Shifters Hallows Eve

by Lori King

  “Did you say yes?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Why not? Come on, Mom, Mr. Henderson is kind of hot for an older man, and you’re still a good-looking woman. You deserve to find happiness.”

  “I don’t want to date.” Her mother lifted the menu to hide her face.

  Rita frowned. This was a common argument they had. Her mother felt that she shouldn’t date as long as Rita was still single. It made no sense to her at all. “Mom, don’t use me as an excuse to not live your life.”

  “I’m not! I am living my life; I just don’t need to share it with a man. Besides, it’s hard to find someone to take your father’s place in my heart.”

  She reached out and put her hand over her mother’s to squeeze it gently. “No one can take Dad’s place, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for someone new.”

  “What about you? Are you going to let a couple of idiots keep you from opening your heart to someone?”

  “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll open my heart to someone if you promise to give Mr. Henderson a chance. The next time he asks you out for coffee, go with him.”

  Her mother sighed. “Fine, but the next eligible man who walks through that door, you promise to give him a chance.”

  Rita smiled triumphantly. “Deal.” The door opened and she looked up, her smile immediately fading at seeing none other than Luke Conrad strolling through the door. “Fuck me.”

  “Rita Marie Russell, watch your language, young lady.”

  She knew her face was red as she stared down at the menu in her hands. “Sorry, Mom.”

  Rita willed herself not to look at Luke as he passed their table. Please don’t notice me, just keep walking. She prayed he would just ignore her. Her prayers were clearly not being heard.

  He stopped right next to them. “Good evening, ladies. Miss Russell.”

  “Good evening,” Rita responded without looking at him.

  “Rita, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” her mother asked with interest gleaming in her eyes as she glanced from Rita to Luke then back to Rita again.

  Sure, Mom, this asshole is the rudest man alive and thinks I’m nothing but a bunny-eared freak. She looked up at her mother. “Mom, this is Luke Conrad. His parents own the furniture store and he’s keeping the place going while they take a vacation. Mr. Conrad, this is my mother, Sharon Russell.” She dared him to say anything negative to her mother; she was prepared to cut his balls off.

  Luke gave her mother a dazzling smile. “Mrs. Conrad, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Her mother fell for his charm. “Call me Sharon. Randal and Marjorie are lucky to have a son who could fill in for them.”

  “I try to do my best.”

  “Won’t you join us?”

  Rita looked aghast at her mother. “Um—he can’t. I mean, we shouldn’t impose on him, he probably has plans.”

  Luke gave her a sexy grin that had her panties soaking wet. Dammit, she didn’t even like him. Luke looked back at her mother. “As much as I would love to spend time with you two beautiful women, Rita is right. I’m only here to pick up my food. I have a meeting I have to attend.”

  “Too bad. Maybe next time,” her mother offered.

  “Yes, next time. Enjoy your meal.” Luke walked to the counter to pick up his take out and then left the diner.

  As soon as he was gone, Rita felt the tension in the air dissipate. She could breathe again.

  “What is going on between the two of you?”

  “Nothing.”

  Her mother raised her eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Yes. I’m ready to order.” She waved the waitress over.

  “Rita.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Remember our deal.”

  Oh hell. This was so not her day. “I’ll remember.”

  5

  It was dark now, and Luke found himself lurking across the street in the shadows in his wolf form. Even though he had assigned the pack enforcers to follow Rita, he wanted to observe her for himself. She and her mother were currently walking home.

  They shouldn’t be doing that. It was starting to snow again, and the sidewalks were too slick for the shoes the ladies were wearing and where the hell was Rita’s winter coat? She was wearing some jacket that only reached her waist. As a human, she would be more sensitive to the cold, right?

  Why was her welfare suddenly his concern? We must protect her, his wolf whispered in his mind. Damn it! This girl couldn’t be that special. His wolf disagreed. She’s ours. Great, his wolf side wanted to mate a possible shifter killer. This was an impossible situation, but arguing with his wolf was pointless, since his other half operated on mostly instinct. That instinct was telling him that Rita was his mate. Even if she wasn’t the killer, she clearly pretty much wanted him dead for how he had treated her so far. Fuck!

  He picked up his pace, but managed to stay hidden in the shadows. He couldn’t hear the words, but Rita said something that made her mother laugh and Rita laughed in return. Her smile lit up her face and she went from pretty to gorgeous.

  He watched the women enter a two-story Colonial home. He walked around the house and watched as a few minutes later, a light came on in the upstairs window. Rita’s room. There was another light on in a room downstairs he assumed was her mother’s.

  “Alpha, we’ve got everything covered here,” Hutch told him, shifting to human form. The cold didn’t affect them like humans; shifters always ran hot.

  Luke shifted as well and looked around. “Where’s Tate?”

  “He’s circling the perimeter.”

  “What have you learned so far?”

  “The female has lived her whole life here in this town. She’s single, owns the shop, and helps pay the bills for her mother. Her father died a few years ago.”

  “Was it foul play?” Some humans sought vengeance if shifters killed their family members.

  “No, he had cancer.”

  Luke could tell that Hutch wanted to say something else. “What is it, Hutch?”

  “I mean no disrespect, but I’ve known Rita’s family for a long time. I didn’t realize at first who you wanted me to investigate. Once I recognized her, I knew she couldn’t be the killer. Shit, she doesn’t even know shifters exist.”

  Luke felt a punch of jealousy hit him hard. “Did you used to date her?”

  “No, nothing like that. I would bring deliveries to the furniture store and see her around with her friend Mindy.”

  “Mindy’s a fox shifter, so she has to have some idea.”

  Hutch shook his head. “From what I know of her situation, Mindy was adopted by humans at the age of five. Fox shifters don’t shift until they hit puberty, so if her birth parents never showed her how they shifted before she was adopted, then she would have been completely caught off-guard during her first shift. Most likely she wouldn’t have told anyone about it out of fear. Mindy’s kind of a shy person anyway.”

  Luke nodded, acknowledging the point. Even from the short amount of time he had known Rita, it seemed clear she wasn’t the one they were looking for. Yet for some reason, the killer was trying to bring her into the middle of his sick game.

  “I don’t believe Rita’s the killer, either. We need to find the connection between Rita and the actual culprit. She’s caught up in the middle of it and could get hurt, or worse.” The thought of Rita getting hurt set something off inside him and his wolf. They were both determined to keep her safe at all costs. Now that he had cleared her of his suspicions, he could acknowledge what his wolf was trying to tell him, that she might be their mate.

  He found himself wanting to make her laugh, to see her smile at something he said. Today he had been a suspicious ass. If he wanted a chance, he would first have to catch the killer, then work on showing her that he could be charming, too. Luke had all kinds of ideas of just how he would make it up to her.

  He glanced up at the window on the second floor. Was she getting undressed? Images of he
r luscious naked curves danced in his head. He wanted to go to her right now. Wouldn’t that be a sight? But him showing up naked on her mother’s doorstep, having just shifted from his wolf form, would do nothing to convince Rita to give him a second chance.

  “Should we stop our surveillance then?” Hutch asked, bringing him back to reality.

  “No, keep watch on her but look for people who may fit the bill of being odd or dangerous. I think the killer will slip up and make an appearance, and I want us to be here and ready for him.”

  Luke watched as Hutch shifted back to his wolf form and disappeared into the shadows. He felt anxious to end the danger so that he could get on with what he really cared about now, seducing his mate. He smiled, knowing that the sooner he did that, the sooner he could finally make her his. He was warming up to the whole idea.

  * * *

  Rita swore she heard wolves howling in the distance. Spotting wolves had always been a common thing in Hallow’s Pass. They never bothered the townspeople, but they were often spotted moving on the outskirts of town.

  She closed her eyes in frustration. She kept seeing Luke and his smug, handsome face as he looked at her in the diner. Rita found herself both furious and turned on all at the same time.

  Luke Conrad. She sighed. He was all kinds of sexy: hard body, lean hips, and a six pack that she longed to lick. She could get some chocolate ice cream and cover him in it, then lick every sweet inch. Fuck! She kicked her covers off, feeling overheated. She had to stop fantasizing about Luke. That was easier said than done.

  She stood up and walked over to the window. Movement across the street from her house caught her attention. Glowing eyes were looking back at her. Maybe the wolves had come into town after all. Rita pushed her thick hair back from her face. She needed sleep in the worst way, and images of Luke’s naked body were only going to keep her awake and aroused. She tried to think of something else, but it always came back to him.

  Watching him interact with Mindy and her mother had confused her. With other people, he was clearly capable of being a charming, funny and intelligent man, someone she would love to get to know better, but with her, he came across as arrogant, blunt, and rude.

  The truth was, she just didn’t know what to make of him. She was attracted to him, but it took more than just good looks and a hot body to make her fall in love. She needed someone kind, generous, helpful, and smart, all the qualities that her dad had had. So far, no one she had dated had ever lived up to her father’s example.

  She could accept someone who at least tried to be those things. She wasn’t perfect, so she could hardly expect perfection from others. Her mom complained that she was too picky about the men she dated. Well, she could admit that was true. She just didn’t see the need to spend much effort on dating someone who didn’t have the qualities she was looking for from the beginning.

  So why was she fantasizing about a man she just met, who came off as having two opposing personalities? Maybe she had gone to meet him with a bad attitude and he had picked up on that. Maybe he’d had a bad day or she reminded him of someone from his past that he didn’t like. She decided she was willing to make at least one more effort, just to appease her curiosity, and if he still acted like an ass, she would write him off. Life was just too short to waste on people who didn’t care for you. She settled in to try to get a few hours of sleep before she had to go in to work.

  6

  A few hours later

  Rita wore her sturdy snow boots the next morning to make her way down the snow-covered sidewalk. It hadn’t been cleared off yet and it was still snowing. She would have to start using the snowmobile soon. She stopped in front of her store door and reached for her key, when someone startled her.

  “Good morning, Rita.”

  She jerked back at Luke’s sudden appearance next to her, which caused her to lose her footing. She started to fall backward and would have hit the sidewalk if not for Luke lunging forward and easily catching her in his strong arms.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, as he slowly lifted her up and placed her on her feet, not quite releasing her altogether.

  She asked the first thing that popped into her mind. “Why are you sneaking up on me?”

  She tried to step away from him, but her feet started to slide again. He took her hips in his hands and brought her up against him to steady her. Oh, God, his hands on her felt so good, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like if they were naked. He had really big hands; she glanced down at his feet—yep, he had big feet, too. What else on him was big? Annoyed at her thoughts, she shoved his hands away. She couldn’t concentrate with him so close.

  “I was just taking a walk around town this morning and saw you. I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I have some—problems at home that I’m dealing with, and I may have taken it out on you.”

  She blinked, surprised at his apology. What was even more surprising was that she believed him. “I guess we all have bad days.”

  There was an awkward pause as they stood there staring at each other. She should say something, anything. He smiled at her and she felt her pulse quicken and butterflies in her stomach.

  “I’d like to make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner, that way we can get to know each other better.”

  Oh, my God, he’d just asked her out. That was a date, right? She did want to know him better, but at the same time, she was still distrustful. “I don’t know. I just met you.”

  She unlocked the door and entered her shop. He followed her inside. She felt nervous having him there, in the one place that felt like a sanctuary to her.

  “This is the first time I’ve been in your costume shop.”

  “It’s not just a costume shop, it’s a specialty shop with costumes and other things.”

  He looked around and picked up items carefully, looking at each object in detail before gently placing the items back on the shelves. She had to admit, she appreciated the caution he used in making sure he didn’t damage anything. Maybe there was a gentle and caring side to him that she hadn’t seen earlier.

  “I like your shop. What made you open this type of place?”

  She hesitated, wondering if he had an ulterior motive, but couldn’t find one. “I always loved Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday.”

  “You could dress up like anything you wanted and be that thing for a day.”

  She blinked in surprise. If he got that, he understood her better than any man she’d met before. “Yes. Putting on a scarecrow hat, a mask, or—”

  “Bunny ears?” he offered.

  She smiled. “Or bunny ears allowed me to overcome my shyness around people. I got to be stronger, bolder, and adventurous. Also, my dad would take me from shop to shop to go trick-or-treating, and we would pick out our favorite candies and laugh at all the weird costumes we saw. I walk into this store every morning, and it’s like being with my dad again.”

  “I can appreciate that. My dad was a carpenter and we would always work together in the barn building furniture. He taught me everything I know. Every time I see a piece that we made together, I can’t help but smile.”

  “I like your parents and your sister, they’re very friendly.”

  “As opposed to me, who was a complete ass yesterday.”

  She laughed she couldn’t help it. “You definitely were an ass.”

  “So—that apology dinner, is that a no? I promise to not be an ass through the whole thing.”

  He gave her a smile that displayed a dimple. Damn it! That was just unfair.

  “I didn’t mean to insult you, but I have to admit, you’re damn sexy when you get mad.” He moved closer to her and put his hands back on her hips. She should slap him or pull away, but she didn’t want to.

  He was just so sexy, and she couldn’t deny there was major chemistry going on between them. It was something that she and Mindy had argued over when they left the furniture store. Mindy swore that Luke was attracted to her, but Rita had re
fused to believe that.

  Now, she felt that sexual tension. She wanted him, and it sounded like he wanted her, and it made her feel nervous and excited all at the same time.

  Was he going to kiss her? This was so crazy. Just yesterday she would swear that he hated her guts, and now he was putting the moves on her. Was this really going to happen? Could she let her guard down with him?

  “You think I’m sexy?” she whispered back at him.

  He leaned down, his lips just inches from hers. “Hell, yeah.”

  This was it – he was going to kiss her. Her heart raced and her eyes started to drift closed in anticipation. Then her door chime went off, making them pull apart.

  “There you are!” a woman’s voice called out.

  Rita cringed, knowing who that voice belonged to. “What do you want, Chrissy?”

  Chrissy Baker, her high school nemesis, lifted her nose at Rita. “Nothing from you.” She stepped up to Luke and put her thin hand out to shake Luke’s. “I’m Chrissy Baker. I was in your family’s store a couple of weeks ago. There was a chair that I liked. I wanted to see if it was still available.”

  Luke looked from Chrissy to Rita. His expression was one of discomfort. “I haven’t opened up yet.”

  “Pleasssssse. I haven’t stopped thinking about that chair. It would mean so much to me.” She leaned closer and rubbed her breasts against him.

  Rita was disgusted and went to open her door for them. “Please, don’t let me keep you.”

  He stopped right next to her with Chrissy hanging on his arm. “Rita, can we finish talking about this later at dinner?”

  “Sure, whatever.” She had no plans to go out to dinner with him now; she just wanted them to leave. She watched as they left her store and crossed the street. They actually looked good together, like they were a couple. Watching them together brought back painful memories.

  Luke looked back at her and she had to duck out of sight. She peeked and caught Chrissy giving him a hug. A tear leaked down her cheek. Why did it hurt her to see him with someone else? She barely knew him. For just a moment, she had thought that they might have something, but she had to accept the truth: he was just too far out of her league.