Dangerous Shifter Mates by Caroline Knox

Author:Caroline Knox
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Feral Heat

I punched the wrong button and the cash register responded with a loud beep. My second attempt caused two beeps. I glanced over my shoulder to see if Chad was anywhere around. I hoped not. Messing up this transaction was my first mistake of a long day and I didn’t need him reprimanding me.

The woman watched me with bird-bright eyes. She wore a thin cream-colored blouse with visible pads in her bra. Heavy lipstick bled from the downturned edges of her mouth. A cranky woman. Aggressive. I knew her type. As she watched me her expression grew more and more sour.

She sighed with theatrical exaggeration that made others browsing in the Men’s Accessories department look over at her. The woman either didn’t notice or pretended not to. “You think I’ll just change my mind, don’t you… Indigo?” She squinted as she read my nametag. “Well, I wasn’t born yesterday,” she said with insulting slowness. “I expect an exchange with a credit, and that’s what I’ll get.” Her belligerent tone raised the small hairs on my neck.

“Of course,” I murmured with what I hoped sounded like sympathy. In truth, I wanted to strangle her. Customers like her were the downside of my retail job at Jacies. Most days were good, especially the days Chad wasn’t scheduled to supervise, but today… ugh. It had started well enough in the lingerie department but I’d been asked to cover a break in Housewares, then another in Men’s Accessories. Batch after batch of grouchy people made me think there was something malevolent in the air today. Now this woman was demanding an exchange with cash back for a purchase of a cast-iron wok. She had no receipt but claimed to have bought it earlier in the afternoon. I could smell a dinner she’d recently cooked in it. I’d always had a weirdly keen sense of smell.

The customers were always right, though. Even when they were lying through their teeth.

I wondered if some of today’s customers had picked my register due to my looking young and easily dominated. I knew my long reddish-brown hair and easy grace were offset by my unfashionably generous curves and my shy demeanor. I occasionally attracted men with my pretty smile and witty conversation, but true confidence, sadly, eluded me. I guess my appearance made me insecure. Something always made me feel as if I didn’t quite belong. Not anywhere. Not with anyone.

This posed a challenge for me when it came to finding the right kind of guy. Being both passably attractive and clearly unintimidating, I got more attention than I could handle. Loser guys, especially, were drawn to me as if to catnip – they felt safe from a harsh rejection. The persistent ones, like Chad, acted like it was just a matter of time before I realized what an honor their interest was. He devalued my work, ignored my requests for a chance to work in Gift Wrap like my seniority merited, and he assumed I’d be a pushover.

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