Page 219 of Secret Shifters Next Door

The words were barely out of her mouth before I had my lips on hers. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. Celina was startled at first, but after a moment. she seemed to melt in my arms.

I pulled away. “That’s the best news I’ve had in a while.”

Celina smiled and tried to catch her breath. “I’m glad you’re happy. I could get used to your honesty.”

“Get used to it. I’ll always be honest with you about how I feel.”

She looked at me from beneath her lashes, a skittish look of an animal that’s been wounded too many times to trust anyone. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke again. “And how do you feel?”

As an answer, I pulled her to me again. This kiss was deeper and more intense than the last. I tried to put everything I felt into it. I wanted there to be no doubt in her mind how I felt about her. She was mine, and I was hers.

NINETEEN

CELINA

I was still basking in the high of Thanksgiving a couple of days later. It had been the best holiday I’d ever had in my life. I couldn’t remember any from before my mom gave me up, so perhaps they had been good. Had she gotten me any Christmas presents? Had there been a big turkey on the table and Easter egg hunts? I had no memories of any of those things. All I knew was that I loved Miles’s friends. Harley and April were the sweetest women I’d ever met. Jordyn and Mariah had made me feel right at home. I’d never had a big ego, but hearing how much they both loved some of my books boosted my self-esteem. I’d always been too timid and afraid to go on book tours and attend signings, so I never got to hear people tell me how much they liked my stuff. And the baby? He was just adorable.

The Saturday after the holiday, I sat at my little kitchen island eating a bowl of cereal and mulling over how much I enjoyed myself here. I’d made the right decision in telling Tiffany I was going to stay for a while longer. I’d come here to get over writer’s block, and I’d done better than that. I’d finished one book and was nearly halfway through a brand new one. Maybe I should buy a house here and stay. It might be the bestthing for my career. I chewed at my lip as I thought it over. Maybe it was the best thing for not just my career, but my life.

I washed the bowl in the sink, and it struck me that I hadn’t heard anything from Felicity since our little fight earlier in the week. I still wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but I didn’t want another friendship to end up on the trash heap. I’d had dozens of those over the years. Someone who seemed like they enjoyed being around me, but then, slowly, realized I wasn’t their type. They vanished or slowly slid out of my life. The thought of that happening again made me a little queasy. Miles had said she was probably jealous of the time I was spending with him. I didn’t want to think she was being jealous, but nothing else made any sense. Her behavior made no sense at all. I could try calling her to see if she’d calmed down over the holiday weekend.

I hadn’t checked my mail since a few days before Thanksgiving, and I decided to go down to empty it before the box overflowed. I looked at Miles’s door. He’d told me yesterday that he would be working today, but I couldn’t help thinking of him when I looked at his apartment. I smiled to myself as I went down the stairs and into the alcove where all the mailboxes were. Each apartment had a mail slot and a parcel cabinet. I hadn’t ordered anything lately, but checked the parcel box anyway. I was surprised to see a little package the size of a shoe box. Frowning, I got my mail, then picked up the box before heading back up the stairs.

I tried as best I could to figure out what the heck the box was, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember ordering anything. Once I was back in my apartment, I found a card that had been taped to the bottom of the box. All it said was: From Miles.

I smiled to myself. He’d sent me a gift? I didn’t even wait to thank him. I grabbed my phone and shot him a text, thanking him for my gift, then I pulled a pair of scissors out of my kitchendrawer and walked to the box to open it. My hand was poised over the tape, ready to slice through, when my phone rang. It was Miles. That was fast. I put the scissors down and grabbed the phone.

“Celina? Are you okay?” His voice sounded harried, panicked, and out of breath.

“Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Have you touched that package yet?”

“No I was about to open it?—”

“Don’t! I’ll be there in a second. Blayne and I are already getting into a car.”

“Miles, what’s wrong? You sound like you’re about to freak out.”

“I am freaking out, Celina. I didn’t send you a package. Please don’t touch it until we get there.”

My blood ran cold. If he hadn’t sent it, who had? And why would they try to pretend Miles had sent it. I backed away from the box. Memories of past news stories flooded my mind. Anthrax, The Unabomber, the movie Se7en? There were so many things that could be in a box. Before the phone call, I’d been excited to see what was inside it, but now it looked like the most ominous thing I’d ever seen in my life.

Taking Miles’s advice one step further, I grabbed my coat and went outside to wait for him. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that box. Five minutes later, just as my fingers were starting to go numb, a black SUV came screeching into the parking lot, jumping the curb and spinning a full one-eighty as the back end drifted around when the car came to a stop. My eyes widened in surprise. I’d never seen anyone drive like that in real life. You only saw things like that in movies starring Vin Diesel and Steve McQueen. I was even more surprised to see Blayne hop out of the driver’s side. I’d assumed Miles would be driving, but he clambered out of the passenger seat.

“Celina,” he screamed, hitting the steps two at a time. His voice sounded on the verge of panic.

“I’m here. I’m outside,” I called down. Miles glanced up, and my heart nearly stopped. The look in his eyes terrified me. Not because he looked scared, but because he himself looked terrified. He always seemed so calm and collected that seeing him like this was a shock to the system.

He put his hands on his knees and took two deep breaths before continuing up the steps, though he moved slower now.

“What the hell is going on? Why did you freak when you found out I got a package?” I asked when they reached the top of the stairs.

Miles took me in his arms and hugged me. “We’ll talk about it in a minute. Blayne? You wanna go grab it?”

“Already on it,” Blayne said, stepping into my place. He came out a few seconds later with the box under his arm. “It’s really light. Probably safe on explosives, but I want to check it out before we open it.”

“Explosives? Is he being serious?” I asked Miles.

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