Miri: A Paranormal Romance (Plenty of Shift Book 1) (9 page)
Read Miri: A Paranormal Romance (Plenty of Shift Book 1) Online
Authors: Carina Wilder
S
aturday’s Open House
had gone better than Miri could have hoped. Jenn’s efforts had paid off: more than two hundred shifters had passed through her French doors throughout the day, each of them looking for a mate.
And so on Monday morning at ten, Naomi, the first ever client, sat on the desk chair in the Plenty of Shift Office. Quietly she watched through the two-way mirror as she awaited the first of the two candidates that Miri had chosen for her.
On the outside of the building hung a sign with the logo that Miri and Jenn had designed: a heart, altered to look feline. No shifter could mistake its meaning; this was the place where they were meant to come to find love with another of their kind.
Miri had grown very fond of Naomi, who was fun, witty and had a good heart. She was kind, but like Miri, she’d experienced the pain of a recent breakup with a man who hadn’t exactly treated her well. So, she remained wary. And Miri wanted nothing more than to set her up with a worthy candidate: one who was good to her, attractive, devoted and well-suited to a strong, independent woman.
Already she’d sized up two potential men for Naomi: a lion shifter called Tyler, and a wolf shifter named Quinn.
As she watched him make his way through the living room, Naomi could see that Tyler was handsome and muscular—not surprising, given his genes. His hair was light-coloured, short and a little wild, his expression serious, though when he smiled his face lit up. Even from the next room, Naomi thought that she could spot a dimple or two. She watched as the lion shifter tossed a black leather saddle bag onto the floor, which had apparently accompanied him on a recent motorcycle ride.
As one of the flaps flew open, she spotted a copy of Great Expectations, the Dickens novel. A strange contrast with the man who owned the bag, to say the least. But intriguing.
“Tell me,” said Miri as she seated herself on an armchair next to the couch. “What brings you here? You don’t strike me as the sort of man who goes in for dating services.”
Tyler stretched his arms out on the back of the couch, leaning into its cushions, knees open.
“I like adventures,” he said. “And I don’t always like to behave in a way that people would perceive as predictable.”
“So you’re just here to see what happens if I set you up with someone?”
“Yes.”
“A fling, then?”
“I’m not looking for a fling,” he said. “I’m looking for a woman who will make me a better man, if such a woman exists.”
“So tell me—have you ever been in love?”
He leaned forward, running a hand through his messy head of light brown hair.
“No. But when I do fall, it’s going to be something.”
“Tell me—what do you do for fun, Tyler?” asked Miri.
“For fun?” A hint of mischief made one side of the man’s mouth curl upwards. “If you want a relatively innocent answer, I’ll say that I ride my motorcycle. And I box. If you want an answer that’s not so innocent, I can give you that, too.”
“I think we’re okay,” said Miri, laughing. “But as for the motorcycle and fighting—would you give either of those up for the right woman?”
“The right woman would never ask me to give them up. She would understand why I need them.”
“And why do you?”
“Because I have steam that needs blowing off. And without those outlets I’d put my fist through a wall, or way, way worse.”
After a fifteen-minute interview, it was time for him to leave.
Miri shut the door behind him and turned to face the two-way mirror, smiling and winking at Naomi. She held up a finger as though to say, “One more.”
“
Q
uinn
,” said Miri, when the second candidate had seated himself. “It says here that you’re a wolf shifter.”
“I am.”
“You’re a member the Kefir Pack?”
“Yes. But don’t hold it against me.”
“Do you agree with your pack’s politics lately? They’ve been causing some pretty serious problems.”
Quinn’s eyes darted for a moment to the two-way mirror, and Naomi wondered if he could somehow see her. “No,” he said. “I don’t. In fact, I’d love to leave this place and the pack behind. I’d love to travel the world, without feeling anchored.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m…a businessman.”
“What sort of business?”
Quinn scratched his chin for a moment before replying. “Foreign investments, let’s say.”
“I see. May I assume, then, that you’re wealthy?”
“You may. But any woman who cares about my money probably isn’t for me.”
“And what sort of a woman are you looking for?”
“One who makes my heart race, who doesn’t hate children, and who would be happy to be stripped naked on a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean and pleasured until she can’t take anymore, then pleasured some more.”
“Oh, my.” Miri smiled, hoping that Naomi was catching all of this.
Quinn leaned forward to speak softly.
“She’s behind that mirror, isn’t she?” he said. Miri thought she noticed his nostrils flaring slightly.
“She might be,” she said. “Would it matter?”
“Not one bit. But whoever she is, she smells
delicious.”
W
hich one should Naomi choose
?
Tyler’s and Quinn’s books will be out soon! Keep an eye out:
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