Authors: Marylynn Bast
Catherine continued watching her, “You’re not, you know, pregnant are you?” Worry drawing her brows together.
Snorting
a
loud
laugh
at Catherine’s comment
, “
Cat
,
I think you actually need
to have sex to become pregnant
.
”
She thought briefly of the nickname she used, it s
uited Catherine’s catty nature. With one
side of her mouth tu
rned downed in a frown Amber
shook her head
at the absurd question
. Leaning back against the white porcelain, she stared at the woman in front of he
r and waited for her to resume
commenting on the situation
, and
of course
she did.
“You know
Ryan
won’t let you work here if you
’
re pregnant
,
” Catherine
continued
talking
and
just
would not let the subject go.
Rambling on,
she walked
over
to the mirror
and stood beside
Amber. She checked to make sure
her makeup was still perfect
. Reaching inside the front of her dress
, adjusted her boobs and straightened the plunging neckline of her dress
so
it showed off the line of
cleavage just right
.
Amber had a feeling she knew what was
really
going through Catherine’s head and
wished she could tell her
what she was thinking was way off base.
She was
there to work, not
to be any ki
nd of competition for attention
.
In the short time she had started working
with her, Amber
came to realize
Catherine was not used to being ignored
and had the urge to tell her there was no reason to be jealous. If she did though, it would cause a big
scene and she couldn’t handle the woman ranting and raving
at the moment, better to remain silent on the matter. Her head was still pounding and her stomach was queasy.
The way she felt, if there was an altercation, Amber was
n’t sure she could remain calm.
Looking at Catherine, she couldn’t help but think how petty the woman was. Her boyfriend had paid for her plastic surgery, which had only fueled her need for more attention, especially Ryan’s.
From the da
y she had started working at the bar
Catherine
accused her of sleeping with him.
Apparently he
had stopped
flirting with her
and stared at Amber all the time.
She
considered telling
her t
hings would get back to normal
when she moved on in a couple of days. The thought was swept away as soon as it crossed her mind.
Not one to tell
anyone her plans
,
she was not about to start now. Especially not with the towns
number one
gossip Queen.
“
I’ve said it before
,
” Amber
stressed
her words with
her arms
crossed over her chest. “There
is not a single person
in
this shit town
I
would even r
emotely consider sleeping with, including
Ryan
.
” She stood
up and started for the door
. For some reason, Ca
therine had it in her head that
Amber and
Ryan
were sleeping together.
It didn’t matter how many times she had told Catherine it wasn’t happening.
Working with women, Amber
knew how the
y
thought
. Catherine was figuring
she
and
Ryan
had
a fight
so Amber was
avoiding him because of it
, not the fact that she didn’t want him hitting on her every chance he got
. “So we are clear, I’m not sleeping with
Ryan
and no, I’m not
pregnant.
” Pulling the door open, they were blasted once more with the noise of the bar.
Amber tossed over her shoulder on her way out
, “
By the way,
your table in the corner wants more drinks.
”
Ryan
was slamming around the bar, glaring in the
ir
direction
when he saw
her
come out of the bathroom with
Catherine
at her hee
ls
. Amber
smiled
apologetically
and waved while she mouthed,
“Sorry boss.
”
Shaking his head,
Ryan
pulled the rag out of
his
back pocket and began wiping the counter down
, cleaning glasses and restocking
the bar. He had already filled
the drink orders she
had tossed on the counter on her way to the bathroom
. Amber knew he watched her pick up the tray
. W
ithout looking at him she turned away and passed the drink tray to Cather
ine since it was for her table.
The man in the corne
r was still on her mind, but she
would
be able to
avoid him for now
.
Catherine
was
already
heading over to their table
with the tray and
to finish taking their order
. Even though they smelled, she didn’t appear to mind since they complimented her
looks
and gave her good tips.
Amber was wary of
Gerald
. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him
in disgust when she saw him run his hand along Catherine’s thigh before she laughed and moved away
. I
f the feelings of rage and frustration
coursing through her body and mind were
any indication, he
just might
become her
wolf’s
first prey.
S
everal times
throughout the evening,
Amber sought refuge in the bathroom when she f
elt her vision begin blurring. Ducking and hurrying towards the back of the bar
, she stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact because she knew they would see flashing specks of yellow. With her stomach churning and
rolling,
she dreaded the thought of getting sic
k again. There was nothing left in her stomach to get rid of and was spared from the painful dry heaves
after the first bout was over
. Catherine didn’t follow her again. Obviously, checking on her well-being had lost its appeal after finding out that she was not pregnant. Which worked out great for Amber, sh
e hated people invading her personal space and fussing over her.
The third time she exited the bathroom Ryan waved her over. “Since you
’
re spending more time in the bathroom than waiting tables,
why don’t you just go on home?
Catherine
and I
can ha
ndle closing up for one night.”
Searching
his face
, not seeing
anything other than concern
, she began pulling the small
apron
from her waist.
“Thanks Ryan.”
Amber
headed towards the back
to clock
out
.
Catherine, always in the middle of everything
,
was right behind her grumbling once she was out of earshot of Ryan.
“You know he
’
s only letting you leave early because you are sleeping together.”
She noisily smacked her gum.
Amber turned on Catherine with a frown and hissed
through gritted teeth
. “Geez woman, give it u
p. I am not sleeping with him.”
Catherine stood with her hands on her hips and stared up at her. “I don’t car
e what you say. I have seen the
look in his eyes before and he has it bad for you.”
“Seriously, it doesn’t matter how he looks at me or anyone
else
for that matter. I could care less.” Amber could feel her anger rising.
Her heart rate sped up and her face became hot. She had to clench her fist to keep from reaching out and shaking the woman standing in front of her.
“Unless you want me to puke down the front of your pretty little dress, you might want to get out of my way.”
It would
be
so easy to grab her arms
,
to
lift her up and move her out of the way.
But she remained calm by taking
deep breaths. She refused to
get phy
sical if she didn’t have to.
When Ambers comment registered, Catherine huffed and quickly stepped out of her way when she saw her make a move towards her. Without touching her, she
breezed on past Catherine
.
She felt his eyes on her like Catherine was saying, glancing over her shoulder,
Ryan was indeed watching them. Suddenly she felt a flow of something surge through her veins and her attention
was drawn to him
.
She stopped, turned towards him and
began walking
towards the bar, h
is
smell
slammed into
her.
Her senses
sifted through the cologne, zoning in
on his masculine scent.
The noise of the bar faded away
. A
ll she saw was Ryan and she
couldn’t help but admire his physique. He was absolutely the best looking man in town,
with his pale
blue eyes and wavy black hair.
He was tall, broad shouldered with narrow hips and muscles that rippled
when he move
d
.
When not at the bar, he was at
the gym, constantly working on toning his body
, which he displayed proudl
y with the
tight
black
t-shirts he always wor
e. She wondered how it would fee
l to run her hands across the soft cotton. To feel the hard muscles
flex
with his every move. Her
body was on fire and she felt drawn to him. She wanted to run her hands through his hair
. To
grab a handful,
then
yank his hot mouth down to hers
and
press her body against the length of him
.
To rip his clothing from him, h
er body wanted to feel his
har
d
ness pressing against her
, sliding inside of her
.
She moved towards him, h
er steps
graceful. She lifted her hand and ran
her fingers
seductively through
her hair.
Ryan c
ould easily match the size
of
some of the smaller werewolves
she
had avoided
and she wondered if he could match the
prowess of a wolf while mating.