Page 12 of Ghost of a Chance
See, you should have gone and had a shower.
To his embarrassment, he had to agree with his poodle, having time to be more presentable for his mate—this has to be Lionel—was most definitely called for.
The gazes held, and Brad could see Lionel’s lips moving, but with the door closed he couldn’t hear. Then Lionel came down the front porch barefoot, and Brad gulped and squeaked in fright.
Oh, gods, he’s coming to me. What do I do?
What are you asking me for? You never listen to my ideas.
Brad didn’t have the wherewithal to argue with Lionel now peering in through the driver's window. Not too close, but close enough for Brad to see the hints of gold flecks in his eyes.
“Are you my Uber? Do you have a food delivery for a Lionel,” he asked, glancing at the boxes on the back seat.
Brad remained mute as he pressed the button to open the window to ensure he hadn’t got this all wrong and became overwhelmed with the same intoxicating scent, which sent his body into hyper-drive.
Dry mouth, check. Racing pulse, check. Lightheaded, check. Raging boner, check. A hunk of a mate, check.
What do I do now?
He placed his hands on his lap and offered his cutest smile when his poodle sniffed indignantly. “I’m Brad.”
You’re a moron.
“Okay… nice to meetcha… can I have my food?” Lionel edged back from the door.
What? Why is he moving away?
See, a moron. He’s making room so you don’t whack him with the car door. That’s it, I’m taking charge.
Brad didn’t have a chance to object as he shifted and found himself tangled in a pile of grubby clothes.
“Holy shit. Where did you go?”
Chapter Seven
Lionel
“What the actual fuck?” Peering in the window, all Lionel could see was a wriggling mass in a bunch of grubby clothes. “Are you all right in there, little buddy? I guess you haven’t been driving for Uber very long if you shift at the sight of your customer. That’s not typical behavior. At least wait for your tip first.”
Reaching through the open window, Lionel unlatched the driver’s door. Crouching down, he gently tugged at where theclothing was wiggling the most as a waft of delicious scents hit his nose all at once.
The bakery scents Lionel anticipated. After all, the cute little Uber driver was delivering his food from Morty’s bakery. So the delicious clash of sweet éclairs and savory steak pies he expected. What he didn’t imagine were undertones of a distinct scent that seemed to emanate from everywhere in the car.
Lionel’s eyes widened as the implications of the additional scent hit him—his lion and his dick all at the same time. The owner of the car smelled more delicious to them than Morty’s éclairs, and that was saying something.
Another thought struck him as he carefully untangled what proved to be a teacup poodle from the clothes. The man he’d seen through the driver’s window before the shift had a very strong resemblance to what he remembered about the man who scared the fuck out of him the night before.
But meanwhile, teacup poodle. How adorable was that? “Hey, hey, hey, well look at you. Aren’t you the cutest little being I’ve ever seen?” Lionel had to chuckle. There was something undeniably endearing about the sweet little face and the curly fur. His Uber driver won the “most adorable shifter” award hands down, and Lionel had once seen Morty in his shifted form. Meerkats were such comical animals, except the poodle, who was now looking at him, tail wagging and his ears all perked up as he did a whole body shimmy, was beyond delightful.
“Why on earth did you shift so suddenly?” Lionel focused on the smile he had, doing his best to ignore his dick, which wasn’t being contained very well by the sweatpants he was wearing. Even his lion was actively looking through Lionel’s eyes at the newcomer on the driver’s seat.
“Did you want to sniff my hand?” Lionel wasn’t a hundred percent certain of how to approach a dog now he’d uncovered him, even a shifter dog. He imagined there were rituals involved,there usually were with lions. He reached out his hand, hovering it near the tiny black nose. The poodle sniffed at him and then sat back down, wagging its tail as hard as it could, before yapping at him, making Lionel laugh.
“Can you shift back? You understand I don’t speak yappy, don’t you?”
The poodle stopped yapping and shook its head. “Oh, my goodness.” Lionel chuckled. “You’re having a debate with your human half, aren’t you? The same thing happens with my lion sometimes. Are you refusing to shift back? Is it for the reason that I think it is?”
Standing up, the poodle bounced across the driver’s seat almost falling on the floor, and then back the other way, banging against the back of the driver’s seat, which caused him to fall splat on the pile of clothes left on the seat. The puppy eyes as the poodle looked up at him had Lionel vowing to do anything the dog wanted on the spot.
