changed, and my pulse sped up in response. But then he sprouted fur and began to contort, and I covered my eyes again.
Not the glamorous side of being a shifter. I winced when I heard bones crack, and I kept my eyes covered, waiting. Long moments passed, and when I was just about to open my eyes and ask what was going on, something furry rubbed up against my leg. I opened my eyes to see a massive dun cougar stalking away from me, his tail lashing slowly back and forth. He sniffed the alleyway carefully and moved forward, then glanced back at me.
I relaxed a little. “I like you much better like this. Quiet and not naked.”
He made a chuffing noise that might have been a laugh. And then he began to sniff around again. I paced a few steps behind him as he followed a scent trail, moving along the back alley and turning down another, before doubling back and rechecking the area he’d already gone over.
The back door to Konstantine’s opened, letting out a waft of delicious scents. I stopped just as a man in a dirty apron emerged and headed for the Dumpster. He paused at the sight of me, and then Josh, his eyes widening in alarm.
Shit! I’d just been caught with a shifter in cat-form. The Alliance was going to kill me. I was—
Josh meowed, a sad, pathetic, house-cat meow.
“Bad kitty,” I said automatically, figuring out his plan. Genius! I smiled at the man standing frozen in the alley. “Silly cat refuses to go potty on the grass.”
“
“All mine,” I said, and snapped my fingers at my side. Josh immediately came to my hand, rubbing up against my fingers and purring wildly. I scratched at his face, his whiskers, and he began to lick my fingers, and then my palm.
It . . . tickled. And made me a little squirmy, knowing that there was a human brain behind all that licking. What was going through his mind right now?
The man in the apron chatted with me as he tossed bags into the Dumpster, giving side glances at Josh as he made out with my hand while I stood making small talk. The man told me about his pet dog, and how he’d once seen a big cat at the zoo, and asked me where I’d gotten mine. I told him that my cougar was a gift. And Josh was great at obeying. Harmless. Declawed, I added. All this time, Josh kept licking and nuzzling at my hand.
As soon as the man disappeared back into the restaurant, I jerked my hand away from Josh. “Is this the shifter version of first base?”
He chuffed at me again, then turned, batting at my leg with his tail, indicating that I should follow once more. I did, and he took me down a set of alleys, leading me through the backstreets of downtown Fort Worth, before we came to a neatly stashed pile of clothing and shoes.
He paused, staring at me expectantly.
“Time to change?” I asked.
He reached out and licked my hand again.
“I’m going to take that as a yes. Go on, then.” I turned around, picked up his cell phone, and clicked on it, payback for his snatching my phone.
Locked. Darn. So much for my chance to snoop. I waited until Josh finished changing, listening to the sound of clothing rustling as he dressed. Then he leaned over my shoulder and neatly plucked his phone out of my hands. “That’s mine.”
“Afraid I’ll get all the numbers of your girlfriends and tell them about how you’ve been harassing me in an alley?”
“What, and give away all my smooth moves?” he teased. “Let’s get back to the agency. I imagine Ryder’s waiting. I assume she’s in on this scheme of yours?”
She was, and she was going to kill me if I showed up at the agency with Josh.
We walked back to the small strip mall off a service road. Midnight Liaisons had an unassuming storefront, since the last thing we wanted was to draw attention to our business. The lights were on inside, as they were twenty-four hours a day, but the blinds were pulled shut. When I entered the small waiting room, I frowned to see that all four desks in the main office were empty. I glanced over at Ryder’s desk. Her purse was still hanging off the back of her chair.
Not good.
I turned to Josh. “Can you wait here for a minute?”
He shrugged. “Or I could sit down and we can talk for a bit and explore this vampire fetish—”
That was the last thing I wanted right now. “Just . . . stay . . . here,” I said, placing my hands on his chest and giving him a nudge backward.
He put his hand over mine, as if to hold it. “I know you want your hands on me, Marie, but think of how jealous poor Ryder will be.”
I shoved him harder, ignoring the boyish grin on his face. “I’m going to talk to Ryder, and then we’re going to head out for a bit.”
“We are?” He seemed surprised. “Shouldn’t you be ‘working’ at your ‘job’?” He made air quotes, teasing me.
“Shouldn’t you?” I hissed back at him. “You’re being paid to track something, right? So go track.” When he didn’t move, I sighed. “Give me two minutes and I’ll tell Ryder where we’re going. Just wait here.” I didn’t want him following me in.
I half expected him to follow me in, but he did as I asked. I hitched my purse closer on my shoulder, braced myself, and headed to the back conference room, where I knew I’d find Ryder.
I cracked the door open just enough to see scaly flesh and curled wings. One misshapen arm shot out, clearly re-forming. The creature turned to me, eyes wild, and I recognized Ryder’s bright blue gaze in that awful face.
“Hey,” I said softly, forcing myself to ignore the fact that she was turning into a monster right before my eyes. “I’m taking Josh and we’re going to go get something to eat. Call me if you need me, okay?”
The hand wavered, shuddered, and clenched. Then she slowly raised it into the air and jabbed a thumbs- up.
I gave her the thumbs-up sign back and shut the door, leaving her to her business.
After all, I knew all about secrets. There were some things you just didn’t want other people to know. I swept through the office and brushed past Josh to the front door. “Come on. There’s bound to be something open this late.”
Chapter Five
There was a time when I’d have been excited about going out to a late-night dinner with a gorgeous man. A time when, if he’d put his hand on the small of my back to guide me down the sidewalk, I’d have shivered with delight. Tonight I had a handsome, gorgeous man with his hand on my back, walking at my side, and it just bothered me. I was filled with annoyance. What did Josh so arrogantly think he could teach me about dating a male vampire? I was the one who worked at a dating agency, after all.
I strode down the sidewalk and tried not to think about Ryder, who was having a bad night. Instead, I focused on my situation, since it was a worse night for me. Josh easily kept up with my angry strides, his big form staying protectively next to me.
He gestured at a nearby restaurant. “How about that?”
I eyed the yellow sign with a frown. “A diner?”
He grinned down at me and I was distracted by how close he was, by his touch on my lower back. “Why not? Open all night.”
“It just seems so . . . ”
“Casual? It’s not a date.” His hand nudged my lower back, directing me toward the restaurant’s lit parking lot.
My mouth tightened. Of course it wasn’t a date. “You don’t need to remind me. And since you picked, you’re
