Page 20

Harper

With Mack’s big speech, I figured I might have some visitors during the breakfast rush, then when they didn’t appear, maybe at lunch.

Nope, just the same familiar faces. I kept it moving, serving customers, cleaning up, making sandwiches, but when I was done for the day, forced to mop the floor myself, I admit I felt a little flat.

Shifter guys were supposed to be different, weren’t they? No lying, no game playing, no bullshit. I wondered how true that was when my phone started to buzz in my pocket.

Mum had been trying to ring me all last night and today, and when I looked at my phone, I shook my head. Wheeling the mop bucket back into the kitchen, I answered it, tucking the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I emptied the bucket.

“Hi, Mum.”

“So you’re finally answering my calls!” She was riled up, that much was obvious. “I called you all night. Barely slept, thinking something might’ve happened to you.”

“What, I died of boredom listening to Brian—?” Shit, it was Brendan. “Talk about crypto all night.”

“Crypto?” she spluttered. “What’s crypto?”

I tossed around the idea of trying to explain what digital currencies were, but instead hung the mop and bucket up now that they were clean.

“It’s boring, Mum, that’s what it is. It’s really, really boring and so was Shau—Brendan.”

“He’s a nice man!”

“Does a nice guy rock up to my apartment and beep his horn at me?” I said. Geoff the cook was studiously working on cleaning up the grill. “Does he get all shitty when I wear heels rather than embracing short king energy?”

“You wore heels? Harper, you know you’re too tall for that.”

“No, I’m not.” I remembered the way Mack towered over me as he walked me over the restaurant, but it wasn’t his height that was the big thing.

It was the fact that he was completely confident in who he was that got my panties moist. Which reminded me of what happened afterwards.

“Not with the right guy, I’m not. Anyway, Brendan drives like a maniac, told me to go on a keto diet and that I could lose a few kilos and ordered a lot of expensive food and then walked out, leaving me to pay for it. ”

“Oh.” Money, that was always the line in the sand with Mum. “Oh, well, perhaps he’s not the right guy for you, but?—”

“The next sentence better be ‘Harper, you’re a perfectly functional adult, capable of finding your own guys to date,’ Mum, or this is going to be a very short phone call.”

I could almost hear the cogs grinding in her head, but her silence didn’t last.

“Well, can you stop by your grandmother’s? She says she needs some things. I’m not sure when I became her personal shopper…”

The familiar sounds of Mum’s complaints washed over me as I nodded along. She was still talking when I finished closing up the cafe. I sighed as I passed Geoff and he mouthed a goodbye as I walked out the backdoor.

“Mum, just send me a shopping list and I’ll head around her place now,” I said. “Love you. Bye.”

I stared at my phone once I’d forcibly ended the call, sure Mum would ring back. She had to have the last word, but thankfully I just got a text notification. I glanced down the list, then jumped in the car, heading over to the shopping centre closest to my gran’s.

“I hear someone needs some more teabags?” I said as I walked into Nanna’s place. “And matchsticks? Please, for the love of god, tell me you’re using them to bet with rather than actual money.”

“So your mother did palm the job off to you.” Nanna’s sly smile made clear we’d both been played.

“Thought she might.” She patted the chair beside her, while her friends perked up.

Each one of them looked like a vulture, hovering around, waiting for their turn at a lion’s kill.

“So, how did your date with the animal men go?”

“Do they have spiky dicks?” Sally asked, holding her cards close to her chest.

“Or corkscrew ones?” Gladys grinned at that. “Apparently ducks have one that’s three times their body length.”

“OK, I did not come here after work, stinking of grease and meat, to hear you guys talk about animal dicks.” I plopped down on the chair, then poured myself some tea from the pot in the centre of the table. “If you wanted an update, you could’ve messaged me, Nanna.”

“Messaging…” She waved a hand in disgust. “What’s the point of that? In my day?—”

“We sent letters and spent time with people,” I finished for her, grinning before taking a sip of tea. “I remember.”

“So spill,” Sally said, then laid down her cards. The others made sounds of disgust, the matchsticks in the centre of the table all pushed towards her.

“I’m giving you the G-rated version,” I warned. “I get you’re a bunch of horny old biddies?—”

“The rates of sexually transmitted infections is highest amongst senior citizens,” Nanna said. “Just because we’re old doesn’t mean we’re down for the count.”

“And you’re going to use condoms and keep the make up of your harem of octogenarian hotties to yourself,” I replied. “But…” Each woman made a show of consulting the next deal of cards, but I knew where their focus was. “I did go out on a couple of dates.”

“So spill the tea,” Nanna said, looking meaningfully at my cup.

So I did.

“Fated mates…” The ladies had given up all pretence of playing cards right now. “So does that mean you’re destined to be with them?”

“Are there any older single shifters looking for a mate?” Sally asked, patting her hair. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of grr…” She made a show of turning her hands into claws.

“They’ve never been with anyone else and they’ve been waiting for you their entire lives.” A small frown formed on my grandmother’s face. “I want to meet them.”

“We are not in the meeting family part of the process yet,” I said. That had her frowning further. “But as soon as it looks like this is turning into something serious?—”

“But it is serious.” As she stared at me, her hand reached over and squeezed mine. “At least for them it is. Harper, they already think of you as their girlfriend, no, wife. You need to be sure that this is what you want. Can they find someone else if you reject them?”

All good questions, but I didn’t have an answer for them, not yet.

“I know.” I drank the rest of my tea. “And I don’t know about that last bit.

” She was watching me steadily, the other ladies instinctively having gone quiet.

The only sounds were the slurp of tea and the shuffle of cards.

“And I don’t know what I want either.” I shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I do.”

“I know what I want.” Her hand was liver spotted and gnarled now, but I remember those hands rolling out dough, mixing delicious cakes up for us.

Her fingers pushed my hair behind my ear.

“I want you to be happy, darling.” She shook her head.

“With a man, or men, that sees your worth, takes on some, if not all, of your burdens and gives you a softer life.” There was a loud sigh.

“I don’t care if his penis has spines or barbs or maybe one of those fluttery things on the end. ”

“Like a rabbit vibe!” Sally exclaimed.

“Maybe with some pearls that roll around,” Gladys said. “With realistic thrusting action.”

“You ladies are disturbing,” I said as I got to my feet. “And I am never looking in any of your bedside drawers.”

“Might learn something,” Sally said, consulting her cards before laying them down again. Like clockwork, the other ladies threw theirs in with sounds of disgust.

“I’ll keep that in mind, and if I meet any silver-haired literal foxes, I’ll send them your way. Love you, Nan.”

I bent over and pressed a kiss to my grandmother’s face.

“Love you too, darling. Be good, and if you can’t be good, be careful!”

Wisdom to live by. I drove home, thinking that I’d throw a load of washing in, maybe find something in the fridge that I could use for girl dinner, when a familiar set of green eyes met mine.

Tor was sitting on my steps, dressed in a nice t-shirt and jeans, his hair freshly washed.

He got to his feet and then held out a gorgeous bouquet of bright orange lilies.

“Hey, Harper, these are for you.”

“They’re gorgeous.” He stepped aside, letting me through to my door. “Are they?—?”

“Tiger lilies?” He grinned as he scratched the back of his neck. “Yep.”

“So…” I busied myself opening up cupboards, looking for something I could use as a vase, because how the hell did you make small talk with a guy you’d fucked only nights before?

My hands closed over the handle of a water jug and I pulled it out, filling it, then arranging the bouquet in the jug. “What?—?”

“Come out to dinner with me.” The offer burst out of him and pretty pink spots formed in his cheeks in response. A big hand rubbed at his chin and then he started again. “I’ve got a table booked at the Indian place we got the food from.”

“Uh… I was gonna stay home and watch TV until I passed out,” I replied with a sheepish smile. “Dinner two nights in a row is about all my social battery is up for.” I plucked at my work uniform. “I need to do some washing and?—”

“Washing?” He wrinkled his nose at that. “That’s way too boring for a beautiful woman like you.” I yelped as he surged forward, scooping me up into his arms. “You show me your machine and your dirty washing basket, and I’ll put a load on while you have a shower.”

“So you randomly offer to do women’s laundry, depending on how pretty you think they are?” I said, allowing my fingers to trail through the shaggy ends of his hair. He went very still for a second, then smiled at me.

“I offer to do this beautiful woman’s washing.” He dropped me on the bed. “And vacuuming and window cleaning and?—”

“OK, I get it. You’re a one man, on-call cleaning company,” I said. “But I can?—”

As I went to grab the laundry basket, he stepped in, hitching it up on one hip, then opening my cupboard.

“Have a shower, get dressed in… this!” He pulled out a light summery top before tossing it on the bed, then following it with some jean shorts. “Or this!” A summer dress landed on my head. “Or this!”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be helping me clean up, not make a mess.” I shoved the clothes onto the bed before getting to my feet. “Though there are more fun ways to get messy.”

I remembered how it felt when he pushed inside me, forcing me to feel every inch. My hands went to his t-shirt, trying to tug it off over his head, but he fended me off.

“We don’t have to go anywhere.” I stared into his eyes, noting I had his complete attention. “Pretty sure there’s still some leftovers in the fridge. We could sit down on the couch for some Netflix and chill…”

A hand clamped around mine and then pushed it away.

“You know I want to.” His tone had become all growly. I watched his head tilt down towards mine, our lips only inches apart. “I really, really want to.”

“So…”

I started to grin. Good food, a couple of orgasms, and I’d sleep so damn well tonight. It’d?—

“But we’re going out for something to eat,” he said.

“Are all shifters so bloody bossy?” I asked, throwing up my hands.

“And you can either have a shower and get dressed, or I’ll pick you up and sling you over my shoulder and carry you downstairs before putting you in the car.”

I took a step backwards. How did I know if he was serious or not? My skin was all gross from being around deep fryers all day, my clothes spotted with food stains. When I shook my head, he grinned. My teeth ground together before I pushed past him, making a beeline for the shower.

“Make sure to add some oxy-bleach!” I shouted over the sound of the water before jumping into the shower and scrubbing myself clean.

Tor was out of my bedroom by the time I was done, and by the sound of it, the washing machine was going.

I looked at his selections, opting for the light top and jeans.

Last night was about all the fancy dress wearing I had in me for the week, but when I walked out, he didn’t look disappointed.

He turned around from where he was standing in my kitchen and stared openly, those kitty green eyes growing brighter by the second.

He looked down, and briefly I saw that his fingers had become claws, before he stuck them behind his back.

“So, are you ready for the best food in town?” he asked, holding out his arm. His claws had receded back to fingers again.

“I had prime rib and lobster last night,” I said with a grin. “You’d have to do a lot to top that.”

“Challenge accepted.”

And with that, he escorted me outside and into his car.

The restaurant was a whole lot more low-key than the one I went to last night, but it looked ten times cooler.

Brightly coloured murals covered the outside, with tall ceramic pots filled with different coloured geraniums. People sat in booths on the veranda or walked in and out of the swinging wooden doors, servers toting plates of amazing smelling food.

One gorgeous lady turned and stopped to stare when we approached before handing a platter to another server.

“Torren?” She rushed forward, placing her hands on his cheeks, then tugging him down for a hug.

The woman was tiny but crazy strong. “What are you doing here?” She pulled away and then looked up at me.

I knew exactly where he got those green eyes from, because hers were identical as she smiled up at me. “And who is this?”

“Mum.” Oh no. Oh freaking no. I shot Tor a dark look. “This is my mate, Harper.”