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Just don’t let mine get broken.
Clearing her throat over the sudden, emotional lump, she said, “Just remember the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I’m serious, Merc.”
“Me, too. Would you relax, woman? We’re going to a bar to have a couple of drinks and dance the night away with sexy shifters. What could possibly go wrong?”
“That phrase is surely etched on a thousand tombstones.”
Rolling her eyes, Mercy grunted. “Let’s. Go.”
Taking one last look at her curvy frame in the mirror, she flipped off the light and followed her sister out into the family room, where she grabbed her keys, ID, and cash.
* * *
The parking lot of Tails was packed, and there was a line out the door of people waiting to get in it. Mercy assured Ree that they’d have zero trouble making their way into the club, because women were always allowed to go to the front of the line. They passed by the line on their way to the door which was manned by two large men wearing black shirts with the bar name on the front. Ree glanced at the people they passed, and like Ree had said, most of them were men. There were some women among them, so she suspected they were with their husbands or boyfriends and they wouldn’t go in without their men.
“ID,” one bouncer said from his perch on a wooden stool. Behind him, the other bouncer manned the door, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread so he pretty much took up the whole doorway.
She and Ree handed their IDs over, he looked at the plastic cards, looked at her and her sister, and then handed them back. “Ladies drink free on Fridays, have fun.”
The door-blocking bouncer stepped to the side to let them pass, but grasped Mercy’s arm and stopped her with a gentle tug. “I’m on break in an hour. Can I come find you?”
Mercy tossed her hair over her shoulder with a coy laugh. “We’ll see.”
He growled softly and released his hold on her. Ree’s heart kicked into high gear. They were literally walking into a lion’s den. Giving Mercy a nudge, Ree followed her down a short hallway, past a coat check with a woman leaning on the counter and chatting with a man, and into the bar. The band, playing a cover of a popular song, was loud but not overpowering, so she didn’t feel the need to cover her ears to protect them.
The bar was packed, couples and groups of women dancing in the center of the bar, lined on three sides by tables. A ring of booths lined the walls, except where the long, mahogany bar took up one whole wall. Four bartenders took orders, and waitresses were carrying trays of drinks to tables. The whole place was a hive of activity.
“What do you want?” Mercy asked as she pushed her way to the bar and leaned on the shiny counter.
“Coke.”
“You can have one drink. We’ll be here for hours.”
Ignoring the urge to roll her eyes, she said, “Designated drivers don’t drink, Merc. Be thankful I’m responsible.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to be a little irresponsible from time to time. It’s fun.”
Now shedidroll her eyes. Mercy was a dreamer, and liked to have fun. There was a time when Ree had been more outgoing, but some bad relationships and low self-esteem had clipped those wings quickly. It did feel like she’d always been the responsible one, though.
“Just a Coke.”
Blowing out a breath, Mercy leaned on the counter and gave her order to the bartender.
A chill crept up Ree’s neck, the hairs on her arms rising as her skin tingled. Curious, she turned away from the bar and looked at the crowd. It took only a heartbeat for her to lock eyes with a man on the other side of the bar. As their gazes clashed, everything inside her quieted for a profound moment, and then roared to awareness. She couldn’t explain why she suddenly felt so connected to a man she’d never met before, but she did.
Even across the bar, she saw his eyes flash. A bright golden color flared in the irises, and then he was on the move, never taking his gaze from hers. He stalked to her, every bit the predator that she instinctively knew he was. A shifter and a man mixed up together, maybe a lion. She’d never met a lion shifter before. She’d only met wolf shifters, because the bank she worked at handled the finances for a pack and they often came in to conduct business.
Part of her wanted to duck into the crowd and stay as far the hell away from the shifter coming for her as possible, but that part was drowned out by every feminine instinct in her body that was turned on beyond all reason.
He was coming for her.
And that’s all that mattered.
Chapter 3
