the bar and order a whiskey neat for me and something fit for a *. What’s your drink of choice, Randall?” Maddox antagonized his friend in a way that led me to believe he was daring him to insult me.
Randall smiled, but not in a pleasant way. “Martini,” he said, taking a seat in his chair.
If these two were frenemies, then Maddox had brought me along to make him look good.
“Get whatever you want,” Maddox said with an invisible smile buried beneath his scruffy beard.
I cut through a crowd of Shifters and tried not to make eye contact. Breed bars made me uneasy—the men didn’t hang back and do all the flirty stuff from across the bar like humans. They’d come right up to me and say whatever lascivious thing was on their minds.
Until they saw the choker.
To avoid any awkward situations, I pinned my hair back with a few long strands hanging loose. Amid the crowd of women wearing painted-on dresses, do-me heels, and bustier tops, I must have looked like a joke in a pair of jeans, a white knit top that fell off one shoulder, and a pair of simple black heels. In my book, the right kind of heels could class up any casual style.
Men were eagerly eyeing the pool table where a few women looked as if they were debating whether to play. Only in recent weeks had I realized my mistake of playing pool at Austin’s house. In retrospect, I must have looked as if I were inviting every man in that room to mount me.
“Well, well. Color me dazzled,” Denver said from behind the bar. I looked up and expected to see a boyish grin on his face but was met with a persecuting gaze.
Crap. He worked here.
Denver leaned on his forearms, which made his biceps firm up. Black sleeveless shirts seemed to be the dress code in this bar for all employees. The logo on the breast was a wolf howling inside a moon with the bar name “Howlers” written below it.
“I need a whiskey neat, a martini, and something strong.”
“I just bet,” he said, eyes sliding to the table where my party sat.
“Are you going to be a dick or give me a drink?”
“How about both?”
“What’s between Reno and me is between Reno and me.”
“Doesn’t seem to be much between you two these days but distance. Now why is that?”
My heart began to race with anger. “Fine,” I said softly. “I get it. I’m obviously not up to your standards, being that I’m just a human trespassing in your world. Reno’s better off without me.”
“So you can be owned by that asshole?” He pointed to the table. “You seriously want to stand here and pretend like I’m not offended that you left a man like Reno for a douchebag who takes in pets? You’d rather be another man’s pet than date my brother,” he said through clenched teeth.
I grabbed his finger and pushed his hand on the table. “Don’t point your finger at him. You have no idea how dangerous that man is.”
Denver drew in a sharp breath as he stood up straight and went to fix my drinks.