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“Well, high school sucks so maybe that’s part of it?”
“Yeah, right? I wouldn’t want to be a teenager again for any amount of money.”
“You and me both, brother.”
Barron’s lion sat up suddenly. He looked around slowly, opening his senses and inhaling the warm night air. He felt her before he saw her.
His heart-match was here.
Chapter Two
Mercy Hendrix stared out the windshield and listened to the pop song coming over the satellite radio as her sister, Ree, drove to Tails. Mercy and Ree were about as different as two people could get. Mercy was outgoing; Ree was a homebody. Mercy couldn’t boil water; Ree knew her way around the kitchen. But they were best friends nonetheless, and Ree was hands-down the best sister a girl could ask for.
Mercy worked as a hairstylist at a salon in the sleepy little town of Darrville. She’d heard from a client on Thursday afternoon that a shifter bar called Tails in Kedrick had ladies- drink-free specials every Friday and was a kicking place to go. She’d invited Ree to join her. Though her sister had tried to say no, Mercy had threatened to use thefavor, in which case Ree had no choice but to agree.
Ree had used her one big favor when she’d asked Mercy to move out of the apartment they’d shared for several years. Mercy hadn’t been offended, understanding that her sister just wanted some privacy, so she’d moved across the hall in an identical apartment. Mercy had never cashed in her favor, and Ree hadn’t actually made her use it tonight, simply because her responsible older sister wasn’t about to let her go to a shifter bar alone.
“Have you ever met a shifter?” Ree asked as she put on the signal to turn into the crowded parking lot.
Mercy hummed. “A few of the wolf girls come in for haircuts. I’ve talked to them, but they don’t seem to be the sharing sort. You?”
“The bank handles accounts for the pack, so I’ve talked to them, but just general pleasantries. I got the same impression. Maybe they don’t like getting personal with humans.” Ree found a parking spot, maneuvered her car into the space and turned off the engine. “Which begs the question, why are we bothering coming here if shifters don’t like humans?”
Mercy unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out. She waited until Ree had exited and met her gaze across the top of the car. “I don’t think it’s that they don’t like humans. I think it’s that they don’t get personal with outsiders. Besides, we’re here to have a few free drinks and see where the night takes us.”
Ree tapped the car’s roof. “Just remember the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mercy said. “You drive, no strange men, and when you’re ready to go I won’t fuss about it.”
“Promise?” Ree narrowed her eyes.
Putting a hand on her heart, Mercy said, “I swear.”
Seeming content with that statement, Ree met Mercy at the front of the car and the two walked toward the bar. “There’s a line out the door,” Ree said as they walked to where two big men were checking IDs.
“We’ll have zero trouble getting in,” Mercy promised. Aside from it being ladies’ night, her client had assured her they could get in, no matter how long the line out front was. While there were some women in the line that stretched around the front of the building, she suspected most were the girlfriends or wives of the men in line with them, and didn’t want to go in without them.
The two men were big, muscular sorts wearing tight T-shirts with the bar’s logo emblazoned on the front. One sat on a stool and one stood blocking the doorway, his arms folded.
“ID,” the one on the stool said, holding out his hand.
Mercy and Ree gave him their licenses, and he looked at the plastic cards for a moment and then at the two of them. As he handed them back, he said, “Ladies drink free on Fridays. Have fun.”
The man blocking the door stepped aside to allow them through, and as they walked by, he grasped Mercy’s arm and stopped her. His big hand spanned her biceps and made goosebumps rise on her arms.
“I’m on break in an hour,” he said with a husky tone. “Can I come find you?”
The temptation to ask him to go on break immediately and spend time with her was nearly overwhelming. She was intensely attracted to him in a way that she couldn’t really explain, but she’d just begged her sister to come to the bar with her, and she couldn’t simply stop at the door and leave Ree unattended.
Feeling coy and flirty, she tossed her hair over her shoulder with a light laugh. “We’ll see.”
He growled softly, and then he released his hold on her. She followed Ree into the bar, her arm tingling from where he’d held it. She rubbed at the tingles and looked over her shoulder, finding him watching her. Mercy had to force herself not to turn around and go to him.
What the heck was going on with her?
Shaking her head, she wiggled through the crowd to the long counter with Ree, pushing aside thoughts of the alluring bouncer.
“What do you want?” she asked when they reached the counter and signaled to the bartender.
