AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Six
Anotherknock on my door had me ready to move somewhere tropical, with no forwarding address, so people couldn’t find me. Years I’d lived here, and unless they were delivering food, I’d had all of two people over—Troy and the religious woman who I only invited in because she tended to clean my kitchen while telling me about her cult.
The thought of leaving town had merit, but when another knock happened, I had to accept that for today my house would be a destination stop.
Of course, the man on my front porch wasn’t one I recognized.
And I would have remembered him…
He seemed young, early twenties as best, with hair shaved at the sides and pushed up and back on the top. His eyes were a bright green that caught the sunlight. He wore a jean jacket over a white T-shirt, and tattoos showed at the cuffs. Did he have sleeves? They weren’t the same kind as Hunter’s, who had an almost ethereal flow to the marks, as though they’d been grown rather than tattooed. This man had clear images in it—koi, skulls, flowers. He had every type imaginable, like he’d gone into a tattoo shop and treated it like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Across his chest sat the strap to a messenger-style bag that was slung across him.
I held right to the door, and as much as I hated it, the thought of calling out to Troy did occur to me. Strange people showing up hadn’t been a good thing so far, and I did have a man who turned into a wolf just next door. That was the sort of advantage that was best to use.
“Just what have you been letting into this house?”
The words caught me off guard, and it took a moment to catch up. “What?”
“It smells like a swamp.”
“Well, that’s incredibly rude. I’ll have you know I am an excellent housekeeper.”
The man chuckled and crossed his arms. “It’s adorable you pretend to be human and misunderstand.” He went to move past me and walk into the house.
I put my arm out, across the door frame, to bar his way. “I don’t let strange men into my house.”
“Well, that sounds boring.” He twisted his lips into a grin that was downright breath taking. I was tempted to let him in just because of that smile. It was hard to say no to a man who could smirk likethat.
A moment before I gave in, I remembered I wasn’t a cat in heat, nor was I crazy enough to invite random men into my house for sex romps. I wasn’t twenty anymore.
He must have read my moment of stupid sanity for what it was and saw it was over, because his smile widened. “Kase called me.”
Talk about a dose of cold water. It seemed Kase’s name worked better than a bucket of ice for my libido. “Why would he do that?”
“He wanted to make sure nothing got you during the day.”
“Yeah, well, thanks, but I don’t need some kid to protect me. You look like a hard stare could knock you over.”
His chuckle said I hadn’t offended him. “Having no wards on your home is a very stupid choice. It’s a miracle you haven’t been offed already.”
I considered saying no. I could walk back into the house, make myself another cup of coffee and pretend none of this was real.
However, that wasn’t realistic. The man didn’t seem the type to give up, and if Kase had sent him, well, Kase didn’t take ‘no’ well either.
I pressed my lips together and offered an unhappy snort before stepping backward. “Come on in, I guess.”
He followed me into the kitchen, which seemed like the perfect place for entertaining—close proximity to both food and knives.
Yep. Invite men whose name you don’t even know into your house. Brilliant.
“Grant.”
I turned to find him across the kitchen island from me.
“My name’s Grant. See? We aren’t strangers anymore.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Stay out of my head.”
Just the idea that he’d crawled around in there, that he’d picked up my thoughts made my skin crawl. It was yet another reason I didn’t care for getting near the supernatural world.
