Free The Cougar's Wish (Desert Guards) by Holley Trent Page A

locks back into her lopsided ponytail and wrapped her arm around Belle’s shoulders. She slowly moved Belle toward the door and whispered, “Listen, he makes sense.”
    See?
the cat repeated. Intrigued, the lady part of Belle asked, “How so?”
    “He knows what you are, for one thing.”
    “In general terms, maybe. And you say that as if it were a positive point.”
    “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But look—you’re not going to do any better.”
    “Oh, that’s not insulting at all.”
    “I’m serious. I’m not trying to be offensive. I’m just telling you the truth as I see it. I’ve known you forever, and I think sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.”
    “Yeah? How’s that forest looking?”
    “You tell me. I mean, have you ever had a conversation with the guy? And have you ever
looked
at him?”
    “Of course I have.”
    “Which?”
    “Both.”
    “Order’s
up
,” Chet said.
    “Keep your panties on, Chet. We’re moving,” Alex said.
    “Move faster, or we’re gonna get slammed, and there’s only so many hamburgers I can fit on the griddle at once. The heating element on the right side blew out.”
    “Maybe you should call the repair tech.”
    “Thank you, Einstein. I wouldn’t have thought of that on my own.”
    Alex rolled her eyes and gave Belle a nudge with her elbow. “
Which
?”
    “Both. Like I said. Of course I’ve looked at him.”
    “Through the sides of your squinted eyes.”
    “Not only that way,” Belle said low. He wore baggy athletic shorts sexier than any man she’d ever seen, and he had a penchant for pickup games with Tito and Darnell at the court down the street from her house. She knew there were cartoon wolves on his underwear because he had a habit of pulling up his T-shirt to wipe his sweaty face and his shorts sagged on his hips. On the day she’d made that discovery, she’d stormed down to the court to tell him that she was sick of seeing him on her street. The cat in her must have been hypnotized by the pretty muscles of his back or the nice pop of his ass or something, because she’d forgotten what it was she was going to tell him and ran off before he could turn around.
    Alex picked up a water bottle from the counter and splashed some of the contents into Belle’s face.
    “Hey!” Belle flailed and reached blindly for a kitchen towel. “What the hell did you do that for?”
    “I’m talking to you.”
    “And I’m
listening
.”
    “So answer me. What kind of stuff did you talk about?”
    “Gods, I don’t know. One lecture sounds pretty much like another after a while. When certain people around me open their mouths, everything sounds like
womp-womp-womp
. I’ll be adding you to that number soon.”
    Alex groaned. “So, you haven’t talked to him. You should get to know him.”
    “Okay.”
    “Is that sarcasm? I’m just trying to help you, Belle.”
    “I know you are, but ... there’s a lot in play you don’t understand.” Belle pulled open the door, stepped back out into the front of the diner, and then went to the sink to wash her hands.
    Alex shrugged and grabbed her order pad. “If you say so. Steven’s stool is one of yours, by the way.”
    Belle suppressed a sigh and made her way to the end of the counter. She drummed the end of her pen against the metal trim and waited for him to look up from his phone. He was scowling at it. Whatever was on the screen must have been particularly bothersome, because he wasn’t much of a scowler. In fact, he was probably one of the most easygoing men she knew.
    “You’re not actually hungry, are you?” she asked him.
    “I could eat,” he said.
    Just to prove to herself that she could, she met his gaze right on.
    Easy as pie.
    Chocolate pie.
    His eyes were a rich brown and
old
. She never knew what it meant for someone to have “old eyes” until recently when her mother attributed that trait to Lola. There was a depth of wisdom in the goddess’s bottomless dark gaze that