Page 40 of Bria and the Tiger

“Okay. Um, thank you again.” She studied his face for a moment. He wasn’t exactly handsome, his features were a little too craggy and rough to be considered handsome. But there was something appealing about him. Maybe it was his size. She was over six feet in her heels and there weren’t many men that made her feel small.

She felt small next to him. Small and delicate.

Her gaze drifted to his chest. He was wearing a t-shirt with the words “Bud’s Bar” printed on it. His shirt was too small, the letters distorted by the sheer width of his chest. One massive hand came up. Scratched at his stubble covered throat. His hand was twice the size of hers. If they put their hands together, palm-to-palm, she wasn’t sure her fingers would even go past his palm to his fingers.

Had she ever seen anyone as big as this man? She didn’t think so. She knew Ivan was taller, but the giraffe shifter was also thin and spindly. Like a strong wind would blow him over. The giant standing in front of her would be as unmoving as a boulder.

Her gaze dropped to his flat abdomen. The too-small t-shirt left nothing to the imagination. Every muscle in his abdomen was clearly defined against the white fabric. They looked as hard as granite. She wanted to touch them to see. Instead, she clenched her hand into a fist as she stared at his belt and then -

“Lady, go back to your friends.” His voice was impatient.

She snapped her gaze back to his face. She’d been three seconds away from ogling his crotch like a damn pervert. What the hell was wrong with her?

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry. Thank you.”

Annoyance was written into the lines of his face. He made a ‘go on’ gesture with his hand and she turned and almost ran out of the hallway and back into the bar. She would tell Jace and the others that she had a headache and was going home. As she weaved past shifters, trying to ignore the way they sniffed at her, she realized that the wolf shifter was still sitting with Bria.

She hesitated only a moment before marching over to their booth. The wolf shifter gave her a startled look before his mouth turned into a hard line.

“Bria, I need to talk to you in private,” Rosalie said.

“Sure.” Bria said. “Patrick, can you excuse me just for a minute?”

“We’re on a date,” he said. “Can’t you talk to your little work friend later. It’s kind of rude to just leave.”

Rosalie’s fear of the wolf shifter turned to anger. “Fine, I’ll tell her right here. Bria, this asshole you’re on a date with, threatened me in the hallway outside the bathroom.”

“What?” Bria stared at Patrick. “You threatened her?”

“Of course I didn’t. Why would I do that?”

“Because you don’t like humans,” Rosalie said. “He threatened me and grabbed my arm. Said I should be careful because I was a human and who knew what shifters would do to me in a place like this.”

“You dick,” Bria said.

“She’s lying,” Patrick said. “You’re seriously going to believe this bitch human over me? What fucking kind of shifter are you?”

“Fuck you.” Bria gave him a scornful look and started to slide out of the booth. Before she could stand, Patrick grabbed her forearm and squeezed.

“Don’t you walk away from me. I’ve paid for your drinks and your goddamn dinner and you owe me.”

Rosalie took a step back when Bria’s eyes went from blue to a golden yellow. Her pupils had narrowed into slits and when she grinned at the wolf shifter, Rosalie could see the way her eye-teeth had lengthened into fangs.

“Let go of me, Patrick.”

The wolf shifter bared his own fangs at her as a dark beard grew on his face. “You owe me, you little bitch and I -”

“Take your hand off of her.”

The voice was a low angry growl next to her. Despite the way it was oddly familiar, the sheer rage in it still frightened her badly. Rosalie stumbled away from the sound and straight into the big, broad body of Hudson.

She tore her gaze from Hudson and stared at Jace as he took another step toward the booth. She’d never seen him like this. His eyes were bright green, his pupils dark slits, and his upper body looked bigger, almost distorted somehow.

He was Jace.

But not Jace.

The Jace/not Jace growled, a sound of pure anger that made the hair on the back of her neck to stand and goosebumps break out across her skin. Without a single ounce of shame, she flung her arms around the polar bear shifter’s waist and clung to him again like a frightened kitten.

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