Harry’s delicious ass found one of her padded stools at the breakfast bar. He ran his hand through his unkempt hair when a revelation clearly dawned on him. “Work . . . I forgot about work. How the hell am I going to work?”
“Just like I do,” she said, tamping down a new rush of irritation. “You know, you get up, grab a shower. In my case, throw on some lip gloss in a lame attempt to gussy up, blow-dry your hair. Have some coffee, pack a lunch, get in your car, drive, park it in the parking lot, take the elevator—”
“I meant as a werewolf!” he yelled down at her, slamming his fist against the counter, his face again rigid and red.
Carl shuffled, mewling a small groan at Harry’s angry words, hiding behind Nina.
Nina took his enormous, gray blue hand and patted it to comfort him before slapping Harry on the head. “Quit goddamn well upsetting my zombie, you loudmouth. He’s already freaked out by all the extra stimulus. Stop making it worse. Jesus, Harry. Get it together. You go to work and play with all those stupid numbers just like before you were a werewolf. Stop being a pansy.”
“And I hide this”—he tugged at the fringes of his freshly grown, albeit scraggly beard—“how? I get the feeling if I come in clean shaven and by the time lunch rolls around I look like ZZ-Top, I dunno, but I think there might be some uncomfortable questions!”
Nina was in his face in an instant, growling a warning to ease up.
Harry backed right off, as though he were trying to contain himself and his newfound rage. “Apologies,” he offered, contrition clearly written all over his face. “It just happens.”
Mara let her forehead rest on the cool granite of her counter, her grainy eyes sore. Shit. He was right. His hair growth was out of control, not to mention his mood swings. What if someone added some numbers on an invoice incorrectly, and Harry went ballistic on them?
Worse, everyone werewolf would smell his change. How were they going to hide that? “Did Marty say how long the adjustment period takes, Nina? I forget . . .” Good, God. She’d ruined this man’s life. Intruded, invaded, disrupted his world and completely taken it over. Hell wasn’t fit for her.
Nina took Carl by the hand and led him to a stool next to Harry, shaking her finger at him to warn him he should sit and stay. When he reacted appropriately by grunting and giving her that almost endearingly crooked smile, she stroked his stringy hair and smiled back before saying, “Longer than know-it-all Harry has.”
“I have to work. I have to take the kids to school. I have to be there for them.”
Mara immediately melted again. His dedication to his sister’s children outweighed his shitty mood shifts. Sympathy and more remorse than her gut could handle overwhelmed her. “I’ll take care of it. You have sick days, right? Call in werewolf and I’ll handle everything else. Okay?”
Harry swallowed hard, rolling his thick shoulders. “And the kids? How am I going to explain what’s happening to me to them? They’re smart enough to know I can’t grow a beard overnight. And the car-pool ladies? They’re always asking personal questions about me, bringing me casseroles, trying to help with the kids. How do I explain this to them?”
Mara fought a sarcastic, maybe even jealous snort. She’d just bet the car-pool ladies were very interested in Harry. He was single, struggling with two children who’d lost a parent, and he had no idea how ungodly hot he was. He was the perfect prey.
“Don’t you worry about shit, Harry. I’ll handle the chicks in minivans with the tuna casseroles, and the kids, too. Marty and Wanda’ll help. You’re gonna stay the hell put here at Mara’s, and shut your yap until we can figure this out.”
Harry’s face held concern. “Will handling them involve crude language and cracked ribs? The ladies of the Cedar Crest Elementary car pool are the only people who actually like me these days. And they bring me food. Sometimes, it’s even edible. I don’t want to risk a shutout because you beat one of them up. And there are the kids to think of . . .”
Nina chuckled finally, relieving some of the tension between them. “I’ll let Miss Clairol Number Two-twenty-two deal with the broads. She’s good at shit like that. I won’t fuck anything up for Fletcher and Mimi. I like ’em. But I don’t like you. Remember that.”
“Don’t vampires need to sleep during the day?” Harry asked, then made an odd face with a look that said he couldn’t believe he was actually asking something so absurd.
“Don’t kids go to school during the day, Harry? Marty and Wanda’ll take the day shift. I’ll handle the night shift. Plus, I got a kid of my own so I’m used to losing sleep. Especially with a vampini who’s teething.”