Chapter Two

If there had been any way to head right back into the kitchen and bring out the artichoke dip the customer had ordered, Warner would have done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, there'd been a mix-up, and Paula had thought the appetizer had been for her table. Warner understood that things happened, so when he'd brought the customers the bottle of wine and poured it for them, he'd said it would be just a few minutes.

Too bad the customer had noticed that Paula's table had ordered after him but had already received their appetizer. He'd been livid.

Warner had apologized and told him it wouldn't be long, but the man didn't want to hear it. The guy raising his voice and jumping from his chair caused alarm bells to go off in Warner's mind. He didn't know what to do, having never been in such a situation before.

If I get Marion, will she consider it my fault? Will I miss out on the chance to learn about wine tasting from Kelly?

Before Warner could decide what to do, he caught sight of a huge mocha-skinned man stalking toward them. He would've thought the guy absolutely gorgeous in a bad boy sort of way if it wasn't for the anger clouding his medium-brown features. How the man fisted his huge hands didn't do anything to assuage Warner's already jangled nerves, either.

"Hey," the big man barked, his voice deep and commanding. "Sit back down and leave the server alone."

The customer turned and glared at the interloper. "Are you talkin' to me?" he demanded.

"‘Course I'm talkin' to you," the large guy replied derisively. "Do ya see any other assholes around here threatening cute innocent servers?"

As the guy spoke, he waved one massive brown paw of a hand in Warner's direction. Warner barely managed to stay his instinct to cringe, although he did take a step backward. The guy towered over him by half a foot, after all, and had to have at least seventy pounds on him... and all of it appeared to be muscle.

Wait. What did he just call me?

Issuing a dark snort, Warner's customer scowled as he swept his gaze over the stranger. "You a big ol' homo?" Even though the brown-skinned interloper had several inches and broader shoulders than his customer, he cupped one fisted hand with the other threateningly. "Get lost, pussy. Those gym muscles ain't scarin' no one."

With a growl, the newcomer took a step toward Warner's customer. "Watch your mouth, asshole," he ordered gruffly. He narrowed his deep brown eyes, and his arm muscles appeared to flex. "Or this pussy'll be happy to make you."

Warner backed up another step as a fresh wave of uncertainty and fear washed through him. As he lifted his hands, palms out in placation, he opened his mouth. Except, Warner had no idea what to say to defuse the situation.

To Warner's relief, an auburn-haired stranger slipped up behind the brown man. "That be enough, Geoff," he growled in a Scottish brogue. Gripping the other man's left bicep with one hand, he wrapped his right arm around his torso. "Ye're gonna get us kicked out before I get to try that taco pizza." A hint of humor filled his tone as the guy added, "And ya be scarin' that waiter ya called cute."

For some reason, that caught the big man's attention—Geoff. His shoulders immediately relaxed, and he snapped his attention to Warner. Geoff's expression softened, and a smile began to curve his full lips.

Warner felt the urge to smile back.

Until his customer opened his mouth again. "God, are you seein' this shit, Cheryl?"

He indicated the three of them while glancing at his red-faced dining companion. The woman looked for all the world as if she wished a hole would open up and swallow her. Warner understood that feeling completely.

Geoff turned his attention back to the customer and jerked in his buddy's hold.

As if he didn't have any brains in his head, the customer snarked, "Now there's two fags." With a sneer, he taunted, "Let's take a step outside, yous and me. I'll show ya both what real men are."

Warner had to admit, the auburn-haired friend had to be pretty strong to hold Geoff back. Even though he was a couple of inches shorter, he kept Geoff from taking more than half a step. As he held him tight, he whispered something into Geoff's ear that seemed to get his attention.

To Warner's relief, Marion came striding onto the patio. Fortunately, her stern expression was focused on his customer as opposed to him. She had to look up several inches, but she still managed to pull off the in-charge look.

"I'm sorry, sir," Marion began, and Warner automatically feared she was going to apologize for Warner letting Paula take his dip. Relief flooded him anew as Marion continued, "This is a family-friendly place, and that type of language will not be tolerated." Marion placed a cloth wine bag on the table and placed a plastic cork replacement in the bottle Warner had opened for them. "I'll not charge you for the wine, but I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"What the hell?" the customer snapped, glaring at Marion. "You're tryin' to kick us out because your server screwed up, and these fags interrupted?"

"No, sir," Marion replied calmly, sliding the bag toward the slowly rising woman, who immediately took it while continuing to keep her eyes downcast. Focusing back on the man, Marion told him, "I'm asking you to leave due to your continued hostile attitude and your language." As if dismissing him, Marion turned and smiled at Warner. "You can go head back and enjoy your break, Warner." Indicating the table, she added, "Katie will keep your tables updated while you're gone."

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one—and feeling oh-so-grateful for it—Warner dipped his head in a nod. "Yes, ma'am," he murmured before turning and starting away.

"Wait," Geoff called from behind him, but Warner didn't stop. He heard the man growl, "Let go, Craeg. He's—"

Whatever else the big, intimidating man would have said was lost to Warner as the glass door closed behind him. He hoped Marion could get the belligerent customer to leave without further incident, but he had no desire to be part of it. Once Warner reached the break room, he grabbed a complimentary bottle of water from the fridge and plopped down on the sofa. Letting out a deep breath, he tried to open the cap, but his hands were shaking too badly.

Warner focused on the back of a chair ten feet in front of him and took one slow breath after another. After what was probably several minutes, he began to feel calmer. He finally opened his water and took a sip.

As Warner relaxed, his thoughts turned to the guy who'd intervened on his behalf.

He called me cute.

Even as Warner felt a bit of warmth from that thought, he recalled the man's big fists and quick temper.

No way I want to get involved with a guy like that. Dealing with Dad's temper is enough, thanks.

Dismissing those thoughts, Warner rose from the sofa and crossed to where he'd hung his jacket. From inside the pocket, he withdrew a small baggie full of salted almonds. Returning to the sofa, Warner focused on enjoying his tasty snack.

* * * *

When Geoff saw that Warner had returned from his break, it took every bit of self-control he could muster to resist walking across the patio and engaging the cute human. In truth, the intense warning looks from his pod enforcers had something to do with it, too. Both Dare and Craeg reminded Geoff of the fear they'd scented on him as he'd fled the patio earlier.

Gods. Finally. I've finally met my mate!

Geoff couldn't have been more thrilled with the pretty human Fate had provided him. The man stood just shy of six feet, making him the perfect size to tuck against Geoff's taller body. His waist had a bit of padding around the middle, which thrilled Geoff. Perfect for holding onto while I pound his ass. With how large Geoff was, he didn't want to have to worry about hurting his pretty mate with his exuberance.

Fate knows her stuff.

Geoff didn't know for certain what had caused Warner's fear. The scent had already been hanging in the air when he'd approached the table. It could have been caused by the situation, the angry customer's actions, or even himself.

Gods, I hope not.

Except, Geoff recalled seeing Warner flinch just a little when he'd waved his hand to indicate him.

He didn't really think I'd hit him, did he?

Without getting close and talking to Warner again, Geoff had no way of knowing. As he sat there, trying to finish the pizza he'd ordered and drink the wine samplings, he could barely stand the wait to find out. Every once in a while, Geoff would catch a hint of Warner's scent on the breeze, and he would practically tremble with his need to go to the human.

"Time to go, Geoff," Dare encouraged, drawing his attention. Geoff didn't know when the big enforcer had risen and moved to his side, but he was placing the second half of Geoff's pizza in a to go box. "Stand up and follow Craeg out of here."

Geoff stared at Dare askance. "You can't be serious," he hissed. Keeping his voice low, he muttered, "You really think I'm going to walk away from my Fate-given mate with nothing? No phone number? No last name? No address? No confirmation of when I'll see him again?"

Not a snowball's chance in hell.

Dare scoffed as he shook his head. "Of course not." Resting his hand on Geoff's shoulder, he squeezed lightly. "Trust me, Geoff. Let cooler heads prevail in this."

Meeting Dare's dark eyed-gaze, Geoff stared at the other shifter for several heartbeats. He saw understanding within their dark-gray depths. Geoff also noticed a wealth of concern within them, too.

Geoff nodded once. "Okay."

Then Geoff rose and did as he'd been ordered, picking up the pizza box and following Craeg down a side path that led away from the patio and around the building. Instead of taking the path that went to the parking area, Craeg took a different one. This one headed down some stone stairs that led to a park-like area. There were covered picnic tables, a cornhole set, and a horseshoe pit.

Several of the others were already relaxing at one of the tables nearest the cornhole game. They were all grinning at him. As soon as Geoff neared them, he was grabbed and given back-slapping hugs while everyone offered hearty congratulations.

Kayson laughed at Geoff's surprised expression. "Come on, man." He punched him good-naturedly in the upper arm. "Not like we can express how happy we are for you in front of a bunch of strangers."

Geoff had sort of wondered why everyone had been acting so subdued once he'd shared that Warner was his mate. Seeing the response from his friends, he understood. They couldn't cause a second scene without risking alienating his mate.

"Okay, guys," Dare called, announcing his presence by setting two bottles of champagne on the table as well as a platter of flutes. "Here's to Geoff."

As Dare grabbed one bottle to open, Price set down two large charcuterie boards.

Looking at the offerings of meat, cheese, crackers, and olives, Geoff felt his mouth watering.

Price grinned at him. "We knew, considering how you couldn't eat your pizza, that you'd still be hungry." With a shake of his head and a knowing look, he added, "Sitting there with your mate's scent teasing your senses, but not being able to do anything, must have been rough." The vampire patted him on the shoulder. "We had to take into account that this is your mate's place of employment. We don't want to cause him problems."

Geoff understood the wisdom in that. "Thanks, guys." Taking the glass of champagne from Dare, he glanced around the area. "So, uh, what are we doing here?"

Craeg tipped his own glass toward a small parking area with several cars fifty yards away. "That's the employee parking area," he told him with a grin. "We're gonna eat, drink, play games, and lounge around until your human gets off shift." With a wink, Craeg added, "Then we're gonna help ya secure a date."

Grinning, Geoff raised his glass. "I'll drink to that."

Listening to a round of laughter, Geoff sipped his champagne.

*

"Hey, there's your boy."

Kayson tapped Geoff's arm with the back of his fingers and pointed behind him. Turning away from the cornhole game, he looked in that direction. Immediately, Geoff felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched his mate stride toward an older gray sedan. His human's head was bowed, and his shoulders were hunched, as if he had the weight of the world on them.

A driving need to alleviate whatever plagued his mate surged through Geoff. He tossed the bean bags to the ground and started toward the human. Geoff knew Craeg and Dare followed, sensing them a ways behind him, and he appreciated their silent support.

"Warner," Geoff called, jogging a few steps to close the distance between them.

His mate's head came up, and he spun to face him. Even as Geoff relished being the focus of Warner's attention, he didn't like the rounding of his eyes and the step backward he took.

Geoff slowed his stride and lifted his hands in placation. "Hey, sorry to startle you." Smiling at Warner, Geoff swept his gaze over him appreciatively before meeting his mate's hazel eyes. He really didn't like the wariness he saw within their pretty depths. "Are you okay?" Geoff asked, lowering his voice to a soft rumble, hoping to soothe that look from him. "You didn't get into trouble from that asshole, did you?" Grimacing, Geoff added, "Or my interference?"

Warner slowly shook his head. "N-No. I'm good."

Okay. So that wasn't what made him appear so troubled.

"I'm glad to hear that," Geoff told him, lowering his hands. When he was within ten feet of Warner, he saw the much smaller man step backward once more, and Geoff stopped. "Easy, Warner."

Shit. Is he scared of me?

Hoping to set his mate's mind at ease, Geoff crooned, "I would never hurt you, sweetheart."

Warner's wariness didn't abate. "Um, okay." Narrowing his eyes, he glanced behind Geoff, perhaps taking in his friends, before refocusing on him. "Um, i-is there s-something I can help you with, sir?"

Damn. Yes, he is.

Geoff mentally winced, scenting his mate's nerves. "A date," he blurted out, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'd like to take you on a date."

Staring up at Geoff as if he had two heads, Warner gaped for one second, two, before blurting, "Why?"