Leopard Moon

Chapter Seven

Cormac stopped in mid-conversation with Burke once he noticed Finn staring intensely at something on the other side of the dining room. "Dude, what the hell?" He looked over to where Finn’s gaze lay and found himself staring too.

"Who is she and where can I get one?" Finn was grinning. Cormac expected him to start baying at any second.

But Cormac had to admit that the girl was ridiculously good looking. Not in that pretty, perfect Barbie way, but in that punch you in the gut, grab you by the throat kind of way. She had black hair, but not the blue-black that shimmered under the lights, this was deep black with no highlights. She had it up in some complicated style with chopsticks stuck through it. She was slim but tall for a girl. And her face was striking—prominent cheekbones, large eyes, a small pointed chin. She wasn’t traditionally beautiful but there was something about her that was enticing.

Burke was eyeing her too, but didn’t say anything and then turned to Finn. "You’ve got a little something there," he said and pretended to wipe drool from Finn’s chin.

Rebecca came over to greet them and take their drink order. Cormac tried to politely ignore her. She was their usual server, and she was nice enough, but Cormac didn’t want anything to do with her despite her flirtations. Definitely not his type. Plus Uncle Griff wasn’t real keen on them poaching the waitstaff—he’d banned Finn from even looking at his servers. She gave Cormac a wink and a big smile, which turned sour when Finn asked who the new girl was. "That’s Kess. She’s new--first day. I'm training her." She sounded none too happy about it. A manager’s voice called out that Rebecca had just gotten two more tables and she frowned. "Gotta go. You guys want your usual?" At their nods, she grinned. "Your cows will be up in a few."

Cormac kept his eyes on Rebecca who was marching over to the new waitress, Kess. From the look on her face, Rebecca was pissed. He understood some of the dynamics of power in female relationships—they were a little like pack dynamics only way more complicated. He watched Reb talk to Kess with a nasty look on her face. The new waitress took it without batting an eye, glancing over only once to their table and nodding.

Cormac saw that Kess was going to be bringing over their drinks. He was curious about her, and not because she was new. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t put it into words. He found her fascinating, and his interest only increased when she walked. There was a slink to it, if that was any way to describe the way she moved. It was a shame when she reached their table.

"Rebecca asked me to bring these out for you. Who gets the sodas?" When Finn gestured to himself and Burke, Kess turned to him. "Then you must get the coffee."

Her eyes were like nothing he’d ever seen—a brilliant pure green shot with flecks of gold. A dark ring around the iris made the gold more pronounced. He got out a thanks and gave her a smile when she placed the mug in front of him, happy to look at something else because otherwise he was at risk of staring like a complete idiot. Kind of like Finn was doing.

Kess moved to set the cream down in front of him, but he waved it away. He only took sugar in his coffee, no cream. "Do you need anything else here?"

"I’d like to hear the specials," Finn said, a sloppy grin on his face as he obviously eyed her up and down. Cormac threw a look at Burke, who just half shrugged, as if to say what can you do with him? Cormac took a sip of his coffee instead of saying anything. If Finn wanted to make an ass of himself in front of the pretty girl, that was his own problem.

He saw a puzzled look flash across her face for a second and he thought her eyes narrowed. Then she smiled a slow smile at Finn and Cormac waited for the annihilation to begin. "Sure thing. Our soup of the day is seafood chowder. Our catch is a cedar-planked salmon with a bourbon barbeque glaze served with a garlic mash and seasonal vegetables. Our lunch special is a roasted turkey potpie with root vegetables." She paused, then deadpanned, "And since Rebecca already placed your order five minutes ago, I can only assume that this was an excuse to check out my rack. All done?"