Freakn' Shifters Bundle (3-in-1) (45 page)

“I saw no point in wasting his time. I didn’t like him.”

His response didn’t surprise her. Sheng didn’t like anyone. Jiao rolled her eyes. “Gee, I hadn’t noticed. Still, it didn’t mean you had to slam the door in his face. He showed up at your request.”

“He wasn’t right for the job.”

“Why? Because he was young and good-looking?”

Sheng shot her a dark look. “Exactly.”

So shoot her for noticing.
Hello, I’m married not dead.
“So we can only use an ugly contractor, even if he’s not the best option for the job?”

Lips tight, Sheng glared, but didn’t reply.

“Wow. Can you say control freak? This is going overboard, even for you.” Throwing up her hands, Jiao stalked out of the room, but not without a parting shot. “Just so we’re clear, if we’re not allowed to have cute guys working in the house, then the same goes for cute girls.”

Although, on second thought, maybe if confronted by an attractive woman, Sheng, her husband these past few years would lighten up. Just because someone was attractive didn’t mean Jiao was going to rip his clothes off and betray Sheng. He should know her better than that.

Or at least that proved true up until now. Seriously, her instant attraction to the handyman defied all rational explanation. And even now that he’d left, despite his temper tantrum out front, she couldn’t quite shake him from her mind, or quell the reaction of her body. The things she wanted to do… Guilt suffused her.

I’m supposed to be a married woman.
Dissatisfied with her married life or not, though, didn’t give her the right to lust after another.

It was probably for the best Sheng turned the Chris fellow away. Having him underfoot, his sizzling presence a constant reminder of her attraction… Talk about a sure recipe for disaster.

Still, she felt bad at how Sheng handled the situation, and felt an even deeper chagrin that she wouldn’t see the handyman again, a fact her cat complained about, loudly.

But what could she do to change the situation? Or an even better question, how much longer could she keep up the façade?

Another new town. Another new life. But things still hadn’t changed.

Where’s the freedom Sheng promised me?

She understood his caution, but at what point did they stop constantly looking over their shoulders and start living? When would they finally call somewhere home?

The whack against the back of his head snapped Chris’s attention back to the arena and the game at hand. Craning his head, Chris scowled as he saw the culprit, his sister Naomi. Wearing a baby in a chest sling, she smirked at him.

“Hey, little brother.”

“What was that for?” He rubbed his noggin. Not that her little tap hurt. But still... For a girl who screamed loud and often about her delicate sensibilities, his sister possessed a rough streak.

“Pay attention to the game. My mates are playing.”

“So?”

A moment later the reason came clear as a missile sailed across the partition glass, the white, Indian rubber ball whistling past his head.

“That’s why.” Naomi grinned as she waved at Javier, number sixty nine on Loup Garou, Ottawa’s shifter lacrosse team. Chris could see her mate’s answering smile even through his helmet, which the league insisted they wear because of the occasional humans that came to watch – and because it minimized the blood on the floor.

“He did that on purpose,” Chris growled.

“Of course he did. I told Javier to snap a ball at you during the last intermission when I saw you staring off into space. And he always listens,” she bragged, sitting herself in the empty seat beside him. She shifted the sling she wore, not that the baby nestled within stirred. Somehow the little bugger snored, a blissful slumber with a thumb tucked in a little mouth, and this despite the screams of the crowd.

“Where’s the other one?” Chris asked.

“The other one has a name,” Naomi remarked in an annoyed tone. “Melanie is staying with Francine. She gets too riled up when I bring her to the games.”

“Too noisy?”

Naomi snorted. “Nah. Little Mellie gets mad when she sees people hitting her daddies and screams bloody murder, which in turn, upsets Ethan, and he ends up crushing the other team’s defense. Literally. I was asked nicely by the league to keep her away so that the opposing teams wouldn’t run out of able bodied players.”

“And you agreed?”

“Only once they hired me to manage the league finances.” Her bright grin at her maneuvering made him smile. His sister might lack the muscle to make people do things, but she possessed the smarts and right leverage to get them to give in.

“You know you’re evil, right?”

“It’s a gift. So hey, you never said what had you looking like a slack jawed idiot. Usually, at a game, you’re pressed against the glass screaming advice to the opposition.”

Yeah, he usually did. He liked doing it because it annoyed his brother in law Javier to no end. “Just thinking about a job I lost.”

“What? Someone didn’t hire you? Why not? Don’t they know you’re the best? Did you quote them too high? Wait, was it another one of those housewife’s wanting work done on their
personal
plumbing?” She arched a brow suggestively.

Chris choked. “You did not just accuse me of being a handyman pimp.”

“If the condom fits…”

“You have a foul mouth. And to think you kiss your children with it.”

“According to my mates, my mouth is perfect. And there’s nothing dirty about telling the truth.”

Damn her, but she had a point. Yes, he did great work, but yes, he often got ridiculous calls from lonely women who needed a light bulb changed, then gave him a tip, usually on their knees. However, he drew the line at married women – most of the time.

“Well, it wasn’t a wife wanting to hire me, but her husband. And he took one look at me, told me I was too young and slammed the door in my face.”

“He didn’t.” She almost whispered the words, her eyes wide with shock.

“He did.”

“Did you kill him?”

“I’m too classy for that,” he replied. He almost managed to say it with a straight face too, but Naomi immediately snorted, and he erupted into laughter. “Okay. I’ll admit, I might have clocked him if he’d opened the door back up. I had to content myself with leaving rubber marks in front of his house.”

“Want to go back after the game and egg his house?”

A chuckle left him as her suggestion brought to mind some of the pranks they’d pulled in their youth. “No. But thanks for the offer.”

“Anytime. But seriously, I wouldn’t worry about it. Sounds like the client would have been a freakn’ douchebag to work for. Probably a good thing you didn’t get it.”

“Tell me about it.” He knew that, agreed wholeheartedly, yet he couldn’t stop the dejection. “I don’t need that kind of hassle.”

“So why are you mooning about it?”

It occurred to him to deny her observation, but really, he was kind of gloomy. Without the job, how would he see the woman again? Find out why she drew him and his wolf. Should he tell his sister about his odd reaction to buddy’s wife? Get her opinion?

Before he could decide, the game ended with a final buzz and a roar from the crowd. The home team won again thanks to Naomi’s mates, or as she affectionately referred to them, ‘my dumb jocks’.

The baby chose that moment to wake with a stretch of chubby fists. Only a few months old and he looked around with a serenity his sister lacked. His nephew, Mark, inherited his daddies’ genes. Guess who took after their mother most? Chris’s mom liked to cackle that Naomi got just what she deserved in Melanie, a mini version of herself.

I hope when I finally settle down and have kids, they end up nothing like me.
He didn’t think his paycheck could cover the damage.

But thinking of kids somehow brought his mind back to the Asian girl and his wolf sent him a thought.
Pups.
His wolf seemed to think she’d make the perfect mother, and damn him if he couldn’t easily picture a girl, a miniature version of her mother that would wind him around her little finger. And a boy, with a gap toothed smile and shaggy brown hair, throwing him a football and –

Smack!

The ball hit Chris in the forehead and snapped his head back. Game over or not, his damned brother in laws thought he should pay attention. Never mind they saved him from his own thoughts. Chris needed to vent.

With a growl, he leapt over the row of seats and tackled the players door into the arena. The impromptu chase and wrestling match with Javier didn’t really solve anything – the damned jaguar was light on his feet – but at least it changed his focus for a while. A fat lip, black eye and bruises all over worked as a great distraction – until he pictured his Asian lady kissing his booboos better. Naked.

*

Days later…

The full moon emerged, bathing the backyard and the ravine bordering it in a soft glow.  Sitting in the window seat, which spanned the length of the bay window in the family room, Jiao stared mournfully outside, but not as sadly as her cat.

“Why can’t we go out?” she asked for the hundredth time, unable to mask the plaintive tone. The yard and the shadowy woods edging them looked so tempting. So perfect. The temperature crisp. The smells inviting. The chirrups of night birds taunting. Oh how she twitched to get out and stretch. Run a little. Chase something up a tree. Find some soft grass to roll in.

“I’ve told you a hundred times. We can’t let anyone see our felines. If word gets back to Kaleb…”

“Yeah. Yeah. Everyone is a spy. Blah. Blah. Blah. We’ll get kidnapped. Or stuck in a zoo. Or become the main act in a three ring circus. Hey, wait, that’s happened to us before and we survived,” she said sarcastically.

“You’re not being funny or fair, Jiao. I’m doing this to keep us safe.”

She knew that. Just like she knew six years ago she would have never joked about their time in captivity, objects brought out to entertain those rich and perverse enough to pay for it. She would never go back to that life. Ever. But freedom, or at least their version of, wasn’t as much fun or liberating as she’d hoped. In many ways, she was more bound now than when she lived in Kaleb’s prison.

Dejected – and her cat twitching – Jiao sighed and leaned her chin on the sill. “I know you’re protecting us. But I miss running outside. I don’t even remember what it feels like to climb a tree or do my nails, or hunt something.”

“I miss it too,” Sheng admitted in a low tone, putting his arm around her shoulder. “But, we can’t risk exposure.”

She gestured out the window where the distant howl of a wolf echoed. “They’re not afraid.” And by they, she meant the shifters who’d claimed the wild strip of forest backing the houses in this neighborhood as their own.

“They’re also not rare species. Wolves, foxes and bears are common to the area. No one would think twice about seeing them. Clouded leopards, though, are not indigenous to this area, which you already know, not mention they are rare even in captivity.”

“Wouldn’t people mistake us for a mountain cat? Or a lynx?”

“With our coloring?” Sheng arched a brow at her ridiculous hope. “No. We need to stay inside. Just have a little more patience. I know it won’t be quite the same, but I’ll get the basement done as soon as I can. Then you can at least let your cat out to exercise.”

Ah, yes the basement project. Good for him for diverting her attention. Her arms crossed over her chest. “And how is that coming? Fired any more good looking guys before they even have a chance?” Oh how she loved sweet sarcasm, a girl’s best friend in any fight.

Sheng’s lip drew into a tight line. “No. And I didn’t technically fire that Chris guy. I just didn’t want to hire him. I have had another shifter in.” An old guy with a belly to outshine most pregnant women. “And I’m expecting his quote any time. I’ve also got a line on a few humans.”

Her lip curled. “Humans? Really? And how are you going to explain you want a scratching post?”

“I’ll figure something out,” he mumbled.

“Did you talk to Patricia about other shifters who could handle the work?” Patricia, the only one who knew their secret.

“Yes. She again recommended the guy from Howling Good Renos.” Something Sheng didn’t sound happy about at all.

“You should give him a chance.”

“But –”

However, she’d had enough. Not only could she not change into her cat and hunt like she was meant to, she couldn’t stop thinking about Chris. Oh how she wanted to see him again. Smell him. Rub against him until he wore her scent. To call her irritable was putting it too mildly.

“No more buts,” she snarled, eyes narrowed and her claws extending as her cat rose to the surface. “I need something, Sheng. I can’t live like this. Can’t go on caging my other half. I want to tear my skin off. Gouge the walls. Kill something to stop this horrible ache inside. My cat is going mental. I need that gym. So stop imagining problems that don’t exist and call the guy everyone keeps recommending. Or I swear, dangerous or not, I’m going to strip naked in the yard, shift and run until the sun comes up. Maybe even chase that stupid neighbor’s tea poodle.” Yappy little critter. Worse, a shifter owned the dumb thing. What carnivore named its snack?