Her gaze floated toward the ceiling. “Most of the men I date just want to screw and get it over with.”

I put my arm around her shoulder. “Hold out, sweetie. Don’t give away your cookies to every hungry man. Make them crave it so badly they chase you for a nibble. By the time you say yes, you’ll already have them wrapped around your finger. You’re young. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“How old are you?”

Fifty-three, I thought to myself. With the body of a twenty-five-year-old. That’s how Shifter magic worked. “You mean how young,” I corrected with a tap on her button nose. “Better hurry up and get dressed, girly. Why don’t you walk the floor for a little bit and warm up the men—get them excited to see your act? Don’t worry about what one girl is doing on the stage. Those men aren’t going to empty their pockets after two beers. You know that.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t get so worked up about money,” she said on a sigh. “Unlike Daphne, who just wants to save up for a trip to Italy.”

“Hey! Don’t wipe your feet on my dreams,” Daphne barked out. “I’m going to live in Italy for a year and find me a nice Italian man who speaks in one of them dreamy accents and makes love to me every morning before breakfast. I’ve heard Italian Shifters have stamina, so maybe it’ll be lunchtime when we’re done.” After giving her hair another fluff, she sauntered out the door.

Skye got up and stripped out of her jeans. “I’ve got a little girl to think about.”

I whirled around. “I didn’t know you had children. Honey! Where is your man?”

She shrugged. “I was mated, but Keller was killed in a bar fight two years ago. That’s why I started working here, even though for the first year, Dean would only let me waitress. Now it’s just Lola and me. She’s three and the sweetest little thing in the world, but I can’t take care of her by myself. She stays with my cousin while I’m at work. I’m not happy about the situation, so I’m trying to make some money and… It just seems so hopeless sometimes.”

“Skye, you’re a goddess.” I stood up and fanned out her silky hair, letting it fall over her shoulders. “Long hair, heart of gold, beautiful eyes—what man wouldn’t want to make you his mate? Why not find a pretty dress and go to one of the Shifter bars to find yourself a good man? You need help taking care of that baby so you won’t have to work in a place like this forever. We all have dreams to get out. Well, most of us,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I can’t imagine how tough it must be with a baby.”

“This is where the money is, and that’s why I decided to start dancing. Soon she’ll need to be homeschooled, and that’s not free if I have someone else do it. The tips I got waiting tables were nothing compared to what I make onstage. Dancing will give me a head start, and then maybe I can find another job. It’s pointless to hold out for a man to take care of me; most Shifters don’t want to take on another man’s baby. It’s up to me to care for my little girl. I want her to have a better life than her mommy.”