Page 62 of Whispers of Wisteria

True enough, his reply was a simple, ‘How’s it going, toots?’

Maria covered her mouth with her hand, and her shoulders shook girlishly. And my fears began to fade into annoyance.

What was shedoing?

We’d decided on ‘lone’ lioness, so why was she going with ‘lusty’?

Regardless, the flirting seemed to be going rather well until suddenly, the two of them shook hands, obviously reaching some agreement.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight.

What was going on? Darn it, I should have just followed her. The room was growing more crowded, and someone pushed me from the right. My attention wavered as I lost my balance, and by the time I looked back, their truce had ended.

The two shifters began to exchange blows.

I silently screamed and held Maria’s jacket and purse to my chin.

She was glorious. Perfect form, poise, and grace. Her opponent, too, when not being a one-hit-wonder, wasn’t half bad.

I was lost in the splendor of it all, my insides twisting with nerves and excitement, before I realized the crowd—and the ring itself—had quieted. As planned, everyone was now focused on the fight between the two shifters.

They were both going to be so popular; he really should thank us.

But still, they were more evenly matched than I thought. I was confident in Maria’s skills—why else would Titus make her Er Bashou if shewasn’ta deadly warrior—but my pulse still raced. I squeezed Maria’s stuff close to my chest as I watched the scene from between my fingers.

Hopefully, Maria realized this shouldn’t be drawn out much longer.

Clearly, she did, because this time, when she ducked away from the slower man’s powerful punches, she pushed upward, jamming the heel of her hand up from the bottom of his chin.

The room grew still as he staggered back, covering his face with his arm, and fell against the wall.

I let out a long sigh of relief and uncovered my eyes. She waved at me, and I waved in return.

She won! I always had the utmost confidence in her ability.

But the short moment ended, and the room exploded in a torrent of sound and flurry. The crowd pushed around me, trying to capture her attention, and my vision began to waver. I dropped her bag and jacket and covered my ears.

It was too much. There were too many people.

Maria was suddenly beside me, grabbing my arm, but she radiated smooth confidence instead of fear.

Her calm demeanor was contagious, and the tight feeling in my chest evaporated. She pushed back anyone who stood in her way. Then, in another motion, she swooped up her jacket and bag.

Everyone had been drawn into the chaos, so no one noticed as Maria guided me past the crowd as we headed for the unmarked doors that made up the exit. We stopped, and Maria pushed me against the patchy concrete wall as she positioned herself between the rest of the room and me, as she frowned at her watch.

“I’m not sure what you hoped to accomplish with that.” A thin, pale, snakelike man with slicked-back midnight hair suddenly appeared beside me. “But you’ve certainly startedsomething.”

Maria’s attention whipped around so fast that it made me dizzy, and before I could even blink, she’d pulled me behind her. I could barely make out her question: “What do you want?”

“I’m not talking to you.” His pinched face sharpened as he scowled at the lioness. “I’m addressing the lady fae. I’m assuming you have a plan?”

I gripped Maria’s sleeve. We’d gotten attention, which meant it was working.

I couldn’t screw this up now.

I only had to think about the cashmere sweaters that lay unpurchased in my shopping cart. But only after I paid the boys back for what they’d already gotten me.

“Sorry?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.