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Eiji shifted his gaze from his enemies back to Shae, but she still watched him, and he knew a bit of relief. She hadn’t paid attention to overhear the alpha, so she wouldn’t wonder at his control over his men in these modern times. They were being careless and stupid, and he wanted this whole situation to end now.
“I’m not going to have fighting in here,” the owner of the bar shouted. “You take that outside before I call the police!”
Eiji stood straighter and looked the shifters over once more before turning toward the door. He made it only a few steps and stopped. He couldn’t leave Shae there with them. She would not be safe. He spun around in degrees and met her gaze, then strode back. Inches away from grabbing for her hand, he stopped again. Another thing he couldn’t risk at the moment was touching her skin.
He cleared his throat. “May I talk to you for a minute?”
The speculation in her large brown eyes did things to his body he wished the others didn’t sense about him. She raised her eyebrows. “Really, Eiji, I think—”
“Please,” he emphasized and felt heat flood his face. Snickers erupted around him.
She nodded and walked a few feet away from the alpha and his men. Eiji hitched his shoulders, annoyed that they would hear, but there was no other choice aside from him dragging Shae outside.
“I want you to leave with me,” he blurted out for lack of a better way to say what he needed to.
She frowned and put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t want to go out with me earlier, and now you’re all up in my face?”
More snickers, and Eiji clenched his jaw.
“I don’t…” He sighed and cut a glance over to the group. “I don’t trust them.”
“Hey!” Travon started to approach, but the alpha held him back, amusement in his expression.
Eiji knew he expected Shae to turn him down. The knowledge made him feel even more of a fool. Of course, at their distance, Shae hadn’t heard the whispered taunts aimed at him, and the laughter because she wouldn’t listen to him. Her attention never left Eiji’s face.
He spread his hands out to the side and shrugged. “It’s not because…uh, I…” He scratched his head, searching for the right words. “Hazukashii desu?”
“What the hell does that mean?” someone across the room asked.
“How the fuck should I know?” someone else answered.
Shae blinked up at him, and an impulse took hold before he thought it through. The next instant, he dragged her into his arms and encircled her waist. He covered her mouth with his and tasted a flavor so sweet he lost track of the men who threatened him and didn’t hear the noise of the music vibrating off the walls. All he knew was the feel of Shae’s soft lips beneath his own and the way she parted them for him. He heard her murmur of surprise and, if he wasn’t imagining things, the tiniest of moans. Seconds later, the alpha wrenched him away, but Shae moved between them once again, this time both her hands pressed to Darryl’s chest. When she spoke, she panted.
“Hold on. You don’t get to choose who I kiss. You and I just met, so back it up. Now, I’ve decided. I’m going with him.” She indicated Eiji.
Darryl put her aside. “This nobody’s got nothing on me, Shae. You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m serious.” She moved beside Eiji, and he resisted dragging her into his arms again. Shae waggled her phone at Darryl. “If you act like you have some sense, I might use the number you gave me tomorrow.”
“I don’t understand.” Eiji stared at her. American women were confusing. Hadn’t she just chosen him?
She grinned and headed for the door. “Are you coming or what?”
Eiji swept the shifters with his gaze, and Darryl’s unhappiness with the outcome of their scuffle radiated off of him. Yet, Eiji could not feel like he’d won. For now, he would spend time with Shae, and maybe he would come to figure her out.
They left the bar and walked along Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Cars zoomed along in both directions, and neither of them said a word for a while. Eiji stuffed his hands in his pockets, head down. Instinctively, he moved around others as they passed going the opposite direction. Every now and then, he glanced at her. Shae’s scent filled his nostrils, distracting and alluring. He heard her soft breaths and the beat of her heart as it raced faster than it should have given that they were strolling at an unhurried pace.
At the corner, they stopped and waited for traffic to lighten so they could cross the street. Shae turned to him. “What does hazukashii desu mean?”
“How is it you pronounce my language so well?” he countered.
She winked, and something stirred inside him. “I’ve traveled all over the world.”
“Business?”
To his surprise, she hesitated and then shrugged. “I love seeing new places and meeting new people.”
His thoughts returned to the alpha, and he frowned. “I see.”
