“The thing is, a question like yours is pretty much guaranteed to send a prospective date running for the hills—or, in this case, the restroom,” Elly said patiently. “It’s not a normal opening to a conversation with a stranger. It’s an unsubtle way of demanding a commitment before you even know the guy’s last name.”

“I’m trying to be efficient,” Olivia said. “There’s no point wasting time on someone who doesn’t give the right answer.”

“Has it occurred to you that a man who gives you the answer you think you want might turn out to be a little strange?”

“How?”

“Obsessive?” Elly suggested.

“The agency claims they run background checks on all their clients.”

“Obsessive personalities are not easy to detect in a standard background check. Case in point, the Speed Date Killer. You must have seen the news. He used agencies like this one to hunt for targets.”

“Way to send a few chills down my spine.”

“Sorry. Just trying to make my point.”

Olivia drummed her blue nails on the table while she considered the criticism. “You’re right. I need to be more strategic.”

“That would be my advice.”

The bell chimed. There was a moment or two of noise and commotion as each man moved on to the next table. Most of the women made notes. Olivia went back to the cat adoption page and took another look at Joe while she waited for her next date.

She was reminding herself that adopting a cat was a huge responsibility when a sudden shock of awareness raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck. Adrenaline jolted through her, kicking up her pulse and her other senses. She recognized the all-too-familiar fight-or-flight response.

She caught her breath and looked up in time to watch her new date lower himself into the seat across from her. The man moved as if he was half leopard. It was both intriguing and unnerving. If she had been walking down the street and he had leaped out of a dark alley she would not have been able to move fast enough to escape.

She registered the heat and power in his aura. Monster. He wasn’t the first one she had encountered. Her best friend and business partner, Catalina, had recently married a man with an aura that, technically speaking, qualified as a monster talent. Slater Arganbright. When you got involved with the Foundation you learned that when it came to monsters there were nuances. Serious nuances.

The dark-haired monster with the blazing aura watched her with the eyes of a man who wrestled demons on a nightly basis. Scary? Yes, under the right circumstances. But she had recently discovered she could be more than a little scary herself.