Page 45 of Shifters in the Night

Leaning near him, Lia could see thin lines across his cheekbone, only visible because she was looking really closely. He gestured toward her plate and she took a bite of her omelet. She sighed. Yep, she would marry him, and have tiny deer-mermaid babies with him.

“I barely limped home,” he said, digging into his own breakfast. “It took me days to swim back close enough that my grandpa could rescue my ass.”

“Do selkies not heal quickly?” she asked. “I mean, if I was mistaken for a real deer by a hunter, I could recover in a day or so as long as they didn’t hit anything too important.”

Jon swallowed, nodding. “Sure, we do. But the kraken had this poisonous mucus that kept my wounds from closing up. It took years instead of hours. My grandparents took good care of me. Will wanted to come home, but that would have wrecked all of his plans, his career. I figured out ways to keep to myself, basically became a hermit. I got comfortable with it, and I can see that was a mistake.”

She set aside her plate and took his face in her hands. “I’ve made my share of mistakes. The point is that you learn from them.”

“I don’t see you as the mistake type,” he replied, eying her skeptically.

“On my first job, I was completely over-confident. I misread the client and overestimated how much he was willing to pay. I walked away from the table in the middle of a meeting, telling him he had my number when he was ready to play with some real numbers. I was demoted to a probationary position until my then-boss could trust my judgement again. It took a year or so. My dad told me it was a common mistake for hinds my age and I certainly wouldn’t repeat it. So trust me, everybody messes up. You just have to learn to get back up before anyone notices,” Lia.

He sighed, leaning in to kiss her. “Well, I do see one mistake you’re making.”

“What’s that?” Lia asked.

“You’re overdressed,” he told her between kisses. He pulled her shirt over her head as he stepped between her thighs. Lia realized she was probably going to be late for work for the first time in a long time. And it was going to be worth it.

* * *

She managed to not be late, but it was a very near miss. She slid into the office, still fastening her watch around her wrist at exactly nine a.m.

“I told you that I wouldn’t condone your living off-site if it meant your being late in the mornings,” Victor said, standing at the coffee station, frowning at the empty pot.

“I’m not late, I’m right on time,” she replied sweetly as she walked into her office and dropped her bag on her love seat. Jeff wasn’t sitting at the front desk, which was unusual.

“For you, on time is late,” he shot back. “Normally, you’re at least thirty minutes early. I prefer to know that you’re eager to arrive to work rather than just under the wire.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, standing in her office door. More than ever, she wished she could read Victor, figure out what the man was thinking. All she could see now was petulant irritation in the thin set of his mouth and the hunched angry line of his shoulders.

“We’re out of coffee,” Victor noted, holding up the empty can. “Someone needs to run to the store.”

Lia kept her tone light as she said, “That sounds like something you should discuss with Jeff.”

Victor leveled his dark eyes at her, sneering. “You never considered yourself too good for this sort of errand before.”

“You said you wanted me to focus on my duties,” Lia said, “that means I can’t see to details like coffee.”

“I detect a certain lack of cooperation, Lia,” Victor said.

She smiled without revealing any teeth. “Good, that means my tone is being interpreted correctly.”

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you were considering other offers.” He was seething, and suddenly she wondered at the wisdom of being alone in the office with him. Did he really think she was considering leaving or was this just some rant he’d come up with because he was upset with her? Was it possible he was listening to her phone call when her father mentioned Peter’s offer? Was it paranoid to think that?

While she was staring at him awkwardly, Jeff burst into the trailer carrying several take-out cups.

“Coffee!” Jeff called, his voice so cheerful, it made her heart ache. She would miss Jeff when she left. The thought bubble formed inside her head before her brain could even process the fact that she’d already made her decision – she had to leave. There was no staying with Victor after this morning. She was frightened of him. And if a hind knew anything, it was how to identify a threat and get the hell away from it.

Lia smiled at Jeff as he laid her cup from Bathtilda’s on her desk. “Two creams with one sugar, just like you like it.”

“You serve your coworker before you serve the boss?” Victor asked archly.

“Well, ladies first,” Jeff chuckled as he handed his uncle the coffee. Victor snatched the cup and bolted half of it in one gulp, glaring at both of them before walking into the office and slamming the door behind him. Jeff turned to her, chagrinned. “Not in a good mood, huh?”

“Decidedly not. Sorry, I know that rolls downhill to you,” Lia answered.

“I’m used to it. Is it all right?” Jeff asked, nodding to her cup. “I’ve never had the coffee at Bathtilda’s.”

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