Page 23 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“Are you hungry?” I asked, changing the subject away from bartenders and busboys and bouncers.

“Not in the slightest,” she said. “I ate in the airport before the flight, and I couldn’t eat another bite until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t look like you’ve eaten a bite in the last two or three months,” I said. “Where do you put anything you eat?”

“You know I’ve always had a high metabolism,” she said. “I can’t help it. I just do, you know? This is just me.”

There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her body. She was lithe and skinny and proud of it.

“You must work out?” I asked.

“I don’t do much,” she said. “I run a 5K every day, but-”

“You what?” I asked, nearly falling off my chair. “A 5K? Every day. Are you insane? I couldn’t run a 5K if my life depended on it.”

I almost said if a werewolf was chasing me, but I stopped myself.

“Oh, of course you could. It doesn’t really take that much. You just have to start doing it,” she said. “You know, I just started by running two miles in morning and then when I finished that I would, you know, get bored. So, I did the run again and well, two miles and two miles is four miles. Boom you’ve run a 5K. I’ll be running one tomorrow morning. You can come with me if you want. It’ll be great fun.”

“I’ll be sleeping,” I said. “And you can just go and do your run. I’m sure you didn’t fly all the way across the country just to go for a 5K run in the hills.”

“No, I did not,” she said. “I came here to deliver a warning.”

“A warning?” I chuckled. “You make it sound so ominous. Is there a horse head in my bed?”

“No, not that kind of a warning,” she said. “I’m not here to threaten you. It’s just this isn’t something that can be discussed over the phone. It’s too personal.”

“And clearly serious,” I folded my arms and leaned back against the counter. “What got you on a plane and in a car to make it all the way here?”

“I had a premonition of your death.”

Chapter 17

I woke up the next morning to the birds chirping and Jane in the living room talking to someone.

I glanced over the clock. It was eight o’clock. Who would come over at this time of day? I needed to get up and walk over to check on the animals but as I lurched out of bed I stopped as my feet hit the ground. I recognized that voice.

Matheus.

How could she be talking to Matheus? What was he doing in my living room? Obviously, he was trying to see me, but oh my gosh, he left me saying he wanted me to take him seriously.

“I missed you,” he said to me as I walked out of my bedroom, throwing my robe over my pajamas.

“Clearly, I had houseguests,” I said. The last thing I wanted to do was admit that I had seen his messages and ignored them because I was so busy trying to figure out this whole werewolf thing. Standing there in front of Matheus and Jane, I suddenly felt very self-conscious. What was I going to do if I suddenly shifted in front of them? There was no one over here who knew what I really was. I needed Mae or Trina’s help and I needed them quick.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked me. “Your skin doesn’t look very good.”

“Can I get you some water?” Matheus asked.

“No, I’m fine,” I said, clutching my hand my throat. Maybe I could just pass it off as a flash. “Just, you know, a flash,” I said with a shrug, leaning forward, feeling like my stomach was about to hurl.

Jane stepped between me and Matheus.

“Matheus,” she said. “That is your name, right?”

“Yeah,” Matheus tried to look around Jane.

“I don’t really think Bianca is feeling very well right now, so let’s let her rest. You can come back later. I promise. But right now, I think she’s probably going to have to call in sick. Maybe you can go over to the dog kennel and feed the dogs?” she said with a smile. “That’d be great. Thanks for the help.” She showed him to the door and let him out.

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