A few weeks ago…

As Penny Bennet walked into The Den, she couldn’t help but feel like it was walking into an actual den.

Several pairs of eyes followed her as she cut across the room, tracking her like prey. It wasn’t busy, but there was a group of about six men in the corner, another group of four around a small table, and two more playing billiards. All of them had stopped what they were doing to look at her. With an audible swallow, she held her head high and continued forward.

It’s not that she’d never been around shifters before. There were plenty of them back in Houston, and, having grown up just outside Blackstone, she’d known a few of them during high school. But so many of them in one small place was intimidating. The Den, and the town of Blackstone itself, was a well-known haunt for their kind. Bears, wolves, big cats, and (as she’d heard) a dragon or two—lots of them lived there. She couldn’t help the sliver of fear slicing through her.

Stay calm, she told herself. They’re just shifters. Like humans, except they could turn into animals with big teeth and claws. Anyway, if she wanted this job, she would have to get used to this.

Penny cleared her throat as she approached the bar. “E-excuse me?” she called to the figure with his back turned to her. “I-I—” She cleared her throat louder, hoping to get rid of the phlegm that seemed to have gotten stuck there. “I’m looking for Mr. Grimes.”

The figure turned around. “Whaddaya need with me?” The man’s thick white beard covered most of his face, and his eyebrows were drawn together into what Penny guessed was a permanent frown. He was wearing a red flannel shirt that stretched over his wide, barrel-like chest and suspenders tucked into black corduroy pants. “Who are you?”

“I’m Penny,” she said with a gulp. “Penny Bennet.”

His eyes lit up in recognition. “Ah, Greta’s girl?” The frown on his face seemed less severe now.

She nodded. “Yeah. She’s my neighbor and when I mentioned I needed a job, she said you might be looking for a waitress.”

“One of my bartenders left,” he said. “Got one of my waitresses, Heather, to fill in. But she’s doing a good job so I’m giving her the position permanently.” He leaned over, clasping his meaty hands together on the countertop. “You’ve waitressed before?”

“Y-yes,” she said, taking a folder out of her purse. “Here’s my resume—”

“A resume?” he said with a chortle, waving the folder away. “Don’t need that, girl. Just tell me about you.”

Light blue eyes stared back at her, and Penny had a strange feeling wash over her. She suddenly understood what ‘soul-piercing’ meant. Was it true what people said about shifters? Could they read your mind or tell when you’re lying? She’d heard rumors and seen those conspiracy videos online from anti-shifter groups, but she’d always taken them with a grain of salt. Shifters never bothered her, so she never bothered with them.

“Well … uh, I’m originally from Greenville,” she began. “And then I moved to Houston to live with my grandmother when I was sixteen.” Her voice shook, and she hoped he wouldn’t ask why. When he didn’t, she let out a small breath of relief. “I finished high school there and well, there wasn’t money for college, so I started as a hostess at this local place called Rinaldi’s. It wasn’t a fancy place or anything, just a nice family-run restaurant. Did that for a year and then moved to waitressing. I’ve been waiting tables for four years now.”

“Do you have experience working in bars?”

“Oh yeah,” she said. “My second job was at a sports bar downtown.”

“Houston’s a big city. Why are you back here?” he asked quickly.

“Grams died last year,” she stated. “And then I got a call. My daddy got sick …,” she trailed off, biting her lip and hoping he wouldn’t ask any more questions.

“Well, sounds like you have solid experience,” Mr. Grimes said. “But there’s one more thing I gotta ask you: do you think you can handle the clientele around here?”

“Huh?”

“I’m not gonna mince words with ya,” he said. “I keep things as orderly as I can, and no one messes with me or my people. But, a lot of these guys, they work hard over at the mines, you know? They might need to blow off steam. I can’t always keep an eye on you. I need someone who can hold their own, especially when my customers are idiots.”

“Oh. Mr. Grimes—”

“Tim,” he corrected.

“Tim,” she said. “I can handle myself.” She hoped he didn’t notice the tremor in her voice. “I’m a very hard worker, and I’ve been around a lot of rowdy customers. You should see what happens when the Rockets are playing,” she said with a small laugh, trying to sound casual.

Tim’s expression didn’t change. “And the fact that my customers are shifters doesn’t scare ya?”

“Of course not,” she said confidently. There are plenty of other things in the world to be scared of, she added silently.

Tim paused and studied her for what seemed like a full minute. “All right then. Can you start tonight?”

“Tonight?” she squeaked.

“Yeah. I got a big party; could use the help. Unless you think you can’t cut it.”

She was hoping she’d have a day, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. With Grams gone, so was her rent-controlled apartment in the city, and she couldn’t afford the new rent on her own. She had had no choice but to move back to Greenville. Daddy had left the trailer to her when he died, but there were medical bills, plus gas, water, and electricity to pay. She couldn’t rely on her savings forever. Some tip money would help with her dwindling funds. “Of course I can. Thank you so much, Mr.—I mean, Tim.”

He nodded to another girl who was wiping down tables. “Olive’ll sort you out with the uniform. Your jeans and shoes are fine, but you need the shirt.” He called Olive over and told her to take Penny to the back. “When you’re done, go ask Heather to teach you the ropes while we’re not too busy.”

Olive let out an exasperated sigh as her face turned sour. “C’mon, new girl, let’s find you a shirt.” She didn’t even wait for Penny to say a word before walking away.

Penny followed Olive to the storage room in the back. When she got there, Olive was rooting around in one of the bins, then took out a dark-colored bundle.

“Sorry, we don’t have shirts in your size,” she said, raising a brow at Penny’s bust. “This’ll have to do.”

“Oh … uh, thanks,” she said, feeling her face go warm. Her chest had always been a problem, in more ways than one. Olive handed her the shirt, shrugged, and left her alone.

Penny wasn’t sure if she was meant to change in the storage room, but since the other girl hadn’t offered to take her to a changing room, she took off her blouse and slipped the shirt on. It was definitely snug around the chest and stretched the logo a bit, but it fit. She fluffed her red curls into place and straightened her shoulders.

This isn’t so bad, she told herself as she walked out. It was better than having to find work back in Greenville. She really didn’t want to have to go back and face all the people in her hometown again. But with all those medical expenses, there was no money to take her anywhere else. She was stuck. But she wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself.

“No siree,” she said under her breath. Grams would be turning over in her grave. The old woman was a tough bird and taught Penny to suck it up. Ironically, if Grams were around, she’d be the first one to tell Penny to stop thinking about her.

Tim was gone, but now there was a blond woman cleaning the bar top. “Hi," she said to the woman. "I’m Penny, the new waitress.”

“Oh, hello Penny,” the bartender said with a bright smile. She wiped her hand on her jeans and offered it to her. “I’m Heather. Nice to meet ya.”

She shook it. “Tim said to come talk to you when I’m done changing.”

“Right,” Heather said. “Well, let me show you what you need to do and introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

Heather turned out to be much more personable than Tim and nicer than Olive. When she introduced her to Olive, the other woman snapped, “We’ve met,” then walked away.

“Sorry about Olive’s bitch face,” Heather said.

Penny giggled. “She’s what my grams would have called a ‘lemon face.’” In polite company, maybe. Grams would definitely have called Olive a bitch face.

Heather laughed. “Ha! She does look like she sucked on a lemon.” She sighed. “Don’t worry, she’ll get over it.”

“Over what?”

“Well ….” Heather lowered her voice. “If you ask me, she’s pretty disappointed that one of the former employees here, Catherine, snagged a Lennox.”

“A what?”

“A Lennox. Particularly, Matthew Lennox.”

“Who’s that?” Penny asked.

“Oh, you’re not from Blackstone, are you?”

She shook her head.

“Well, let me give you the short version. The Lennoxes are a family of dragons who founded Blackstone. They own the blackstone mines, and they’re richer than sin,” Heather said. “And Matthew’s like, the head honcho of Lennox Corporation. Anyway, he met Catherine, who used to be the bartender here, and fell head over heels for her. It’s a very long story but,” she nodded to the banner above the bar which read 'Congratulations Matthew and Catherine,' “tonight’s their engagement party. And bitch face just can’t accept that Matthew chose Catherine, especially after she’s been shaking her perky little titties at him since she started here.”

Penny chuckled. “Oh my. I guess I’d be bitchy-faced too if that happened to me.” Though she didn’t mean it, it seemed like the right thing to say.

Heather looked down at her chest. “I don’t know, I think if any man saw those first ….”

Penny went red.

“Don’t worry, I’ll order a larger size for you. Now, let me show you how to get the tab out ….”

Heather was a patient teacher, and Penny was grateful for the help. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before, but the system was slightly different from the sports bar back in Houston. She knew the only way to learn was to do it, so she plunged in head first, immediately taking her first order as soon as Heather went back to slinging drinks.

After a few hours, The Den was starting to get crowded. It was a Saturday night after all. And really, it wasn’t that much different than any bar anywhere else. If anything, Penny actually felt safer here, especially with Tim keeping a watchful eye over everything. Sure, a lot of the men’s gazes would linger a little too long on her chest or she could feel them staring at her ass while she walked away or a couple would call her “sweetie” or “honey,” but no one tried anything inappropriate. And shifters were damned good tippers. She was already skipping happily, thinking of how much she’d be taking home tonight.

As Penny was heading back to the bar to grab another round of drinks, a cheer erupted behind her, along with the sounds of poppers and confetti guns.

“Happy couple’s here,” Heather said pointing to the door.

As she glanced back, she saw a man and woman surrounded by well-wishers. “Oh my.” They were a beautiful couple—he was tall, dark-haired, and handsome, while the woman was willowy, slim, and gorgeous. They were like the prom king and queen striding in to greet their subjects. No wonder poor Olive was so sour.

“Need help with those?” Heather asked, looking at the full tray.

“I’m fine,” she said, a bit embarrassed at being caught staring. “I’ll be right back.”

Penny lifted the tray and walked over to the table, dispensing the drinks easily. One of the couples at another tables stopped her, and she took their orders. As she pivoted on her heels, Penny felt something very solid bump into her.

Penny braced herself for the fall and prepared for that inevitable moment when her butt would hit the floor. However, a pair of hands grabbed her arms, stopping her from tumbling over. Oh my …. Something, no someone, smelled so good. The cologne was heady and male and fresh. As she looked up, she saw a handsome face covered with a thick beard. He was looking past her at the crowd of people. Or, rather, over her head, as the man was gigantic, especially compared to her petite frame. A small sound escaped from her as she felt her feet lift off the ground. The man had picked her up and placed her aside, then went on his merry way.

“Eeep!” She covered her mouth as soon as the squeak came out. She stared after the man, watching his large back retreating from her. A shiver ran through her, thinking of his warm, calloused palms on her bare arms. What happened?

She watched him join a table—not just any table, but the table—the one where the newly engaged couple was holding court with their friends and family. Of course. The man who bumped into her was hunky and gorgeous and he was one of them, the elite of Blackstone. He didn’t even look at me. Why would he? She was just a waitress after all.

Shaking off imaginary dust from her jeans, she walked back to bar. “Two rum and cokes and a whiskey,” she said to Heather.

“You okay?” the other woman asked with a frown. “You’re redder than a firetruck.”

Penny touched her cheek, which was indeed warm. “I’m fine.” She glanced over at the table again and saw the man laughing with his friends. It made him appear even more handsome, the way he seemed so relax and genuine.

“Oh, Ben’s here,” Heather said, following her gaze. “I didn’t see him come in.”

“Do you know him?”

“Well, not personally, but sure, everyone knows him. He’s head of the mining operations and related to the Lennoxes. Cousins or something.”

“Right.” So, handsome, popular, and rich. Of course he wouldn’t notice someone like her. Girls were probably throwing themselves at him all the time. Why would he notice a nobody waitress?

Penny shook her head. No use thinking about that. “You got those drinks for me?”

“Coming right up.”