Twice The Growl - Milly Taiden Page 0,1
the heck would possess you to say you’re too old? Thirty is young!”
“Thirty-two.”
Nita rolled her eyes. “It isn’t like you’re ninety.”
“Sure feels like it,” she whispered with the drink by her lips. She winced at how strong it was. Apparently the waitress felt she needed more than her usual dose of liquor. Tally had to agree. She needed a damn miracle.
“All you have to do is stop dating the wrong men,” Nita stated matter-of-factly.
She pinned Nita with a glare. “I thought that’s what I was already doing. I mean I work at a damn lawyer’s office. I don’t date any of those assholes. But why is it that when I meet what seems to be a nice, decent man, he turns out to be some kind of double bastard with a side of dickhead?”
Nita’s brows curved up. “Wearing a suit to work doesn’t mean you should live in one. Cut loose, woman!” She exhaled loudly and pointed a red-tipped fingernail at Tally. “You need to get laid properly.”
“Shush!” She glanced around the bar. A couple of the younger guys threw winks in their direction. Flames of embarrassment heated her cheeks. “You’re going to get us kicked out of here.”
Nita giggled. “What I’d like is to get you hooked up.”
“I’d settle for a date.”
Nita shook her head. “No. We need drastic measures here. You need to get laid.”
“Nita!” She gasped, covering the side of her face with her hand. “Shut up! You make me sound like a desperate cougar.”
“Aw come on, Tally. I hate that you have to worry about a date for a family function. You’re such a wonderful woman. This isn’t something you should be stressing. You should be kicking men out of your door every night.”
Right. Because she was such a wild one. Not. With her black-framed glasses, unruly, curly hair, larger than most women curves, and somewhat bitchy personality, she didn’t really see herself as a femme fatale.
“I think you’ve had too many of those drinks.” Tally smiled and patted Nita’s hand. “I’ll figure something out. I might ask Mrs. Wilder for some help. Who knows? Maybe she can succeed where I haven’t.”
“I like Mrs. Wilder. I don’t care that she can probably chew me into little pieces even at her old age.” Nita scrunched her nose. She twirled the small straw in her glass in circles. “It’s a good thing she likes you, and therefore me by default, because I have heard some crazy stuff about those shifters.”
Tally knew Mrs. Wilder wasn’t your regular granny, but she was such a sweetheart. And she was someone she could share her cake addiction with. They took turns baking different things and sharing with each other. It’s what fed Tally’s chocolate urges and kept her with way too many curves to count.
“Yeah.” Tally sucked down a gulp from her new drink. “Who would’ve thought that I’d become such good friends with a shifter granny.”
Nita grinned. “Why wouldn’t you? She’s sorta bitchy, like you.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said drily.
“It’s a compliment. I’m so tired of these bubbly women that are fake about how they feel. Feel bitchy? Be bitchy.” Nita picked up her glass and pointed to Tally. “This world is filled with too many fake people. You’re not trying to be a copy of anyone, Tally. That’s why I love you. You’re always going to be an original.”
Tally grinned. Clinked glasses with Nita and sipped her drink. “Thanks. So far that hasn’t really brought anything good into my life.”
“It will,” Nita assured her. “Go visit Mrs. Wilder and for once tell her you need help. It’s not the end of the world to admit to needing a man.”
Tally chuckled. “I don’t need a man. Not really. I need someone to be my date for the week from hell.”
Nita shrugged and motioned the waitress for the check. “Maybe Mrs. Wilder will hook you up.” She gasped. “Oh, my gosh! What if she hooks you up with one of those scorching shifters she has visiting her all the time?”
“Now that would be something to celebrate.” Tally giggled. “They are so sexy. She told me she has anything from bears, to wolves, to big cats.”
“Wow.” Nita sighed. “Bears and big cats. I used to have a best friend who was a bear.”
“Really? When?”
Nita pursed her lips. “When we lived near the mountains for dad’s job with the fish and wildlife department.”
“Was this before you all came back here?”
Nita nodded. “Yeah. We were sophomores in high school. He was so cute with his glasses