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“Girl, just look at that piece of man meat.”
Payton looked sharply at the woman who had justspoken. Her attention was at the front door, and she spoke to her friend who strained her neck to glance behind her.
“Here’s your check,” Payton muttered as she slapped the paper ticket onto the tabletop.
The women jumped, frowning as Payton stormed away. She may not have any claim on Jericho but damned if she wanted to hear women swooning over him. Jealousy was a nasty bitch.
Jericho sat down at the bar and waited. Esmeralda came over with a cup of coffee, and he thanked her. Payton did her best to ignore him, but the man and his muscles were hard to disregard.
“Can’t ignore him forever,” Esmeralda murmured to her.
Payton blew her bangs out of her vision. “Why is he here?”
“I’m not a mind-reader, but I bet it has to do withyou.”
“Oh, please. He’s Alpha now. He’s got a bevy of beautiful, normal women to pick from.”
Esmeralda gave her a disdainful look over her glasses. “Come on, now. You’re not that obtuse. Don’t act like a twat.”
As her eyes widened, a chuckle burst from Payton. Esmeralda shook her head and grabbed a carafe of coffee as she made rounds. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Payton turned and walked over to Jericho. “Want to order anything?” she asked.
“I’ll have steak cooked rare, and eggs over hard,” he replied.
Nodding, she wrote down his order, then turned to add it to the cook’s window.
“I talked with your father.”
Payton tensed and glanced back at him. “Oh, yeah?”
“We talked about you.”
“I’m sure that was a disappointing topic of conversation.”
“Don’t,” he muttered. “Don’t self-deprecate.”
She shrugged and faced him once more, placing her hand on her hip. “I know my shortcomings.”
“Then you know nothing. Now, I’m going to enjoy my dinner, and later, when you’re done for the evening, we’re going to have a meaningful heart-to-heart.”
Payton flounced away, not wanting to hear anything else. However, Jericho didn’t leave, even after he finished his dinner. He ordered decaf coffee and seemed right at ease sitting at the counter. Some pack members came up and talked with him, and although she told herself she didn’t care, secretly she was glad he was listening to them. Bennett had never taken the time for pack problems, among other things.
When her shift ended at ten, he waited for her near the back door. She paused and studied him before sighing. As she began to walk home, he fell into step next to her. She glanced up at the night sky.
“Full moon is next week,” she said.
“Yes.”
“You’ll be able to run with the pack again.”
“Yes.”
“Very monosyllabic tonight, aren’t we?”
He grinned. “Just waiting for you to mention the weather.”
“Well, the evening airisvery cool.”
“Want me to put my arm around you?”
