I glanced at Zed. His lips brushed my forehead.
That was his way of saying he wasn’t going to make any decisions for me, I supposed.
“I can give you a few minutes, assuming you don’t act like an ass.”
He put his free hand over his heart. “No ass-like behavior, I swear.”
Past June would’ve laughed at that. Current June wasn’t amused.
I nodded, and walked with Zed toward a booth. I wasn’t even watching where we were going, but we ended up tucked in a small one off to the very side, in the corner of the room. Zed sat with his back to the wall, his eyes scanning the whole bar, and I sat down across from him. The way we were sitting, I felt like we were the only people there.
My stomach was clenched, though, my body tight and worried.
Zed’s feet tangled with mine. “You okay?” he murmured, quietly enough that no one would be able to hear us.
“I think so,” I whispered back. “Just… I don’t know. The whole thing is weird.”
Zed nodded, but took my hand across the table.
A pretty middle-aged waitress showed up, and I ordered for both of us, since I already knew what was good. She seemed a bit taken aback by how much food we ordered, but when she checked out Zed—much to my irritation—she seemed to accept the mass amount of food and move on.
Zed’s legs slid against mine, his fingers tracing lightly over my knuckles. He was trying to distract me, and honestly, it was working.
I tilted my head against the side of the booth, glad I wasn’t watching Stewart walk around the diner.
“He’s staring at you,” Zed told me, a few minutes later. He was sipping casually on a glass of water, but the wariness in his eyes, the strain in his voice, and the tension in his shoulders told me he was anything but casual.
“Is this going to be a problem?” I asked him quietly.
“No.” He paused. “Probably not. Just don’t let him touch you; I don’t know how my wolf would react to that.”
I had already seen how the man himself had reacted to it in the bar that one morning, and I hadn’t even touched the guy. Something told me that possessive wolf who’d followed me around the damned country would be a hell of a lot more of a pain.
“Alright. I’ll leave a seat between us, and lean away if he tries to make a move or anything.”
Zed lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Mention to him that I’m not thrilled about your chat,” he murmured. “So he knows I’m watching closely, and behaves.”
I nodded. “Good call.”
His lips brushed my knuckles again. “He’s coming. Lean across the table?”
I didn’t know why I was doing it, but I leaned across the table.
Zed’s hand dove into my hair as his lips took mine possessively, his tongue finding mine immediately and making the kiss scorching.
Stewart cleared his throat beside us, and Zed’s fingers put light pressure along the back of my head, silently warning me not to jerk away. Our lips slowly detached, and I bit my bottom one as I looked at Stewart.
His eyes were on my lips.
“What?” Zed asked, his voice low enough that it was nearly a growl.
“Ready for that talk?” Stewart asked me, his voice strained a bit.
I looked back at Zed, just to make sure he was still okay with it. He jerked his head in a nod, and I slipped out of the booth. “Don’t eat my food,” I teased him, flashing a grin his way in an attempt to set him at ease. “I’ll only be a minute.
His lips tilted upward only slightly, but I did get a reaction. “Alright, Beautiful. Hurry back.”
I turned, and caught up to Stewart.