I raised my head up high as I carefully took my place behind the register. The three ibuprofen I'd taken before work were helping, but not enough. And if this one had the same keen gaze as the other two, I wouldn't be giving him anything to notice.

"Clone number three, what can I get you?"

He perked a pierced brow, which I hadn't had time to notice when I saw him earlier. The corner of his mouth tilted up in one of the sexiest smirks I've ever seen.

"Clone number three. That's one I've never been called before. Beauty and brains. I like it."

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess. Theo."

I was pleased to see his brows raise just a bit, signaling I had guessed right.

"So my brothers have been talking about me, huh?"

"The only thing they said was Theo was the 'wut u wearin' brother. By your flirtatious confidence, I made an educated guess. Now, was there something you needed?"

Theo leaned a hip on the counter and crossed his arms, the smirk still firmly in place. "There are several things I need."

I tried my best to not roll my eyes. "As in coffee."

A sharp pain lanced through my hip as Rochelle accidentally bumped me. I tried to keep the flinch that followed as unassuming as possible, even going so far as to rub my eyes as if I was tired.

By the look on Theo's face, he didn't buy it.

Unlike the other Clones, however, he didn't point it out. He just studied me with his ocean eyes, as if he could see every secret I had with just that look. It made me squirm.

That did cause him to give me his signature smirk. "What would you recommend?"

I keep a straight face. "My first thought would be a different coffee shop, but the tea here is magnificent."

Theo huffed out a laugh. "You work in a coffee shop but drink the tea?"

"What can I say? I'm a rare breed."

That intense look was back. "Indeed you are. I'll take just a cup of black coffee, please."

I can't help but scrunch my nose up. "Black, like my soul." I pour him his cup of sludge and ring him up.

He grabs his coffee, capturing my gaze. "Trust me when I say that your soul is definitely not black. I'll see you later, Harper."

I was left to stare at him with my mouth hanging open. Those enigmatic Clones.

The rest of my shift went by smoothly. No more Clones just popping up willy nilly.

Awe man. It's contagious. Better invest in those knitting needles.

I closed up the shop around nine, locking the door and heading out into the night to my car which was parked in the lot about a block away. Usually it was a walk I enjoyed. Crisp, fresh air and the silence of a smaller town.

Tonight, however, I felt uneasy. Not sure why, but I found myself wishing that I could turn my head a full three-sixty. I was getting a bit dizzy trying to see everything at once.

Once my car came into view I set my eyes on it, speeding up to get into the safe confines of my yellow Jeep.

The hand came out of nowhere. It clamped over my mouth as an arm wrapped around my waist, tugging me into the dark alley between the buildings. My back met the brick wall as the stranger's face came into view. Well, the mask he wore. And it was definitely a man. No woman was built like a flipping brick wall.

The smell of alcohol, cigars and old man aftershave assaulted my nose as I inhaled deep, preparing for a scream.

His knee drove up into my stomach, ripping the scream from my chest along with the rest of the air in my lungs. My first instinct was to double over and protect myself from another hit, but he still had my face.

So I did what only a completely sane person would do.

I bit his hand as hard as I could.

The answering howl of pain was drowned out by a low growl. My eyes searched out the source and landed on a very large, jet black wolf. The bright blue eyes seemed to glow softly under the street light.

It had an immediate impact on the masked dookey stain. He loosened his grip on me and took a step back.

"This is none of your business." Dookey's breath smelled just like I thought a guy nicknamed Dookey would smell like. Gag…

The wolf answered by growling even louder and taking one large, menacing step in our direction.

"I don't get paid enough for this." The man shoved me toward the wolf, so hard that I fell to my knees, and then bolted in the opposite direction.

The wolf immediately gave chase, disappearing into the night and making me wonder if I imagined the whole thing.