Another person bumped into her. A woman. Of course it was. There were at least ten women to every man in this place.

“What did I tell you?” Meredith bumped her elbow against Alice’s arm.

“You were right, there’s an obscene amount of people in here. That tour company must be making a small fortune.”

“No, silly!” Meredith frowned. “Not about how many people are here, but about how sexy these guys are. Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“Never.” It was the truth. The guys were exactly what she had expected. Okay, maybe not exactly. They were taller and more built. They were better dressed and groomed than she had expected. Quite a few of them even wore button-down shirts. But the way they strutted their stuff and the way they carried themselves was exactly as she had expected. They were arrogant and full of it. These men had women throwing themselves at them at every turn, so all she had to do was find herself a quiet spot to ‘people watch’ and she’d be all set. A couple of drinks and then she’d be home free. A whole Sunday to herself; she could hardly wait.

“You don’t look in the least bit interested,” Bella, one of Meredith’s friends, commented.

“I’m not.” Alice shook her head.

“You have got to be kidding me. Are you carved from ice or something?”

Alice shrugged. She’d long since stopped admiring guys like this. The big guys, the built guys, the ultra-cute ones, the ones even the pretty girls got themselves into a tangle over. The players. No thanks! It wasn’t worth the heartache. “Something like that,” she mumbled.

Meredith gave her arm a squeeze. “It’s been a couple of years.”

Alice regretted confiding in Meredith. It was a moment of weakness. “I’m fine. I’m enjoying my drink.” She held up her glass. It was a vodka, lime, and soda. It was her second, and last, of the evening. After this ‒ if she stayed that long, she gave an internal sigh ‒ she would move on to drinking water. There was no way she was spending tomorrow hungover.

“Let’s go and dance.” Bella gripped Meredith by the arm and looked at Alice questioningly.

Alice shook her head.

“Oh, come on.” Meredith gripped her arm in a stronghold. “You’re coming.” She widened her eyes. “And you’re having fun … do you hear me?”

Alice smiled at Meredith. It was weird how working such long hours with a person would make you friends despite your backgrounds. Despite everything. In many ways, Alice admired Meredith. She had ultra-rich parents who wanted nothing more than for her to marry rich and organize charity functions for a living. Yet Meredith chose to stand on her own two feet. Or, mostly on her own two feet, since they had bought her a gorgeous apartment and a convertible.

“Okay,” she forced a smile, “sounds good.”

A catchy tune was playing, so why the hell not? She may as well have fun while she was there. Bella and Meredith downed their drinks, setting the glasses on a nearby table. It wasn’t like Alice planned on busting out any moves, so she held onto her own glass and made her way to the overcrowded dance floor.

An hour later, she finished the last of her drink. Dancing was thirsty work.

“I’ll go and get us another round!” Meredith yelled above the music, motioning at Alice’s empty glass, that was still in her hand.

“I’ll go with you!” Bella yelled, looking at Meredith, who shook her head.

“You guys carry on dancing. I might be a while.”

“There was a cute guy at the bar,” Bella said, her eyes filled with excitement. “I was hoping to …” She widened her eyes.

Meredith turned to her.

“You guys go ahead.” Alice waved a hand. “I’m tired, I wouldn’t mind finding a chair somewhere over there.” She gestured to the rear of the bar.

“Good luck with that,” Meredith snorted. She quickly turned serious. “Are you sure you don’t want to come along?”

Alice shook her head. Just the thought of going back to that ridiculously crowded bar area had her cringing. “I’ll wait over there.”

Meredith nodded. Alice gripped her friend’s arm. “Oh, please get me a water, I’m pretty thirsty.”

“Come on. Don’t be a party pooper!” Meredith narrowed her eyes at her. “You don’t get out much … live a little.”

“Fine,” Alice huffed, sounding frustrated. She shook her head, smiling. “I’ll have another vodka, lime, and soda but it’s my last one.” She raised her brows.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

Alice laughed. A bit? She would be more like in an hour and a half … at least. The crowds were ridiculous. Another woman brushed past, almost falling off of her stiletto heels. She looked down at her own outfit. Even though there were all types here, Alice still didn’t feel like she fit in. She wasn’t dressed up enough. Wasn’t showing nearly enough skin.

* * *

The female was different. She stared more at the other females than at the males in the room. She hadn’t tried to approach anyone. That, in itself, wasn’t abnormal. Some females were shy. Especially human females. Those were certainly the type he was attracted to. Shy and curvy, now that was a perfect combination. The curvier, the better. This female was lush. Seriously fucking lush.

“Hey, honey.” Someone smelling of a sickly floral scent gripped his arm. Ash looked down. The female had talons painted in a dark red. Her dress was short and tight. “Would you like to buy me a drink?”

“Not particularly.” Ash shook his head.

Her eyes narrowed. “Okay, well, maybe I can buy you a drink then?”

“Thanks, but no.” He shrugged past her, noticing how her mouth dropped open.

He almost ran into Hunter as he strode away. The male was smirking at him, arm draped around a female who looked just like the one who had just propositioned him.

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Still as picky as ever.”

Ash shrugged. “Still as easy as ever.” He grinned at the male, who barked out a laugh.

The female on his arm raised her brows. “Hey!” She moaned the word like she was affronted by his remark. Ash didn’t hang around to hear anything else she had to say. He kept on moving towards …

Where was she?

Where the hell? Ash scanned the crowd. The female might be curvy, but she was tiny. Five foot three maybe. She’d been on the dance floor shaking that gorgeous ass of hers just minutes ago. His gaze moved through the crowd. Oh, there. He pushed out a breath. She had her back to the wall, her eyes tracking the various groups of people with interest. Her friends were nowhere in sight.

Perfect.

Ash walked right on over. He ignored the stares that other females were giving him. One of them even made a grab at him, but he ducked out of her clutches. His stare fixed on the dark-haired beauty. Her eyes were just as dark, her lashes thick. Ash strode straight up to her, looking down at all of those sweet curves. She was wrapped up in a black dress that went clear down to her knees. The sleeves stopped at her elbows. The high ‘V’ of the neck hinted at cleavage which, by the deep curves, was sure to be abundant.

He sucked in a deep breath. Aside from the bar’s smell of sweat, alcohol and fried food, he caught the edge of her amazing scent of honeyed apples. The green, tart kind. The crisp kind that crunched when you bit into them. There was definitely a sweet edge though. Honey, he sniffed again, his favorite for sure. The kind that was still on the comb. Sticky and dripping. It made his mouth water for a taste.

“Are you sniffing me?” Her eyes were wide, her mouth set in a grimace.

Fuck, but she was perfection. She cocked a lush hip, one of her hands clasping there.

“Would it be a problem if I was?” He lifted his gaze to meet hers, stepped in a little closer so that she would hear him above the noise.

“If it was only that, no, but since your eyes were all over my boobs while you were doing it, yes, it’s a problem.”

Maybe he should turn around and walk away, right now, because he was liable to fall in love with this female and quickly. His chest tightened, along with his jaw. Not a fuck! Not even close. The only things he was falling in love with were those curves and the honeypot nestled between those thighs. Or, maybe her lips, which were soft looking.

Ash suppressed a grin. “I couldn’t help but admire …”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

He choked out a laugh. This was a first for him. “I haven’t offered anything … yet,” he let the word hang between them, “but—”

“Thanks, but no,” she repeated. “No buts, ifs or maybes about it. I’m not here for … well … for that.”

“That?” He raised his brows.

“Yes, that.” She widened her eyes at him. “I know it might be hard for you to believe. I’m sure you’ve never been turned down before, but no thank you.” She gave a resolute shake of the head, which was just about the cutest damned thing he had ever seen.

The female was one hundred percent right, he’d never been turned down before. For a second or two, he wasn’t sure how to react to her flat-out rejection. “This is a pick-up bar.” He looked around them before narrowing his eyes on her. “It’s Shifter Night. Everyone in this room is here for that.”

She shook her head so hard that her hair went flying and her eyes flared with what looked like mild panic. “Not me.”

“Why are you here then?” Now she’d definitely piqued his interest.

“I haven’t been out in a while,” she shrugged, “so I guess I’m here to have a little fun.”

“Fun.” He couldn’t help but smile. Ash could think of many fun things to do with this female. Many … many … things. Oh yes!

Her eyes widened up a whole lot and she sucked in a deep breath. “Not that kind of fun.”

“What kind of fun then?”

Her eyes darted up in thought before landing back on his. “Good, old-fashioned fun. You know, dancing, laughing. I’m here on a dare. That’s fun isn’t it?”

“A dare. Oh … I like the sound of that.”

She frowned. “It’s not what you think. Like I said earlier, I don’t get out much, certainly not to places like this.”

“Places like this?”

She rolled her eyes. “Pick-up bars … it’s not my thing.” She shook her head.

“So,” he folded his arms, “you don’t do casual, I take it?”

“I don’t do much of anything, period,” she mumbled under her breath and then looked him straight on. She sighed. “I’ve tried the whole one-night-stand thing. It’s not that I’m a prude or anything, it’s just, it wasn’t worth the hassle. One-night stands are risky from an STD and pregnancy point of view. Then there’s potential of running into stalker-crazy-maniacs.’

“Let’s forget about stalkers and crazy maniacs. You can also rule out STDs and pregnancy for a moment because none of those would pertain to me.”

She smiled and her big brown eyes lit up. “Oh really now, how so?”

“Oh, so you are interested?” A flare of excitement lit up in him. Something he hadn’t felt in a long while.

“Am I interested in hearing your answer? Yes. Am I interested in you? Not so much.”

It was a crazy thing. Her not being interested in him had his balls tightening and his cock hardening. Go fucking figure!