Laura was used to sex as an escape from her crappy life. She enjoyed the way problems dissolved for a short time in the hot wake of passion.

But it had never been like this. She didn’t feel like she was using Tex for a few moments of ignoring reality, and she didn’t for an instance feel like he was using her.

He loved her, however he stumbled over the semantics of it.

His touch wasn’t just about his pleasure, or even about her pleasure, or their pleasure. It was a bone-deep need, a connection at a level beyond skin. She felt like she’d been placed on an altar and worshiped, not taken in a tiny, barren office on a chilly metal desk as a matter of convenience.

Even after they were done, breath ragged and heartbeats loud in the little room, he didn’t let go of her, pulling him up so they were both standing. His strong arms held her up, and he continued stroking her back and shoulders as the moment passed.

“I will never call myself unlucky in love again,” he declared, to Laura’s amusement.

“You might reconsider that when you realize what you’ve gotten into,” she told him, finally drawing away.

She recovered her tank top and dressed. Tex gave the apron a wry smile and put it back on, then settled back to watch her getting dressed.

“Enjoying the show?” she needled him, shimmying back into her shorts. She gave him an extra, unnecessary jiggle.

“It’s almost as much fun as watching you take them off,” Tex promised.

Once they were basically presentable, Laura crossed her arms and regarded him thoughtfully.

Tex gazed back, unafraid, and Laura felt like it was a challenge.

“Let me tell you what you’re getting into,” she said, settling into the office chair and putting her feet up on the desk.

Tex rather belatedly locked the door and then took a seat opposite, mirroring her posture. He wiggled his bare toes at her.

Laura didn’t let herself smile at them.

“I worked for the cartel in south Los Angeles.”

Tex took his feet off the desk, but continued to gaze at her as she had hung the moon.

“I didn’t mean to,” she promised, suddenly not wanting to betray that naive trust. “I have — I’ve had — terrible taste in men. One of my old boyfriends got me a job, an easy job. They found out I was a shifter, and they had me pretend to be a pet, and I could make… deliveries. I swear, I didn’t know who I was really working for, I didn’t ask questions about what I was taking places. They paid well, and… I was tired of asking Jenny for money. I thought I was being responsible, finally taking care of myself.”

Laura made herself shut her mouth around the continued excuses she wanted to give.

“And your sister?”

Tears unexpectedly welled up in Laura’s eyes. Every time that she remembered Jenny, it was like the shock of her loss was all new again.

Tex was around the desk before she could stop him, gathering her into his strong arms. “It’s okay, kitten. I’m here. You can tell me.”

“She was the best sister,” Laura sobbed into his bare shoulder. “She was so smart and kind and good. As soon as I found out what I was doing, I tried to get out. I told them I quit, and I went to Jenny and told her everything. But they told me not to tell anyone, and they must have found out, because when she took my car out, it crashed, and she never came back, and they must have done something, because she’s a good driver, and she wouldn’t make a mistake like that.”

Tex rocked her in his arms, holding her tight and smoothing her hair back from her face. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Laura pushed him away, viciously, tears still streaming down her face. “It was entirely my fault,” she cried. “They sabotaged my car, and she got caught in the cross-fire. If I hadn’t been tangled up in the wrong people, if I hadn’t gone to her for help, if I hadn’t let her go get things for me…”

Tex looked conflicted, but resolute. “It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated. “You don’t know for sure it wasn’t an accident.”

Feeling almost hysterical, Laura insisted, “What else would it be? And now they’ve followed me here, and I’m not safe anywhere…”

Once again, Tex gathered her into his arms, slowly, gently, giving her every opportunity to push him away.

Laura didn’t want to push him away. She wanted to snuggle up against those burly arms and beautiful shoulders and let Tex keep everything bad in the world away from her. She wanted to let him be her hero, and save her from everything.

Even if she knew he couldn’t.

Once she had cried herself out, Tex offered his apron to wipe her cheeks. “Could Fred have tipped them?”

Laura scoffed. “Fred? No. He thinks I’m Jenny, which let me tell you, is getting hard to pull off. I swear, he keeps talking legalese and finance at me and I have to nod and stuff food in my mouth instead of answering. I’m going to gain a hundred pounds if I keep this up.”

“You both knew him?”

“He was a friend of our dad’s, and worked at the same law business. They were up for partners in the firm at the same time. My dad got the spot, but he and my mom died in a car accident just a few weeks later. Fred was really great to us during that time, helped us get through everything after they died, and set up the loan that got Jenny through school. He even helped Jenny get a job with the firm, after college.”

Just as Laura realized she was babbling, there was a knock at the door, and the two scrambled to their feet, looking guilty.

“Why is my door locked?” Chef demanded from the other side.

Laura straightened her tank top one last time and nodded to Tex when he went to open the door.

“Sorry, Chef,” he said contritely. “We were just leaving.”

Chef, a large, distinguished older man, stood with his arms crossed, glaring them down. “What have you done in here?” he demanded. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I don’t want to know. Just get out. And don’t ever bring that apron back.”

Glancing at each other like erring schoolchildren, barely able to keep the giggles from their lips, Laura and Tex fled, hand-in-hand.

“Don’t worry about Chef,” Tex told her, giving her a quick kiss at the back door to the restaurant. “He’s just grouchy because Magnolia isn’t here this week, and we rented her cottage to someone else for the event. He doesn’t even use this office most of the time.”

He escorted her chivalrously to her hotel room, acting nonchalant about his apron-clad bare body, and Laura noticed with amusement that everyone they met took it perfectly in stride.

It was, after all, a clothing-optional shifter’s resort, hosting a male beauty pageant.

Nothing seemed too odd for this place.