Page 23 of Shifters in the Night

The trees thinned out and her eye caught on a tiny dollhouse with creamy wood siding and dark green shutters, meticulously maintained and backing up to the water. The lights were out, save for the porch lamp, and it looked so lonely. Was this Jon’s nearest neighbor? It had to be at least a mile from his house.

“That’s Bayard Boone’s old place,” Jon commented. “He was a friend of my grandparents from way back, a good man. He was a great-uncle to Bael a few times over, just passed a week or so ago. Poor guy. His mate, Marnette, died years ago. She got sick, which doesn’t happen to a lot of dragons. Most of them can live forever if they had a mind to, but I think his heart just gave up without her.”

“That’s so sad,” she murmured, her free hand touching the glass.

“It’s a nice place, though. Bayard was a contractor by trade. He kept it up over the years,” Jon said.

“He didn’t own one of the businesses in town?” Lia asked.

“Bayard was always a bit of an odd duck among the Boones, kind of like Bael. Didn’t have much use for their airs. Only talked to them to keep the peace.”

Lia turned so she could keep watching the house as it passed out of view. Somehow, she hadn’t wanted to lose sight of it. It looked so peaceful. It looked like a home and she felt such a pang of longing that it actually hurt. She wasn’t sure what to feel about all these new sensations. Was it just part of living in Mystic Bayou? Feeling more? Maybe it was spending time around people she didn’t work with? She’d been behaving very out of character lately, drinking with the ladies and somehow wandering to Jon’s house, of all places. Had that really been an accident? Or had she wanted to end up there because she missed him in the whopping forty-eight hours since she’d seen him last?

He squeezed her hand. “Seems like you’re thinking some deep thoughts over there.”

“Just double-checking, but you can’t actually hear my thoughts, right?” she asked.

“Nah, I would have told you way before now,” he assured her. “Selkies really don’t have many special skills beyond super-senses, being able to breathe under water and swim real fast.”

“Still valid skills,” she protested as he turned onto Main Street. “Do Bael or Zed have special skills? I mean turning into a dragon is pretty cool, but can he do anything else?”

“No, but he says turning into a dragon is enough,” he grumbled, making her snicker as he slowed to a stop. He slid out of the truck, jogging through the beams of headlights to open her door.

“So, I’m going to ask you on an official date, so we can clear up all of this confusion,” he told her as he walked her towards her trailer. She wasn’t even sure how he knew which one was hers, but suspected it had something to do with those super-senses he mentioned before.

“At some point in the future?” she asked as they reached the bottom of her porch steps.

“No, right now,” he said. “Would you like to come over for dinner this weekend? I’ll cook, just to prove that I can. And it won’t be frozen lasagna, I promise.”

“That sounds really nice,” she said. “Can I bring anything? I happen to know where to get some really good desserts.”

“Just yourself,” he said. “On Saturday?”

“All right. And so I bid you goodnight, sir, at the end of this non-date.”

He laughed. “Are you angling for another kiss?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of violating your elaborate dating rules.” She giggled as he pulled her close, kissing her soundly. It was just as lovely as the first kiss and she sank into it like steaming bath water. He was a bit more confident this time, and for a moment, she forgot that she was standing in an open space where her coworkers could see. And she didn’t care, honestly. Let them see. If nothing else, it would end the office rumors that Lia was a robot who only existed to work.

“Goodnight,” he told her, giving her one last smacking kiss before jogging off to his truck.

She waved as he climbed in and flickered his headlights. Despite the hour, she had a spring in her step as she jogged up the steps. Jon pulled away from the trailer park and she pulled her keys out of her backpack. Behind her, she could hear the front door of the trailer across from hers swing open with a creaaaak.

“Hey, I was wondering where you’d wandered off to!” Jeff called from his porch. She turned, having forgotten Jeff was assigned to the unit on the next row. His expression was concerned, like he’d waited up for her. She felt a flush of guilt. It was almost midnight on a work night and, again, this was not her pattern. Jeff must have been really worried to watch her door like this.

“Oh, just went out for some drinks with some of the ladies I met at the League meeting,” she told him, smiling. “Jillian, Sonja and Dani and a few others. They were kind enough to invite me and I didn’t think it would be polite to say no.”

She intentionally left out any mention of Jon. Because she didn’t know whether he’d seen her kissing Jon and frankly, it was none of his business. She’d never had to work to keep her professional and personal lives separate, but it certainly seemed like a good idea right now.

Jeff’s concerned expression gave way to a beaming smile. “Oh! Great! That sounds like fun. Good for you.”

“Yeah, it felt nice to talk to people about something besides work. I met Jillian and Bael’s baby, got some of the local gossip.”

“You had a productive night, then,” Jeff said. “I’m glad you’re here to make those connections, because without you…”

“Panic and chaos,” they said together, laughing.

“Well, I better get to bed if I want to be any use to anybody in the morning,” she said.

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