“Dammit, lady!”
Charlotte clapped her hand, the one not holding an egg, to her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”
“You should be. You got egg all over my dang coat!”
“It wasn’t meant for you. It was meant for that murderer in the beaver jacket. Although … are you wearing sheepskin?”
“Yeah.” His lips pulled back in a snarl of a smile. “Killed the sheep myself.”
“Excuse me?”
He tossed the coat aside and shifted. A huge gray wolf stood before her.
Charlotte screamed. And threw the egg at him. It splattered across his muzzle. She quickly palmed another, just in case.
Ralston shifted back. “Okay, you’re getting a spanking for that.”
“You stay away from me!”
But he’d already grabbed her, and pulled her against his firm, naked chest. “Too late, li’l lady.” He eyed her bosom, currently heaving up and down with every panicked breath. “My, what big eggs you have. Any chance you could throw these at me?”
“You know damn well I was aiming for the beaver coat.”
“Yeah, and Mrs. Ainsley’s pissed over that. Her late husband had it made for her. Part of the will. It’s all she has left of him.”
“You mean she—”
“Keeps a part of him with her every day. Now here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to apologize for dishonoring her late husband, you’re going to pay to have that fur cleaned, and then you’re going to join me for breakfast. And if you throw another egg at me, I’ll put you over my knee.”
“I only egg people wearing fur.”
“I’m a shifter. I can’t help wearing fur. When will you PETA freaks realize we don’t need your help?”
“Maybe you do. Aren’t shifters endangered?"
“Not as much as you right now. Mrs. Ainsley can sue you for assault, y’know.”
“I’m not having breakfast with you. I don’t even know you.”
He held out his hand. “Ralston Durham. And you would be … ?”
“Charlotte O’Keefe.” She defiantly took his hand, and shook it. And remembered, seconds too late, the other egg in her palm.
They stared at their mutually slimy hands. “You go make your apologies,” he ordered her in a soft but growling voice. “Then join me in the diner over yonder. And wash your hands.”
1 comment:
Oh, my. I'd never stopped to consider how a PETA nut would interact with a shapeshifter! that was funny!
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