Page 20 of Shark 2

“Thank you, Stacy.” She had given me a chance, provided me a job, and previously a place to sleep. It was a lot of give someone you barely knew.

“Girl, I should be giving you twice that check. You’ve brought in tons of business and a lot of social media presence. Your aerobatics is so widely discussed that people are flying in from out of state just to try to see your antics.”

“Aren’t you worried someone might question my true form?” I asked, looking into her eyes.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Technically, we aren’t breaking any laws by having you swim around. Bars have mermaids who do the same types of ‘shows’ and you’re on our books, so it’s not like we aren’t reporting your wages. The laws are in place to protect shifters and you aren’t a captive here. We’ll be fine even if we have to announce it, but we don’t plan to.”

“I’d rather the kids think I’m just a smart creature,” I admitted softly.

Her smile softened and she nodded once. “I understand your wishes and will try my best to continue following them. Now, get on out of here! You’ve got to finish packing still, if I know you well enough.”

Cringing, I nodded. “You’re right. Thank you, again, for everything.”

She waved. “Just make sure you come back, okay? I don’t want to lose my star.”

Hugging the envelope and tote to my chest, I sniffled and walked out of the aquarium feeling so happy I wanted to cry.

“What’s wrong?” Reed asked and growled softly. “Whose ass do I need to kick?”

That had me laughing and a few tears leaked out. I wiped them away and kissed his cheek. “Happy tears, handsome. Happy tears.”

He draped an arm around my shoulders and steered me towards the car. “Oh, well, in that case. Yay, whatever made you happy.”

I shook my head and said, “Thanks.”

Grant waved from where he leaned against the car. “Ready to finish packing?”

“Nope, but I’ve put it off long enough. I’ll just grab the first outfits that draw my eyes and force myself to be happy with what I bring when we are there.”

“You could walk around naked, with your scales as an outfit, and no one would care,” Reed said.

“I definitely wouldn’t mind it,” Grant said and had to adjust his pants.

Throwing my head back, I laughed loudly. This was how they’d wormed their way into my hearts. Laughter and love. I just hoped they stayed there.

9

“I should have lied and said I couldn’t shift my tail so we could have gotten seats with more leg room,” I complained as we sat in our seats on the crowded plane.

Reed raised the arm rest between he and I up so he could reach over comfortably and set his hand on my thigh. “It’s not a very long flight, only an hour and a half. You’ll survive.”

“It’s not like you’re very tall anyway,” Grant commented on my other side and raised the arm rest between us as well, setting his hand on top of his thigh, palm up, fingers spread in invitation.

I accepted and threaded our fingers together. The touch of both of them helped relax me and I closed my eyes with an exhausted sigh.

I hadn’t been able to sleep well due to the anticipation of our trip.

The flight attendants gave their preflight speeches, describing all the features of the plane, emergency exits, and things to do in case of emergency.

They were not instilling confidence in me.

“Flying really isn’t that bad once you get used to it,” Grant said softly and leaned closer to me, rubbing our shoulders together. “The sooner you get used to it, the sooner we can take you on more trips, ones even farther from here.”

“More trips?” I asked, opening my eyes and looking at him.

He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “There are so many places I want to show you. So many fun cities that I know you would enjoy visiting. Also, other countries.”

Other countries? I had been to several, but had gotten there by swimming.

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