Page 48 of Shifter's Dream

Reed knew she wasn’t, but could she get him to leave on his own? Maybe, or maybe she could figure him out.

She texted Sage again.

I’m going back out. Ten minutes. Check me.

Sage sent back a clock face emoji.

Reed went onto her porch again and leaned against the railing, arms crossed, watching Troy watch her. He was dressed exactly like she’d seen him the day before at her office. Scratch that, her former office, thanks to him.

“Let me guess,” she called across the yard. “Your brother just happened to find that tree for you to lean on. You had nothing to do with it.”

Troy grinned and shifted his weight around but didn’t say anything.

She watched him. He watched her.

She sat down at the table and watched him watch her. He seemed perfectly content to do whatever they were doing all night long. Fine, she would figure him out.

“If I invite you up here to talk, will you get the hell out when I say get the hell out?”

He shot up off the tree nodding vigorously. “You tell me, and I’m gone.”

She believed him, but that didn’t mean she was being smart. She stood up and eyed him. He was bouncing, standing in one spot and waiting for her to give the go ahead. “I’m texting my friend your name,” she said. She took a picture of him for good measure, but all it really showed was dark shapes. “A picture, too,” she said. “In fact, come inside so I can get a better one.”

He moved quickly, and before she knew it, she heard him at the patio underneath her porch, her landlord’s patio. “Troy,” she hissed. “Not there.” Was he moving the table around down there? Oh no, had he stood on it?

A hand grabbed onto the porch railing in front of her and he hauled himself over it without even a grunt. Reed moved backwards quickly, pressing herself against the wall. “I have a door, you know,” she told him, but no this was good. She snapped a picture of him on the tail end of his climb over her balcony, then showed him the image. “There, now my friend has this picture, and if you kill me, you’ll fry.”

“Why would I do that?” he said, grabbing a chair and pulling it as far away from her as possible. He twisted it around and sat down, grabbing onto the back with both hands like it was a steering wheel. He grinned enthusiastically at her. She had to admit it was a grin she could easily stand to see every day for the rest of her life.

“What are you doing here?” she asked point blank, sitting down in the chair farthest from him.

“My friend is in a coma,” he said carefully. “Straight that- straight over there.” He pointed at the forest. She did not look. “I-.” He seemed to think carefully about his words, his mouth forming a few sounds, and she realized he was trying not to say certain words. Probably the ones withWsin them. For the first time, she felt a little foolish. He’d come to her looking for help with a speech issue he obviously had, and she’d freaked out on him.

“Do this,” she said, making a kissy face at him.

He was up and moving for her before she knew what was happening.

“No!” she almost shouted, putting a hand up. He stopped immediately. “Back up,” she said. He did. “Back to your chair, now sit,” she told him, lowering her hand, palm flat, indicating which way his ass should go. He sat.

“I meant for you to do it from there so I can see if your lips have any structural abnormalities that are stopping you from speaking clearly.” She knew damn well his lips were perfect, she’d traced every inch of them with her tongue.

Troy touched his lips with one hand. Then he did what she’d asked.

“Close your lips all the way,” she said. “Can you?”

He tried harder, contorting his lips, pushing hard with his cheeks, but nothing really happened. His mouth was still open enough to fit a penny inside and she may have spotted part of the problem already. “I’ve got an exercise you can do that will help you with that,” she said.

He nodded eagerly.

She remembered what his file had said. “Yeah, about that, explain to me how it’s possible that you just started talking thirty days ago.”

She expected him to hem and haw, or to try to tell her a big long story, but instead, all he said was, “You’re half-angel, and you’re my mate,” his dark eyes flashing, begging her to understand, pleading with her to not throw him out.

Reed felt like she’d been socked in the gut, with no air available to her. Her fingers curled into her palms and she struggled to find her next breath. Troy watched her warily, like he wanted to help her but couldn’t think what to do.

When she could finally speak again, all she could say was, “Your friend being in a coma doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Her words sounded weak and airy to her, like she couldn’t hardly breathe. Still.

“Right,” he said. He nodded, too, then he thought for a few minutes, all dark and sexy over there. She hated him for it, especially since she knew what he was going to say, and it was going to make her think of the wolf in the forest, the exact forest behind him. He was going to say he’d “scented” her.

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