Page 9 of Bearly Hanging On

“Let these men come around and ‘put up some pictures’ for you.” I blinked, not daring to contradict her. “Then you bring them around here and introduce them to me. I’ll work out whether or not they’re good enough for my granddaughter.”

“Do you think tiger shifters have spiky dicks?” Sally mused.

“What about this baculum thing?” Gladys showed her a photo on her phone. “It’s a dick bone.”

“OK, that’s enough Animal Planet for today,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’ll bet you ten bucks they won’t even call.”

As if to contradict my statement, my phone buzzed. Every woman in the room stared as I unlocked it and then looked at my messages.

Hey, just touching base to see if you still wanted to hook up.My eyes went wide.Shit, put those hooks up. This is Tor, the tiger shifter.I watched yet more bubbles appear as he typed something else.The guy from Bunnings.

Oh, I knew exactly who he was. Dark hair with golden tips, he had the greenest damn eyes I’d ever seen. How the hell he masked what he was before the Great Reveal, I had no idea. I could almost see the same cocky smile he’d bestowed upon me the moment we met in my mind.

“Type something back!” the ladies ordered as I stared at my phone screen.

“Yes, ma’ams.”

My thumbs moved like lightning.

I remember you.

That smile, I could almost imagine it widening right now. Would his eyes be going all heavily lidded, like they were when he took his time to inspect every inch of me. I admit, it’d been a long time since anyone looked at me with that kind offascination. It was kind of nice, if I was honest. Like the big kitty wanted to eat me all up, one lick at a time.

Which made me wonder, did he have a rough tongue like a cat?

As if sensing my train of thought psychically, a response came through.

“What did you say?” the ladies demanded. “And what did he say?”

“She’s playing hard to get.”

“Nanna!” I jerked my phone away from my grandmother’s prying eyes to read what felt like a stream of consciousness text.

Cool, so me, you, some big power tools, and a date to hang some pretty pictures on the wall?I didn’t get a chance to respond as another text came through.We’re professionals, so satisfaction is guaranteed.I snickered at that, which just had the ladies staring harder.We could come by tonight if that works for you. Bring our toolbox, some good Indian curry and a bottle of wine. Are you a red or a white girl?

Easy, tiger, I replied.

Ohh, so we’re making shifter jokes now?Shit, was that like the equivalent of racism or something?Funny as well as beautiful. I like it. So, tonight?

“Say yes.” Nanna was almost gruff as she stared at me, making clear she’d read everything. “You’re all pink in the cheeks, which tells me you like this… tiger boy. Say yes and then report back.”

What was I supposed to tell her? That it’d been way too long since someone had called me beautiful and that was enough to make me blush.

“I guess I will,” I said with a fake sigh. “Just so I’ve got something to talk to you lot about next time I’m over.”

Throw in some garlic naan, I tapped out,and you’ve got a deal.

Before I could think twice about it, I sent him my address. My phone was shoved into my pocket and then I collected my teacup and set it on the sink after I rinsed it, then gave my grandmother a kiss.

“I’ve got to go if I’m to get those photos printed.”

“And buy some frames,” she said, turning back to her cards. “Nice ones if you’re going to hang photos of me on the wall.”

“You got it. Play nice, ladies. I don’t want to come back here and find out one of you has bankrupted the others.”

“We will if you let us know what makes a tiger shifter different to a normal man,” Sally said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

With a laugh, I walked out and to my car, only to send a message to Daria when I got there.

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