RED ROCK SHIFTERS

CHAPTER ONE

The first time that I really noticed Jace was the moment when my fist connected with his nose. I had a split second to really appreciate how goddamn sexy he was, before there was the crack of bone breaking and that sexy face was hidden under a light layer of blood. I shook my fist to get rid of the slight pain and almost laughed at the curse words he spouted. Some of them were pretty creative and the ones that involved my parentage were probably true.

You’re probably wondering what exactly had bought upon my sudden violent streak towards the sexiest guy in the bar. The truth was that it was a pretty pathetic excuse. It also could have been a multitude of things. It could have been the fact that Jace was a man-slut who would flirt with any girl in the bar, except me. Or it could have been because he had ignored me the entire two months I had worked at the only bar in Red Rock. It could even have been because he had simply rubbed me up the wrong way ever since I’d been here. If I was being honest thought it wasn’t his jerky behaviour that had caused me to punch him but rather his act of chivalry.

The two months I had worked here I had never heard Jace say one nice thing about a female shifter. He might screw them at leisure but he sure as shit didn’t treat them equal. I’d heard him on several occasions telling his shifter buddies that they were the strong ones who had to defend the home and care for the little women because my sex obviously weren’t capable of defending ourselves. It had never really bothered me that much. Until this evening when a bar fight had broken out. I worked in a bar that was visited by mostly shifters so it wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence. What was rare was the fact that Jace tried to protect me. It was probably because he was closer to me than anyone else and he had been taught to protect the women of Red Rock. All it did was piss me off though. I had never been some weak-ass girl who needed a big, strong man to save her. When he jumped in front of me and punched some guy in his effort to protect me it just made me mad. When he turned around and gave me his hero smile I just lost it and before I knew what I was doing my fist had broken his nose.

“I don’t need saving, asshole,” I informed him before turning with my tray in hand to head back to the bar. It was only then that I realised that the fight had stopped quicker than it had started and every eye was on me. Shit!

I had completely forgotten my promise to myself that I would stay under the radar. I was here to observe and fit in, not to cause trouble. Instead here I was attacking the town’s golden boy like a crazed woman.

“Um, hormones?” I tried to explain and the shifter male closest to me snorted out a laugh. That seemed to be some sort of sign because all of a sudden everyone began talking again as though nothing had happened and I breathed a sigh of relief. Last thing I needed was for people to actually take notice of me. I had too many secrets for them to go digging in to my past.

I kept myself busy by delivering the beers to each table and avoiding the curious glances my way. Maybe if I just lay low from now on then they would forget my little mishap. Or maybe not I was forced to acknowledge moments later when I went back to the bar and found Jace leaning against it waiting for me.

“You’ve got a hell of a right hook,” he said with that sexy grin of his that I’m sure had melted more than one girls panties right off. His nose had already healed and he looked as though nothing had even happened. If only I could remove his memory as easily as he fixed his damn nose.

“Thanks,” I said as I tried to squeeze past him but he moved so that I was pinned against the bar with his arms either side of me. I should have felt intimidated in this position but Jace managed to make it feel completely natural.

“Don’t you think you owe me a beer or something?” he asked and I frowned at that.

“Why?” I asked bluntly. He looked stunned for a second but recovered in no time.