“Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!” Oh, jeez?”

“He opened the front door and Gwen said, “Lock?”He stopped immediately. “Yeah?” Did he have to sound so eager when he was the one making the decision to go? Damn him! “Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!”Oh, jeez?“Sorry about that.” He immediately dropped the lion he’d dragged from the couch to the door, back to the couch, and back to the door. “Habit. Usually I bat my prey around until they stop fighting and drag them off to the brush to…well…you know.” He looked down at Mitch. “Sorry about that…uh…”“Mitch,” she told him. “Mitch. Right. Sorry about that, Mitch. And nice to meet you.”

“He didn’t. But I didn’t beat him up,” Lock quickly added. “I…I simply threw him five…or maybe it was fifty feet into a tree.”The two friends gazed at each other for a long moment.Finally, Lock shrugged. “That does make it all kind of awkward, doesn’t it?”

“Lessons? Oh no. I didn’t need lessons.” He glanced up and found her shaking her head in disgust at her own idiocy. “You see, Sissy said I wouldn’t need lessons. ‘You’re a shifter,’ she said. ‘We can do anything,’ she said.”

“He’d just poured himself a hot cup of coffee, his mouth already watering as he brought the mug to hislips.“Oh, thanks, sweetie.” And like that, the cup was gone.He glared down at the female who dared take his coffee. The life-giving elixir was his! Then he noticedshe was fully dressed.“You’re leaving?” Damn. And he really did have plans for that adorable little ass.“Oh, yeah.” She sipped the coffee and grimaced. “Geez. Battery acid.” It suddenly occurred tohim…She was perky. Who was perky at five-thirty in the morning?Good Lord!Morning people were perky at five-thirty in the morning!”

“She scrambled to her feet, “We… uh… better get back. The clothes… ya know.”True, her ten grand worth of clothes were in the back of his pick-up, but he really needed a moment to… uh… compose himself.“Are you coming?”Well, that’s a loaded question.”

“She glanced down at the ground and the inert form of her brother. “What happened to Travis?”Mitch winced. “I hit him with the door after I tore it off. It was a total accident.”“Marry me,” she spouted before she could stop herself.”