Page 11 of To Teleport, or Not to Teleport?
I chuckled. “I’m fine.”
“Come here. We both know Shifters are warmer than witches,” he teased as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, drawing me into his warmth.
As I breathed in pine and peppermint with varying scents still lingering from the diner, a shudder ran down my spine. If I were Rita, I’d probably have purred and rubbed myself all over him.
“Why don’t we get you home? I can show you the shop on a different day, when you won’t freeze to death.”
I shook my head and took a quick second to press closer and memorize the feel of his hard planes against my softer ones. “No, I’m good. Really.”
I couldn’t believe it when I managed to pull free from his arm, but I did. In the process, I lost his warmth and something deeper I couldn’t analyze. “See, all better.”
I felt him studying me but focused on the path ahead. “Is that it?”
I caught the moment his face transformed, and pride bubbled all around him.
“Yup.”
We stopped before a small window front, brown paper covering the windows so the inside couldn’t be seen. A steel sign hanging off the eave read Gray Designs. His nickname was large, and below, in script font, was the word designs. It was masculine, modern, and sleek.
“Wow, did you make that?” I asked, nodding toward the sign—his sign.
He grinned, his face transforming to the boy he’d been before his father had rocked the community with his betrayal. “I did. Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” I blurted. The word had slipped free before I even considered it. Something passed behind his eyes, and I know that even with his departure, my trust in him had never wavered. “Yes, I do. Why?”
“Close your eyes.”
A moment passed between us, and I lowered my lids. My other senses ramped up, and I exhaled. I was both excited and nervous as I stood on the empty sidewalk in front of his shop. Keys jangled, and a door unlocked before the front of me warmed at his nearness.
His fingers wrapped around my biceps and slid down until he captured my hands in his. He left a trail of heat in the wake of his touch, and my belly somersaulted with excitement. After guiding me about twenty-five feet inside, he released me, and a soft sound filled the air with the shutting of a door. Through my eyelids, I noticed a light turn on.
It took everything in me to remain still with my eyes closed. I was curious about what lay around me, but I was suddenly aware of how alone we were in his shop. We’d been somewhat alone at my home, but between Rita and the tension of me forgetting our plans, I hadn’t truly been aware of it until that moment.
My breaths grew shallower. “Why’d you leave me? I mean, leave?” I blurted and inwardly cursed my lack of oxygen for the slipup.
His warm hand cupped my face, and my eyes flew open. “Lee, I never meant to hurt you when I ran.”
Grayson was too close. His words had scraped on the incessant jagged line that ran across my heart where he was concerned.
The air around us was sucked out of the room, and I took a stumbling step back. “I—I can’t.” I gasped. I spun in a circle, searching for the door we had come through. Grayson was speaking, but I couldn’t make out his words past the rush of blood pounding through my ears.
Opening the door, I sucked in a breath of the balmy evening air. My knees buckled when a vision of the word “traitor” was written in angry slashes on the glass windowpanes of the shop.
Grayson’s strong arms pulled me to my feet. “Lee, baby, are you okay?”
I put distance between us, unable to handle his touch. “No, Grayson McCune, I amnotokay!”
“Did you just have a vision?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Tucking the strands of hair that had freed themselves from my bun, I lifted my face toward the clear sky. “Son of a monkey! Why is this my life?”
At the deep timbre of his laugh, I glared.
“Are you laughing at me?”
He ran a hand against his mouth, failing to cover his amused grin. “You still won’t curse?”
“I can’t deal with you,” I snapped and stomped in the direction of Main Street. “I suggest you put up cameras around your shop.”
