ANMELDENThe party at the Prime house rolled into the night. And this was the most Sex on the Beach Francesca had ever had—the drink, that is. The shit was so sweet, it was like drinking juice for breakfast, with a little zinger. And the saying that shifters couldn’t get drunk—that wasn’t really the case.Shifter metabolism was so much faster than humans’ that when drinking at the same speed, shifters burned off the alcohol much faster than their counterparts. But there’s a limit to everything.If shifters drank enough, quick enough—enough that would kill a human—they could get drunk. But it was short-lived when the drinking stopped, fewer than twenty minutes.She’d never giggled so much in her life. Actually, she thought all her brother’s friends were lame and show-offish. Now she added dork to that list of adjectives.One of said friends laid an arm across her shoulders.“Hey there, short stuff,” he said. “How’s it going down there?”She looked up at him. Jim, the independent accountant they
Why, oh why, did she say she was going to the Prime house party? She must not have been thinking straight. Someone had accused her of being older than she was—that’s what started this whole business.She sat on the living room sofa. She'd loved the day her mom picked it out and had it delivered. Dad complained because it was a bit expensive, but it wasn’t like the pride was destitute. In fact, quite the opposite.For many years, since the time of her grandfather, the pride had produced the best beef this side of the Mississippi. It started when her grandparents and a group of fellow tiger shifters settled there to escape persecution from humans. Good meat in large quantities was hard to find, so they purchased cows and bulls and set to cultivating what they considered good eatin’.It seemed others thought so, too. As money came in, the pride purchased more land and bred more cattle. They were able to acquire quite a bit of forested area and grazing pasture for both building homes and
The door opened a third time, and Francesca was ready to tell them to go away. But it was her assistant, Joyce, whom her brother insisted she hire. The younger girl stopped and stared around the room.“Oh my God. Who barfed flowers and chocolate everywhere?”She glanced at Francesca at her desk.“I thought you were allergic to flowers.”Francesca sniffed.“I am.”“And I thought you didn’t like chocolate.”“I don’t.”The girl squealed and jumped around.“Then it’s all for me?”That made Francesca feel guilty as hell, but those were the facts. It went to show one couldn’t assume what a woman liked. Though with these two guys, it was the thought that counted. And it did. A point for each. She wondered if she needed to start a scorecard. God, that sounded horrible.“Yup, all for you,” Francesca said.“Where did this come from?” Joyce asked.“I went to a cocktail reception last night—”Joyce looked at her.“You went to a party?”“Yes,” Francesca huffed. “What’s wrong with that?”“Nothing.”
Sitting at the one stoplight in the little town, Francesca pulled her phone from her purse. Her screen showed she had two text messages waiting. She tapped the first.Good morning, beautiful. Just letting you know I’m thinking about you. Looking forward to Saturday.MarcusAww, how sweet.She texted back a thank you and similar regards. When she first saw him last night with Gerri, she hadn’t seen anyone as gorgeous since…Theo had left ten minutes before.How could she be so attracted to two men at the same time? She’d gone years without one guy turning her head, then in one night, two caused her whiplash. Then, stupidly, she agreed to both dates. When did she become one of those women?One thing was for sure—she didn’t want to string anyone along. She’d figure out which she liked, if either, and then let the other one go.The message definitely added points for Marcus.She went back to the messenger home screen and clicked the other text.Good morning, gorgeous. Hope your day is grea
Francesca sized up the enemy in front of her. He was quite a bit taller, but that was only because she was vertically challenged. She wouldn’t let a silly thing like that be the reason she got the shit beat out of her. Nope, not this morning. After such a wonderful evening the night before, she was psyched beyond belief.She and her opponent circled each other. Neither had a hand raised. No weapons had been pulled. No, not for this fight. This would be all skill.He lunged toward her, fist aimed at her. Easily, she blocked the oncoming missile with her forearm, grabbed his wrist, and thrust him to the floor using his own momentum against him.He sprang to his feet. She got lucky on that one.His eyes flared. It was probably hard for a man to get his ass kicked by a woman. A short one at that. Circling again, she focused on his stance. There were telltale signs throughout the body that foretold what was coming.Fists and biceps relaxed. He wasn’t thinking of an upper body punch. His po
Marcus poured his first cup of coffee and reclined on the sofa, watching the sun come over the adjacent buildings. One thing he missed about living with his parents was their rural location. No tall buildings blocking the view, no cars honking or polluting the air. Just peace and smaller critters romping through the forests out back. He’d love to get back to that. He could literally work from anywhere. As long as he had the Internet, he could live in Antarctica.His bear shivered. Maybe not there. How about a nudist beach where it could run around naked? His animal must’ve been high. The damn thing didn’t wear clothes. High on love.Marcus would agree with that. They’d found their mate and now they had to woo her to make sure she knew they wanted her, and only her, now and forever.He heard the elevator down the hall ding, then a moment later, Theo opened the door. Was he humming? Theo never hummed or whistled. He did occasionally belt out AC/DC in the shower. Those were times Marcus
His mother had always told him one of his qualities as a leader was being able to think about obstacles and figure out strategic moves to get what he wanted. Whether it was with his pack or life in general, he knew everything was about strategy.So what if she did not shift? He no longer cared abou
Dani shivered in her pretty red flats. The black and red polka-dot dress had been a bargain find and she loved wearing it because it made her feel pretty and feminine. She’d even curled her hair for Kane. Not just curled with a hot iron, but spent hours straightening the frizzy hair and then curlin
The following morning Kane came by her office looking absolutely delicious. With his scruffy hair and days old beard she wanted to do nothing but whimper at the sight of him. Her boss rushed out of her office when he came to the desk.“Can I help you?” Marla asked with a flirtatious smile.“I'm her
Kane inhaled sharply.“Your brother is our friend,” he said, his voice so rough she swore he’d shift at any second.“We made a vow to keep our hands to ourselves. You’re much too important to your brother for us to damage our friendship with him or your expectations of the future.”What expectation







