Chapter 2
Memory Hendrix kicked off her heels at the door to her apartment and leaned against it with a yawn. The day had been a long one, thanks, in part, to a power outage that took out the whole block of the bank where she worked. So everything that couldn’t get accomplished during the outage, had to be finished once the power was restored, which made for a really, really long day. Thankfully, it was Thursday, and that meant just one more day until the weekend.
She hung her purse on the coat rack and then crossed the family room to the small, but cozy kitchen. Her apartment was one of four in a quaint building. Her younger sister, Mercy, lived across the hall. Just as she crossed the threshold, the front door squeaked as it opened and Mercy called out, “I thought you’d never get home. I forgot to go grocery shopping again.”
Letting out a sigh loud enough for Mercy to hear, Ree said, “Did you really forget? Or do you just like being a mooch?”
Mercy came into the kitchen and walked straight to the fridge. “It’s not mooching if it’s family.”
“I disagree. Like a thousand percent.”
Mercy straightened with a container of chicken salad that Ree had made the day before and said, “You still love me. Case in point, you made my favorite thing in the whole world.”
“It’s true. I have to love you, though, I think it’s a law or something.”
Ree opened the bread box and removed a container of croissants from a local bakery, which she handed to Mercy. Ree set the table and grabbed two bottles of peach iced tea from the fridge. When the sandwiches were made, she listened as Mercy talked about her day. Her sister was a stylist at a local salon, and was well liked by her clients. She had a flair for hair and had been cutting Ree’s hair since high school.
Ree noticed that Mercy’s long, chocolate locks were now tipped with pink.
“The color is cute. Did you do that today?”
“Yeah. I had a client cancel and I thought – why not dye my ends pink?”
“Must be nice. When I get bored at work I have to do filing.”
“You could have gone to cosmetology school like me,” she pointed out.
“No thanks.” Ree had never cared to wash strangers’ hair all day, or listen to their problems. Mercy, on the other hand, was very outgoing and sympathetic.
“I have the weekend off,” Mercy said. “We’re going to kick it off by going out for a drink tomorrow night.” Ree opened her mouth to say her standard “no” when Mercy put up her hand. “Don’t say no, or that you’ll think about it. You and I haven’t gone out for a drink in ages, and one of my clients told me about a bar in Kedrick.”
Ree’s brows lifted. Kedrick was a town that shifters called home. Specifically, lion shifters. Humans and shifters lived and worked together, but there were towns where the majority of people living within the boundaries were able to change into an animal of one kind or another. Kentucky, for some reason, attracted big cat shifters.
“It’s a shifter bar?” she asked.
Mercy nodded. “Yep. It’s called Tails. Isn’t that awesome? Anyway, my client was telling me that they have a great house band, and Fridays are Ladies Nights, so we can get a couple of free drinks, and maybe get felt up by some shifter guys. How does that sound?”
“Like you’re hoping to get laid.”
“Aren’t you? When’s the last time someone cleared the bats out of the attic for you?”
A blush heated her cheeks. “Merc,” she said, her voice dropping to a warning tone.
Mercy waved her hand dismissively. “You really need to get over yourself. Just because you picked a couple of losers, doesn’t mean that the next guy you find will also be one.”
“I’m not looking for anything right now.”
Which was true, but also not true. Ree would love to be in a relationship, but she had a hard time trusting any guys. Maybe because their dad ran off on them when she was in elementary school, and their mom had never really gotten over her broken heart. Or maybe it was because her last boyfriend had waited until she went to work, snuck into her apartment, and sold all her electronics. The one before that had cheated on her, and then blamed her for his actions.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to go out to a bar tomorrow.”
“Don’t make me call in the favor.”
Ree’s eyes narrowed. The favor, as it had come to be known, was the one thing that the sisters would do for each other, no matter what. They’d both promised to give each other one such favor. Ree had cashed in hers when she’d asked Mercy to move across the hall so she could have some privacy. She’d lived with her sister from the time they were little, and when they moved away from home and into the same apartment, Ree had felt stifled. She liked having Mercy close, just not sharing a bathroom.
“Really? That’s what you want to waste your favor on? You could ask me for anything and you’re asking me to go out for a drink.”
The corner of Mercy’s mouth quirked up. “I think it will be good for you. And I know for dang sure you wouldn’t let me go to a shifter bar all by my lonesome.”
Of course, her sister was right. Ree would never let her go to a bar by herself, let alone a shifter bar. She’d never actually been to a shifter bar, but she’d heard stories from her coworkers, who always talked about shifters being more aggressive than humans. Not that Mercy couldn’t handle herself, but that didn’t mean that Ree wouldn’t be there just in case.
Knowing that Mercy wouldn’t let this one go, she gave up fighting. “Okay. But I’m driving, you don’t bring home any strange men, and when I’m ready to go, you leave with me without any complaint.”
Judging by the triumphant glint in her baby blues, Mercy knew she’d won. “I’ll be over after work tomorrow to pick out your outfit. And you’ll let me do your hair, of course.”
“Fine. Nothing too crazy, though.”
She tilted her head. “Would I ever do anything crazy to your hair?”
“You once melted a chunk of my hair off when you got distracted while you were straightening it!”
Sniffing, Mercy said, “Yeah, but I fixed it by giving you that cute, short cut.”
It had taken ages for Ree’s hair to grow back to the length she loved, which was well past her shoulders.
“Nothing. Crazy.”
Mercy put one hand over her heart. “Promise.”
* * *
Ree studied herself in the bathroom mirror. Mercy had been waiting at her door when she got home from work at six, her arms laden with clothing, shoes, and a bag of hair implements. Although she’d hoped that her sister had changed her mind about going to Tails, it hadn’t surprised her that she’d been grinning like an idiot and practically bouncing on her feet.
The outfit that Mercy had chosen was simple and, dare she say, sexy – a pretty black lace dress with a flowing skirt, and a cropped jean jacket. The black, strappy sandals had a wedge heel which brought her five-four height closer to five-six. Understated makeup, and a curling iron that had turned her straight hair into a glorious mass of curls.
“Well?” Mercy asked from the doorway. Ree glanced at her sister’s outfit, a much more daring short jean skirt, paired with a fitted tank.
Turning her attention back to the mirror, Ree said, “It’s perfect.”
“I know.”
“You’re so arrogant,” she said with a chuckle. “How are we even related?”
“I’m just awesome. There’s nothing wrong with knowing you’re good at something and flaunting that knowledge to everyone. I think you’re going to break some hearts tonight.”
Just don’t let mine get broken.
Clearing her throat over the sudden, emotional lump, she said, “Just remember the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I’m serious, Merc.”
“Me, too. Would you relax, woman? We’re going to a bar to have a couple of drinks and dance the night away with sexy shifters. What could possibly go wrong?”
“That phrase is surely etched on a thousand tombstones.”
Rolling her eyes, Mercy grunted. “Let’s. Go.”
Taking one last look at her curvy frame in the mirror, she flipped off the light and followed her sister out into the family room, where she grabbed her keys, ID, and cash.
* * *
The parking lot of Tails was packed, and there was a line out the door of people waiting to get in it. Mercy assured Ree that they’d have zero trouble making their way into the club, because women were always allowed to go to the front of the line. They passed by the line on their way to the door which was manned by two large men wearing black shirts with the bar name on the front. Ree glanced at the people they passed, and like Ree had said, most of them were men. There were some women among them, so she suspected they were with their husbands or boyfriends and they wouldn’t go in without their men.
“ID,” one bouncer said from his perch on a wooden stool. Behind him, the other bouncer manned the door, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread so he pretty much took up the whole doorway.
She and Ree handed their IDs over, he looked at the plastic cards, looked at her and her sister, and then handed them back. “Ladies drink free on Fridays, have fun.”
The door-blocking bouncer stepped to the side to let them pass, but grasped Mercy’s arm and stopped her with a gentle tug. “I’m on break in an hour. Can I come find you?”
Mercy tossed her hair over her shoulder with a coy laugh. “We’ll see.”
He growled softly and released his hold on her. Ree’s heart kicked into high gear. They were literally walking into a lion’s den. Giving Mercy a nudge, Ree followed her down a short hallway, past a coat check with a woman leaning on the counter and chatting with a man, and into the bar. The band, playing a cover of a popular song, was loud but not overpowering, so she didn’t feel the need to cover her ears to protect them.
The bar was packed, couples and groups of women dancing in the center of the bar, lined on three sides by tables. A ring of booths lined the walls, except where the long, mahogany bar took up one whole wall. Four bartenders took orders, and waitresses were carrying trays of drinks to tables. The whole place was a hive of activity.
“What do you want?” Mercy asked as she pushed her way to the bar and leaned on the shiny counter.
“Coke.”
“You can have one drink. We’ll be here for hours.”
Ignoring the urge to roll her eyes, she said, “Designated drivers don’t drink, Merc. Be thankful I’m responsible.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to be a little irresponsible from time to time. It’s fun.”
Now she did roll her eyes. Mercy was a dreamer, and liked to have fun. There was a time when Ree had been more outgoing, but some bad relationships and low self-esteem had clipped those wings quickly. It did feel like she’d always been the responsible one, though.
“Just a Coke.”
Blowing out a breath, Mercy leaned on the counter and gave her order to the bartender.
A chill crept up Ree’s neck, the hairs on her arms rising as her skin tingled. Curious, she turned away from the bar and looked at the crowd. It took only a heartbeat for her to lock eyes with a man on the other side of the bar. As their gazes clashed, everything inside her quieted for a profound moment, and then roared to awareness. She couldn’t explain why she suddenly felt so connected to a man she’d never met before, but she did.
Even across the bar, she saw his eyes flash. A bright golden color flared in the irises, and then he was on the move, never taking his gaze from hers. He stalked to her, every bit the predator that she instinctively knew he was. A shifter and a man mixed up together, maybe a lion. She’d never met a lion shifter before. She’d only met wolf shifters, because the bank she worked at handled the finances for a pack and they often came in to conduct business.
Part of her wanted to duck into the crowd and stay as far the hell away from the shifter coming for her as possible, but that part was drowned out by every feminine instinct in her body that was turned on beyond all reason.
He was coming for her.
And that’s all that mattered.