look like a prop from a horror film. Marvin wasn’t exactly what anyone would call considerate.
“I’m sure the new guy will do a good job.”
Cecile smiled. “Yes, me too. We’re lucky to get him. He’s moving here to be near his family. As frustrating as the last six months have been, I’m glad we didn’t find a replacement sooner. I wonder if he plays softball.”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, and Lucie giggled softly.
“Are you okay?” asked Cecile, solicitously. “You look a little pale.”
Oh, the man I’m absolutely obsessed with virtually refuses to even acknowledge I’m alive. But other than that… “Peachy, thanks.”
Cecile nodded but still looked a little concerned. “Well, my door’s always open if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thanks, Cecile. Don’t worry about the new doctor, I’ll see that he settles in, and I’ll see you on Saturday for the game.”
The swan shifter grinned widely. “Those firemen won’t know what hit them.”
The softball team was competing against the LLFD on Saturday. If there was one thing Cecile loved it was a friendly game of softball. And when Cecile was in charge, it was always friendly. She was as gracious at winning as she was at losing. Apparently things had been a little different a couple of years ago when a certain wolf shifter, who definitely wasn’t a gracious loser , was captain of the team.
Lucie groaned. Son of a monkey, everything seemed to come back to Cutter.
She watched as Cecile glided down the corridor. Swan shifters were so graceful . She thought about airing her woes to her boss, but decided against it. Lucie would have been more than happy to complain until the cows came home – she had no idea where they were coming home from, it was just something Aunt Mae used to say – but that just wasn’t her style. Rather than sitting around bellyaching about her problems, she preferred to take action and try and fix them, and being lovesick was hardly a major catastrophe.
It’s just that all the actions she took didn’t seem to get her any closer to actually fixing it. Maybe it was time she got some outside help.
Chapter Three
“Screw him!”
Lucie blinked at Avery, and the blonde lioness flicked her hair back garnering more than a few admiring glances from patrons at the busy bar.
They were perched on high stools around a table at the Red Moon Bar. It was a watering hole frequented by numerous SEA agents that cultivated a sexually charged atmosphere. In particular, Lucie had spent the better part of the evening watching, longingly , as a crocodile shifter and a rabbit shifter virtually dry-humped each other in a booth.
Feeling despondent, she had called on her gaggle of friends for advice about Cutter. Currently, they weren’t saying anything she wanted to hear.
Jessie, the squirrel shifter, stirred her appletini. “I think you need to move on.”
Lucie snapped to attention, and her beast, true to form, prickled. “Move on?”
The squirrel nodded her long, mahogany red locks. For once, her hair was its natural color. Usually, it was dyed alternately in neon shades of yellow, pink, blue and green.
“It’s been a year, Luce. He’s not interested. You need to forget about him and find someone else. There’s nothing worse than sitting at home every night pining over a guy who barely knows you exist.”
A look of knowing sadness flitted over Jessie’s face but before Lucie could probe her she was interrupted by Isis in all her obnoxious glory.
“No, sleep with his best friend,” declared the tigress, as her eyes roved the bar looking for willing men – or perhaps willing victims .
Lucie rolled her eyes. “I’m not doing that, and even if I wanted to, his best friend is already mated to our friend, Erin.”
Isis nodded thoughtfully. “Good point. Sleep with his second best friend.”
“That’s terrible advice, Tigger,” snapped Avery, who seemed a little more angry than usual.
The tigress