Page 14 of Shifter's Dream

Sage nodded sagely. “Going to fight. It can be fun that way, too.”

“No, Sage,” Reed said bluntly, gathering courage, convincing herself of her words with her words. “Seriously, he’s dangerous and he needs to stay away from me, thank you. Guys like that, savagely handsome guys who make women’s eggs spontaneously release inside their bodies, just like, ‘pop, pop, pop,’ when they walk by, those are the kind of guys I don’t mess with.”

Sage gave her a smile and headed away from the door, toward the order counter. Reed followed.

“Plus, he’s a cop, right?” Sage said, her tone a mystery. “And you don’t date cops. That’s rule number twelve or thirteen.”

It was actually rule number twenty-four, only made up after she’d started working at Mugshots. “That’s right, I don’t date cops, unlike you. I swear you don’t even need the money and you’re only here to bag a husband.”

Sage wiggled her nose and pulled her free arm up like a paw, hopping a couple short hops down the hallway to the kitchen window. “That’s me, the ultimate badge bunny. You know it’s my purpose in life to marry someone who really knows how to cuff ‘em and stuff ‘em.”

Sage stopped hopping, but her expression didn’t change. “Did you see what he was wearing?” she said, emptying, then loading her tray at the window. Reed did the same, shaking her head. Sage elbowed her. “An actual Hawaiian shirt. It had canoes on it.Canoes,Reed!”

Reed shook her head and laughed. It didn’t matter, because she would stay far away from him and his shirt. She would never see the canoes.

Sage was on a roll. “And that mustache. You have to have a rule about mustaches, right? You have one about everything else. No mustaches over 3/4s of an inch, or without accompanying beard or goatee. Please tell me that’s a rule.”

Reed ignored Sage gathering her food quickly and preparing to leave, but Sage’s whispered “Speak of the devil,” made her look up.

Reed’s heart pounded harder and she checked the alcove, knowing what she would see, but it was empty. She looked the other way and sawhim.

He stood there behind the counter that divided the back of the bar from the setup area, his eyes on her and her alone. He’d come through the back hallway, looking for her. Reed glanced away quickly. Up close, he looked even more like the kind of guy who would press her every button and then invent a couple of new buttons she didn’t even know she had.

He was probably looking for Sage, she told herself. Not her. She was too strait-laced, too buttoned up for most of these cops to give her the time of day.

In her heart, she knew she was lying.

“I’m out,” she said under her breath, then she turned and headed for the door behind the bar, leaving him to Sage.

She would avoid him till her last breath, that’s how convinced she was that he would be bad for her. She made her decision and rushed out the other door.

***

Troy put his hand up, about to call out toher, the female he must talk to, but she moved too quickly for him, her scent disturbed and broiling around her.

Rizzoli approached him, heading him off. Too late, he realized the female didn’t want anything to do with him, and the thought almost made him stagger. He regrouped as quickly as possible, which wasn’t nearly quick enough.

Rizzoli stopped in front of him. “You need some help?” she said brightly, her slight smile never wavering.

He nodded his head at the door the female had just gone out. He lifted his chin. He had no words. He wanted to ask a million things, who was she, where did she live, was she single, what was her name, when was her birthday, how could he get her to love him? He said nothing, only stared at a door that was still lightly swinging.

Rizzoli poked him on the chest with her pen. “Look Tom, can I call you Tom? Of course I can. You didn’t need anything, did you? You were coming back here to say hi to Benson, am I right? That’s Olivia Benson.” Troy recognized the name from Law and Order. He nodded. Now Rizzoli made sense, too.

“I’m telling you, you’re not going to get anywhere with her, so you should just give up the thought. You’ll be happier. She’ll be less stressed. It will be good for everyone.”

He still stared at the door, thinking maybe she would come back through it.

“She’s so beautiful,” he said slowly, softly, sincerely, unable to help himself.

Rizzoli raised her eyebrows like she had when he’d ordered lemonade, then nodded. “Sure. How ‘bout you, big guy, what’s your story?”

“Story?” Troy growled. “I would slay demons for her.”

Rizzoli cocked her head to the side, her smile widening. “A caveman, huh? What about saber-tooth tigers, would you slay any of them for her?”

Troy wrenched his hands in front of his chest, snapping his wrists and clenching his fists, like he was popping the head off a beast. “With my bare hands,” he growled.

Rizzoli only stared at him with that small smile on her face, while he wracked his every brain cell to think of ways to get that female to talk to him. Rizzoli finally poked him in the chest again, but when she spoke, her voice was softer, her smile kind. “Look Tom, you seem genuine, so I’ll be straight with you. She’s not what you would call emotionally available, but I think you should give it a try anyway. You would be good for her. So here’s a secret.” She looked around, then leaned in close, like she was going to whisper, but when she spoke, her voice was normal. “In fact, here’s two secrets for the price of one. Benson isn’t her real name, and never get her flowers. I mean it. Don’t get all man-stupid and think I only mean don’t get her white flowers, or ugly flowers.” Her voice dropped and she poked him in the chest with her pen a few more times. “Don’t get her flowers.”

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