Page 59 of Shifter Marked and Claimed

By the time we’d been brave enough to look out the window, all we’d seen was a tall man with dark hair and a love of tight-fitting t-shirts and low-slung jeans, glowering down at a goblin, who was stomping away from the house. Once the goblin reached the sidewalk, the man had stepped back into the house and slammed the door shut.

The sightings had been daily since then. He’d even yelled at me for being on his lawn during the one time we’d braved leaving the house with the help of a few local werewolf pack members. More people time we’d needed that had been cut too brief.

Giving in, I looked up from the book. “Fine. What’s he doing now?”

Zoe, standing a good foot back from the see-through curtain to remain undetected, raptly watched our odd neighbor.

“I believe it’s his daily inspection walk. I wonder what he’s looking for when he stares at his roof like that.”

I pretended to return my attention to the book in my hands.

“I hope we never find out.”

“He’s scowling hard at it now. Seriously, I have to know. Did he spot something and he’s mad about it? Is he waiting for a rooftop delivery? If so, what delivers here? DruidDash?”

A soft laugh escaped me.

“Okay, he stopped staring up and is looking down. Maybe he’s realizing he needs shoes to walk around in snow.”

“I doubt that. He’s not human. Why would he need shoes?”

“Most humans don’t like shoes either. He could be human.”

“And that’s why you need to read these books more slowly. There’s no way he’s human. One, he lives here. Two, he walks around barefoot outside in the middle of a Maine winter like it’s no big deal. Three, you said his eyes glowed.”

“It was sunny that day, and as soon as he turned his head toward the window, I looked down like I was supposed to. Who knows if what I thought I saw was really what I saw?”

“We are not going to introduce ourselves, no matter how good-looking you say he is. It would be like ringing the dinner bell.”

“He might not even notice if it did ring. He’s yelling at that rock again. I swear it was closer to the window yesterday. I think he sneaks out at night to move it so he can yell at it in the morning for not being in the right spot.”

I rolled my eyes at her imagination.

“He’s squatting down,” she said with hushed excitement. “He has the best backside ever. Mmm. Just biteable.”

“Do not tell a human-eating creature that you think his ass is biteable. Do you want to die?”

“I thought they didn’t eat humans here,” she said with a smirk.

“Do not twist my words, child.”

My mock severity made her chuckle, and I grinned.

“Seriously though, Kelsey, this guy has the body of a god. The way he moves when—oh, shit! He’s looking at me.”

CHAPTERTWO

I boltedfrom my chair and dove for Zoe, taking her down at the knees. We fell with muffled “oofs” and landed in a tangle.

“Get off me,” I whispered.

“I wouldn’t be on you if you hadn’t attacked like a psycho.”

“You were looking at him.”

“No. I was looking down. You know, like you’ve drilled into my head every day since that asshole in the Roost kissed me.”

I gave her a push to move her away.

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