Nibbling the inside of her cheek, she fought to hold in a laugh at his cheesy line. Raine didn't get attached, she had a list a mile long of what she would want if she ever found a man who might be good enough and although Kian checked several boxes - one being that he could make her laugh - this wasn't the time.
"Aw, come on. What was I supposed to say to make you remember me? You called me the name of a shoe brand." He held his hands up in surrender as the other two guys seemed to be holding back on the laughter.
"I promise, we aren't creepy. We even have background checks."
A deep sigh was all she could get out. "Okay. I'm sorry. It's not nice to call people creepy, but you will have to excuse me all the same. I really do need to get going."
"Right. Sure. Maybe we will catch you again?"
Raine resisted the urge to rub at her chest. Heartburn maybe? She didn't get heartburn, but something just didn't feel right.
"Uh. I doubt that. I usually teach the evening kids’ classes. There isn't a lot of overlap with the earlier classes, except when I do the self-defense and that's not often."
A slow nod of his head. "All right. I see what you are doing. It's fine. Well Raine Collins, I'll see you around. Hope you get whatever you need done."
Raine sidestepped him, struggling to break free from his gaze.
He's a shifter, Raine. He's a man. Just don't.
This might have been the first mental pep talk she'd ever given herself since swearing off relationships. Especially with a man who looked like him, a shifter who looked like him.
Finally, she found the strength to look away, right as the most adorable and somehow smoldering smile spread across his face.
"Shit." Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized that she'd said the word out loud.
His eyes sparkled as she ran for the small closet sized room used as storage, slamming the door behind her.
Leaning against it, she couldn't hold in a giddy smile of her own. He wasn't what she needed, but his dark brown hair, tanned skin, eyes as green as a summer meadow with golden flecks of fireflies, and those full lips that had her licking her own in memory.
Her grandmother’s words haunted her. Or well her grandmother haunted her.
"See dear? I told you. You can tell a lot about a man by his smile. And oh that smile."
She cocked her head. "For crap sake Gran. Can't you haunt me another time?"
The little lady in front of her floated about. Same gray pixie cut, same purple jogging suit.
"If I didn’t watch you, you'd be a shut-in. Now, let's go see Gerri. My soul isn't resting until you are married."
Wandering around in the badly lit room, Raine grabbed her shoes. As she pulled them on she tried to figure out how to end the conversation once and for all. She could handle living with Gran, she couldn’t live with the meddling though. Raine had already come to terms with being alone forever, maybe Gran could accept it too.
"Okay, look. I have crappy taste in men. I literally walked in on the last guy dead, all because he liked drugs more than he liked me. The guy before that, he was human. He seemed so nice and normal. But tell him you see ghosts and suddenly he can't date blondes. The guy before that was some kind of shifter, but I never found out which type because of the fact he spent the entire time we dated talking about how beautiful he was in his 'manly' form. Remember him? Even you were bored stalking me on those dates."
Gran clicked her tongue; sometimes Raine wished that the afterlife had some kind of mute button.
"You are so special, Raine. Your mom didn't do right by you, I'm still sorry about that sweetheart, but you are special. You can communicate with people's loved ones once they are gone. Yeah, maybe that's not always a picnic, but you're too much for a human and you are definitely not a pushover for those alpha species.” Gran circled her, making Raine feel a little dizzy.
“The good news, sweetheart, is that I know Gerri can help. You’re a strong woman and there is someone who needs you. Now, put on your fuck-me shoes and flounce that ass that my genetics have handed down. Shake it in front of those hot men out there. They’re all still standing there last I peeked through the wall."
Raine turned her head to look at the white space and slowly looked back to Gran. "There is something wrong with you Gran. Seriously."
The old lady laughed. "Yeah. I have you as a granddaughter and you won't go get me any grandbabies with one of those studs."
Shaking her head Raine zipped her boots and grabbed her purse.
"Gran, if I ever do agree to get married, please tell me you are going to disappear at least for the honeymoon stage?"
A transparent grin was all Raine was left with as the old lady disappeared.
"Wow. So, she's a spunky one. What were you thinking?" asked Ethan.
Kian stared at the door listening to her breathing, and he could hear a shuffling noise.
Crap, was she changing. The idea of her naked right behind that door had his dick twitching for attention. He could smell her; he could smell her arousal adding fuel to his already burning libido. She was turned on by him. He was turned on by her, and he had pretty much put his foot in his mouth. Where in the hell had that all come from? He was a loner. The cougar within him circled around, prowling back and forth. He mentally growled
