Read Miri: A Paranormal Romance (Plenty of Shift Book 1) for Free Online Page B

instead. I can come by tomorrow. Say, sixish?”
    “That sounds great.”
    He handed his cell phone to her and she punched in her number and passed it back. Malcolm hit a button and a moment later, Miri’s phone was ringing.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “Pick up,” he said, holding his phone to his ear.
    She reached into her purse and grabbed it. “Hello?” she said.
    “Hi. Listen, I don’t want to freak you out, but I think you’re being watched.”
    “Am I? By whom?”
    “A grizzly shifter. Don’t look now, but he’s standing behind the bar, holding a cell phone. He keeps staring at your chest. It just seems really inappropriate.”
    “Yes, you’re right. And what else?”
    “He keeps licking his chops, like he wants to eat you or something.” With that, Malcolm licked his upper lip, sending blood rushing through Miri like a freight train on crack.
    “I’ll have to keep an eye on him,” she said. “Thanks for the tip.”
    “Just the tip? I can give you a lot more than that, if you want.”
    “You are the master of double-entendres, aren’t you?” she asked, laughing as she hung up.
    “I like to think so.”
    Miri downed the last of her rusty nail and put a ten-dollar bill on the bar.
    “I’ll see you tomorrow with a mallet in hand, Thor,” she said.
    He watched her leave the bar, and a moment later his phone buzzed.
    “101B, Barber Street,” the message read. “Don’t be late.”
    Malcolm smiled, thrusting the phone into his back pocket. He had something to look forward to. A beautiful woman. In her apartment.
    He looked down for a moment at the front of his jeans.
    “Down, boy,” he said. “You’re going to have to wait for this one.”
----
    M iri breathed deeply as she strode away from the bar, attempting to decelerate her heart. That had been one quick drink. But if she’d stuck around, there was no way she could ever have left, unless it was to go to some dark, mysterious back room with Malcolm and tear his clothes off. The man was a walking aphrodisiac.
    She walked with her head up, proud to have defeated the monster in her pants. The almighty sex-beast, the thing that made sane people into lunatics and destroyed every man and woman’s ability to think straight.
    And even as she moved farther away from Malcolm, her head cleared. She began to think again about her new business: how would she get it off the ground? Word of mouth? She didn’t have the funds to hire any help or to advertise. But tomorrow, she’d start setting up the apartment to accommodate clients. Tomorrow. Oh, shit. Tomorrow, he was coming over. What the hell was she thinking, inviting that man into her home? He’d be, what? Four feet from her bedroom? How the hell would she resist the desire to push him through the door and straddle him?
    It had been a spur of the moment decision, asking him to help her. He was just so…big. And strong. He looked like he could probably tear down the wall with his bare hands. Or bear hands, even—no doubt in grizzly form he was an indomitable force.
    “Stupid, stupid woman,” she muttered, shaking her head and laughing as she walked by a young couple who seemed to be veering to avoid the crazy lady. “Ah, well. So I have a date with a grizzly who’s going to break my house. Life could actually be worse.”

Chapter Five
    M iri paced the living room floor as she waited. For the hundredth time, she glanced over at the clock that sat on an end table by the couch.
    5:58. Malcolm was coming around six. He’d said so.
    Why the hell was she so nervous? Was it that he was incredibly handsome? Lots of men were handsome, but they didn’t make her sweat like this. No, it was far more than that. It was like he was a perfect storm of all the male attributes one could want: clever, gorgeous, playful, strong.
    And, she reminded herself as her feet strode across the floor again, he was a flirt. He was a bartender, which meant that he met women all the time, and no doubt went