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Why did their whole job sound so sexist all of a sudden? She didn’t think the male hunters had to put it on display so obviously. Then again, most of them were sexy, so looking hot could be part of the job. No one ever said so outright. Her involvement in the fieldwork had been limited by her own decision.
“No, it’s not like that, and I would freeze my butt off if I did that. The season is changing, and it’s freaking cold. Why didn’t I do this in summer?”
“You didn’t have all your information together, and the witness took his time naming names.”
Shiya sighed. All Shae said was true. “Anyway, they’re into me.”
“Of course!” Her sister whooped and then calmed down. “What’s that I hear in your voice? Shiya Yvonne Keith, you better come out with it. Don’t make me get on a plane and come down there—I mean up.” She chuckled.
“You can’t laugh when you’re threatening someone.” She considered
whether she wanted to tell Shae about sleeping with Birk and Kotori, but thought better of it. Her sister might be sweet in most ways, but she hated shifters just like the rest of her family. Shae might kiss them—because something in the DNA made them all hot as hell—but she wouldn’t spread her legs for any of them. “Joe came to see me.”
“Old Joe.” Shae sighed. “He doesn’t know how to back off and let things be, and Dad’s worse because he encourages him. I think he had visions of you two marrying and working together in the family business.”
“Seriously?” Shiya grumbled. “I can choose my own husband. In fact, I’m not sure I want to get married—ever.”
Shae’s voice dropped low. “I know he hurt you, sweetie.”
Shiya clenched her hands into fists. She shut her eyes. Okay, she was so screwed up. “I-It was both of us, not just him. We didn’t work out.”
“Shiya, he used you to get next to Dad. I call that a scumbag wanting me to kick his balls into his throat.”
“Now you sound like Sakura.”
Shae made a noise of annoyance. “I can’t touch that girl. She’s evil.”
Shiya laughed.
“What? She’ll never get a man, hateful as she is.”
“You know you wrong, right?” She couldn’t help bursting out laughing because she felt the same about their older sister. “Sakura will find the one. I don’t know about me, but then I’m not trying.”
“Girl, you’ve had one guy—Joe—and he wasn’t worth it. Sure he hung on for a while, still seeing you after Dad put him into leadership, but that was so he wouldn’t get booted out of his cushy new position.”
“Damn, you make it sound like no man would want me unless he has ulterior motives,” Shiya snapped. “I happen to think Joe loves me.”
Shae was silent, and Shiya wondered if she’d hung up. “Then why did you break up with him, honey? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply no one wants you. That’s baloney because you’re beautiful. I bet you have those animals eating out of the palm of your h
and. Just be careful, Shiya, is all I’m saying. Joe was your first, so you don’t have a lot of experience with guys. Shifters especially have sex drives out of this world. It’s all I can do to make them keep it in their pants.” Shiya heard the anger and annoyance in her sister’s tone. “I handle them because I’m trained to, and I’ve been doing it for years. You be careful! Check in when you’re supposed to, and above all else, do not go anywhere alone with them, not in your room and not to their house. Okay?”
Funny her sister should say those words as soon as a knock sounded at her door. Shiya hadn’t ordered dinner nor put on any clothes. She sat on the side of her bed still in a towel. “Okay,” she managed to tell her.
After a few more comments, Shae hung up, and Shiya dropped the phone on her bed. The knock came again. Would she go through with it and live a fantasy most women dreamed of, or would she call it off and tell her dad she needed to stay behind the computer screen because she couldn’t keep her hands or her body to herself? Yeah, not telling him that last part.
She stood, checked that her towel remained secure, and strode into the living room, to the door. When she swung it open to reveal Birk and Kotori, she knew she would not back down from her decision. Not this century. “Hello, gentlemen. Care to come in?”
The two of them stepped through the doorway, and Birk handed her a bottle of wine. Shiya calmly thanked him and went to the kitchen area for glasses. She poured each a glass and one for herself.
Birk took a sip of the wine, his gaze sweeping her from head to foot. “I like the way you get down to business when you’ve made up your mind.”
She put a hand on her hip. “I intended to be dressed and ready, but time got away from me. I never ordered food either.”
“Who needs food when there’s you to eat?” Kotori threw in, stalking closer.
She took a step back, searching her mental database. No shifters were known to eat humans, were they? The lust in both men’s eyes told her she was on the menu, but not that kind of eating. A gush of desire led her to squeeze her legs together. Both of them lowered their attention to the hem of her towel as if on cue. Oh yeah, she’d made no mistake in her assessments.
She spun on her heel. “I’ll be right back.”
