A Very Merry Iona Christmas (2 page)

“You’re in luck. The
boss is in.” Annie shot a look over her shoulder at the closed door at the back
of the café before she looked back to Hope.

‘
Hey, now that is
lucky.’

“Oh, I’ve got my
daughter with me…” Carly shook her head, but Annie wasn’t about to take no for
an answer. The crowd could get antsy and she would be damned if she was going
to work another shift all alone.

“I can watch her for a
while. We’re not busy.” Annie rounded the counter and Carly tightened her hold
on Hope’s hand, just a little, just enough to worry Hope into looking up at her
mother.

“No, that’s ok. I can
come back another…” Carly didn’t want to be there. Shifters weren’t the kind of
species that she wanted around Hope. That was a dangerous game to play…

‘
Life is all about
taking chances, and grasping the nettle when it’s right in front of you…’
Iona
admonished her.

Knowing my luck,
Iona, it’s probably a stinging nettle.

“I don’t bite…” Annie
teased and Carly’s other hand went to Hope’s head. “Much.” Annie teased Hope
this time as she squatted down and came face to face with her. “What say you
and me go pick you out a cake, my treat, while your mum sees about that job?”
Annie asked.

Hope’s eyes lit up at
the easy bribe and she grinned up at Carly with pleading eyes. Carly groaned
inwardly. She wasn’t adverse to using blackmail herself at times of need, but
this wasn’t one of those times and she resented someone else doing it.

‘
Where’s the harm?’
Iona baited her and she sighed inside.

“Can I mummy?” Hope
pleaded with more than just her eyes this time.

“S-ure…” Carly shook
her head no but the words just didn’t seem to want to come out of her mouth.
Annie pushed up to her full height again and held her hand out for Hope to
take. Carly tightened her grip again.

“I really don’t bite.”
Annie assured her with a half chuckle and Carly frowned as a pang of guilt hit
her hard.

“Yeah, I was just…”
Carly let go of Hope’s hand and resisted the urge to snatch her daughter
backwards when she slipped her little hand into the waitresses much larger one.

‘
Oh for the love of
everything magic. Will you just take a chill pill and get your backside moving?
If I were alive I’d be aging rapidly.’

“He’s in the back.
Name’s Douglas, and he doesn’t bite much either.” Annie gave her a wicked smile
and a hearty chuckle as she led Hope down towards the counter and Carly
automatically followed on.

‘
Ah, it’s like a
lamb to the slaughter…’
Iona teased and Carly choked on her own tongue. ‘
Yeah,
just kidding, you might want to loosen up before your interview.’

Carly groaned inside.
Her heart was hammering against her ribs and she was sure she was going to have
an attack of the vapours. She might even run screaming from the damn place
while clutching Hope to her…

‘
Girl, you need to
unclench cos right now you’re walking like you’ve got a stick shoved up your
backside.’

Jesus, Iona. Are
you trying to kill me?
Carly felt as
if she were walking on eggshells.

“Just go on back
there.” Annie reached down and lifted Hope up onto the nearest stool and Carly
almost diverted to her daughter’s side.

‘
Don’t you dare.
You don’t have to like these people, but beggars can’t be choosers, and this
right here, is the start of the rest of your life.’
Iona felt like growling
some sense into the witch herself.

Carly stood at the
door and tried to shake off her trepidation. The little she knew about shifters
wouldn’t have filled a menu card and she had the urge to turn tail and run, so to
speak. If right here and now was the start of the rest of her life… she really
was screwed.

‘
Quitter. Do it for
your daughter.’
Iona gave her the best guilt trip imaginable. Carly sighed.

“You have to actually
knock.” Annie called over to her. “He doesn’t read minds.” The woman added with
a gentle chuckle.

Carly winced at the
thought of what she was doing. Then she closed her eyes, took a breath, and
raised her hand to the door. By the second tap she was feeling a little better.

“Come in.” The voice
was so deep it practically rattled the door.

‘
Now that one
definitely bites.’
Iona teased just as she opened the door and the man
behind the desk eyed her with suspicion. Then she watched him scent the air. He
tipped his head to one side and eyed her some more.

“Can I help you?”
Douglas asked. The woman looked like a Fae, smelt like a Fae, and didn’t
immediately jump to it and get to the point like a damned Fae. He reasoned that
she was a Fae alright, the only question was; what she wanted with him.

“The waitress said I
should talk to you about the…”

“Job?” Douglas’s eyes
lit up and a smile took his lips. Kill two birds with one stone. If he hired a
witch the alpha wouldn’t be too pissed, a witch was at least in the loop about
shifters, and it would get Annie off his back about working the shifts alone.

“Yeah. Job.” Carly
nodded slowly as if she was already reconsidering it and he frowned.

‘
Try stringing a
few words together. It’s called a sentence.’

“You waitress before?”
Douglas asked.

“Nope.” Carly shook her
head again.

‘
Nice work. Try
lying.’

“You worked a till?”
Douglas asked and Carly shook her head once more. Douglas sighed.

“You speak this much
to the customers and they’re never gonna get a word in to order.” Douglas
frowned.

‘
Tell him that
you’re quick on your feet and a fast learner, with a great sense of balance,
and you’re not clumsy.’
Iona offered her sage advice.

“I need a job.” Carly
shrugged again.

‘
Oh, brother.’
Iona groaned.

“Fine. You’re hired.”
Douglas waved an absent hand in the air.

“Really?” Carly still
didn’t sound too sure.

‘
Damn, don’t look a
gift wolf in the mouth.’
Iona said in disbelief.

“Sure, why not. I’ll
give you a few shifts and if you don’t kill anyone, jobs yours.” Douglas shoed
her out of the room. Carly was only too happy to back up and get the hell out
of there. The man was more than imposing.

“Congratulations.”
Annie beamed at her as she turned back to find Hope stuffing half a sticky
icing swamped bun in her mouth and trying to grin at the same time.

“Thanks.” Carly felt as
if she’d been run over by a steamroller. She wasn’t an expert, but she was
almost certain that job interviews were supposed to be tougher.

‘
Must really need a
waitress…’
Iona chuckled.

~

~

~

“What am I supposed to
do about childcare?” Carly forget again that Iona wasn’t there in the physical
sense as she strolled down the street with Hope beside her. Hope looked up and
Carly grimaced.

‘
You ain’t gotta
lie now. You’ve got a job.’
Iona reminded her.

Carly frowned and then
grinned. She did. She had a damn job. Wow.

It might have been
working for shifters, but she could keep Hope away from them. But what if
anything happened to her? Hope would be all alone…

‘
I know what you’re
thinking…’
Iona berated her. Carly scoffed. ‘
You think they’re gonna eat
you alive and Hope’s gonna be alone.’
Carly snorted her contempt for the
witch in her head. ‘
Remember what I said about unclenching? Girl, you won’t
need a job soon cos you’re gonna be pooping diamonds.’

“Hope, we need to go
to a special school for kids your age where you get to go while mummy works.”

Carly hated the
thought of leaving Hope anywhere without her. It was her nature to be
protective. Hope was a witch and a witch’s life was never easy, even from the
word go.

“Cool. Do they have
toys?” Hope asked.

“Sure.”

“Do they have Princess
dolls?” Hope’s eyes sparkled at the thought of it.

“Maybe.”

“Cool.”

“You ok with that?”
Carly was still looking for an out.

“It’s cool.” Hope
nodded her head and Carly sighed inside. Well, there was no getting out of it
now.

‘
See, it’s cool.
You got a job and she’ll have plenty to do. Didn’t I tell you I was going to
get things moving?’
Iona crowed, but Carly was still unsure about the whole
shifter thing.

~

~

~

Carly had started her
first shift well. With a sarcastic witch inside of her head she had to be
careful what came out of her mouth where the customers were concerned, but she
was getting the hang of balancing plates and delivering orders to the tables,
and she hadn’t dropped one single thing yet.

Annie hadn’t just thrown
her in at the deep end either. The woman was showing her the ropes, and
although her thoughts switched to worrying about Hope every time she got a
moment to herself, she was kind of enjoying the freedom of adult company for a
change. Annie wasn’t so bad either; she kind of liked the easy going she-wolf.

“Oh, here comes the
boss…” Annie used her elbow to nudge Carly as they stood behind the counter.

Carly looked up at the
sound of the door opening expecting to see the man that had given her the job
the day before. Instead Mr Tall, Dark, and extremely damn Handsome walked in,
and Carly felt a rush of embarrassment that was mixed with excitement when the
man’s dark eyes locked onto hers.

“That’s not…” Carly
tried to pry her eyes away but found that she was having a problem doing it.

“That’s the alpha.”
Annie whispered. She didn’t want the humans in the shop overhearing her.

‘
He certainly is.
Hang onto your knickers girl, because that man is seriously hot.’
Iona
chuckled and Carly felt another flush of heat hit her cheeks. She might be the
only one who could hear the witch, but it didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

“The pack leader.”
Carly whispered back.

“There you go. You’re
getting the hang of it.” Annie teased her. She’d never known a witch that didn’t
have much of a clue about shifters and packs before.

“But yesterday…”

“That was Dougie. He’s
the beta, second in command, and he runs this place. If
runs
is the
word.” Annie informed her as she watched the man raise his chin and sniff the
air. He looked like he’d got a smell under his nose that he wasn’t sure about.
“Mason runs everything.”

“Mason…” Carly
absently repeated his name and his eyes narrowed on her.

‘
Be careful,
remember the old tale of wolves with big years. Well its true, they do.’
Iona
informed her. ‘
Bet that’s not the only thing big on that pile of muscle
packed, hunky…’

“He’s gonna want a big
breakfast. You can serve him if you like.” Annie gave her another little
chuckle and Carly frowned.

She’d rather not. The
man had a dangerous edge to him, and it wasn’t just because she knew that he
was the alpha either. He oozed strength and power. Great in an alpha, unnerving
when he was your boss.

‘
Yeah, go on.
Making friends is a good thing and it never hurts to suck up to the boss man.
Speaking of sucking. I could lick that man like a lollypop.’

“I’d rather not.”
Carly felt a rush of nervous apprehension. Iona wasn’t helping much, putting
damn ideas in her head about licking… things, and when the man took his first
step towards the counter Carly jumped in place.

“He’s not going to
bite…” Annie whispered what seemed to be her favourite tease and Carly frowned
harder.

“I’m not so sure about
that…” She bit out under her breath. There was just something about the way
that he was looking at her.

“You could be right…”
Annie gave a small shrug off her shoulders and Carly managed to give her a
quick sideways glance before her eyes snapped back to the alpha. “He does have
that
hungry
look about him today.”

Carly almost groaned.
She had Iona in her head making her think about licking the damn man from head
to toe and now Annie wasn’t helping matters. But the true culprit was him, him
and those damn puppy dog eyes that seemed to spark something inside of her.

When Mason reached the
counter and could go no further, Carly was kind of glad of it. If she’d though
that Douglas was imposing yesterday, well this man outdid him in spades. He
stood there in silence just staring at her. It was more than unnerving; she had
the urge to lift one of the menus and use it to fan herself with.

‘
A hunk-a-hunk-a
loving’
Iona teased her.

Carly wished that Iona
would shut the hell up, and she was in no qualms about telling her so.

“Can I get you
something?” Carly noted the way that Annie had moved off. She also noted the
fact that the alpha appeared to be the strong silent type. Maybe he didn’t like
witches…

‘
Hmm, I think he
likes you just fine…’
Iona said it as if she had the inside track of why
the man was just staring at her.

“Like food?” Carly
added when Mason still hadn’t said anything. Maybe he was sizing her up for
breakfast.

Mason tried to get his
mind to clear. His mind had run riot the moment that he’d laid eyes on the
woman behind the counter. His muscles had tensed at the Fae scent that he’d
picked out from all the others, and his beast was on the prowl within him as he
stood there just staring back at her; taking her in…

“I need to speak to
you in the office.” Mason announced and Carly almost swallowed her tongue.
Being alone with him in that small room wasn’t something that she relished the
thought of.

“What did I do…?”
Carly tried to wrap her head around it. If he had a problem with witches
working for him then she could do little about that, but she didn’t want to
lose this job now that she had it.

‘
It’s not what you
did… exactly.’
Iona was cagey and so far the woman hadn’t been backwards
about coming forward with anything.

“Now.” Mason didn’t
move a muscle until she did. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight.
Witches could be trouble and devious and he needed to know what he was dealing
with before he risked her running off.