fighting it. If she continued to feel so conflicted about this job, this mission she was on, eventually someone would pick up on that. Maybe, for this short period of time, she should become who she’d been before.
For the greater good.
If she did, could she get back to where she was right now? She was very much afraid the old habits were too deeply ingrained, and they’d overtake her again. If she didn’t do this, how successful would she be?
A young man dressed crisply in a long-sleeved white shirt, black tie, and black pants with a small green apron tied around his waist approached her table. He placed a small menu in front of her with a smile. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Keira returned the smile. “I’ll take an iced tea, please.”
“One iced tea coming up.” He grinned. “I’ll come back in a few minutes to take your order.”
After he walked away, Keira pulled the menu closer. She was so hungry, every last thing on the menu looked delicious.
The waiter came back a few minutes later with her tea. “Are you ready to order?” he asked.
“I’ll take the bacon cheeseburger with fries. Oh, and a side salad.” She wasn’t particularly fond of salads. It was only in the last fifty years or so that humans had started using them as something other than a garnish. But she’d ordered the salad so she wouldn’t feel as guilty about the burger and fries. She still had more jewelry stores to hit this afternoon, and the heightened stress alone would work off most of the extra calories she was getting ready to ingest.
“How do you want your burger cooked?”
“Medium, please.”
“That’s mostly done with a thin strip of pink in the center?”
Keira nodded.
The server gathered up the menu. “I’ll put your order in right away.” After giving her another dimple-producing smile, he walked away.
She sat back and glanced around the small restaurant. There was a woman with a young child a few tables over, and a couple of older men sitting on stools at the counter toward the front. A smartly dressed woman and a man in a suit sat at one of the booths against the wall, and men in ties sat at the other booths. They all seemed to be business people on their lunch breaks.
By their scent, everyone here except her was human. Maybe it was all of Stefan’s rhetoric still rolling through her head, but all of a sudden she felt outnumbered and hemmed in. At least one more pret would be nice. She pulled her phone closer, debated a moment, and then sent off a quick text to Finn, asking him to join her if he could.
She looked around, read the menu again, looked around some more, and wished she’d thought to bring a book with her. Ten minutes later the server approached with her food. After ascertaining she didn’t need anything else for the moment, he went over to another table.
Keira checked her phone; Finn still hadn’t responded to her text. She thought about sending him another message but pushed her phone away. He was probably busy, and she wasn’t going to beg. She heard the door open but didn’t look to see who was coming or going.
Footsteps sounded behind her, then Finn plopped down in the chair beside Keira. His hair curled against the collar of his shirt. Long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his hair-roughened forearms. His grin crinkled the corner of his gorgeous blue eyes. Bloody hell. He looked good enough to eat.
“Hey, there, stranger. I got your text.” He leaned over and placed a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth, his breath warm and sweet against her skin. “Where’ve you been keeping yourself lately?”
She inhaled, holding the fresh scent of him in her lungs a moment. She couldn’t tell him what she’d really been up to. With a nonchalant shrug, she said, “I’ve been around. I’ve been doing some shopping today.”
“For what?” His eyes twinkled with good nature and curiosity.
“Oh, this and that. Jewelry mostly.” She picked up her iced tea glass and took a sip, and grimaced when she realized she hadn’t put any sweetener in it.
As she reached for the small container of sweetener packets, his sensual lips pursed. He clearly didn’t care for her evasiveness, but he didn’t push it. When the server approached and asked for his order, Finn said, “I’ll have a burger, rare, and fries. With a cola. Thanks.”
After the