The Snow Leopard's Mate (Glacier Leopards 1)

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.