Nothing to Do With Pride Read Free Page A

receptionist’s warm greeting helped set the tone for the evening.
    “Mr Fields—we’re so happy you could join us and bring a friend.” KC recognised her as one of the owner’s nieces. Almost all of the hawk family worked at the restaurant. The entire flock were Harris Hawks—a particularly social type of bird.
    The table they were shown to was by a big window overlooking the valley.
    “Will this do?” The girl shifted nervously on her feet as she watched him look out the window.
    “Yeah, this is great.”
    “Good, and the meal is on us,” a deep voice spoke behind him.
    KC spun around to see the restaurant’s owner—Garret Halcon. The man’s reddish brown hair gleamed like a mink’s coat beneath the subtle lights and was cut to show off the man’s bold features. KC had always thought of Garret as a handsome man, but too arrogant to be truly attractive.
    “You don’t have to pay for my meal,” KC protested.
    Garret’s reddish brown eyes flared with determination. “It is the least I can do for all you’ve done for us. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had the money to pay our bills. I would give you a hundred meals if I thought you’d accept them.” He held his hand out to Dennis. “Garret Halcon, nice to meet you.”

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Dennis looked the owner up and down carefully before holding out his hand. “Dennis Wills.”
    They shook hands but KC could tell the two men wouldn’t be best buds anytime soon.
    After an uncomfortable moment, Garret flashed his bright smile at KC before patting him on the back. “Have a good meal, KC, and don’t hesitate to come back here whenever you’d like.” With a final glare at Dennis, Garret left.
     
    Dennis resisted the urge to hunt down the bastard smiling at his man and rip out his throat. His coyote growled close to the surface, even as his human half was shocked by his odd possessiveness. Dennis didn’t get possessive. Men were a dime a dozen—at least in the city—and as soon as he returned there, he could easily coax one into his bed.
    Maybe it was the lack of censure in KC’s eyes that made him so attractive. The fox shifter didn’t have anything against Dennis and was in fact trying to help him out. Dennis didn’t like the predatory gaze that hawk bastard was giving his new friend. That was all it was. Satisfied with his answer, he looked up into the amused gaze of KC.
    “What?”
    “Did you work it all out in your head?”
    “Work out what?” For a panicky moment he wondered if the other man could read minds.
    KC shrugged. “I don’t know, but it looked like you were working out much bigger problems than the size of your steak.”
    Dennis smiled. “Are you kidding? With Garret paying, I’m getting the biggest steak I can.”
    The fox shifter threw back his head and laughed. Dennis couldn’t help noticing the other diners in the restaurant had their eyes on him, too. He resisted the urge to growl at them, but it was a close thing.
    It had been a while since he’d had someone look at him like he was important. Payce saved all his adoring looks for Kevin now. And Dennis couldn’t help wanting someone to care about him like James cared about the sheriff.
    “You still didn’t answer my question.” KC had set his menu aside and was watching Dennis as if he were the most important thing KC had to pay attention to that day.

1
“I didn’t like how Garret watched you.”
    KC rolled his eyes. “He asked me out once. I said no.”
    “Why?” Not that Dennis wanted the pretty fox to date the other man, but he wondered how a charming, handsome man who owned a restaurant fell short of KC’s ideal.
    “He’s too arrogant,” KC admitted. “He’s nice enough but I don’t like really arrogant men. It would bother me over the long run, so I didn’t want to get into dating him when I knew we’d never last.”
    Dennis laughed as relief cut through him like a knife. “Nothing like seeing the ending on the horizon to prevent the start