She made a face at him and allowed him to tow her along behind their friends, the heels of her violet pumps clacking on the sidewalk.
Oh, thank you, God. Belinda’s not working. The redheaded hostess smiled warmly and led them immediately to their seats. Simon held out her chair and helped her sit before taking his own seat next to her.
Things were fairly quiet as the four of them stared at their menus. Becky thought about getting the chicken marsala, but the lasagna the waiter carried past their table smelled so good she had a hard time deciding between the two.
“Stop biting your lip.”
Becky looked at Simon over the top of her menu to find him grinning at her, and let her lip go.
“What’s the problem, baby?”
“I can’t decide between the chicken marsala and the lasagna.”
“Share?”
“Sure!” Becky’s stomach rumbled.
“Share what?” Emma looked between them, confused.
“Our dinner.”
Emma looked at both of them and pursed her lips. “Oh.”
“Actually, that sounds good.” Max looked over at Emma. “Emma, you want the seafood alfredo?”
“No, I think I’ll go with the shrimp primavera. You?”
“Chicken parmesan.”
“Yum.”
They placed their orders with the waiter, all four of them deciding on wine with their dinners.
“So, why did Simon’s shirt turn brown, anyway? I thought cats were color-blind. Shouldn’t it have turned gray?”
She watched while Max smiled. “Cats are color-blind. They’re just not completely color-blind. They’re protanopic.”
“Proto- what- ic?”
“They lose the red-green spectrum. Everything either red or green looks kind of brown to us. Dogs lose blue-yellow. Grass to us is the color of spicy mustard. To a dog, it’s shades of blue.”
“Huh.” She looked at Simon with delight. “So on your front door, the cat’s head has green eyes.”
“Which look golden brown when my eyes change.”
“Clever.”
“I thought so.”
The topic turned to work as their food was delivered. “Simon, you have to have that sun catcher for Jamie ready to go by Thursday.” Emma waved her fork menacingly at Simon. The effect was somewhat ruined when a piece of shrimp fell off it to land on the table with a soft plop. She looked around furtively before picking it up and plopping it in her mouth, much to Max’s obvious amusement.
“Geez, Emma, I’m working on it, okay?” Simon practically whined, but Becky could see the smile he was trying so hard to hold back.
“You’d better be, or Jamie’s gonna have our heads. If it’s not done in time for his anniversary, Marie is going to be hurt. Then Jamie will be seriously hurt in a full body cast sort of way.”
Simon snorted. “It’ll be done.”
“Good.”
Simon turned to Max, his expression turning serious. “Oh, hey, Max, I forgot to ask. Did you get the e-mail from Sheri?”
“No, I haven’t checked it today. What did she want?”
Emma turned and stared at Max, one brow raised in demand. “Who the hell is Sheri?”
Max winced. “Remember I told you there were two women I’d changed over the years?”
“Yes,” Emma drawled, arms crossed over her breasts.
“Sheridan Montgomery is the other one.”
“The one whose story you couldn’t tell me?”
“Right, because if I told you I’d have to kill you.”
Emma frowned. “If you kill me you aren’t getting any nookie.” She wrinkled her nose. “And if you are that’s really sick.”
Simon snorted, nearly spitting wine across the table. Becky, giggling, pounded him on the back.
“Emma!” Max groaned, laughing. He turned back to Simon. “So what was it she wanted?”
“She’s petitioning to join the Pride.”
“Did she say whether her problem was still a problem?”
“She hoped not, but I’m not as optimistic.”
“What’s the problem? And don’t tell me you can’t tell me, because you’re the one who brought it up.”
The two men looked at each other and grimaced. Simon shrugged. “Sheri was abused by a former boyfriend who’s still chasing after her. She’s seeking sanctuary with us. Max and I want to offer her a place in the Pride, instead.”
Becky and Emma looked at each other, wide-eyed. “Why wasn’t she already a part of the Pride?”
Emma frowned.
“She refused. Said she didn’t want to bring us her troubles, and since Jonathon was Alpha and agreed with her there wasn’t much we could do about it.”
“Oh. Well I for one say let’s bring her in. As long as she’s not another Livia things should work out fine.”
“I agree. I’m pretty sure we can figure out a way to protect her if her ex shows up.”
The two men began quietly discussing how to make Sheridan part of the Pride while minimizing the danger. Emma and Becky watched and listened quietly. Becky was a little alarmed to hear of some of the things the ex had done in the past to Sheri to try and get to her. He sounded really sick. She just hoped they’d be able to keep the poor girl safe.
Becky turned to Emma as the two men continued to discuss Sheri long after they’d completed their main course. “So I’ve been thinking about painting the walls in Simon’s kitchen purple. What do you think, Em?”
“Go for pink.” Emma grinned slyly and slanted Simon a sideways look.
“Pink? Really?” Becky saw Simon and Max grinning at one another. “I was thinking I might use the same wallpaper we used in the store. What do you think?”
“Please don’t.” Simon threw his hands up in surrender. “We’ll be good. No more Pride business over dinner, I promise.”
“Don’t you like the wallpaper in the store, Simon?” Becky batted her lashes at Simon.
“Do the terms ‘ick’, ‘yuck’, ‘ew’ or ‘gag’ mean anything to you?”
It was Emma’s turn to choke, and Max’s to pound her back. Becky just crossed her arms over her breasts and raised her brows at Simon. “And just what is wrong with the wallpaper in the store?”
“Where to begin?” Simon began stroking his chin thoughtfully. “It’s pink. And flowery. And frou-frou.
And pink. Mostly pink. The flowers just up the blech factor by about ten.”
Becky glared at him as Simon shuddered theatrically. “I picked that wallpaper out.”
“In that case, thank you, God, my home is already decorated.”
Becky gasped in amused outrage as Simon clasped his hands together in mock-prayer. “I’m putting a patch of that wallpaper above the bed.”
“I’ll never have a hard-on again,” he muttered. “Couldn’t you put Jessica Alba up there instead? Ow!”
Simon’s hearty laugh rang out when Becky smacked his arm.
“Ass wipe.”
The waiter came back and took their plates. Emma and Max chose to share a cheesecake slice, while Becky went with the tiramisu and Simon just had coffee.
Becky tried to enjoy her dessert, but Simon was staring at her over his coffee cup. The heat in his gaze sent her pulse racing. She made a face at him, hoping he’d laugh and turn back to Max. Instead, he winked at her over the edge of the cup, his smile so happy she didn’t have the heart to be snarky with him.
Chapter Five
Becky opened her apartment door and sighed. After being at Simon’s for two nights and all day yesterday her tiny apartment above Wallflowers seemed even more cramped than usual. But she seriously needed some clothes and the rest of her makeup if she was going back to work today. He’d brought her the bare minimum to survive on at his place. Why he thought one pair of jeans and a pair of panties was enough clothing…no, wait. Male brain at work. He’d probably thought she’d run around his house naked all the time, or she’d wear one of his shirts or something. She practically swam in the damn things. No way could she work like that.