Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter (21 page)

Or . . . was it loyalty to Nikolina? I didn’t know.

The next morning, Ramsey dropped us off at work with a kiss for me and a scowl for Gracie. “I want to stay with you, but I have a few cases to check in on. Pick you up at five.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said softly, then waved as he drove away.

When we entered the agency, Gracie propped herself up in a chair and began to text. I rolled my eyes.

My sister sat at her desk, humming softly to herself as she worked. She wore a bright pink scarf over her white sweater, and I could just guess what it was hiding.

“Nice scarf,” I teased. “You have a good weekend?”

My sister nodded and didn’t look up from her screen. “Very refreshing, and I’m ready to tackle the week. Going to be a busy one. We have a lot planned.”

I knew she was referring to the dance. It’d definitely be a boon to our business if it took off. I sincerely hoped that it’d go well; Bath would be devastated if no one showed up because the agency was headed by a human and not a supe.

“You guys should hire me,” Gracie volunteered, not looking up from her cell phone, her thumbs flying across the keys as she texted.

Bath shot me an appalled look. “That’s nice of you to volunteer, Gracie, but we’re good on staffing.”

“I’m just saying,” Gracie said, swinging a foot over one side of the chair she lounged in, the sundress sliding up her thigh. “I wouldn’t trust a vegetarian to tell me the best cut of steak, if you know what I mean.”

Bath ground her teeth a little.

I grabbed a stack of mail on the corner of my desk and smiled at Gracie. “So who are you dating today?”

Gracie shrugged. “I threw something on the calendar. Can you make me reservations someplace?”

Oh, boy. The fun of a wolf escort. Or spy, I thought with a grumble, since her primary job seemed to be to keep an eye on me and report back.

“Ah, here we go,” Gracie said, peering at her phone. “I’m dating a coyote at three, and a vampire at eight tonight.” She looked over at me and winked. “Be ready for some hot action tonight. We’re going to a movie, and I hear there’s going to be some necking, wink wink.”

“Your father would not approve.”

“Nope,” she agreed. “You don’t tell him about who I’m dating, and I don’t tell anyone how you were screaming for God last night. Sound carries, you know.”

I froze, then forced myself to relax. Gracie was just trying to rattle me. “Cancel the vampire. I’m not staying out that late just to watch you make out with a dead guy.”

Gracie pouted. “Fine. I’ll switch him out for a satyr at four thirty.”

I pulled up a restaurant list online and made reservations for Gracie . . . and then spent a little time surfing the internet for how to make a man stop ejaculating early. I was pretty sure a lot of women didn’t have to deal with enormous, twenty-seven-year-old
virginal bear shifters, but you could pretty much find anything on the internet if you looked hard enough. And as I clicked through a page of techniques, I began to take mental notes.

Just in case.

Gracie grinned over at me. “By the way. My brothers will like it that you’re noisy in bed.”

And there went my good mood.

“Wow, I’ve never dated a satyr before,” Gracie said in a cooing voice, her chin propped on her fists as she leaned over the table at the diner. “What’s it like being you?”

From across the room, I rolled my eyes and unfurled my napkin in my lap. “Sorry we had to come here,” I told my sister. “But it’s best I don’t leave Gracie alone with anyone.”

“You really should have warned her about the satyrs,” Bathsheba said in a mild voice. “You know they only want one thing.”

“Oh, I know.” I deliberately kept my voice low so it wouldn’t carry across the busy diner to Gracie’s wolf ears. “But if you try talking Gracie out of something, that just makes her want it more.”

“Point taken. So how are things going?”

I played with my fork, desperately wanting to unload on her.
The wolves won’t leave me alone. Gracie’s psycho. Ramsey has a childhood fiancée that he hasn’t seen in years and wants to go back to her when we’re done. And I think I’m falling for him, and that’s
probably the worst thing that could happen because nothing in my life is stable right now. And it terrifies me and I don’t know what to do.

But I couldn’t unload all my problems on her—she’d take over, pushing aside her wants and needs for mine, like she always did. I needed to handle things myself.

Bathsheba chatted with the waiter as she ordered, and as she looked up at him, I caught another glimpse of the love-bites all over her neck. I watched her face, so animated. When the waiter flirted with her, she blushed but deflected his teasing with an easy grin.

My sister was happy. Really, truly happy. And it was all because of Beau.

I’d seen my sister at her worst, digging a grave in the pouring rain in the middle of the desert after she’d killed a man to save me. I’d seen my sister at her most stressed—trying to hold her job, my life, and her relationship together just a short time ago. It was rare that I saw her totally content.

I couldn’t ruin it. I just couldn’t.

Bathsheba snapped a finger in front of my face. “Earth to Sara, come in, please.”

“Sorry,” I blurted. “Burger. Rare enough to moo. Thanks.” I shoved the menu at the waiter. When he wandered away, Bath gave me a curious look. “What’s this about?”

I was trying to think of a way to deflect her when Gracie’s boisterous laugh rang across the restaurant. Bath turned her head to see, and inspiration struck.

“How do you feel about hiring Gracie to work at the agency?” I asked.

Bath’s pale brows wrinkled. “I hate the thought. Why?”

I didn’t like it either, but it was the only thing I’d come up with off the top of my head. I fiddled with my cutlery. “I thought it might be a good idea to add a supe.”

Bath dropped her voice. “She’s horribly obnoxious.”

“But it’ll seem less weird to new clients if we have at least one supe on the payroll,” I said reasonably. “Like she said—people will trust us more if we’re not all human.”

“You’re not human, remember?”

“It’s not the same, though. You said so yourself.”

Bath chewed on her lip, staring at Gracie as she thought. “I don’t know. I just don’t think we can trust her.”

“You’re probably right,” I said, dropping the subject. “So what color did you pick out for the bridesmaid dresses?”

Her eyes lit up and she pulled a bridal magazine out of her purse. “I was thinking maybe peacock green, but you have to promise not to have the same color hair for the wedding.”

I grinned back at my sister. “Can’t promise anything.”

“Oh, and I meant to remind you,” Bath said, snapping her fingers. “You and Ramsey.”

“Me and Ramsey what?”

“You guys need to go out on another date. Have you gone to a movie yet?”

I groaned.

“Don’t groan at me,” my sister said cheerfully. “You know it won’t work. Just make sure and see something popular. You’ll need to go to this theater.” She wrote the address down and handed me the slip of paper. “The owner is were-friendly, and he hires a lot of teen supes.”

“Yippee. I’m sure Ramsey will be thrilled. You know I have to bring Gracie, right?”

Bath gave me a prim look. “Then don’t go see a romantic movie. Go see something with a lot of guns.”

“Yeah, but then I’m stuck there, too.”

“Yes, but you’ll have a man to make out with. That’s what a nice, dark movie theater is for. And I think you will need to do some serious making out. Think you can handle that?”

My face felt bright red. The expression on my sister’s face was totally innocent. Had someone told her that Ramsey and I were getting flirty? Had Ramsey told Beau, and Beau passed it along to my sister?

“Well?” Bathsheba prompted at my silence.

“I’m sure I can manage something,” I mumbled.

I called Ramsey to tell him we’d be late that night. Gracie’s date ran over, and then there was a small crisis back at the agency where we had to redesign
the invitations to the barn dance. Bath deemed Ryder’s slogan “Who wants to meet up with a little tail?” potentially offensive, and we spent two hours arguing over the layout and fonts of the redesigned digital invitations that said simply Barn Dance across the top.

“You guys are driving me crazy,” Ryder said, adjusting the font. “You’re going to give me a permanent twitch with all these changes.” As if to prove us right, her fingers spasmed on the mouse and she reached back and rubbed her neck.

“Har har,” my sister said. “I’m paying you overtime to fix those. You said you wanted the extra hours.”

“Not with you hovering over my shoulder.” If anyone stood up to my sister’s bossiness, it was Ryder. “Don’t you guys have some men to go make sweet, sweet love to?”

My sister blushed. I rolled my eyes.

Ryder made a shooing motion with her hands. “I’m serious. You’ll have the new invite in the morning,
without
any lurid catchphrases. I promise.”

Sitting at my desk, her dirty feet propped up on my keyboard—gross—Gracie yawned. “Seriously. Can we go already? It’s getting late, and I’ve got to choose the lucky man I’m going to date tomorrow.”

I snagged my purse and made a mental note to spray down my keyboard in the morning with antibacterial soap. “Why don’t you just pick whoever’s the most appealing?”

Gracie laughed boisterously. “I come from a
wolf pack, dummy. I know exactly who the alphas are for the next three closest packs. It’s practically like being stuck in an arranged marriage.” Her eyes gleamed. “I have choices now, and I like it. They’re
all
appealing.”

Her choice of words had stopped me cold. Arranged marriage? That immediately made me think of Ramsey and Nikolina. We’d gone past “flirty” and moved straight into hot and heavy petting, but nothing more. Was he saving himself for her?

I suddenly felt very guilty. Was it wrong of me to want Ramsey? I was just a mongrel. What could I possibly offer him except a never-ending feud with the wolf pack and a bunch of stalkers that might never get the hint?

Just thinking about it depressed me. When we got home, Ramsey met me at the door, his face lined with concern. “What’s wrong?”

I hesitated, unable to tell him I was jealous of a woman I’d never met. I doubted he would understand; I didn’t understand it myself. “Just a long day at the office.”

Mistaking my sadness for exhaustion, Ramsey lifted me into his arms and began to carry me toward the stairs.

“Wait,” I protested. “My sister wants us to go to a movie.”

A low growl rumbled out of Ramsey’s throat. “Your sister can wait. You’re tired.”

“No, I’m okay,” I told him and slithered out of his arms until my feet were on the floor. At his skeptical
look, I said, “Really, I’m fine. Let’s go and get this over with so my sister will leave us alone.”

“A movie,” Ramsey repeated.

“Just like on your list,” I agreed. “What kind of movies do you like?”

“The ones where the monster eats everyone.”

Not my kind of movie. I grinned and reached up to smooth the front of his flannel shirt. “How about I pick instead? I promise it’ll be something that’ll allow us plenty of make-out time.”