Page 12 of Midnight Serenade
“Uh-huh.”
She glared at me and pointed. “What’s that tone you’ve got going?”
I shrugged, got mascara on my eyelid, and sighed as I reached for the remover. “I just mean it sounds like there are somefeelingsthere.”
She shoved a cheeseball into her mouth. “You know he’s an avian shifter, right?”
“So.”
She scoffed. “So! Avian shifters and cat shifters do not mix well.”
“You know what else doesn’t mix well?”
“What?”
“Fruit on a pizza, and yet my favorite pizza is pineapple and ham, and they tastedelicioustogether.”
She scoffed again, nibbling on a cracker. “Yeah, well, there’s nothingdeliciousabout Rafe and I.”
I finished my makeup and stood in front of her. “Wanna test it?”
For the first time since I’d met her, she looked hesitant. “I don’t know. I’d like to keep my job. And I don’t want to make things weird between us.”
“Are you at least interested in knowing if theremightbe something there?”
She pointed an accusing finger at me. “You’re scary.” And then she grinned. “I’m in. What should I do?”
I held a finger up and grabbed my walkie, tuning it to channel two. “Rafe?”
“Yes, love? Are you perishing without me by your side?”
I chuckled. “Umm, yes?”
“You do not sound convinced. Too bad I have to work, or I would try to convince you further over dinner.”
“You don’t like me that way, Rafe,” I said with assurity.
He sighed over the walkie. “I hate to break your heart, but I do not.”
I rolled my eyes. Men. “I’m actually contacting you because I found you a date for dinner, if you can break away from your duties to eat. You know, proper nutrition is important,” I reminded him.
The walkie went quiet for a full minute. And then his sigh came over the channel again. “What are you getting me into, love?”
“What do you think about dinner with Micaela?”
Micaela was shoving cheeseballs into her mouth right and left, looking extremely nervous, and extremely chipmunk-faced. Her eyes were glued to me as she listened to my conversation.
“I see what you’re doing,” Rafe said.
“Yeah?” I asked, all innocence.
“There’s only one Micaela on board, and she’s a cat shifter.”
“She’s a veryprettycat shifter.”
The walkie went quiet again. And then he came back on hesitantly. “I’ve kinda... noticed Micaela before.”
I waggled my eyebrows at Micaela, who looked like she was suddenly going to be sick. Must have been the fifteen cheeseballs she’d shoved into her mouth in the last minute.
