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Rear-view Eleanor nodded. “You most definitely aren’t friends.”
That made her feel even worse. She glanced at her phone. She had precisely thirty-two minutes to get to the post office before it closed and then drive to the pub for dinner with Daisy.
* * *
“Eleanor! Eleanor, over here!” Daisy waved from a booth near the back of the pub.
Eleanor walked through the nearly empty pub and slid into the booth across from the tiny woman. “Hey, Daisy. How are you?”
“I’m good,” Daisy said. “Better.”
“You sure?” Eleanor eyed the faint bruising around Daisy’s throat. “It’s only been four days since a cheetah shifter nearly murdered you.”
Daisy paled, her fingers tearing at the napkin in front of her.
“Shit. Daisy, I’m sorry. I’m… well, fuck, I’m an idiot,” Eleanor said.
Daisy smiled at her. “You’re not.”
“I am. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Or at least not so bluntly. My mother always said if tact were a sin, I’d be innocent.”
Daisy’s smile turned into a laugh, and she tossed the shredded napkin aside. “It’s okay, honestly. I mean, it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, but my mate rescued me, and both Anna and I are safe, and Xander is behind bars. He’ll never hurt Anna or anyone else again.”
“Are you still tutoring Anna?” Eleanor said.
“Yes. Cooper doesn’t want me to, but the danger is over, right? Cooper thinks I’m doing it for the extra money, but now that I’m living with him, I don’t need the extra money. I just really like Anna. She’s a good kid.”
“So, you’re living with Cooper permanently now, huh?” Eleanor said. Cooper owned the security firm Wes worked for, but Eleanor knew he and Wes were friends. Good friends.
“Yes,” Daisy said with a soft smile. “I am.”
“Is it weird because he’s your boss?” Eleanor asked. Daisy worked at the security firm as the receptionist.
“No,” Daisy said.
Their server arrived, a tall thin man with brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He sniffed at Daisy, a weird look crossing his face before he took a step back and cleared his throat. “What can I get you ladies to drink?”
They gave him their drink order, and when he’d walked away, Eleanor said, “What’s with the look and the sniffing?”
“He must be a shifter. Cooper marked me again before I left,” Daisy said.
“Right, the marking thing. It makes you smell like Cooper,” Eleanor said.
“That’s right,” Daisy said.
“You know, you’ve never actually told me how he marks you. Does he pee on you, Daisy?” Eleanor said.
Daisy laughed so hard that the woman sitting alone at the bar turned around and gave them a brief look before gazing into her drink again.
“He doesn’t pee on me, Eleanor. Why would you think that?”
“Because my childhood best friend had a dog named Shaggy who marked everything by peeing on it. It’s plausible that cat shifters mark the same way, right?”
“I guess, but no, that’s not how they mark,” Daisy said. “Cooper rubs his face over my neck and,” her face flushed prettily, “other spots sometimes, and it transfers his scent to my skin.”
“Kinky,” Eleanor said, but even she could hear that it lacked her usual enthusiasm.
Daisy studied her as the server returned with their drinks. Eleanor hadn’t opened her menu, but this was one of her favourite pubs, and she didn’t need to look at the menu. She ordered her usual as Daisy quickly made her decision. The server left, and Daisy sipped at her beer. “Eleanor, I haven’t had the chance to say thank you.”
