"Nothing." She kept mopping.
"Hey, you could look at me when I’m talking to you."
She looked at him. "Nothing."
"What's got into her?" Paul asked over his shoulder.
"She met some guy last night. He was a jerk," Molly replied.
Paul frowned. "I heard something about that. At that bar everyone went to after work last night. Was it that cat shifter? Landin?"
Ali didn’t answer.
Paul, of course, didn't need any encouragement. "Yeah, that was it. Kitty Landin. You went home with that guy? Ali, he’s a weirdo. No one likes him."
Ali mopped harder.
There was a long, awkward, silent moment. Then Paul said, “Did he do anything bad to you?”
Paul tried, sometimes, to be an actual big brother to her. Ali usually wished he’d do it more often, but not now.
"I don't want to talk about it,” she said.
"If he was an asshole to my sister, I gotta teach him a lesson.” Paul’s voice firmed up. "Some guys on the crew have been saying he needs one anyway. All full of himself, like cats always are. Maybe I'll find him in Ryder's Lodge sometime this weekend."
"He dropped her off," Molly said. "It was only half an hour or so ago. He might still be in Prescott."
"Huh,” Paul said slowly.
Ali closed her eyes. “Paul, don’t.”
“Hey now,” said Paul. “You’re telling me he mistreated you—my baby sister—and I shouldn’t show him what I think of that? I shouldn’t be looking out for you, is that what you’re saying?”
No, I’m saying you shouldn’t use me as an excuse to do what you want to do anyway
, she thought. But Ali knew from experience that saying that wouldn’t change Paul’s mind.
Anyway, what did she care? Grey was a lying jerk. If Paul wanted to pick a fight with him, who cared?
“No,” she said finally. “Do what you want.”
“Thanks, I will.” Paul grabbed a handful of snacks from Molly’s plate. “See you later, Molly.”
After the front door closed, Molly transferred her glare to Ali. “Now look what you did.”
“
Me
?” The unfairness of the accusation hurt, even though by now she should be used to that sort of thing. “I didn’t do anything!”
“If it weren’t for you, my husband wouldn’t be heading out to get into trouble.” Molly looked down at her picked-over plates. “And now I have to make more of these, and the book club is in less than an hour.”
Ali sighed. “I’ll help. But I have to go to work soon.”
“Just get out the bowls.”
Ali helped her fix little nibbles of Pinterest-worthy quality for the next half hour, and then fled the kitchen to change into her work uniform.
Getting out of the house was good. She dawdled a little on the way to work. She’d left with plenty of time, and she wasn’t looking forward to an afternoon of smiling at customers.
It was a beautiful spring day, sunny and warm, but that didn’t seem important next to all of the crappy stuff that had happened.
God, she needed to get out of this town.
And then, when she got to work, she saw Grey Landin was sitting in a booth.
***
When Alethia walked in, Grey wondered for a second if he was imagining her.
Then he remembered that she was a waitress. She wore the same logo-bearing shirt and skirt as the other waitresses. Obviously this was where she worked.
Grey had chosen to sit down at the one place in town where Alethia had to go today. If he hadn't already been rock-solid, one-hundred-percent certain that he and Alethia were destined to be together, this would've clinched it.
But she didn't look happy. She stalked over to his table and hissed, "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted a cup of coffee." Grey held up the cup as evidence. "Listen, Alethia, I'm so sorry that someone took advantage of you by claiming that you were his mate, but—"
"Don’t talk to me," she interrupted.
She looked so hurt and angry that he blurted out, “All right. I won’t.”
His mate stalked away without another word
She was here.
But what could he do? He'd promised not to talk to her, and he wasn't about to break that promise. Could he leave her a note? It seemed like even odds whether she'd read it or throw it away. Better not to risk it.
Maybe he could talk to one of the other waitresses and get a good word in. But Alethia would know that anything one of her coworkers said would've come straight from Grey. And he didn't think she'd appreciate him using underhanded means.
How could he show her the truth?
***
Ali hated liars.
She ignored Grey with the full force of her abilities. She hoped the beams of her ignoring were hitting him right in the face as she took orders and carried her tray without ever letting her eyes pass over him.
He didn't move, but just sat and nursed his cup of coffee. Lisa, who'd taken his table, complained that he hadn't budged for two hours and didn't look like he was planning to order any food.
Makes sense, with that big breakfast he cooked for us.
Ali's fingers clenched on the silverware she was holding.
Ignore him.
She'd ignored plenty of guys who were much more obnoxiously vocal than Grey was being. She could ignore one silent man.
It was just that he had this presence. As she walked around the diner, she always knew exactly where he was in relation to her. It was like she could feel heat emanating off of him, or feel the pressure of his eyes on her back. There was no forgetting he was there.
She did a
great
job of looking like she was ignoring him, at least. She was very proud of herself.
An hour into her shift, the door opened, and Paul came in.
Oh, no.
And right behind him was Matt Finch.
Oh. Oh, no, no, no
.
Paul’s eyes immediately lit on Grey. “Hey,” he said to Matt. “I found him.”
Matt saw Grey and smiled. “I’ve been looking for you. And today I ran into my buddy Paul here, who was looking for you, too. So we went around town trying to find you, and then we decided to take a break and get some lunch. And what do you know, here you are!”
Ali frowned. What did
Matt
want with Grey?
Maybe he wanted to sit down with him and have a talk about what it was like to lie to women.
Paul and Matt sauntered over to Grey's table.
Grey set his coffee cup aside. "Hello, Finch. Parker."
"Landin," said Paul. "I heard something about you."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Grey moved slightly. Ali could tell that he was getting ready to get up quickly, without being trapped by the booth.
"I heard you went home with my baby sister and didn't treat her so good," Paul said.
Grey's eyes immediately went to Ali.
She didn't want to get involved in this. She didn't even want to see whatever was about to happen.
But she didn't want Grey to think she'd sicced her brother on him, either.
"Stop it, Paul," she said, loudly and clearly. "I didn't tell you to make any trouble. You're not doing me any favors."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rhonda poke her head out of the office down the hall. Great. Now on top of everything else, her boss would be pissed at her for bringing trouble into the place.
Matt hadn’t said anything yet. Why would he be here with Paul? He didn’t care what anyone did to Ali.
"Ali," Paul was saying, "I know you don't take care of yourself so well. You gotta stop getting yourself in trouble, but until then, maybe the guys who get you in trouble need a lesson, too."
"Just go away, Paul," she said wearily, with no hope of being listened to.
Grey raised his eyebrows. "The lady asked you to go away."
Matt laughed.
Grey transferred his gaze to him. Matt rocked back on his heels a little, like he’d felt a physical blow.
But Matt rallied quickly and stepped forward. "Listen, kitty cat, I don’t care what she said, we’re not going away until you man up and fight."
Grey stood up abruptly, rattling his coffee cup on the table. "
You listen to me
. I don't hold for that sort of bullshit.”
Grey turned to Paul. “You think you're protecting your sister?” He pointed at her. “She just told you what she wants, and it's not what you're doing. If you want to fight me, I’m more than happy to fight. But don't pretend it's on her behalf. You’re not listening to a word she says."
Ali wondered what he was doing. He didn't need to be considerate about her feelings anymore. Was he trying to win her back?
Matt sneered at Grey. “You too scared to fight us? Trying to make excuses?”
“Being a
man
means respecting women enough to listen to them.”
Matt laughed. “You listen to women? Kitty cat, no wonder you’re nothing but a pussy.”
“Look, Ali doesn’t always choose guys who are good for her,” Paul interrupted, glancing at Matt. “We just want to make sure you don’t bother her again.”
Grey looked at Paul. “You think you know what’s best for the lady better than she does?”
Matt broke in, probably sensing that they were getting further from actually fighting. “Ali Parker ain't no lady. But that doesn’t mean a little kitty cat can mess with anyone in this town. I’ve been wanting to drive you out for a long time, now.”
Grey stepped right up to Matt and pointed at him, almost poking him in the chest. "Watch your mouth. ‘Ali Parker ain't no lady’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means she gets herself in trouble with assholes like you!" Paul glared at Grey. "That's my sister you're talking about."
"That's your sister
he's
talking about!" Grey turned on Paul. "Are you saying she likes to date? That doesn't make her less of a lady. She can do whatever she damn well wants. And you should listen to her when she talks."
"
You
should stop acting like you can order us around," Matt snarled. "Or we'll show you what—"
"
Matthew Finch
!" Rhonda finally came out of the office to stand in the dining room and stare at him. "What do you mean, coming in to my restaurant and causing trouble like this?"
Matt jerked his head toward Grey. "We're not the ones causing trouble. This guy—"
"Looks to me like
this guy
was sitting there drinking a cup of coffee and minding his own business, and you came in and started hassling him." Rhonda put her hands on her hips and glared. "So
this guy
can stay if he wants, but you and your friend need to get out of my place until you can come back with a civil tongue in your head."
"Rhonda, we're just—" Paul started in a conciliating tone.
"You're just nothing." Rhonda was brooking no argument. "You both get out now or I call the police on you. I don't think you want them after you again, Matthew."
Matt glared at her, then transferred the glare to Grey. "You coming?"
Grey shook his head. "You're the one who wants to fight, not me." He glanced over at Ali, and she could hear him thinking,
or her
as clear as if he'd said it out loud.
"Matt, come on," Paul said. "We can find him later. We know where he is now."
Matt's face twisted in an unpleasant smile. "That's right. We'll be waiting for you, asshole." He led the way out of the restaurant.
When they were gone, Ali let out a breath in relief. She turned away from Grey, and found herself face to face with Rhonda.
"What on earth was that all about?" Rhonda asked her.
Ali shook her head. "Just Paul wanting to start some trouble. I didn't tell him to do anything, he was just using me as an excuse."
Rhonda frowned. "Hmm. Well, you make sure he doesn't use you as an excuse inside these walls again. I don't want my waitresses attracting trouble."
Ali nodded tiredly. "Yes, ma'am."
She was so sick of things being inexplicably her fault. How could she have controlled Paul? There was no way she could've stopped this, unless she'd had the foresight to pretend everything was okay to Molly when she’d gotten home earlier.
But she couldn't have. Nothing was okay.
She looked involuntarily back at Grey. He was still standing by his booth, watching her. When their eyes met, he took a few steps toward her and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble at your job. I'll see myself out." He took out his wallet and laid a twenty on the table— way more than his endless cup of coffee was worth.
"Did you mean that?" Ali heard herself say, and then cursed herself for not staying quiet.
His attention was immediately on her again. "Mean which?"