Page 31 of Last But Not Leashed

I made a mental note to buy more jeans. “Girly drinks?”

“Yeah. They’re girly because the manly ones leave the drinker upright when it’s done with them. Daddy doesn’t like when his little girl drinks him under the table.”

“What the hell are you drinking that’ll knock a lycanthrope under the table?”

“Cherries in moonshine.”

“How is that girly? Since when is moonshine girly?”

Her giggling grew into laughter. “I dared Dad to eat just the cherries once. I was adding them to my Sex on the Beach. Knocked him off his seat. We had to carry him to his bedroom that night.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Only if you make fun of my liquor.”

“I probably wouldn’t say no to sex on a beach,” I admitted. I could think of a few beaches within comfortable driving distance, and some were more private than others.

“Is that all it’d take?” she demanded.

I grinned. “Ask me again after I survive meeting your parents, then you’ll find out.”

Ethel’s parents lived in a mansion, which I should’ve expected considering how much they were willing to spend on their bounty stunt. The presence of seven luxury cars in the driveway, however, worried me.

Ethel pulled in behind the cars, angled the truck to ensure they’d have to drive on the grass to escape the property, and killed the engine. With breathy growls I wanted to hear more of, she pounded the steering wheel. “Damn it! All of my brothers and sisters are here.”

Some things needed to be addressed, and a cranky lycanthrope female protecting her territory might level the entire mansion given a few minutes and provocation. “I’m not going to leave you for one of your sisters.”

“It’s my brothers I’m worried about.”

Wait. What? I blinked, thought about it, but came to the same conclusion each time. I’d never understand women. “If I’m unwilling to leave you for one of your sisters, I’m definitely not going to leave you for one of your brothers.”

“Dale!”

“What? It’s true.”

“Dale. They’re not going to try to seduce you. They’ll try to pick a fight with you.”

Ah. “And?”

“They’ll kick your ass.”

I nodded my agreement with her assessment of the situation. “I’m used to having my ass kicked, but I can take a beating with the best of them. If I’m going to require transfusions, I request you be the donor.”

If she didn’t clue in I wanted her from that, I’d have to start spelling it out to get the point across.

“Keep talking like that, and we’re going to end up having a quickie in the back of Jerome’s truck,” she growled.

“I deserve a bed—and not the back of a truck variety.”

“Hotel?”

“We’ll see.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

“How observant of you. Should I survive my meeting with your parents, there will be no crashing Jerome’s truck trying to get a hotel faster.”

“You might need to drive, then.”