Marie Harte - Outfoxed

“My treat,” he promised.

“With that offer, how can I refuse?”

This is so, so bad. In the raptor-run restaurant a block down the street, Gabby smiled and tried to focus on Grady’s words, not the firm lips shaping them. If anything, the distance from him the past two days had made her need even worse. It was like he’d awakened an inferno of lust inside her and she needed him to put out the flames. She hadn’t paid any attention to the men who’d come to visit her today. Even Miles, who’d stopped by her store to check out the new places in town, hadn’t turned her head.

Knowing how Grady tasted, how he felt in her hand, made it hard to do more than sigh at him. And then to watch him flirt with Millie, to tease her yet treat her with respect, to witness him gracefully sidestep the aggravating she-bears with ease without making a scene. She liked him more and more. There had to be something wrong with him…aside from the fact he couldn’t dance.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He sounded wary.

“You’re awfully nice.”

He nearly choked on the swallow of beer he’d taken. “Nice?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to match this version of Grady with the man who taped a honk if you want me to make you purr note to the back of Burke’s pickup last week. Or the man who left his inebriated baby brother, naked as a jaybird, in front of Sonia Daly’s house.” Sonia was an older raptor who liked her men young and handsome. And drunk.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He struggled to hide a grin and stared at his half-eaten plate of food.

“And last month. Who was it that dressed a stuffed animal—a dog, not even a wolf—in Monty’s sunglasses, covered the thing with his clothes and scent, and sent him to Sophie?”

“Sophie who?”

“She told me the note promised hot nights with Scooby if she played her cards right.” Scooby. She grinned at the remembrance. Monty had been more than pissed at the time, while Sophie had thought it hilarious.

“Gabby, I’m hurt. How could you think I would do any of those horrible things?” The snort of laughter gave him away.

She joined him, and they laughed so hard they annoyed the wolves, bears and raptors trying to have a romantic dinner nearby.

A waitress came over to see what the fuss was about. Gabby started to apologize but stopped when she saw who’d come to inquire. “Sonia Daly?” she squeaked.

“Yeah.” She looked Grady up and down. “Hey Chastell, you tell your brother I’m still waiting on that date he promised me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They waited until she left, looked at one another and burst into laughter again.

Grady didn’t wait for management to kick them out. He plunked some cash onto the table, grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the restaurant, still trying to catch her breath.

They stopped a few stores down from the restaurant. She turned to say something when their gazes caught. That tingle in her belly turned into an outright flutter of something special. Something warm and happy and right. Then he sighed her name and took her in his arms.

With the shared press of their lips, she fell headlong into love.

Gabby dreamed about that kiss in the days that followed. She’d gone to a movie with Grady after that perfect peck. They still laughed about Sonia, and she thought it just one more point in Grady’s favor that he could love his brother after what Dean and Joy had done to him. How incredibly unselfish to put love and his sibling ahead of his own wants and needs.

But from what she’d seen, Grady’s wants included her. Now all his compliments and sly come-ons intrigued her, because she knew they were sincere. Her brother-in-law didn’t like them one bit, so she knew Grady wasn’t doing her family any favors by showing her so much attention. They didn’t spend much time together in front of the others, wanting to keep their new relationship special, just between them. She hadn’t seen much of Dean or Joy either but chalked up their absences as fortunate happenstance. Though Miles had given her and Grady a few odd looks, the rest of the pride ignored them in favor of the danger plaguing the Bermins. Apparently the threat in Miami might well follow them here.

Miles wanted to leave with his sisters, but Burke and the others—Grady too, to her surprise—rejected the idea. Miles and his sisters, they’d argued, would be safer among the Ac-taw at Cougar Falls. Gabby agreed, though she’d talked to Julia privately about making sure to stick close to Ty and the others. It didn’t need to be said Gabby would defend her unborn niece or nephew with everything she had.

Which reminded her—Ty and Julia had gone out on a date, leaving her free to meet Grady for a run tonight. Their first time running together in animal form.

In the four days since their first big date, they’d done coffee and played board games, which had been much more fun than she’d expected. Grady didn’t like to lose, and neither did she. They’d had a few rounds of miniature golf the night before last, followed by free ice cream at Millie’s. Last night they’d taken a break, because she had a few orders she had to work on. And now, Friday night, the weather cool yet not cold, Gabby rejected her old friend, the television, in favor of a run with a sexy Shifter due to meet her at any moment.

Excited yet nervous, she didn’t know which form to take. Both her animal spirits longed for freedom and to feel the earth under their paws. For years she’d exercised her fox but had to hide her cat, not wanting others to know of her dual nature. With the truth now out, it shouldn’t matter. So why did she worry what Grady would think?

Would her differences, seen up close and personal, put him off? Worse, would her fox try to make a move on the cat she already considered her own? He’d seen her as a cat a few times since she’d moved in with the pride. But they’d never turned together, naked flesh into fur.

She had goose bumps just thinking about seeing Grady’s finer-than-fine body again.

A faint noise startled her as she moved deeper into the woods, to the spot he’d shown her the day before, a good distance from the cabins but clearly still on the Catamount Ranch. She lifted her nose but didn’t smell anything off, unless an intruder stood upwind. Yet she heard nothing more and chalked up the noise to a curious rodent.

The sun had just begun to set, and shafts of warm gold filtered through the trees, lighting up paths of green and brown. A shimmer of magic settled on the air, as if the very earth knew tonight would be special. Gabby wanted Grady. She’d always liked him, but these intense feelings for the man grew stronger the more time she spent with him.

A rustling from behind alerted her to company. Grady walked free of the trees and held out a pink rose. “I’d have gotten you red, but I know how much you like pink.” He handed it to her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

The frequent touches and kisses impacted her on so many levels. She knew it was only a matter of time before they made love. Not quick gratification or a coming together mired in desperation, but a long, leisurely time spent exploring one another. If she had anything to say about it, tonight would be the night.

She smiled and stepped back. “You seem to know an awful lot about me, Grady Chastell.” The rose smelled sweet, and she inhaled its fragrant perfume.

“You like to read, watch chick flicks, and you’re really into the color pink, which is odd considering you’re not a girly girl. But I have to admit, you look good in it.”

“Not a girly girl? What does that mean?” Was she not feminine enough?

He grinned. “Remember, honey, I’ve seen you maul Hunters. Does that make me a weirdo that it turned me on?”