Lost Library: An Urban Fantasy Romance by Kate Baray Read Free Book Online

word. Werewolves were clearly an impossibility.
    A brief image of the magic book flashed through her brain. She thumbed her nose at the thought. One magic book did not a world of werewolves, vampires, and demons , make. She hoped. She thought she’d likely met her quota for weirdness with one magic book.
    Remembering to check the peephole this time, she saw John Braxton standing on her porch. She should have known. The dogs were going nuts. They really didn’t like him.
    “Just a minute. I’m putting the dogs up,” she called out.
    I t wasn’t until she’d returned from locking up the dogs, had unlocked the front door, and was already opening it…when a few puzzle pieces clicked together in her brain. John showed up. Her dogs barked at John. The wolf showed up. Her dogs barked at the wolf. John said family, she thought Mafia. Well, shit.
    She looked at the man on her porch . “You’re a werewolf.” The words were out of her mouth before she’d truly processed the thought.
    She was already shaking her head, denying her own statement, when he said, “A benign, friendly werewolf—yes.”
    All she heard was, “Yes.”
    Head between knees? Check. Cool, wet cloth on neck? Check. Butt firmly planted on tile floor? Check.
    Where did a cloth come from?
    Lizzie had passed out. Not elegantly onto a conveniently placed sofa. Nope. Just in a heap on the tile floor. Lizzie didn’t actually remember this, but her butt’s current position on the hard tile made it likely. So much worse than the minty green complexion of nausea. If only Lizzie could go back to minty green, she most assuredly would.
    Why was she on the floor? Right—werewolf. John had dropped the W bomb. Wolf. More accurately, werewolf. Wait, that wasn’t right. She’d guessed he was a werewolf, and he hadn’t denied it. And just when she thought she might start to like the guy.
    “Shouldn’t you be hairier?” Okay, not sure where that one came from. Apparently not firing on all cylinders yet.
    “Do you have any idea how incredibly prejudiced you sound?” John said, with just a hint of humor. Lizzie might have missed it if she hadn’t been staring up into his incredible blue eyes. Blue eyes that crinkled at the corners with suppressed laughter.
    What happened to the irritating, demanding guy? Not that Lizzie missed that guy. It was just a little overwhelming to have such a handsome man leaning over her rumpled and recently unconscious self. A handsome man with an unexpectedly decent sense of humor. Especially when she was staring deeply into his eyes…and her rear was planted on the floor.
    He knelt in front of her , one knee on the ground, his face only inches from hers. She could have reached out with her hand and touched his cheek, he was so close. And she had an absurd desire to do exactly that. To run her hand along the hard line of his jaw. To rub her thumb over the stubble covering his chin. To touch her finger to his lips. Good lord! Her brain must be completely scrambled.
    A point that was proven by t he next thing out of her mouth. “Does this mean there are demons? And vampires?” What was her fascination with vampires and demons? Like magic books and werewolves weren’t enough? Well, anything that distracted her from touching John…
    “Don’t answer that,” she s aid. She tried to take a deep, calming breath. And inhaled the smell of him. A clean, soapy smell, with just a hint of mint toothpaste and something spicy, maybe clove, filled her nose. She leaned against the foyer wall, tipping her head back. She needed a few more inches between them or she’d never manage a coherent sentence.
    “ No problem. Not filling your shock-induced brain with miscellaneous supernatural trivia, seems like a good plan. Besides, you’re not exactly yourself right now. We can save the questions for later.” John’s answer, combined with his calm demeanor, left Lizzie with the distinct impression that she wasn’t having the same effect on him,