On the way back, I looked inside my purse and grinned.
Tanner's wallet lay right on top of mine. Again.
I'd check how much cash he had inside once I was safe at home.
I sucked in a breath as I pulled out two hundred and twenty bucks from Tanner's wallet. That could last me the entire week. I could buy groceries, pay my light bill, and maybe even grab some more beignets in the French Quarter. I chewed the side of my lip as I eyed the cash. He said I could have it if I managed to take it from him. But would I be a bad person if I did?
I palmed the cash and stuffed it inside of my wallet. No. I wouldn't be. It was his fault for being so cocky. I didn't need the money this time, but his words about me stealing his wallet assuaged all of my guilt. I'd never met the wallet I couldn't lift, and I'd never met the man who could conquer my light fingers. To think I hadn't known about my gift until I had to survive made me chuckle. If I'd known years before, I might be rich by now.
Or in jail.
I flipped through his wallet one more time and blinked as a folded sheet of paper rested inside the place where his cash was. I'd missed it the first time. I unfolded the sheet of paper.
I doubt you'll see this, but here's my number. I'll come pick you up tomorrow.
He'd scrawled his cell underneath the message.
I dropped the note like it burned me. Of all the arrogant assumptions to make! How had he known I'd say yes to him? Just that cocky?
But even worse, how did he know where I lived? I looked around my house and went over to the windows to make sure everything was locked up. Tanner was more than he seemed to be.
I looked forward to digging into his psyche a little deeper tomorrow.
Until then, I was going to see what I could find online.
I sat back in my chair and studied the website. Beastly. Tanner and three other hot as fire men owned the place. But there was no other information other than it being a private club. Exclusive to members only. There was no address. No calendar information. Nothing other than a phone number. My fingers itched to dial it, but I didn't want Tanner to know I was stalking him. His brooding face looked out from the website. He wore a suit in his picture. The man looked good in it, but I knew he'd be more comfortable in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. How I knew, I had no idea.
I also knew he'd look better out of both.
"Whoo, Ella. Calm down," I told myself as I picked up an envelope and fanned myself with it. I clicked off the site in a hurry and checked my email yet again to see if I had any news from my lawyer. He hadn't checked in for a few days so I shot him a quick note asking about my settlement.
Any day now and I could find a proper house and get some maintenance done to my old car. I was socking away what money I could, but some days were better than others. I planned to deposit most of the money I'd lifted from Tanner, but I'd have to do another booth next week if it didn't come in.
I got up and went to my closet, but on the way there, I felt the back of my neck prickle. I spun but there was no one and nothing there. My heartbeat picked up as I looked around the dingy apartment. But I couldn't see anything amiss. I walked over to the window and gently lifted the curtain a hair just to be able to see outside. People milled below me and a woman stood on the opposite side of the street. She looked up at my apartment. I blinked, surprised to see her staring at me, and in that short amount of time she'd disappeared. Unsettled, I looked around, sure she was still in the same area, but she wasn't.
She'd disappeared.
Weird.
The woman seemed familiar somehow, but I knew I'd never seen her before. She was wiry with dirty blonde hair. Beautiful in a strange way. I shook my head and let the curtain fall.
The feeling of being watched went away which gave me the creeps all over again.
8
Tanner
My fucking wallet was gone again. A laugh burst from me as I checked my pocket. How in the hell had she done it? I thought back to our encounter. We hadn't been close enough for her to grab it.
Except ... a grin slid over my face. Except when she was about to go and she touched me on the shoulder.
That little minx was good. She used her sex appeal to scramble my damn brain and used her other hand to lift the thing right out of my pocket.
I was glad I'd stuffed it full of cash today. Figured it was a long shot of her being able to grab it. The apartment she lived in was a piece of shit so if it gave her a little wiggle room in her budget, I was all for it.
Also, I hadn't seen a single thing to kill her over. Clara was hanging around waiting for a report, but I didn't have anything to provide. Ella was divorced, but I didn't think she was a cheater. I didn't think she was anything except for a feisty woman trying to survive. I couldn't fault her for that.
In the same breath, I knew Clara wasn't my mate. Whatever she'd done was wearing off. I still felt desire when I looked at her, but it wasn't the same as when I looked at Ella. She was messing with my mind somehow. I needed to find my brothers and chat with them about it before she realized it and tried to start screwing with them too. How much had Clara intervened in our lives? She'd done some good, yes, specifically with Blaire. But this thing with Ella seemed harmful. I had to get to the bottom of it.
Soon.
One thing occurred to me just as I tugged on my apron for my scheduled shift. Ella, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be human. This sobered me up quite a lot. Dragons and humans could date, sure, but it required tons of restraint on the dragon's part because humans weren't strong.
We also couldn't have children with them, though something Cal had told me made me wonder. Our brother wasn't a purebred dragon like the rest of us, but he managed to knock Macaria, his mate, up without being in dragon form. Whether that was true for me remained to be seen.
Not that I should be thinking of knocking Ella up right now. I had to get her to like me first. But it complicated the shit out of things if she was completely human. A lot of psychics were human, but a lot of them weren't. I'd seen nothing indicating she was anything other than what she appeared to be.
Why the gods would mate me with someone who couldn't have children with me was a question I planned to ask much later.
Right now, I'd enjoy the gift I'd been given.
"Hey asshole," I said to Scott as I walked behind the bar.
Scott grinned and snapped a towel at me. "Hey yourself." His gaze never missed a thing. "You've got a bit of a glow happening." He waved his hands around my chest. "Spill."
I glanced over at the table where Clara sat. Her posture was too alert for her not to be listening to me. I gave Scott a slight shake of my head. His smile froze, and he nodded back in understanding. "I see. You don't kiss and tell. Fine. I'll get Clara to tell me." He winked and tossed an olive over to Clara.
She caught it with one hand and popped it into her mouth. "Fae don't tell either, Scott."
He sucked his teeth for a moment and shrugged. "Fine. Spoil sports." Scott jerked his head toward the back when Clara stopped paying attention to us. "Later," he mouthed.
A few hours later, Liam strolled in looking a little worse for the wear. He wore a collared shirt, but right above the collar lurked an angry scratch.