Five Weeks (Seven Series #3)(36)

“Bitch.”
“Yeah, calling her own child a predator when I was the one who was prey in that family. I’m not surprised about the divorce; they fought all the time. My dad isn’t so bad, he’s just… distant. Maybe it’s because he’s an older wolf.”
Jericho popped the cigarette in his mouth and pulled out his lighter. Light gleamed off the silver shell, and he snapped it shut with a click.
“You didn’t use to smoke,” I pointed out.
After taking a short drag, he blew the smoke over his shoulder. “Started up after… Well, I just picked up new habits and got rid of old ones.”
“Do you mind?” I asked, holding out two fingers.
“Yeah, the hell I mind,” he said in a harsh tone. “You don’t need to pick up any bad habits.”
“How do you know I don’t smoke?”
Jericho smiled cunningly and pulled another taste from his cigarette. “I’ve seen the way you wrinkle your nose in disgust when leaving a table full of smokers. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”
“Maybe I want to see what the fuss is all about. It’s not like Shifters can die from cancer.”
“No, but your breath won’t be as pleasant as it is now.”
I arched my brow. “And what about your breath? Do you think women enjoy kissing an ashtray?”
Jericho tapped the ashes into an empty glass. “It’s not my lips they usually want their mouth on.” He smiled invitingly and broke off another piece of bacon, watching me squirm in my seat as I tried to pretend his suggestive comment wasn’t sexy.
“Do you ever miss traveling?”
“We do small tours around the state sometimes,” he said. “I don’t miss sleeping in trucks and doing shit jobs for a few extra dollars to buy dinner.”#p#分页标题#e#
I sighed. “Me either. Although…” I glanced around and laughed softly.
Jericho leaned in tight. “Is Jake paying you good?”
“Fair. The tips are decent, but the guys are holding back because I’m new. That’s why I haven’t been able to put any to the side. I know the drill. They do that with fresh blood because they think they can make me work harder for them. The other girls don’t like telling how much their regulars tip them, so it’ll take me some time to figure it out.”
His jaw set. “Let me know the next time that happens.”
“Are you going to beat them up?” I wondered aloud, poking a fork at my eggs.
“No. But I’m going to have a talk with Denver. He knows what’s up around here.”
“Denver doesn’t want to be bothered with that kind of thing. We’re not on friendly terms.”
He quieted, as if he knew I was right. Denver held a grudge against me, and although we maintained a working relationship, he wasn’t about to bend over backwards to do me any favors.
Jericho watched me stabbing my eggs. “Eat, Isabelle. Or else I’ll pin you to the table and shovel it in.”
I set my fork down. “Always such sweet words rolling off your tongue, Mr. Cole.”
He snorted. “Ladies seem to have no complaints about my tongue.”
Which killed my appetite.
“I need to get going,” I said, rising from my chair and stretching. “I’m beginning to wonder if I can work these late hours every night.”
He sat up. A thin necklace with a razor on the end slid across his chest from behind the lapel of his jacket. “What did I say?”
“Maybe I don’t want to constantly hear about how much other women want you. Maybe that’s not the kind of thing that turns me on.”
I spun around and walked toward the locker room to get my purse. My face heated with embarrassment. Did I just say that out loud?
As I opened my locker, the door closed on my right. Jericho leaned against it with hooded eyes.
“What do you want?” I asked. “I have to leave.”
He kept his intent guarded as he walked behind me, lightly brushing my hair away from my shoulders. His hands never touched my body, but I shivered when he blew a soft breath against the back of my neck. I felt a flurry of tingles between my legs and stepped forward against the lockers.
“Jericho, don’t touch me.”
I felt the heat of his body behind me, then the caress of his words moving across my neck like silk. “I’m not touching you, Isabelle.” He blew on my neck again, concentrating the intensity of his breath so that heat snaked across my skin.
I reached in the locker and gripped my purse, making a soft and almost complaining moan. He placed his hands on the lockers, and I felt the faintest movement of my hair, as if he might be moving his nose through it and smelling me.