Page 48 of Her Shifter Pack

“Oh, hello,” I managed, wishing I could just slam the door in her face. But from what Ollie had said, Nancy wasn’t just Markus’s lover, she was a family friend. And the last thing I needed to do was offend someone else.

She grinned at me like the cat who ate the cream, though in this regard it was more like the wolf who ate the girl. “I just wanted to drop this off. Is Markus home yet?” She waved a credit card or something in my face.

I didn’t move back or open the door any further. I wasn’t letting her in.

“No, he’s not. You can give it to me.” I held out my hand, and to my surprise, she dropped the card in my palm without a fight. “Ah... thanks.”

“Markus left my place about half an hour ago, so he shouldn’t be too far away,” she said, glancing around as though she was expecting him home any moment. “I think the card fell out of his pocket when he took his pants off... or something.”

He fucking what?

I stared at her, not sure I’d heard her correctly. Surely, she was just here to be nasty. “You must be mistaken. Markus is at work this afternoon.”

Or that was what he’d told me before he left, I was pretty sure. I’d been half asleep at the time.

Nancy blinked her eyes like a big, innocent cartoon character. “Oh... I thought you knew. He’s been with me for the last few hours.”

My heart cried out at her words. I didn’t want to believe her. I couldn’t. Not after the night and afternoon we’d shared. Surely, he wouldn’t have gone to another woman’s house to have more sex?

And there was something about her demeanor, her face... she was gloating. Did that mean she was fabricating a lie, or was she telling the truth and here just to rub it in my face that he’d never be mine?

My brain quickly looked over the facts. She had his credit card... and they were lovers. He’d admitted that already. But he could have left that card at her place anytime. Last week, even.

Something wasn’t right about this.

Nancy grinned back at me, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring and cataloguing all her perfect features. Her long, glossy hair, her size four body encased in skintight jeans...

I plastered my hospitality fake-ass smile on my face and said, “Well, thanks for that. I’ll make sure he gets it.”

Then I shut the door in her face.

I leaned against the wooden door, breathing hard. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t.

I’m not sure how long I leaned there, but the sound of a key sliding into the door behind my back had me jumping up and moving away from the entrance.

My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was struggling to breathe. I couldn’t rein in my feelings of dread and inevitability. I’d told Markus I only wanted him for that one night. That the future didn’t matter. But I hadn’t meant it!

Could I stay around and watch him with another woman? Many other women?

The door opened, and Ollie’s gorgeous smile lit up his face and my heart. “Well, hello, beautiful.”

I flew at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tight. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

He chuckled and hugged me back. “So am I! Hey, are you okay?”

I nodded against him but didn’t let him go.

“Okay, let me put all this stuff down and we’ll go talk.”

I managed to pry myself off his stable, rock-hard chest and watched as he put his keys away, shrugged out of his jacket and pulled off his tie. “Okay. Tell me what’s happened.”

He sat on the couch, and I stood nearby, waving my hands around as I explained that his mom had come by to tell me I wasn’t good enough for her sons, then Markus came home and made me feel better, then he’d left, and Nancy came by and said what she’d said.

When I was finally done, Ollie chuckled softly while running a frazzled hand through his hair. “And here I was, thinking you were probably bored from being alone all day and might want to go out for dinner.”

At the mention of dinner, my stomach growled. “Yeah... well, I didn’t eat lunch, or much at all today, so that would be lovely. But what do I do about the rest of it?”

Ollie held out his hand and dragged me down to sit next to him on the couch. “So... you had sex with Markus on your own?”

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