(SPENCE)
"What will you have sir?" She asked, and Spence found himself unable to reply.
He had to swallow twice, before his tongue and throat finally agreed to cooperate with his brain.
" Long island tea please." He choked out, inwardly cursing himself for his ineptitude.
She probably thought he was a blundering idiot. He was risking everything for a random human and he couldn't even act like a real man around her.
It wasn't until she returned with his drink that he replied how inept he was, he had ordered long island tea, the worst drink known to man ( and Wolf, at least in his opinion.)
He sat there for two hours choking down sip after sip of both the original and two refills of a drink he hated.
He kept waiting for a lull at the bar, but it never came.
" You should know better." He murmured as he returned to his seat after his third trip to the bathroom.
" This is LA, they don't have lulls here."
Had he been a normal man, he would have taken that as his clue to leave, he needed to get some rest if he was going to capture a wolf tomorrow.
But he wasn't a man, and he certainly wasn't normal, so he returned to his seat and kept waiting for a lull to talk to her.
His chance came sooner than expected. The brawny guy from the door came over to the bar to pour drinks and she went over to a side table to rest her legs.
He found himself ordering a bottle of water and taking it to her. It was only when he was sitting across from her that he realized he had no idea what to say to her.
" What time do you get off work?" He asked, handing her the water and wanted to kick himself in the shin.
"Way to go Spence, bring a girl water and ask creepy cringe-worthy questions." He murmured in an undertone.
" Excuse me?" She asked.
" I'm sorry." He said, getting to his feet.
"Forget I said anything, sorry to bother you." He added, before hurrying away into the mass of flesh, swaying into each other on the bar's tiny dance floor.
He smacked a hand against his head as he pressed through the swaying mass.
" Ask stupid questions, then run away, just the way to get a woman." He muttered.
He was so embarrassed he didn't dare look back, she was probably laughing her head off right now, she would probably get on her phone as soon as she left work and tell her friends all about the bumbling idiot who had tried to pick her up at work tonight.
"Look on the bright side, now you can focus more on your mission." His subconscious quipped, and he wanted to reach into his head and give the annoying voice a smack on the back of the head.
He sure hoped he found his wolf in the morning, or coming back here to find him tomorrow night would require balls of steel.
Funny how the most ferocious wolves and hardened criminals didn't scare him, but a Liu slip of a girl could.
From her seat, at the other end of the bar, Evie watched him walk away.
Who was he? And what had he done to her? She wondered.
Evie didn't believe in love at first sight,or any form of love for that matter, at least not for herself. She wasn't meant for love; love required commitment and stability, things she couldn't give.
Love meant unmasking yourself and letting your guard down, something she couldn't afford to do.
Not when her life was in danger.
No, love wasn't meant for her.
She believed that, and had lived with it for the past twelve years.
Why then had she felt butterflies in her stomach, when she saw him walk up to the bar and take a seat?
Why had it been so hard to talk to him?
Why did she seem to drown in his beautiful eyes?
Why did she lose control of all her thinking faculties when he was within ten feet of her?
Why did she find herself desperately wanting to run her hands through his hair?
And why did she find herself fantasizing about being wrapped up in his arms?
She felt just like Gina told her she did when she met Liam.
" No.* She told herself with a firm shake of her head.
She wasn't in love, she couldn't be in love with a stranger.
She had been celibate for too long, that was all.
All she needed was a good lay, and she would be back to normal.
" Yes." She said, getting to her feet.
" All I have to do is find a willing participant."
Images of long hair and shiny earrings filled her mind, but she shook her head.
" No, not him." She told herself.
" Shouldn't be too hard." She told herself, heading back to the bar to relieve Drew.
Two hours later, as she closed up and went over the books with Mickey, Noel's son, she had to admit it was quite hard.
Getting a one-night stand when you have low self-esteem should make it to the list of hardest things in the world, if it is still missing.
" Thank you Evie." Mickey said as she closed the laptop she used to manage the bar's accounts and handed over the bills she had made in cash sales.
" Employing you was the best business decision my father ever made." He added.
" No, Mickey," Evie said.
" I should be the one thanking your father, this job's a life saver."
" I'll tell him you said that, it'll make his day." Mickey said, beaming at her. Evie smiled at him and went into the backroom to change back into her shirt.
When she came back outside, Mickey was wiping down the tabletops. " Need a ride?" He raised his head to ask.
He had been asking since the first day she came to work and she had been turning him down. He never failed to ask.
Noel had raised a boy just like himself.