Page 14 of Shifter For Hire (For Hire 2)

She looked from one man to the other. Skip slapped Gerard on the shoulder. “Good. I’ll give you the address, and you can be there at six.”

They concluded their plans, and Gerard disappeared into the crowd. Skip’s eyes practically glittered with excitement. He turned to her, grinning. “Let’s go. I’ll spring for burgers to grill tomorrow.”

Chapter 6

“Hold up. Let me get this straight,” Janessa said over the phone. “You’re having a barbecue with this guy who looks like he just walked out of a beach party magazine, and Skip’s there too?”

Lachelle snorted. “I didn’t say he looks like a beach party…what the heck is a beach party magazine?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what it sounds like you’re saying.”

“Well he did come dressed.”

“Hmm.” Her sister sounded skeptical.

Lachelle stepped out on the balcony to check on the men. The apartment complex didn’t allow for grilling on the balcony. They had grills set up in a central location for each building, and the one for hers was located where she could see Skip flipping burgers and talking a mile a minute.

Gerard, holding a beer in his hand, which she didn’t see him drink from even once, stood stiff and silent. Every now and then, his gaze wandered upward and stilled when he spotted her.

She stepped back into the apartment and shut the sliding glass door. “Okay, I’m going to be frank with you, sis. I like him. There’s something about him. He’s so intense and coarse and just…I don’t know…weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, I can’t explain it.” She thought about sharing with Janessa about how Gerard knew about the bomb and about his healing and what she thought were silvery scales appearing on his face. Her sister would think she was insane. Plus, she didn’t want to set Janessa off and cause her to phone the police to report Gerard. At least, not until she was sure he was up to no good.

“I meant to tell you last week that Skip wanted us all to get together—you, me, Declan, and him. He really wants to come visit you guys.”

“Um…”

“By the way, he said he happened to be over that way for work and said he never once saw a light in your place. I mean it’s a huge coincidence that he had to interview in your same complex, but I told him to mind his dang business.”

Janessa didn’t say anything.

“Sis?”

“I told you we have the summer home up north.”

“Must be nice to be rolling so deep.”

“Who’s rolling deep?” Her sister scoffed at the tease. “But look, are you sure about him, Lachelle? You’re saying you like this other guy, but not too long ago you were saying Skip was it and you’re going to have a baby together. I felt like I should tell you something, and I would have if you were headed toward marriage.”

Lachelle tweaked the blinds aside to check on the men again. Her gaze zeroed in on Gerard. He was already looking at her. The man wore jeans that looked brand spanking new and a T-shirt just as fresh. He must have gone shopping just before coming over.

The weird part was the new sneakers he’d also come wearing. As soon as he could, he abandoned them in a corner of her apartment. Standing in the grass barefoot came natural to him. The clothes seemed out of place. For a crazy minute, she imagined him as Tarzan in the jungle wearing nothing but a loincloth.

Okay, crazy, get it together.

“What exactly have you been keeping from me, Nessa?”

“It’s about Skip.” Her sister sounded nervous, even full of regret.

“Oh you’re ready to share after you put me off yet again when we met for coffee the other day.”

Her sister moaned and then confessed. “I knew him before you did.”

“Say what?”

“He has unusual theories, and he wrote an article about them. I was trying to research some stuff online and came across it. I met him a couple times, and it’s odd that he would end up ‘accidentally’ meeting my sister after that.”

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