“Sorry, Boss,” Penny said as she whipped past Tim on her way to the employee locker room. “Stupid car,” she muttered unhappily as she went to her cubby. She whipped off her blouse and wiggled into her uniform shirt, not bothering to check her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was probably a mess, but she quickly ran her fingers through the curls, hoping that would be enough to tame them. She hadn’t even had time to put anything more on her face than a swipe of lip gloss.

Her busted up old Toyota chose the worst time to act up. Friday night was one of the busiest nights at The Den, which meant everyone had to come in. One of the girls had given her a dirty look as she passed by on her way to the locker room, but Penny tried to ignore it. She’d been a model employee the last few weeks, yet none of the girls aside from Heather seemed to warm up to her. The vivacious bartender had told her it was probably because her ‘cute face and bodacious bod’ got her more tips than anyone else, but that didn’t make her feel any better. She let out a deep sigh. It really shouldn’t bother her, after all these years, the way most people just saw boobs and a butt when they looked at her. She couldn't help but—

“Whoops! Sorry!” She collided into someone as she was rushing out of the locker room.

“Watch it!” the other girl said, her arms going around Penny to prevent them both from falling.

Penny disentangled herself from the other girl. “What are you … oh, are you new?”

The girl raised a brow at her as her gaze swept from head to toe. “Yeah, name’s Mia,” she said with a smirk that made Penny uncomfortable. Mia was tall with long dark hair that fell to her hips and lips slicked with red lipstick.

“I’m Penny. Sorry, I gotta go. My shift started an hour ago. Nice to meet ya!” she said with a wave, then quickly made her way out to the floor.

“Ooohh, girl, you chose the wrong night to be late,” Heather said as she filled four glasses with seltzer water.

Penny tied an apron around her waist. “It’s my damn car. Just got it back from the mechanic, too.” Ugh, she couldn’t afford another costly repair. She supposed she should be glad the car started at all today. If only it would hang on for another couple of weeks.

“Table six,” Heather said, pointing to the table across the room and shoving a tray of drinks at her. “Olive’s just about ready to have an aneurysm.”

As if on cue, Olive shot Penny a nasty look from across the room as she took out a foot from her shoe and rubbed it with her palm.

“Sorry!” she mouthed to Olive. “You can tell her to take five. I’ll take care of her tables.” Heather gave her a two-fingered salute, then signaled the haggard-looking Olive to go on break.

Penny grabbed the tray and walked over to table six, giving the patrons a quick apology as she served them their drinks. Next, she stopped by the other tables, checking to see if they needed anything and taking more orders, then she hopped back to the bar.

Working at The Den was hard, but she was used to it. She wasn’t afraid of hard work, and it was nice to be able to pay her bills and still have some extra cash left over. She could figure out what to do next once she built up her savings. As the weeks passed by, she had realized one thing: no way was she going to be stuck in Greenville. Once she had enough money, maybe she’d head back to Houston. Joan and Gary Rinaldi, her previous employers at the restaurant, told her she’d be welcome back anytime. Of course, if she needed to make another trip to the mechanic, it would set her back a bit.

After a busy first hour, that miraculous lull every server prays for finally came when all the tables had their orders filled and everyone was happy. Penny took advantage of it and stood by the bar, leaning on the counter to get the weight off her feet.

“Another one bites the dust,” Heather said.

“Huh?” she asked.

“Another Lennox. Jason this time.” She shook her head. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

Penny turned her gaze to where Heather was looking—a table in the corner where a group of guys were laughing and drinking. “Eeep,” she squeaked.

It was déjà vu. Like her first night here. They were even sitting at the same table, though this time, none of the girls were around. Matthew, Jason, and Nathan, she knew. The latter two were regulars and flirted with her a bit, but they were always nice to her and left her a good tip. The fourth guy, she didn’t know, but something about him made her want to stay away. And then there was the last guy. It was him. Ben Walker.

After that first night, he never came back to The Den. But then she’d seen him again yesterday. She was enjoying the quiet afternoon at her favorite cafe when Christina Stavros walked in with her friends.

She still couldn’t believe it. Memories of that night were enough to make her hands start shaking. She had gone out to the back to take her break and this creepy customer had followed her. He tried to grab her, and she froze, but Christina was there to save her. She didn’t even get to thank Christina because she had run away.

Seeing Christina at the cafe was her chance. As it turned out, Christina was the nicest person, even offering to teach her to defend herself. But then she saw Ben walk into the cafe and she panicked and ran.

A flush crept up her neck, thinking of how close she’d been. She whipped around so Heather couldn’t see her as her breath came in short bursts.

“You okay, Penny?” Heather sounded worried.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine.” He’s just a guy, she told herself. A guy who’s never looked at her and didn’t even know she existed. Deep breaths. That’s it.

“That table’s mine,” Olive said, as she sauntered past them and flashed Penny a pointed look. “You owe me.”

“You can have them,” Penny said. The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. As she watched Olive lean over and flirt with Ben, she felt an unreasonable stab of jealousy. “What?” she said out loud, then shook her head. “I must be getting a fever or something.”

Penny returned to her tables, taking checks and orders back and forth from the bar. She kept her head and gaze down as she tried not to look over at their table, but she couldn’t help herself and took a peek. Hmmm. Where was Ben? She saw the other guys—Nate, Jason, Matthew, and the tall, scary-looking one—at the table but not him. Did he leave? Or maybe he went with Olive—

“Penny? Penny Bennet?”

She whipped around at the sound of her name. “Yes?”

The man who called her name was standing with two other guys around a table, beer bottles in hand. “It is you! Penny, it’s me. Kyle. Kyle Roberts.”

Penny squinted her eyes. “Oh. Kyle. From Greenville High.” She swallowed a gulp.

Kyle Roberts. She knew who he was. He hadn’t changed much over the years, except maybe for the slight paunch around the middle and some thinning hair.

“Yeah, it’s me. And you remember Jeremy and Cam,” he nodded to his friends. “So, you’re looking good.”

That familiar, uncomfortable feeling crawled through her as Kyle’s eyes ran up and down her body. She hugged the tray in her hands to her chest. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t know you were back in Colorado,” he slurred, moving closer to her. “Or that you worked here.”

“Y-y-yeah, I moved back a few weeks ago,” she stammered. The stink of alcohol on his breath was unmistakable. What were her old high school classmates doing in a shifter bar? “I’ve been working here for a while now. I’ve never seen you here before.” In fact, it was one of the reasons she took this job, even though it was a good twenty-minute drive from Greenville. So she wouldn’t have to see anyone from her past.

“Yeah, well, me and the boys heard some things. Someone told us things get wild around here,” Kyle said meaningfully. “Of course, if I had known you were here, I would have guessed it was a different kind of wild. So, tell me, how’s your momma?” Behind him, Jeremy and Cam snickered.

“I wouldn’t know; I haven’t seen her in years,” she said in a cold voice, then turned to walk away. Oh no, she would not be having this conversation here.

“Hey, c’mon.” Kyle stepped in front of her, blocking her way. “Don’t be that way.”

“Kyle, I’m working,” she pleaded.

“What? Just because you got out of Greenville a couple of years back, you think you’re too good for us?” he said, his voice raising.

“Please, just leave me alone.” She tried to side step him, but he blocked her again.

“C’mon now, pretty Penny.” He stroked a finger down her bare arm. “We just want to have some fun. What time does your shift end? I’m sure me and the boys could show you a good time.” He leaned down to her ear. “We know you like having a good time.” His hand cupped her ass and pulled her close enough so her hip brushed the bulge growing in his pants. “Just like momma, right?”

The anger that had been brewing in her, for years maybe, suddenly reared its ugly head. She had had enough. “Fuck you, Kyle!” she yelled, pushing him away.

“You wish,” Kyle said with a smirk. He stalked closer to her. “C’mon, are you shy now? You’ve been giving it up to everyone for years.”

“No!” she cried as she evaded his grasp. “Stay away from me!” She staggered back and bumped into one of the tables, sending it and her crashing down. As her butt painfully hit the floor, the whole room seemed to quiet down, and the air felt heavy.

Penny got to her knees and rubbed her sore behind. As she was contemplating what to do next, the sound of heavy footsteps made her look up.

It was him. Ben Walker, striding across the room toward her. He glanced briefly at her, his blue eyes blazing. She looked around, behind her, unsure. But there was no one else on the floor, so he must have been looking at her.

Kyle let out an audible gulp as Ben came closer. “Hey, what’s up man?” he asked, trying to act casual. “Are you—” He didn’t finish his sentence because a loud series of pops and a deafening roar rang out over the din in the room.

Penny thought she was in a dream for a moment because Ben was suddenly gone and in his place was the biggest grizzly bear she’d ever seen.

The bear reared up, raising its giants paws overhead. Screams and shouts filled the air, followed by more pops and growls. Glass shattered everywhere, and panic was thick all around her.

“Goddammit, Ben!” someone shouted.

“Take him down! Get him outta here.”

Penny remained frozen in fear. Around her, she could hear people shouting. And the smell … oh God, it smelled like a zoo. Fur, feathers, and all kinds of animal stenches reeked up the air.

“Let’s go!”

Someone grabbed her by the elbow and got her to her feet, then pushed her toward the exit. When she reached the door, she took a last glance backward, her eyes going wide as she saw the gigantic grizzly. It was so tall, its head nearly touched the ceiling. A gray wolf had pounced on its back, while a tall, blond man was pushing against its side.

“Penny!”

She turned her head as she exited The Den. The fresh air cleared the stench from her nose. “Heather!” she cried as she collapsed into the other girl’s arms. “What ….”

Heather grabbed onto her. “It’s okay, everything should be under control now.”

Sounds of loud animal growls and glass and wood shattering from inside The Den made her wince. “That’s under control?”

“Yeah, well … this doesn’t happen too often,” Heather said. “I mean, it is a bar and people get drunk, but Tim has a strict no-shifting policy inside.”

“Then why did he ….”

“I don’t know. Ben’s not known to be a hothead, but you know, these guys … sometimes things can just trigger them. Maybe he was having a bad day. Did you see anything?”

“No,” she said. “I mean—”

“Penny! Heather!” Tim called as he ran to them. “You girls okay?”

They nodded.

“Good.” He let out an unhappy growl. “I think Luke and the others have got things under control. I’ll let you know when it’s okay to go in and get your belongings.”

“S-sure,” Penny stammered as Tim walked back into the bar.

“He probably doesn’t want to get the police involved,” Heather said. “Especially since it’s a shifter thing.”

Penny breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad Ben wasn’t going to get into any trouble with the police. But what had triggered him?

“Penny?” Heather asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, putting the thoughts of shifters out her mind. “I’m good. I’m freezing though.”

“Me too,” Heather said with a laugh. “Look, Tim’s waving at us.” She pointed to their boss, who was pointing to the back of the building. “Looks like we can get our stuff from the locker room.”

Good, she thought. Between getting nearly trampled by a bunch of animals and running into the people she was trying to avoid, she was ready to call it a night. A shiver ran over her as Kyle’s words rang in her ear. The past hurts she thought she had put aside were now flooding back into her mind, but she pushed them deep inside again.

All she wanted right now was to go home and curl up under the covers with a good book and forget about tonight.