License to Shift by Kathy Lyons Read Free Book Online

awkwardly. Carl even went so far as to scratch at his beard.
    Oh, hell. “What now?”
    Mark jerked his chin toward the outside. She hadn’t even noticed when the rain had become a deluge, but it was coming down in thick sheets of drench. Shit. No way was she making it to her car without getting soaked to the skin. “Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll wait until it eases up.”
    “Look at the driveway,” Mark said. “Specifically, how far the mud goes up the tires of your car.”
    Her gaze shifted to her beloved blue Prius. Her little hybrid was both economical and good for the environment. And was sunk a foot deep into the swamp formerly known as her father’s dirt-and-gravel driveway.
    “Shit.” She wasn’t going anywhere in her car. “Is there a tow truck anywhere?”
    “There is,” Carl said slowly, “but it’d sink in the mud on the way up. I told your father he needed to pave that.”
    Her father would never spend the money required to pave the long, winding track that led to this cabin. He always said if it was ugly outside, he’d just stay inside until Mother Nature cooperated. Which was fine for an academic with no particular schedule, but awful for a daughter with plans.
    She sighed and leaned her head against the door frame. She could hope that it would clear up soon. If it happened fast enough, maybe there’d be some daylight left. Except even as she had the thought, Mark pulled out his phone. A few punches later, and he turned the screen toward her.
    “Radar says it’s not going to let up any time soon. You’re probably here for the night.” He didn’t look any happier about that than she did.
    “Fine,” she groused. “I’m here.” There was food and electricity, not to mention a guest bedroom with that dust-bunny footprint. “But you two don’t have to be. Good day, gentlemen.”
    Carl nodded and stepped out, but again, Mark refused to move. He just stood there while his pecs seemed to pulse with irritation. No wait, that was him grinding his teeth. “I’m not leaving.”
    She didn’t have to answer because Carl turned to his friend. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Whatever that was…” He gestured back toward the den. “It’s long gone.”
    Mark didn’t look like he agreed, but he didn’t argue, either. After one last intense stare at her, he sloshed his way outside. Julie made a point of keeping back from him. She had no need for any more accidental brushes, real or imagined. And when the men stepped onto the front porch, she firmly shut and locked the door.
    Done. Over. Mentally, she closed the drawer labeled “Mark the Fickle Bastard.”
    It took her ten minutes to realize that she’d heard only one truck leave. She went to the window, pulling aside the curtain as she searched the shadows outside. There he was, a shadowy outline squatting at the edge of the dry area of the porch. His body was so still he might have been a statue.
    Was he sitting sentry?
    She couldn’t believe it. No way was he going to sit there all night long like a neglected beagle. Or a bizarre stalker. But how the hell was she going to get him to leave?

Chapter 5
    I t was going to be a cold, wet night, but Mark found a kind of peace in the chill. The days when he would be human were ticking away, so every sensation became special. Instead of cursing the icy wind on his skin, he cherished the sensation of exposed flesh unprotected by fur, of fingers heated by his breath, and toes that squished his soggy socks. Miserable, but even this was beautiful to a man who didn’t expect to live to see the snow.
    He heard her open the front door and step out onto the porch. She’d been watching him on and off through the window for the last half hour, and he’d wondered if she’d eventually come out to talk with him. He wouldn’t if he were her. But then he was notorious for not giving a shit what other people did. She, on the other hand, appeared to have a softer heart.
    “You’re going to catch