Be Were: Paranormal Shifter Romance (Southern Shifters Book 5) Read online

  She kept odd hours due to her job as a rotating nurse at several hospitals and she played lover's roulette with what felt like half the male staff. This meant that any given time of day or night some strange guy or guys would come through the apartment, often naked, asking if she wanted to join in.

  No, she most certainly did not.

  Sienna didn't want to look down on Marcy's swinging lifestyle, but when she was confronted with it on an almost daily basis it made her crazy and a little grossed out.

  So much for moving back to her small hometown and a simpler life. It was crazier here in Sweetwater, Tennessee than anything she'd seen while living in Nashville.

  The shrill ring of Sienna's cell phone went off and she dug through her purse to find it. From the tone alone she knew it had to be an unidentified caller. She scooped it up and looked at the screen. An eight hundred number she didn't recognize. Which meant another bill collector had found her. She sighed, putting the phone on silent and dropping it back into her purse.

  Time to get her ass out of the car and get this show on the road. Somehow someway she'd get this waitressing job if only to save herself from having to apply over at the Redneck Resort out by the highway. She'd much rather deal with surly bikers over redneck tourists watching her climb into the mud-wrestling ring any day.

  Sienna exited her car and walked toward the dilapidated building and the new beginning she needed. She stopped in front of the door and started second guessing her outfit. The jean skirt that fell below her knees was the only thing she owned that might make her fit in at a rough place like this, but with her recent stress eating it was pretty snug across her butt.

  Fortunately, she’d paired it with a hot pink silk shirt with short sleeves that drew the eye to her well endowed chest instead of her ever spreading ass. Her well-worn and well-loved snake skin cowboy boots that had definitely seen better days, topped off what she hoped would be suitable attire.

  With one last deep breath, she pulled open the door and stepped into the dim interior. At first she couldn’t see a thing as her eyes adjusted to the darkness after the bright light of the Tennessee sun.

  “Can I help you?” An amused male voice came from her left.

  “I—uh—” She still couldn’t see very well, but turned in the direction of the voice anyway.

  “She looks confused.” this time she heard a female voice. “You lost?”

  Sienna shook her head and stepped closer to the bar at the back of the room. Her eyes had finally adjusted and she saw a tall, wide man standing behind the bar next to the taps and a much older woman sitting behind the bar with a laptop in front of her.

  “Not lost,” she said, her gaze going back and forth between the man and the woman. “I’m here to apply for the waitressing job.”

  The woman took off her glasses and surveyed Sienna from head to toe. “I don’t think so.”

  Sienna stared at her, stunned into silence for several long seconds before her brain kicked back in. “Excuse me?”

  The woman peered down her nose. “Honey, you can’t work here. These boys will eat you alive. And I ain’t got time to babysit you.”

  Her back stiffened at the woman’s dismissive words. “I didn’t ask to be babysat, I’m asking to apply for a waitressing job. I’ve got experience and “these boys” as you put it, will not be eating me alive.”

  She wasn’t sure what came over and she had a hunch her smart mouth pretty much killed the deal, but after the day she’d had she was in no mood for someone’s grandma to dismiss her without even giving her a chance.

  The man standing at the taps whistled long and low. “She might look out of place, but she’s got sass. Maybe you should give her a chance.”

  The older woman turned to him, rising from her seat. “Shut up, Luke.” She walked around the bar and approached Sienna.

  “Why does someone like you want to work in a bar full of bikers, who will most certainly chew you up and spit you out every time you get near them.”

  Again, she bristled at the woman’s words, but this time swallowed down the retort sure to get her kicked out. Instead she decided a healthy dose of the truth was called for. “I need a job like yesterday. I’ve got a mountain of bills courtesy of an asshole that walked out on me and if I don’t get enough money soon to get an apartment of my own, I’m going to end up a sex addict just like my friend Marcy and I really don’t want to be a sex addict.”

  For several long beats no one said anything. Then the man named Luke burst into loud, deep-throated laughter that filled the room. “Now you’ve got to hire her, Mae. If for no other reason than the poor girl doesn’t want to become a sex addict.” He laughed harder, drawing attention from some of the bikers concentrated at the other end of the room.

  Sienna bit her lip to keep from laughing herself. She had no idea what possessed her to say those things. The words just popped out.

  “Go see if those boys need refills, me and—”

  “Sienna.”

  “Me and Sienna are going to talk for a minute.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, Mae. Just give her the waitress test. If she fails, she fails. It ain’t like we aren’t desperate for help around here. Might as well give her a shot.”

  Mae’s eyes narrowed on Luke, her face transforming into a very scary woman.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I’m going.” And he did, walking around the bar and towards the big group of leather clad men huddled around several tables pulled together.

  When Sienna turned back to Mae, she found the woman studying her. “You aren’t the first one to come in here with a sad story that I sent right on back out of here, but I gotta say that’s the first time anyone said they’d become some kinda sex addict if they didn’t get a job.”

  She started to say something, but Mae cut her off.

  “Don’t say anymore, you might mess up the generosity I’m feeling. You got experience serving drinks?”

  She nodded.

  “In a bar?”

  “Restaurant. Through four years of college.”

  “Good enough for now I guess.” Mae reached behind the bar and pulled out a small black waist apron with the Thunderhog logo emblazoned across the front of it. “Here, put this on.”

  Sienna blinked, unsure what to say or do. “Now?”

  “Yep. Waitress test is now or never. You’ve got from now till closing to prove to me you can handle this job. I don’t think you can.”

  About to ask if the she was crazy, Sienna paused. “You don’t know me from Adam. To say you don’t think I can handle the job is a bit harsh.”

  The woman shrugged. “Call em how I see em, sweetheart. You wanna prove me wrong? Then take this apron and do it. Talk is cheap creampuff.”

  Feeling a little incensed, but more than ready to take on the challenge, she pasted a smile she didn’t feel an ounce of and tied the apron around her waist.

  “Everything you need is in those pockets. Normally we let the waitresses handle the cash out from the apron and then settle up after closing, but not during the test. You’ll have to bring all your checks up to the register and let Luke ring them out for you. Whatever tips you bring in tonight are yours to keep whether you pass or fail. Any questions?”

  “Where do I start? Will I have a section?”

  Mae snorted. “Floor’s yours babe. Wouldn’t be much of a test if we only gave you a section now would it?”

  She guessed not.

  “Here this’ll help you keep up with the serving and clearing all the empties.” The silver haired demon, as she was becoming, reached underneath the bar and returned with a small tray. “Oh and babe, one more thing. If you’d like to see some decent tips, I’d suggest you at least undo a couple of those buttons on your fancy pants shirt. Can’t do much about your church skirt, but some cleavage might help.”

  Sienna looked down at her clothes and shook her head. When she’d dressed before the trip over here she’d done the best she could and thought she
looked pretty good. With no other waitress in sight there was no other reference to figure out exactly how far off she was.

  “Is there a uniform or something I should know about?”

  Mae clucked. Seriously clucked at her.

  “This ain’t hooters, babe. But like it or not it’s a fact that tips in a joint like this begin and end with a little bit of skin.” She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. “These roughnecks aren’t all that hard to please, but they ain’t looking to come in a place called Thunderhog and be greeted by a kindergarten teacher. You get me?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Good. Now get down there and find out who needs a fresh drink. Prove you really want this job.”

  Sienna nodded, turning toward the bikers. She had not come prepared to start work that very minute, but she had nowhere else to be and this was farther than she’d gotten with any of the other interviews she suffered through.

  You can do this.

  She shook out her hair, tugged the skirt around her hips once again and started to—

  Mae’s lecture on skin still ran through her head. Fine, whatever. She hastily undid two buttons and tucked the ends of her blouse tight enough in her waistband that the shirt drew taught across her breasts. The little, sharp tongued boss wanted skin, she’d give a little skin. Generous tips sounded like a great idea.

  Now she was ready for battle.

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  Also by Eliza Gayle

  Southern Shifters Series:

  DIRTY SEXY FURRY

  MATE NIGHT

  ALPHA KNOWS BEST

  BAD KITTY

  BE WERE

  SHIFTIN’ DIRTY

  NEVER KISS A WOLF

  BEAR NAKED TRUTH

  ALPHA BEAST

  Devils Point Wolves:

  WILD

  WICKED

  WANTED

  FERAL

  FIERCE

  FURY

  Pentacles of Magick Series:

  UNTAMED MAGICK

  MAGICK IGNITED

  FORCE OF MAGICK

  MAGICK PROVOKED

  Single titles:

  VAMPIRE AWAKENING

  Books Writing As E.M. Gayle

  Contemporary Romance

  Purgatory Masters Series:

  TUCKER'S FALL (also available in paperback & audio)

  LEVI'S ULTIMATUM (also available in paperback & audio)

  MASON'S RULE (Also available in Paperback)

  Purgatory Club:

  ROPED (also available in audio)

  WATCH ME (also available in audio)

  TEASED

  BURN

  BOTTOMS UP

  HOLD ME CLOSE (also available in paperback)

  What Alex Wants Series:

  SWEET SUBMISSION

  RECLAIMING HIS SUBMISSIVE

  Pleasure Playground Series:

  PLAY WITH ME (also available in paperback & audio)

  POWER PLAY

  Single Title:

  SUBMISSIVE BEAUTY (also available in paperback & audio)

  Gypsy Ink Books

  www.gypsyinkbooks.wordpress.com

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.