Callie glanced at the clock as she hustled to yet another table, delivering three bacon cheeseburgers, medium rare—of course—and fries.

What is it with shifters eating their meat half raw and oozing with blood? The thought of biting into a burger and having blood run down her throat… Blech! The image left her choking back bile.

Whatever, it wasn’t up to her to judge what others ate. It was her job to plaster a smile on her face and take the orders. Keep the customers happy.

She’d promised Cam when she had applied for the job that she would wait tables like a boss if given the opportunity. Camryn, the new owner of Cam’s Diner, had been reluctant to hire an ordinary human in a town filled with shifters. How would Callie deal with a shifter if a fight broke out or if something happened? It wasn’t like she could match any of them in strength or speed.

Thankfully, Calder had vouched that Callie was one of them. She may not be a shifter, but her son would grow up to be one. And Twisted Tail took care of their own.

Cam had hired her on the spot. From that day on, Callie buzzed around the diner with more energy than a squirrel on crack, busting her ass to prove that even though she was nothing more than a human, she could not only keep up, but run circles around the best of them.

The bottom line was Callie had a son to take care of and bills to pay. Without her job, she wouldn’t be able to make ends meet.

Today, she was dragging ass. More than anything, she needed to find her focus and the squirrel on crack energy that was her trademark. No matter what Callie did, she just couldn’t seem to pull it together. She wasn’t even halfway through her shift and she’d gotten three orders wrong and spilled two sodas on herself.

Her mind was a hot mess thanks to the erotic dreams plaguing her. What made matters worse, it seemed that everyone in town had decided to hit up the diner for lunch. Her feet ached. Her legs burned, but none of it mattered. She had food to put on the table and a roof over their heads that she needed to keep.

“Are you okay, Callie?” Cam asked, pulling Callie to the side.

She should have known Cam would notice that something was up. That she was off her game. “Yeah, I’m just—hell, I don’t even know what’s going on with me these days. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Cam had become more than just Callie’s employer. In the months she’d worked at the diner, they’d become sisters in their struggle to survive the aftermath of Griffin’s reign. Cam had quickly become her confidant, someone she shared everything with.

“Are those dreams still bugging you?”

Callie sighed. “Every damn night.”

“Have they changed at all?”

“Nope. Still the same bone-melting, blood-boiling, toe-curling freaking dreams. I don’t know how much more I can take. And the guy. Good gods, he’s killing me. Every time I close my eyes, he’s there. Kissing me, doing things to me that I’ve never done with anyone. My body feels like it’s going to explode!”

Cam arched her eyebrows.

“I know that look! Don’t you dare say it!” Callie warned.

Cam threw her hands up in the air. “You need a man.”

“I’m not getting into another relationship. Pass. Thanks.” A relationship was the last thing Callie needed or wanted. Trusting a man who had sworn he loved her was the exact reason her life was in shambles.

“I’m not saying you should hop into a relationship. I’m saying you need to get laid. You know, a good old fashioned wham-bam-thank-you-man.”

“Cam!” Callie felt her cheeks heat and knew her face was beet red. “You are so crass.”

“And you’re a prude. Loosen up. You’re young. In the prime of your life. Go out and have some damn fun. Find a guy with a big dick and ride him all night long. You’re allowed to, you know.”

“Oh, my god. Why do I tell you anything?” Callie looked around the diner to see all eyes on her and Cam. Not a single person in the entire place looked embarrassed about eavesdropping on what should have been a private conversation.

“I’m just trying to help you out. There are plenty of single guys in this town who are always looking for some fun.”

“I’ve got your fun right here, sweetie!” one of the male diners shouted.

“I don’t think you’re her type, Earl. You’ve got about a hundred years too many on our sweet Callie.” Cam laughed.

“Great! Look what you started! I am never going to live this down.” Callie stormed away and into the kitchen to see if any of her orders were ready.

“Prude!” Cam called after her.

“I’m going to kill her. In her damn sleep if I have to!” Callie didn’t care who heard her. What the hell had Cam been thinking? Of course, all the customers would overhear the conversation. They were freaking shifters for fuck’s sake! They all had heightened hearing, vision, and, as she found out the hard way—super-sensitive sniffers.

She would never forget the day she’d been walking down the street, lost in her thoughts as images of her dream lover flashed through her mind. Like any red-blooded woman, the dream had turned her on. What she hadn’t realized was that any shifter within a two hundred foot radius could smell her arousal. She’d had several nice gentlemen tell her how good her arousal smelled and they’d be more than happy to help her out with that, if she liked—of course.

“Child, you have got to relax.”

Callie’s head turned to face her newest critic. “Ruby Jean, have you ever once relaxed when someone told you to relax?”

Ruby Jean St. James was one of the cooks at Cam’s and lord knows Callie loved her to bits. Even if she was the vulgar mother hen, continually spouting unsolicited advice to anyone with ears.

“Of course not, but you need to take the advice Cam is giving you and unwind, let loose. If you don’t, that hymen of yours is gonna grow back.”

Callie closed her eyes and shook her head. “What is it with the women who work here? I swear you are all a bunch of walking hormones. Is sex all you guys ever think about?”

“Baby girl, we are shifters. You do know that, right?”

“Of course I know that. How could I not know that you sprout fur and get bitchy once a month?”

“Ha-ha, funny. I know that momma of yours didn’t drop you on your head at birth, so you need to use the brain the good Lord gave you. We’re part animal. Every one of us. We don’t complicate things that are supposed to be natural. Like sex. If you’re horny, get laid. No big deal. If you’re hungry, eat. Again, no big deal. Why do humans always have to overthink every damn thing?”

“As you pointed out, I’m human, and our lives are far more complicated than that. I don’t have base urges like shifters do. I’m not ruled by an animal.”

Ruby Jean rolled her eyes. “Maybe you do have base urges just like us and you’re too afraid to act on it. Besides, you know there isn’t a single man in this town who wouldn’t rock your world and get you to loosen up a bit.”

Callie grabbed the plates that Ruby Jean lined up in front of her and headed back to the dining room. “I’m not afraid to act on anything.”

“Umm-hmm, you keep telling yourself that. I’m thinking if you keep telling yourself all these lies, you might actually start to believe them.”

“Don’t you worry about me, Ruby Jean. I can handle anything that comes my way.”

Callie delivered the food to her table and made her rounds, checking to make sure drinks were filled and everyone had what they needed, all the while fending off multiple offers to rock her world.

Could this day get any worse? The question no sooner popped into her mind when she ran into a hard body. Strong hands latched onto her waist, keeping her upright and off her ass.

The man’s scent wrapped around her, teasing her—promising wicked things were coming her way. She would have known that scent anywhere in the universe.

Callie didn’t need to look up into the eyes she’d seen every night for months. She tried to suck in a breath, but nothing happened. Her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen.

“Look at me, sweetling.”

His voice… ahh gods, that voice. Just as seductive in real life as it had been in her dreams. The voice that whispered all the naughty things he wanted to do to her each time her head had hit the pillow.

Callie shook her head, denying the stranger’s request. She felt one of his hands slip from her hip and almost whimpered at the loss of contact. A million thoughts buzzed around in her mind. Most of which centered around the fact that she had to have been losing her marbles. There was no way in hell any of this was possible.

Yet, there she was. Wrapped in the same arms that had held her every night in her dreams.

The stranger placed his hand gently under her chin and lifted her head to meet his gaze.

She no sooner saw those thick, full lips of his and slammed her eyes shut. Oh god, those lips. The ones he’d kissed her with a thousand times over in her dreams.

This can’t be happening.

“Open your eyes, sweetling.”

Callie shook her head—again refusing his demand.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “It’s the least you can do after leaving me hanging for months.”

Her entire body shook. With fear. With desire. Hell, she had no idea what all the emotions were that blasted through her body at that moment in time. It was too much. Too much to deal with. Too much for her brain to process.

Not even five minutes ago she had told Ruby Jean she could handle anything that comes her way. Did she lie? Was Ruby Jean standing there, even now, watching the scene unfold? Would she call her out on the lie?

Sheer determination drove Callie to face the inevitable. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Though she knew what would greet her, she still wasn’t prepared when his misty gray eyes met hers.

“You!” Callie gasped before darkness washed over her.

 

***

 

Cam and Ruby Jean stood off to the side, watching Callie’s interaction with the handsome stranger.

“Who is that?” Ruby Jean asked.

Cam smiled. “The man of her dreams.”

“Woman, there is no way that man just walked up in here out of her dreams,” Ruby Jean protested.

“Fifty bucks says he is.” Cam knew—oh, she knew just by seeing Callie’s reaction to him. She also knew by the scent in the air and the look on his face, her sweet Callie was about to get a degree in Hot Sex 101, and more than likely a minor in Orgasms That Make Your Head Spin.

“Woman, you don’t pay me enough to be betting fifty fucks. You really think it’s him?”

“Oh yeah.” Cam nodded. “I have zero doubts.”

“So what do you think will happen?”

“I think things are going to get very interesting around here.” Cam smirked.

“Where can I sign up for these dream men? Look at that ass. Have you ever seen an ass on a man like that? Sweet, mama. That man is hot!”