Page 249 of As The Shifter World Turns

The motel was being re-renovated, if that was a word, ready to be handed over to a homeless shelter. But we’d made such a huge profit from sponsors and advertisements, even though I had to agree we should do another one. Reality TV was a pain in the ass, but a profitable one.

“Oh no!” I should have sugar-coated it but what was the point? As soon as my mate took in my expression, he’d have sussed out there was a problem.

“The structural engineer says it’ll take another three months for the repairs.”

Archer collapsed onto a pile of washing on the couch. He put his head in his hands. “We have to rent a bigger place, babe.”

Patch chose that moment to grab a T-shirt and make off with it. Archer and I shared a glance. “I can't be bothered running after him,” Archer yawned. “If he wants the damned shirt, he can have it.”

“I wasn’t thinking of renting.” He glanced up, his brow furrowed. I had to put his mind at ease. “Thanks to the reality show, we can afford to buy another place.”

He shrugged as I sat beside him. “I don’t have the energy to look at houses.”

I pulled my mate to his feet and steered him toward the window. “Look.”

“At what?”

“Mr Halvorsen’s house.”

“Oh yes, I was so sorry to hear he died. I bumped into his son yesterday.” He jerked his head toward me. “Are you saying we should make an offer? Or have you done that already?”

“No. I wanted to speak to you first.”

“We’d be living next to the manor. With Neil, Daire, and co on the other side.”

“Sort of like coming home,” I agreed. “Even though we’ve only been living on the next street.”

“It’s a beautiful house. Remember when we borrowed that parrot to fend off people who wanted to buy the manor and pretended it lived next door?” He chuckled.

“I do. That was fun. A while ago now.”

“Why are you standing here?” he asked and pushed me toward the door. “Unless you want me to negotiate? I can, but you’re the real estate guy.

After kissing him and wishing we were in the new house already so I could take him to bed, I headed down the stairs and ran into Ryder. “If things go well, you’ll be getting new neighbors.”

“Hope they’re not noisy. It’d be great if they had young kids.”

“They can be noisy at times. And yes, they do have young children and a dog.”

“Big one?”

“Big what?” I asked, my mind turning over numbers regarding what I was prepared to offer for the house.

“Dog.”

“Oh, medium size. You’ve met him. In fact you know the whole family well.” Mr. Halvorsen’s son pulled up and I had to catch him before anyone else bought the place.

“I do?”

“Mmmm. But if I keep talking to you, we might miss out. Wish me luck!”

112

WHEN YOU’RE IN A HOLE, STOP DIGGING

Martin

“Watch where the fuck you’re going!” A man barked at me as my body slammed into his.

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