Claiming His Mate(9)
Two males were behind the grill line and one of them jerked a thumb behind him. “In the office.”
Lauren didn’t know what that meant, but Max just growled under his breath. Seconds later she stood with him in the entryway to a small office that had a computer, a small desk, and stacks of papers. Jeez, they were unorganized. A tall woman with blond hair was on the phone shouting at someone ‘to get their asses over here’ but she slammed the phone down when she saw Max. “Almost everyone is out with some bullshit excuse. It’s fucking madness and I can’t get anyone to come in here because they’re already working at one of the other restaurants or the hotel. I’ve been helping man the grill line but we need someone helping behind the bar and someone taking the drinks for the servers. If it wasn’t for the alcoholic drinks the girls would be fine but they keep having—”
“I can serve the drinks,” Lauren said quickly, interrupting the woman’s frantic machine-gun fire of words. There was no reason not to help. Not when the Kincaid pack had been so nice to her—after she’d broken into their alpha’s home. Yeah, she needed to show some goodwill to this pack and had no problem pitching in.
Max turned to look at her then, his expression stunned.
“What?” she demanded, unnerved by his intense stare.
“Why are you offering?” His suspicious tone pissed her off.
Lauren reined in her temper. She shrugged, not wanting to admit that 1) she simply wanted to help his pack out because she felt freaking guilty and 2) it would put some distance between the two of them. “It’s not like I have anything better to do to. But if you don’t want the help, fine,” she gritted out.
His gaze swept over her attire then landed back at her face. She could tell he didn’t want her to, but she wasn’t sure why. The women she’d seen working had on black pants, black tops and black aprons. Right now Lauren wore a corset-style lace up black top and jeans. With an apron covering her jeans, she’d fit in well enough. Before he could open his mouth to argue or make another rude comment, the woman behind him smacked his arm.
“Do you have any experience in restaurants?” she asked, the tension rolling off her almost palpable.
Reaching in her back pocket to grab a hair band, Lauren said, “I waited tables in college. Just let me see a layout of the restaurant so I know how each table section is labeled. I’ll start with delivering all the bar drinks and if you need me to deliver food to tables once they get that under control, I will.” She swept her hair up into a ponytail so it would be out of her face.
The blond woman grabbed Max’s arm and yanked him so he had to look back at her. “What are you waiting for? We’re drowning out there!”
Cringing, Lauren wondered if the woman’s only volume setting was loud.
Max let out a curse and gave Lauren another suspicious look. “Fine. I’ll help at the bar and she can serve the drinks. But see if you can get her a T-shirt or something.”
“My top is fine,” Lauren snapped. What the hell was wrong with him? She was a jaguar and wasn’t going to put on someone else’s top. Their scent would be all over her and drive her insane.
The blonde ignored Max and practically shoved past the giant wolf and dragged Lauren away. After introducing herself as Sapphire—yes, freaking Sapphire—she shoved an apron at Lauren then dragged her to the bar to introduce her to the bartender, a female named Charlie.
The bartender had long, brown hair and was moving around with the speed of only a supernatural but it was clear she was still behind on her orders. The thick pile of tickets next to the cash register was proof enough. After tying her apron on, Lauren quickly scanned the laminated layout Sapphire practically threw at her before she’d darted away.
Lauren looked at the layout of the restaurant and bar area, then back at the printout one more time. She had a knack for being able to look at something once or twice and remember most of the details. “Leave the ticket with the drinks and I’ll figure out where they’re going.” There was no way she’d have time to learn the computer system so waiting tables and taking orders was out of the question. But this she could easily do. And it soothed her conscience to help out Max this way. Even if the brooch belonged to her family she still felt guilty after seeing how nice this pack truly was.
Charlie nodded at her, her expression grateful. “Thanks,” she said before turning back to where she was three-deep at the bar.
Damn, the woman really needed help. Lauren poked her head back into the kitchen, ready to tell Max to hurry up and help the woman out when she stopped dead in her tracks.