Jenny stared. “You’re the bartender! From Texas!” It had been at least five years ago that they’d met; he’d been an absolute gentleman, and she’d been an embarrassment.
Tex smiled at her. “I am indeed the bartender from Texas.”
Jenny winced to hear how stupid it sounded. His name was Tex, and he was standing behind the bar. “The other bar, I mean the bar in Texas.” She realized Tex still had his hand out, but it had been offered too long now, and she didn’t want to put her webbed fingers in his.
Laura sidled up beside her as Tex casually took his hand back, and Jenny could feel the energy and excitement that beamed from her. “Jenny, Tex is my mate.”
Jenny looked from one of them to the other, marveling at the way they gazed at each other. She had never seen Laura look so content.
She started to smile, genuinely glad that her twin had found happiness, then remembered her pointed teeth and stopped. “Congratulations,” she said, strained.
Scarlet had been waiting through the introductions impatiently, and finally said, so politely that it was verging on cold, “Please excuse me, I have a great deal to do.” And she tapped off, a distinctive click from her low-heeled shoes over the tile.
“I’ve got the number from her for a guy back in America who works for a government shifter agency,” Laura said, patting the barstool next to her. “He can expedite having Fred turned over to US custody, and help with getting the insurance money sorted. He may even be able to get things in motion regarding getting the cartel behind bars, I’ll have to talk to him about that.”
Jenny sat numbly on the stool and stared at her sister. Where had this capable, confident woman come from? How the tables had turned! Now, she felt like the screw-up sister, hardly able to make sense of simple words, and not even able to shift fully into her human form. She curled her webbed fingers into balls and winced when the claws scratched her palms.
I’m hungry, her otter insisted. Something smelled heavenly.
“There was food?” she said faintly. She didn’t want otter to drag her out into the ocean after fresh fish for lack of options.
Laura and Tex both jumped. “Of course!” Laura said. “There’s a buffet just upstairs, you sit here and I’ll bring you a plate.”
“I could get it,” Tex offered, but Laura brushed him off.
“I know what she likes!”
They exchanged a swift kiss so intense that it made Jenny look away in embarrassment, and then Laura was slipping away through the backdoor of the bar, presumably to stairs that would take her up to the deck above them where the heavenly smells were coming from.
Tex put a bowl of mixed nuts in front of her, and poured a tall glass of pale juice. “You should get something in your stomach,” he advised kindly.
Jenny tried to keep her hands low, positioning the glass between her fingers and Tex as best as she could. He seemed to sense her hesitation, and turned away to do obvious busywork at the far end of the bar. “I’m glad to see you up and about,” he said without pressure. “Your sister is so happy to have you back again.”
The drink proved to be lemonade, sweet and tangy, and not too strong. Jenny sipped it down eagerly and emptied the bowl of nuts without thinking about it.
Easing her hunger didn’t bring the clarity of thought that Jenny had hoped for, but it did ease the overbearing intensity of her otter’s presence a little.
She turned in her chair and looked out over the deck. Sunlight danced over the rippled surface of the pool, and dappled through the shade from the palm trees. The place had this strange sense of promise to it that Jenny had never felt before.
I’m hungry, her otter told her, and it wasn’t the kind of hunger that a bowl of nuts was going to touch.
There was a man standing at one of the doors marked ‘Staff Only.’ and Jenny tried not to stare. He was all lean strength, the staff polo shirt doing nothing to mask the muscles of his shoulders and arms. She thought he was Asian at first, with short, dark hair and golden skin, then he turned away from her abruptly, and the planes of his cheeks as the sun hit them made her think ‘native.’
He was gorgeous, like a sculpture, or a model, and Jenny was keenly reminded that she was still not wearing underwear. She squirmed on her stool, unable to look away as he yanked the door open and disappeared inside.
I’m hungry, her otter repeated ferociously, and Jenny shuddered and cringed at the intensity and immediacy of it. If the otter had her way, they’d be scurrying over the white tile to catch the man, and her otter had very specific ideas of what they’d be doing with him once they caught him, regardless of where they were or who else was there.
She was still fighting down the carnal wave of need and animal lust when Laura returned with a platter full of Jenny’s favorite food: glistening cubes of fresh fruit and cottage cheese, and a heaping green salad with slices of eggs and avocado, scattered with squares of real bacon and feta cheese and drizzled with a vinaigrette. A roll so fresh it was still warm topped off the plate.
Jenny was achingly glad there wasn't a hint of fish or seafood on the plate, and with a whimper, she fell upon it, channeling all of her energy to eating.
Chapter 5
Travis shut the door to the laundry room without flipping on the light switch and leaned against it in the dark, breathing as heavily as if he’d just run a marathon.
Lynx, in his head, was suggesting other courses of action. Filthy, detailed suggestions that made Travis keenly aware of how long it had been since any hand but his own had been in contact with certain parts.
That’s Tex’s mate, he insisted desperately. She’s gorgeous, but she’s not ours. He had to wonder why Lynx hadn’t had this reaction the first few times they’d met, but whyever that was, he wasn’t going to betray his code of conduct and so much as sniff in her direction if she belonged to another.