First Bite is the Deepest: Dances With Werewolves Book Two Read online

  “I won!” Anna shouted as she turned around. Oops, fifteen pairs of eyes from various tables stared at them with varying degrees of disapproval, lust and, in the case of the two old fat geezers at the end of the bar, both.

  Janette blushed then whispered, “Where do you want to sit?”

  Anna glanced around with interest. The Wolf’s Lair. The new owner had renamed the bar but hadn’t done any renovations, as far as she could see. The same dark wood bar, tables and wainscoting, yellowing paint and dark wood and leather chairs. Not to mention the faint glows from the tacky wall sconces and the tea lights on every table. Being so close to her family’s office building, she’d made this her after work meeting place as soon as she was legal, so when the place had sold and shut down for several weeks she’d been a little nervous about what it would be like when it reopened. The only discernible difference was the bartender: a long lean guy with blond shaggy hair smirking behind the bar. He was cute, but a little too smug looking for her taste.

  “Let’s sit at the bar.” Might as well check him out up close. She led Janette to the bar and slid onto the high stool. Janette hopped up beside her and they watched the bartender glide towards them. Nice eyes and cheekbones, too.

  “I’ll have a Smirnoff Ice.” Anna nodded at Janette. “And she’s paying.”

  “A Singapore Sling for me.”

  His smile was friendly, but his eyes wary. “Sure. Can I see your ID, please?”

  “What?” Anna shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been coming here for ages and you’re carding me?”

  “Yup.”

  “Jeeez, way to drum up business for your re-opening.” Anna dug through her purse. Again it felt like all the other customers were staring at them, but hell if she was going to pay them any attention.

  Janette handed him her driver’s license and then smiled as he scanned the dates then her. “It’s a shitty picture, but what can ya do?”

  “Looks good.” He handed it back to her with a wink then turned to Anna.

  Crap! Where was her license? She started to pile the contents from her purse onto the bar. Glasses—not that she needed them but they made her look smarter, her phone, comb and a bunch of hair bands and clips. She considered putting her emergency tampon on the bar just to embarrass the guy, but decided not to. It would probably embarrass her more. Okay, the other zipped pocket. Nope, money, gum, pen, receipts, reward cards. God no! She must’ve left it in her other purse. Could she talk him into letting her stay? His blank expression was difficult to read.

  “I seem to have left it at home, but—”

  He shook his head. “Sorry. No ID, no service.”

  “But I always come here. You could ask...” Anna scanned the other tables looking for any of the old regulars who could vouch for her.

  “Doesn’t matter if the Queen of England said you were old enough. I need to see your license, passport, whatever.”

  “Can I talk to the manager?” Damn, she didn’t want everyone to see her being kicked out.

  “He’s busy.”

  Janette nudged her elbow. “Let’s go. We can hit the Olive Garden instead.”

  “But...” She looked at both of their closed expressions, heaved a frustrated sigh and then scooped everything off the counter and back into her purse. “Fine.” Her face burned as she strode quickly out of the pub not even looking to see if Janette was behind her.

  “What an asshat!” she grumbled as Janette caught up to her on the sidewalk.

  “He’s just doing his job. Want to try somewhere else?”

  “Nah. I think I’m going to call it a night. Sorry.” Anna turned to head back to her apartment. “Hey, are you coming out for this month’s run? Some new kids are being initiated. I love seeing the teenagers do their first transition.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there. Lucas has been really sweet about trying to get me back in the pack. Besides, it’s not like I have anything better to do since I dumped Gian.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re better off without him. You know eventually he’ll end up in jail.”

  “I know.” Janette shrugged her shoulders. “But aside from the drugs and stuff, Gian was really sweet to me.”

  “There are sweet guys out there who aren’t in outlaw gangs, you know?”

  “Oh, so like your non-existent boyfriend, you mean?”

  Anna growled. “Look, we’re both between relationships at the moment. Nothing more. Which means all the old ladies in the pack will be trying to set us up with their sons and grandsons.”

  “Not me.” Janette glanced around to make sure there was no one around to overhear them before whispering, “Sure everyone wants labradoodles and schnoodles as pets, but no werewolf wants a werewoodle as an in-law. Strangely enough, the non-shedding, hypoallergenic thing isn’t such a selling point in a daughter-in-law.”

  “They’re coming around. It just takes time. At least they should be happy your mom ran off with a poodle. What if she’d fallen in love with a Chihuahua or a dachshund?” Anna laughed. “Oh my god, you could be a Werewiener!”

  ****

  “So the reason I asked you guys—” Anna frowned at Rosie and Ella as they chose their seats around the small dark table. “Why the looks?”

  “What?” Rosie giggled. “Okay. I told Ella earlier that if you offered to buy us drinks, it meant you wanted something and she didn’t believe me.

  “Oh. I guess that’s true.” Anna shrugged, then continued, “Anyway, I’d like to give you both the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of my new business.”

  “What new business?” Ella glanced around the dimly lit bar. “And if I’m being bribed with booze, I’d like to see my drink before I commit. Are there even waiters here?” Her expression darkened with doubt as she took in the other seedier looking patrons scattered at various tables and the bar.

  Anna unclenched her jaw. Jeez! She shouldn’t have admitted she wanted something and eased into it better. And yup, Ella was right; there weren’t any servers in sight even on a Friday night. That same asshat bartender from Tuesday was again parked behind the bar. Hah! If she didn’t know better she’d think he was cute with that quiet, laidback smile. Anna sighed as she stood. “Okay, I’ll go order our drinks. What do ya want?”

  “Mojito.” Rosie put in her order quickly as if worried Anna would take back her offer.

  “Me too… No!” Ella grabbed Anna’s arm before she turned toward the bar. “Um, make that a double SoHo Martini, instead.” She smiled at Rosie. “Might as well get something more expensive since this obviously is a rare occurrence.”

  “You’re right, make mine—”

  “Too late!” Anna tossed over her shoulder on route to the bar. Rosie and Ella were great individually, but when her sisters-in-law teamed up against her, it annoyed the hell outta her. She just needed to get that team working for her.

  “A Smirnoff, easy ice, mojito, and a SoHo Martini, please.” Screw the double. She smiled up at the bartender. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize her from Tuesday night.

  His slow, sardonic grin killed that hope.

  She pulled out her driver’s license and slapped it on the bar. “Happy?”

  After way too long reading it and then studying her face, he nodded. “See how easy that was?”

  Anna rolled her eyes. Well luckily the jerk wasn’t her type as that would’ve been really annoying. She liked a little more muscles on her men. The burly biker with tatts sitting at the bar was more her style. She lowered her eyes and dug back into her purse when he caught her checking him out.

  By the time she’d found her credit card, two of the drinks were on the bar and the bartender was measuring the martini.

  “Hey, baby.” The biker’s voice wasn’t as deep as she’d hoped but…

  “Hi. I love your sleeves.” Man, she wished she could get tattoos.

  “Come a little closer and I’ll show you my other ink.”

  Anna laughed. “Somehow I think
I’d better pass on that.”

  The bartender slid her the receipt. “Be careful.”

  Jeez, was everyone working for her mother? “I can take care of myself.” She tapped the credit machine and then shot one last smile at the biker before reaching for the drinks.

  The bartender caught her eye, still seeming in protective mode. Or was he one of those Neanderthals that didn’t like women to feel safe without a man hovering over them? “I’ll bring them to your table.”

  Great, condescending as well as an asshat. “Phht. I can carry a tray.” Of course now she had to be extra careful not to trip or drop the tray. That would be embarrassing.

  She reached their table without incident, passed out the drinks and tossed the tray onto a neighboring booth.

  “I need marketing help with my jewelry business.” Anna clinked glasses as she reclaimed her seat.

  “What? Oh, the dog tag jewelry.” Rosie turned to Ella. “Anna’s been making fancy dog collars for people to wear before transitions. Then if you get caught while you’re,” she lowered her voice, “...out the SPCA will assume you’re a pet and call your husband/wife or whomever, to pick you up.”

  Anna added, “I thought of it after Rob’s unfortunate run-in with the vet.”

  “I guess I’m lucky your brother got accidently neutered that day or he’d never have married me.” Ella sipped her martini. “Mm, that’s good.”

  “Yeah, when he was alpha, he couldn’t have hooked up with a cat like you. Even now, there are pack members who want to kill you.” Anna shrugged. “Sorry.”

  “I know.” Ella studied her martini glass and Anna wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. Again.

  Luckily Rosie filled the awkward silence. “Isn’t jewelry for our kind rather a niche market? It’s not as though you can market it as such to any outsiders.”

  “Exactly!” Anna shook her head at their bewildered expressions. They could be so slow sometimes. “My cousin, Louis, wore his collar to university one day and apparently a couple of his regular classmates wanted to know where he got it. And if I can make a nice, more feminine version, this could be the next big thing. People could buy themselves and their dogs matching collars with name tags.”

  Ella perked up. “What about cat collars?”

  “Cats don’t wear collars, and even so, no one would believe a cougar was a house cat.” Anna shivered at the thought. She still felt nervous around Ella when she was in cougar form after the number Ella’s ex-fiancé had done on Rob.

  “Some cats wear collars, but you’re right.” Ella swirled her drink before taking another sip. “What do you need us for? This isn’t a pyramid sales scheme, is it?”

  “I’m just glad you didn’t ask us here to help you pick up a new fellow.” Rosie shook her head. “You have the worst taste in men, ever.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Says she, married to my loser brother.”

  “Lucas is way better than anyone you’d pick. Like, who do you find attractive in here?”

  They glanced around the bar. Ella was the first to jump in. “The bartender’s cute.”

  Anna checked him out again. He did have a great smile when he wasn’t being an overprotective jerk. “Yeah, not bad, but I prefer the man by the video poker machine.”

  “Ohh, the greasy biker?” At Anna’s nod, Ella turned to Rosie. “You’re right.”

  Rosie asked, “What do you like about Mr. Grease?”

  “He’s big enough that he could even beat up Rob.”

  Ella recoiled in surprise. “Why do you want someone to beat up my husband?”

  “I don’t want him to. Just that he’d be strong enough to.” Anna smiled. “And I like his tattoos.”

  Rosie pursed her lips in thought. “Nope, I’m with Ella. The bartender is cuter and look, he has a tattoo on his neck. But the biker would piss off your mother more.”

  “I don’t date guys just to bug mother!” Anna chugged the rest of her drink. Gah, Rosie sounds more like Lucas every day. “Anyway, back to business, I need your help with marketing. Rosie, you know cute models from your work and Ella, you can write my campaigns.”

  “We get paid?” Ella narrowed her eyes at Anna.

  “I’ll make you partners. How’s that?”

  “With titles? Cool.” Rosie grinned. “I want CEO Babe on my business card.”

  Ella’s jaw dropped and she let out a huff of frustration. “Damn, I wanted CEO. No one really knows what a CEO does, unlike the CFO, and besides, I don’t do finances. Oh hey, can I be president?”

  Anna growled. “Titles don’t matter—”

  “They do to me,” Rosie protested.

  Anna stood. “I’m going to go pee while you two natter. When I come back, can we actually discuss this seriously?”

  “I guess so.” Ella stared pointedly at her half-empty glass. “But you might have to spring for more booze.”

  Anna relaxed her shoulders as she wove her way to the back of the bar. They’re just teasing. Still she wished someone in her family would take her seriously. She’d been working fulltime at Colbert Enterprises for three years now, goddamnit! If that didn’t mean she was an adult, then what the hell else could she do? And she sure didn’t want to stay in accounting for the rest of her life. She consciously loosened her shoulder muscles again before pushing the door to the ladies’ room.

  “Wow.” Anna glanced around the newly redecorated bathroom in surprise. The walls were a warm sandalwood and they’d even installed mini chandeliers. Hope the drink prices don’t go up to pay for all this. Stepping up to the new gold-framed mirror, she reapplied her dark purple lipstick and swiped a finger under her eye to wipe up any straying eyeliner. There. A black tank and dark skinny jeans completed her semi-goth look. She didn’t dare go more extreme in appearance at work, and, truth be told, she probably didn’t want to anyway. Dressing full Morticia Addams would take too much effort, and for what? It wouldn’t annoy her mom any more than she already was.

  Jeez, even fancy gold curlicue taps. She washed her hands to kill time before she went out to face Ella and Rosie again. They’d expect her to spend enough time in there to have peed. She’d just needed to get away before she got too defensive and said something rude. After inhaling and exhaling a few exaggerated breaths to center herself, she squared her shoulders and exited. The dark hallway back to the bar now seemed dingy in comparison to the warmth of the bathroom. The new owner must be redecorating in stages. She shifted to the left to go around the large man coming toward her.

  “Where you going, baby?” The biker from the bar moved to block her way.

  “Sorry.” Anna moved to the right hoping he wasn’t going to be a jerk.

  He countered her movement. “What’re you sorry about? This seems like a perfect time to show you my ink.”

  Damn. “I need to get back to my friends.” She ducked to go by him but his hand shot out and trapped her against the wall. She tried to budge the solid arms confining her. Triple damn. Should she scream? That would be embarrassing.

  “They can wait.” He pressed his body against hers, grinding his jean clad erection against her pelvis. The odor of onions and beer breath preceded his mouth bearing down on hers.

  “No.” Scream you idiot.

  “You know you want it.” His hand snaked out to grab her chin, turning her to face him. She shifted her legs so she could knee his jewels but, aside from her lack of opportunity, the struggle only seemed to turn him on more. Could she—? Nope even pushing his chest with both hands, she couldn’t move him an inch.

  Suddenly the man lurched backward.

  “What the fu—?” He roared, his voice switching to a howl when the bartender, now standing beside him, yanked his ear downward.

  “I believe the lady said, ‘No.’” He turned to Anna while still holding the guy’s head down. “You all right?”

  Anna’s face flamed with embarrassment. “Yeah.” Her voice squeaked and she cleared her throat to try again. “Thanks.”

  �
�You fucking asshole! I’ll—” The rest of his comment was again stopped by a sharp tug on his ear. He was now bent in half, his head level to his waist, his arms flailing, and his face purple with rage.

  The bartender’s voice was low and menacing. “I could walk you out like this in front of all the other patrons, or I could let you up and you could walk out on your own. The choice is up to you.”

  “Get off me!”

  Anna jumped away quickly. “Shit, don’t let him up; he’ll kill you.”

  Other than the bartender’s lips tightening, there was no indication he’d heard her warning. “Will you leave peacefully?”

  The biker paused and then snarled, “Yea.”

  Moving between Anna and the oaf, the bartender released the man’s ear and wiped his fingers on his apron. Biker Boy straightened, rubbing his ear with one hand and swung his other beefy fist at the bartender’s face.

  Anna squeaked in shock as her rescuer grabbed his attacker’s fist, pulled through on the swing and spun the man so his face slapped against the wall and his hand strained halfway up his back. Cool.

  “Okay. We’ll go out this way.”

  Flattened against the wall in the small hallway, Anna watched awestruck as her assailant was pushed past her into the bar and marched through the front door. She shook off her temporary paralysis and ran to the window. Ella and Rosie rushed to join her as the two men cleared the patio and squared off on the sidewalk. A couple of other patrons stood to watch the action.

  “What happened?” Ella eyed her with concern.

  “Nothing.” Anna replied. “But I think the bartender’s going to have the crap beaten out of him.” He’d caught the man unaware in the hallway but in the open, the oaf’s size and strength would be more to his advantage. Plus he was so mad he could probably kill half a dozen people, no problem. She whispered, “I’m going to transition and help him.”

  Rosie grabbed her arm before she turned. “No! You might accidently bite someone.”

  “Damn, I have to do something. It’s all my fault.”

  The two men began circling each other. Oddly enough the bartender seemed cool and in control. Maybe he wouldn’t die? Anna grabbed an umbrella from beside the door and rushed outside. She’d only hit the biker if it looked like he was gonna kill the bartender. She frowned at her pink frilly weapon. Or maybe she could jab him with it?