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This year, a scene generator created the setting for me: flippant werewolf, heartless banker, and creepy nurse in a restaurant kitchen. So, naturally, I let my wolf pack out to play. LOL Enjoy!
Be My Werelentine
Just figured that Valentine’s Day this year fell on a full moon night and Zach’s restaurant was so packed he probably wasn’t getting out until sunrise. This made her cranky. And a cranky Bree was a dangerous-to-humans Bree. It didn’t help that her pain in the ass pack mates took great pleasure in making her miserable. They’d deliberately brought their dates here to piss her off. She had a full moon night to frolic away and couldn’t, because her boyfriend was stuck here making gluten free lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs without the meatballs.
She’d parked her slinky red dressed ass on one end of the counter. If Bree had to be miserable, everyone else would be too. Zach gave her a look, but refrained from commenting. Smart man.
Two minutes later he was in front of her. “Move your feet, I need the truffles.”
Bree smiled and spread her knees so he could get to the cabinet beneath her. Instead of reaching for his mushrooms, he stepped between her legs and hooked an arm around her hips, dipping his head to give her a kiss. A deep, tongue and teeth, toe curling, heart stopping, melt your dress off into a puddle kiss. Whuh! “Two more hours and we’re out of here,” he promised.
“And then what?”
Zach grinned with just a hint of fang and a delightfully predatory glint in his eyes. Instant butterfly inducer. And damn if he didn’t know it. “Then you’ll see.”
Bree pouted. “Promises, promises.”
“Two red plate specials, one hot stuff platter and table seven wants another round,” the harried waitress shouted from the door and then disappeared back into the restaurant.
Zach growled so low it felt like an earthquake.
“Shot in the dark,” Bree said dryly. “Table seven is Mia and Hunny’s double date.”
Zach looked positively murderous.
“Aaand I’m guessing they’ve been here a while.”
A miniscule dip of his chin that may have been a nod.
“You want me to go talk to them?”
“You planning to break stuff again?”
“That was one time! And I paid for the damage, didn’t I?” The look he gave her spoke volumes about how impressed he was with that. “Fine,” she said, taking out her cell phone. She scrolled through her contacts list and typed a quick but succinct text message to Joe.
“You’re smiling,” Zach said. “I don’t like it when you smile like that. It means something’s about to go very wrong for someone.”
“Someone not you,” she consoled.
“Yeah, last time it was… that werecoon, wasn’t it?”
Inside the restaurant, a scream split the air.
Zach winced when glass began shattering. Bree could only shrug and look her most innocent. It wasn’t her this time.
Curses and shouts didn’t echo in there, but from the volume, they probably ought to. And then there was the delightful sound Bree could only interpret as Mia’s mate Joe tossing Mia over his shoulder and marching her harsh-faced out of the restaurant. One down, one more to go.
Zach sighed. “Three… two… one…”
The swinging door opened and Hunny entered, just barely enough for the door to close all the way behind her, but no farther. She gave Bree an awed look. “You’re evil,” she said. Then she grinned. “I like it.” Puffing out her chest and raising her chin, she decreed, “Noble foe, you have matched your meet!” and she marched out.
“Damn,” Bree muttered. “So close.”
The waitress stuck her head back inside. “Clean up on aisle two, one more special and two large, heart shaped pepperoni pizzas.” Gone before she’d even finished the sentence.
After one last scorching kiss, Zach left her to attend to his chef’s duties and Bree went back to counting seconds. When the door opened again, she expected the waitress, but a different manner of human entered. He was tallish and skinny, with very pale skin and very dark hair. It didn’t help that he was dressed in black scrubs.
He went right up to Zach and started saying something in his ear, holding out a small baggie of white pills. Bree’s eyebrows inched up. Was he serious? Zach shook his head at whatever the man was saying. He tried again, the dark circles under his eyes making the pale irises look creepy as hell. Finally, Zach snapped, “Boy, enough. I am not drugging your date so she’ll have sex with you. Get the hell out of my kitchen before I call the cops.”
The human scowled. “Can I at least get the dish and bring it to her myself.”
This was going to be fun. It always was when Zach’s face went deadpan like that. She all but wiggled in her seat as Zach took the plate of spaghetti and meatballs, sans the meatballs, and dumped it over the creep’s head. “Order up,” he said, spinning the man around and shoving him out of the kitchen. He even managed to snatch the baggie of drugs. It got dumped into the sink.
No sooner had Zach returned to the stove than the door opened yet again. Another human, this one dressed in a power suit starched to perfection. His teeth were blindingly white when he smiled like he expected someone to swoon at the sight. Bree rolled her eyes. “Maestro!”
Zach jerked his chin in greeting.
Clearly not the reaction banker boy had been hoping for. But he recovered quickly and stepped up to Zach, clapping him on the shoulder. “Listen, I’ve got a hot date later on tonight. And I mean, show stopper, you know what I’m saying? I mean sex on legs, tits like heaven, and an ass to die for.”
Zach grinned at Bree. “Yeah, I got one of those too.”
She winked and adjusted her bra strap. Wires were the bane of her existence. The things I endure for my man.
“Yeah, whatever,” the suit said. “I gotta take the girlfriend home and then I’m picking up my sexy lady. This place closes in two hours right? You think you can have the place cleared out in two and a half?”
“Planning on it.”
“Fantastic. Just leave the door unlocked and light some candles, yeah?” He was holding out a wad of cash.
“Door’s locking in two, chief.”
“And unlocking in two and a half, right?”
Zach stopped stirring the sauce and turned to the banker, blank faced.
“Come on, man, you can be reasonable, can’t you?”
Bree frowned. “That girlfriend of yours,” she said, “the one you’re dropping off for the night. That wouldn’t happen to be the pretty brunette in the blue dress, would it?” The nervous, shy one who kept brushing her hair back in that fidgety way humans had when they were trying to disguise a poorly timed reach for someone’s hand.
“Yeah, so what?”
“So, she seems really nice.”
Banker boy chuckled. “Stay out of this, sweetheart, this is men’s business. Chef here understands, don’t you, buddy?”
Zach shook his head, biting back a grin and went back to stirring.
Bree hopped down from her perch and advanced on him. “Men don’t make their women into business,” she said.
“Oh, here we go.”
“Who said you could speak?” she snapped, almost toe to toe with him.
Zach, watching the show with amusement he wasn’t even bothering to conceal. “You really stepped in it now, pal.”
“Listen, bitch–”
The sound of his nose breaking cut him off. Bree rubbed her forehead while he cupped his face and squealed like a pig. “You broke my nose!”
“Hurts, doesn’t it? Not nearly as much as a broken heart. Not that you’d know that, being that you don’t actually have one.”
The punch he aimed at her never landed. Zach grabbed the man’s arm, twisted it behind him and slammed his face down on the counter, breaking his nose more. Without a word, he ushered the bleeder out the back door and shoved him into a week’s worth of trash.
Bree didn’t skip a beat, just picked up her phone and dialed another number. “Byron, hey. You busy tonight? There’s a sweetheart of a girl at Zach’s whose piss poor excuse of a boyfriend won’t be coming back from the bathroom. You wanna come sweep her off her feet? Great. See you in ten.”
She hung up just as Zach returned. “Gimme that,” he said.
“Why?”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, the moon’s full, and my date just flashed her claws,” he said, giving her a heated once-over. “I’m calling the twins to lock up.”
Bree grinned and handed her phone over with a flourish. “Make it quick, will you?” There would be wolf songs howled about tonight.
And she planned on them being very, very raunchy.
