planning on just talking to the hunters who used the club as a rendezvous point. “Is… is this just a job?” She didn’t think so. He was so tense that he looked like he was ready to snap.
“Yeah, it’s a job.”
But it seemed personal. Or maybe she was just projecting.
The dance music ended, and Everett and Huntley hurried the women back to their chairs.
“Um,” Everett said, glancing at the human women, who were all ears. “Did you come to some decision?”
He seemed to be asking both Maya and Wade.
“They’ve got a job to do in Belize,” Maya said, waving her hand at David and Wade. “And I’ve got a vacation coming up.”
Everett turned his attention to Wade. “Can we have a word with you? In
Maya ground her teeth. She suspected the “word” had something to do with her and her family.
“Can it wait until we leave?” Wade glanced at the shifters just waiting for an opening to ask Maya to dance.
Right now, with four male jaguars sitting with Maya, none of the other three shifters dared approach. She might as well have been with Connor for all the freedom she had.
“In fact, we could leave now,” Wade said.
“No, I don’t want to leave this instant.” She’d never been around other shifters before, and she did want to dance. She wanted to discover if one of them might interest her more than Wade did. If she left now, would she ever have the nerve to come back?
“We need to talk
David cleared his throat. “I’ll watch over her.”
Candy snorted. “She’s a
Maya smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
Maya’s cousins stared at Candy like she was nuts. Her cheeks reddened a bit.
Wade gave David a warning look as though he’d just better take care of Maya, and then he stepped outside with her cousins.
Time to dance, and when the guys returned, she wanted to make plans for her cousins to meet Connor and Kat at a later date. She wasn’t sure how her brother would react, but she was thrilled to have found more family.
As soon as Wade left with her cousins, the jaguar piranhas moved in.
Maya was going to demonstrate to David she’d be fine, show Candy she had the blond guy’s nickname down pat, and dance with another shifter to prove to herself she could do it—and nothing bad would come of it.
“I’m dancing with Lion Mane,” she said to David, then held her hand out to Lion Mane.
He hurried to take her to the dance floor, though the redhead gave him a manly shove, telling him “Way to go,” and no doubt wishing Maya had invited him to dance instead.
She cast a look over her shoulder at Candy and mouthed, “I told you so.”
Eyes narrowed, Candy gave a little shrug like she didn’t care.
David didn’t come after Maya, which she appreciated. Instead, he pulled Cherry, the other lady seated at their table, onto the dance floor. He moved her nearer to Lion Mane and Maya as if he was going to protect her that way. She really liked Wade’s brother. He was sweet and not half as controlling as Wade. Looks could be deceiving, though. If she’d been someone David was interested in dating? Might have been a whole different story.
When Lion Mane pulled her close, she let him, figuring it was only one dance and then she’d take a new dance partner.
He had some wild moves, twirling her and pressing her intimately against his very hard body, their blond hair colliding as he dipped her and swung her around.
“Beautiful,” he purred and tried to kiss her. When she turned her head away from his mouth, he said, “You gave me a nickname.”
The implication was that she wanted him to kiss her like she had kissed Wade—and probably go much further. “Yes, because the name suited you.”
His hands slid up her waist, his thumbs brushing underneath her breasts like she wished Wade had done, but she didn’t care for this guy’s intimacy. “Because you want me,” Lion Mane said.
No, she didn’t want him. She just wanted to dance with other shifters.
She tried to appease him somewhat. “I love your hair.”
He smiled. “Run your hands through it, beautiful cat.”
“Thank you, no. I’ll just enjoy looking at it.”
Lion Mane twisted his head a little and looked at her, his expression one of disbelief. He knew she wanted to touch his hair. Probably all the women loved to. “The man you danced with earlier does not want to see you with others of our kind.”
She didn’t respond to his comment. He was fishing about her relationship to Wade. As far as she was concerned, she and Wade didn’t have one yet.
“He is not the one for you. He’s too controlling. You need your freedom.” The music ended and Lion Mane kept her close. So much for his sentiments about her needing her freedom.
She tried to back off, but David was coming to her rescue. The redhead, Bill Bettinger, was headed their way, too.
Another man, one she hadn’t noticed before, reached her first. Even though he was human, he was well over six feet tall and towered over Lion Mane and the others. The intimidating blond-bearded human quickly took charge of the situation. Wearing camouflage, he seemed out of place despite the club’s jungle theme. His vivid blue eyes studied her the way a hunter would its prey. Not that he appeared to be a bad man, but he
The male cats closing in on her looked like they’d love to shift and take care of the interfering human.
“You seem extremely popular here,” the human said, as he began to dance with her. “Come often?”
“First time.”
He raised a brow. He wasn’t holding her too close. He was gentlemanly, in fact, and she liked that.
She had a feeling, though, that he had some other purpose in dancing with her.
He cleared his throat. “I saw your picture on the website.”
“Website?” she said, trying to figure out the connection. “You must be mistaken.” Only her jaguar picture was on their garden nursery website, not any of her in human form. How would he have recognized her?
“You’re Maya Anderson, part owner of the Anderson Garden Nursery?”
“Yes,” she said, hesitating. “How do you know that? Which photo are you talking about?” They had dozens of pictures on their website showcasing the pottery barn, the greenhouse, and the sections that featured the variety of plants they offered.
“I was particularly interested in the greenhouse,” he said.
That still didn’t answer how he would know her by some photo. “Are you considering building one?”
He shook his head. Blue eyes narrowed, he studied her. “
Astonished at the question, she stared at him openmouthed, took a misstep, and only managed not to trip because he hurried to steady her.
“What jaguar?” she asked, using her most annoyed voice, which wasn’t difficult.
The mention of the jaguar made her heart begin to pound. With Kat’s help, she’d revamped their nursery website to include a picture of her—in her jaguar coat surrounded by glossy-leafed tropical plants—inside the greenhouse. She’d also added some special links that talked about the plight of the jaguars. She’d posed for one picture as a ferocious cat, but Kat had also caught her snoozing on a bench, legs and tail just hanging off, eyes closed—one happy, sleepy cat—and snapped a picture of her.
Maya had objected to putting
