Page 54 of Craving Their Mate

When she didn’t move, Grayson led her over to the table and pulled out the chair. “Please sit down. Would you like me to make you some more coffee?”

She waved him away. “No. Every time I drink it, my body goes crazy, and it makes me feel…funny.”

Rider came over and squatted in front of her. “Paris? Look at me.”

His sudden soft tone surprised her. When she turned her head, gone was any perceived anger. “Yes?”

“Tell me what symptoms you’ve been experiencing.”

“What are you talking about?”

Rider turned to Grayson, and the two of them did that telepathy stuff again. Grayson shrugged. “All we had was coffee and a croissant that we bought at CadEspresso,” he said.

“Paris, have you been unusually angry or aggressive today?” he asked.

It took her a second to clear her thoughts. “Maybe. A little. Perhaps this is too much information, but I’ve never scratched a man during sex—at least not enough to make him bleed.”

Grayson shrugged. “I’ve healed, in case you’re wondering.”

“That’s good. Again, I’m sorry.”

Strangely, he smiled. “I’m not. I’ll admit you were…aggressive, but I liked it. The anger I could have done without though.”

Paris tried to remember everything that had occurred. “All I remember is that I had this incredible urge to kiss you. Sure, I’d been thinking about both of you, but I never would have done anything about it. That’s not who I am.”

Rider stood. “I have a theory, but I’m not sure how it could have happened.”

That caught her interest. “What’s your theory?”

“I’ve dealt a lot with people on drugs. It seems as if you might have ingested cocaine.”

She laughed. “Seriously? That couldn’t have happened. I ate nothing all day, and all I drank was water, because the break room had run out of coffee. It was why when Grayson picked me up from work that I asked if he’d take me to the CadEspresso Coffee shop over in Chesterfield.”

“What did you order?”

“Just what he said. Two coffees and two croissants for the both of us. I asked if we could go to my place since I wanted to pick up a few things.”

“That’s not all,” Grayson said and then rolled his eyes. “Fuck.”

“What is it?” Rider asked.

“Paris asked me to buy some ground roasted coffee as long as we were there. The line was long until another server showed up. I went into that new line. Only then did I notice those who moved over were a bit rough around the edges, but I didn’t question it at the time.”

“You mean like they could have been drug addicts?” Rider asked.

“Possibly. Now I’m thinking there could have been cocaine in the coffee beans.”

“That’s a thought,” Rider said. “How much did you pay for it?”

He blew out a breath. “I didn’t even ask. I just gave the cashier my credit card.”

“Did you get a receipt?”

“Oddly enough, no.”

Rider stepped over to the counter where Grayson had placed the coffee. He opened it and sniffed. “We need to get this tested.”

“For cocaine?” Paris asked.