Page 14 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

Chapter 10

The next hour and a half were almost like torture. He was chatting to me and talking to me, but I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t think about anything other than pressing my body against his and letting him have his wild way with me. I tried to listen, and I tried to focus, but I found my attention constantly wavering as I wondered what it would be like to be lost in his arms.

I knew this wasn’t normal for me and I didn’t think it was just because I was middle-aged that I was feeling so randomly horny, but I was absolutely in heat for this guy.

He was quite charming, a bit like my ex-husband. He had spent a lot of time traveling around the states. He’d grown up on the East Coast in a really cool climate, but it had gotten too cold in the winters for him there. After traveling around America he had found Cougar Creek. He had decided after two years he wanted to settle here. That was something we definitely had in common.

“But what was it about Cougar Creek particularly?” I asked, “What convinced you?”

“I don’t know. I just got a feeling about the place.” His smile warmed my insides.

I must’ve missed about three or four stories about his journey to get to California while I was daydreaming about him stroking my inner thighs, but I understood he’d been a rolling stone until he found Cougar Creek. The funny thing was, I was from Cougar Creek and I had tried to be a rolling stone with my husband, but it hadn’t worked at all for me. Cougar Creek was home, and it was where I was going to stay.

Maybe our age difference wasn’t such a big thing. Still, I needed him to drop me off at my house before I made a fool of myself.

Chapter 11

Moments after Matheus left me at my cottage, there came a knock on the door. I opened it to find a very concerned looking Mae and Hilda. Hilda made her way in first without asking. “How are you feeling?”

“Have you been watching my house?” My mouth was agape as they began unpacking their bags onto my counter.

“We might’ve been,” Mae said.

“Stalker much?” I asked.

“Cautious,” Hilda said. “We also figured this would be where you came back to.”

“Why did he leave?” Mae’s head tilted to one side.

My face tightened in a frown as I almost sucked in my lower lip. “He didn’t want to stay.”

“Did you invite him to?”

“No! What sort of a woman do you think I am. Besides,” I groaned, “how could he not know I want to get in his pants. I mean…look at him!”

“Exactly,” Hilda giggled. “Everybody wants to get into his pants, I imagine.”

“Not me,” Mae said with a grin.

“Hmm, well, you’ve got your own boy toy, haven’t you,” Hilda said. “Enjoy it, ladies. You’re at that special age where you can date him or his daddy.”

“You should at least give Matheus a chance,” Mae said.

I stared at her, nonplussed. “Don’t you think that’s a recipe for disaster? Falling for a younger guy?”

“I did it,” Mae said, stating the obvious.

“That’s probably why I’m a little leerier,” I said. “It’s working so well for you and Branson, how could it possibly work for another couple?”

“I don’t think we have a corner on the market,” Mae said. "All I’m saying is, there are a lot of perks that go beyond the bedroom. He’s very energetic and very sweet and always coming up with something new and different to try. There are things he just doesn’t know that are hilarious. Like how to rewind the tape cassette without a tape deck.”

“How did you even discover that?” I asked.

Mae started laughing. “At The Estate, I found an attic. There’s a ton of stuff in there, including one of those old dual cassette tape beatboxes that people used to carry around. I pulled it down and was playing a tape the other day. One got stuck and I had to show him how to rewind the tape cassette.”

“I don’t think there’s any way I’m going to try to have a relationship with anyone while I’m turning into a werewolf unexpectedly,” I said, shaking my head and pushing away all thoughts of giving Matheus a chance.

“Well, we’ve got some bad news there,” Hilda said as she began unscrewing lids on bottles and smelling the contents.

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