Page 126 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I smiled at the baby, and he gave me a toothless grin. I looked at Tate. “Thank you so much for all the work you guys did on my security system. It’s been great.”

Tate shrugged. “It’s my job. No thanks needed.”

From out of the crowd, a gorgeous woman appeared and swept an arm around Tate. Yes, I was a supermodel, as much as I hated the term, but this woman was so beautiful she even made me a little self-conscious. She touched the baby’s chin, and when the little one stretched his arms out to her, she took him in her arms.

Tate put an arm around her. “This is my wife, Harley.”

There was such a connection between the two of them that I almost felt like I was intruding on something private by simply standing there with them. The electricity was palpable. These two were in love, and it was a stronger bond than I’d ever seen in my life.

“We’ve got two more girls,” Tate added. “They’re teenagers, though. I think they’re running around doing teenage things.”

Harley flushed when she spoke to me. “I know this is silly, but both my girls are huge fans of yours.”

I laughed and waved it off. “It’s not silly. I’d be happy to sign something anytime.”

“Okay, I may take you up on that if I need a birthday present for them or something.”

Tate gave Harley a wary look. “Just make sure the girls don’t post anything about April being here. I’m still in charge of her security.”

Harley nodded and gave him a mock salute. “Got it, Captain.”

Tory started to fuss and squirm, and Tate took the baby back from Harley. “I’m gonna go make him a bottle and get settled for the fireworks. See you in a bit, babe.” He kissed Harley and walked off into the crowd.

Harley touched my arm. “Steff can’t stop talking about you. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’d love to get together sometime and have a girls’ night or something. I could totally use a mommy break. Does that sound weird?”

I laughed. “No, not at all. I’d really like that. Can I get your number?”

We exchanged information, and Harley gave me a brief hug. “Again, it was super nice to meet you. Enjoy the fireworks. Talk to you soon.”

Chelsea walked up a few seconds later with her egg rolls and nodded toward Harley as she walked away. “New friends? I’ve seen that couple around town before, but haven’t met them.”

“They’re Steff’s friends. His business partner and his wife. They seem really nice. I think I’m going to try to hang out with her at some point.”

Chelsea raised her eyebrows. “Oh, meeting the friends already? Hmmm.”

“Oh, quit it. Let’s go get the rest of the food.”

We took the next fifteen minutes stopping at three other food trucks and got a bunch of different things. Then we made our way toward the guys. Steff was standing with Kellan and another big beefy guy. Kellan was listening to something Steff was saying, and tilted his head back, barking laughter. I had to stop and do a double-take. Seeing Steff and Kellan like that, buddy-buddy, was surreal. Like stepping back in time. When had theyfully made up? It didn’t look like there was any animosity between the two of them.

Since we’d broken up, all Kellan and Kris talked about was how much they hated Steff. And now Kris was there as well, although he didn’t look as comfortable with Steff, but he was still smiling and laughing along. It was strange, but they had said they were ready to bury the hatchet. Kellan told me he was ready to move on. That had sounded like lip service, but it looked like my brothers had been telling the truth. They really were ready to put the past behind them and move on. I smiled, realizing that with every day that went by, I was ready to move on too.

Steff turned and caught sight of me. In an instant, I was overcome with a desire to be near him. It was a pull unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. My feet moved forward, almost of their own accord. He grinned and walked to meet me halfway. He slid a hand around my waist and pulled me close. With his other hand, he grabbed the bag of hamburgers and fries I’d gotten at one of the trucks.

“How are you enjoying everything?” he asked.

“It’s great. This disguise is not working for me, though.”

There were a ton of people from out of town who’d come for the holiday. I’d decided to try to stay inconspicuous. I’d donned a baseball cap, pulled my hair back into a bun, and put on sunglasses. But Tate had recognized me from across a crowded field.

Steff winced. “Yeah, it’s not very good. You look like yourself, but maybe with a hangover or something.”

“Well, shit.” I yanked the hat and glasses off. Deciding,screw it. “That’s better. The hat made me hot.”

He handed the bag of food to the guy who had been standing with him and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “No disguise in the world could keep me from recognizing you anyway.”

As he finished tucking the hair away, his fingers slid across my cheek and jaw. It was all I could do to keep from shivering under his touch.

“Okay, let’s tone down the pheromones, guys,” Steff’s friend said. I blushed and averted my eyes until I had myself under control. “I’m Miles.”

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