Page 14 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

“Are you doing okay, Soojin?” Darla asks.

“I hired a girl to come help me and she never showed. I should be in bed. I’m too old to be up at four a.m.”

Darla dumps a bunch of Tabasco sauce on her scrambled eggs and stirs them around. She raises an eyebrow at me and waves her fork. “You wouldn’t by any chance know how to cook, would you, Red?”

Chapter Six

In Which Zach is Really Trying

Soojin kicks everyone out at five. By then, she has agreed to take me on and train me for the night shift. She is hopeful that in a few weeks, I’ll be able to do it on my own. I doubt it, but a job is a job…even if it’s next door to where Zach works.

Darla and I try to pay, only to find that someone has paid for us. Zach is nowhere to be seen, but I put my money on him being our benefactor. Just like Morgan…anything to look good and get into a girl’s pants.

But can that really be true if you’ve already let him into your pants? another part of my brain counters.

Soojin and I exchange contact information while Darla goes out to warm up the truck. “Be back here at midnight,” she tells me. “Make sure your hair is up and out of your face.”

Zach is waiting just outside the door. He falls in step with me as I head across the parking lot to Darla’s truck.

“Thanks for feeding Dolly before you left. She wakes me up at sunrise if her bowl isn’t full. That was the first time I’ve gotten to sleep in since I adopted her.”

“No worries. She’s an awesome cat.”

“I was disappointed you didn’t leave your number or at least wake me up. I would have made you breakfast.”

I shake my head and keep my eyes on my feet as we cross the parking lot. “You bought all my drinks the night before. I didn’t want to bug you.”

“So, I overheard you and Sue talking about a job. Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other,” he starts.

“If you’re a regular of Soojin’s restaurant, then yes we will.”

“I was hoping you’d consider seeing me at other times.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re seeing me right now.”

“Outside of work.”

I stop just outside the passenger door of Darla’s truck and turn to look at him. The man isn’t wearing a jacket, so he has his hands shoved in his pockets with his arms close to his side in an attempt to stay warm. “Red, I can’t get your scent out of my mind. It’s been driving me crazy. I think,” he takes a deep breath and looks away for a moment. “I think you might be my mate.”

“Because of my scent?” I ask incredulously.

“It’s more than that–”

I want to laugh out loud. His mate!

“Really? So what if my scent changes? Are you going to like my scent on my period? When I’m sick? When I’m pregnant? When someone hotter comes along with a better scent? When I don’t look like this anymore?”

“Red, I’m not–fuck, I’m messing this all up.”

Even in the dark, the eyes that look back at me are far too earnest and honest. I blink and turn away. I could fall in love with the man behind those eyes and be right back here in a few years.

Maybe I should tell him the truth. It’d send him away for sure.

No wolf in his right mind would deal with a rejected Luna.

Besides, he said it himself. Tons of wolves don’t mind playing around with humans.

BUT when it’s time to settle down, to make an actual commitment, it’s a wolf they’ll turn to.

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