Claire's Bad Boy (Date Monsters For Bad Boys Book 1)

by Lisa Daniels

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  It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document either by electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is prohibited unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Contents

  Claire’s Bad Boy

  Prologue

  Chapter One – Claire

  Chapter Two – Kallen

  Chapter Three – Claire

  Chapter Four – Kallen

  Chapter Five – Claire

  Chapter Six – Kallen

  Chapter Seven – Claire

  Chapter Eight – Kallen

  Chapter Nine – Claire

  Claire’s Bad Boy

  Date Monsters for Bad Boys

  Book 1

  By: Lisa Daniels

  Prologue

  Kallen’s family didn’t want him to marry. At least, not Suzie Whitefoot, anyway. She came from low stock, a poor clan with no real value to their name, but he didn’t care. He’d give up everything for her.

  He walked along the small village street, inhaling the scents of summer, heading toward Suzie’s home. Feeling the bulge in his pocket, the one that had cost him a good five thousand.

  You dare approach that woman again, I’ll make sure you live to regret it, son. Kallen thought of his father’s words, and of the furious orange eyes that glared at him. If his father shifted into werewolf form to take him down, Kallen would fight back.

  Suzie and he were meant to be. Suzie was the best thing to ever happen to him. Sure, maybe Kallen was acting like a lovesick fool, but he’d never been in love before this. Never known what it felt like to crave someone down to the very marrow and soul.

  Will you run away with me, Suzie? Kallen burned with the conviction that she would. He could provide for her, after all. Even if his family exiled him and declared his status as lone wolf. Many ways existed to get rich in the human world. The werewolf villages knew nothing of the boundless opportunities that awaited.

  You shouldn’t love me, Suzie had said. My family isn’t worth the effort.

  Kallen, of course, explained quite clearly to her that she was worth everything. His shoes crunched on gravel as he walked through a small clearing, ringed by trees, with trapped bundles of fur wrapped around the thin lower twigs. Less than a minute later of stepping through low brush, he reached Suzie’s house. Well, more of a hovel than a house, but it did keep the wind and rain out. Kallen didn’t judge.

  He knocked on the door, smiling, heart beating fast. It opened after a moment, and Suzie stood in the shadowed entrance of her single-room home, her dark hair an adorable mess, her yellow eyes wide.

  “Kallen,” she said, and he took the chance to sweep her up in a hug. She responded, though not as firmly as she usually did. Like being hugged by a ghost. “You came.”

  “I said I was going to. I said I have a plan. You can trust me.”

  “Yeah…” her eyes darted to the ground, and Kallen grasped her by the shoulders.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Just… I’m not sure if I still want to do what you’re asking.”

  “Why not?” Kallen stared at her. “Didn’t you say you wanted to leave? Haven’t you wanted to get out of your family’s shadow, like me?” He was confused. She’d been eager at the idea a month ago. Though he supposed this was last-minute jitters. Surely she wanted to be out of this place. He could provide for them. They could be rid of their families forever, and she needed to leave for a better future. Prospects for her if she remained in the werewolf world would be abysmal.

  “I...” She swallowed a lump in her throat, still avoiding looking at him.

  “Suzie.” Kallen dropped to one knee. She stared at him, eyes wide, her mouth hanging open like a fish. He took out the lump in his pocket. A small, black velvet box. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to give you everything you’ve never had.” He popped the box open, revealing the expensive arrangement of diamonds and sapphires—her favorite type of jewel. “Will you marry me?”

  Suzie continued to stare in absolute silence. A sinking feeling entered Kallen’s heart, and his inner alpha, formerly purring in happiness, fell silent. Maybe he’d been too hasty. Maybe he’d somehow read the whole thing wrong—

  “I can’t,” she said. She backed away from him, and he closed the box, numb and horrified at the same time, all mixing up with disappointment.

  “Why?”

  “I’m just—I don’t want to marry you. I don’t think we should be together.” Her words had a practiced tone about them, as if she’d spent the last few hours preparing the speech.

  “Suzie, what happened?” He tucked away the box, a growing suspicion taking over his thoughts. “Did my father get to you? Did he threaten you like he did me? You don’t have to be scared of him—”

  The person he loved let out a bitter laugh. “Your father offered to rise up my entire family. He’s paying over a million to do so. I’m no fool, Kallen. I’m not going to turn my back on my family when we finally have the chance to be better. To live in an actual house, to be rich for once. And all I have to do is not marry you. That’s the condition.”

  Kallen listened with increasing anger, red misting over his vision. Father. It was always Father, wasn’t it? “Clearly,” he said after a while, his voice sounding distant to his own ears, “I loved you more than you loved me.”

  Suzie said nothing, but took on a defiant stance. No remorse existed in her expression.

  “Hello, son,” came a rasping, unwelcome voice from the entrance. Kallen whirled around to see his father standing there, cold and triumphant. “It’s time to discuss your place in our clan.”

  Disappointment and anger welled up in Kallen, and he elbowed past his father without a word, without looking back at Suzie, the taste of ash strong in his mouth. His inner alpha whined, like a dog struck by someone it loved, not understanding why.

  Never again would he be such a fool, to fall in love. He almost threw the ring into the forest, but withheld that impulse at the last second. He’d probably need the funds from selling it.

  Because he no longer planned to be a part of this world.

  Chapter One – Claire

  Claire Enfield felt thoroughly cheated out of life. It started when she hit thirty. No longer a youthful twenty-something. Not quite old enough to be shriveled up and complaining about menopause, but she was on the right track. Her body gained more aches. Things she shrugged off as an eighteen-year-old became harder to ignore with age.

  And somehow, all her wild friends who went out to parties, got wasted, and screwed anything available, were mostly settled, with partners or husbands, and tackling the next stage of their lives: kids.

  She sat with Rita and Shannon now, waiting at one of their favorite bars in Clydesdale, their birth town. A town with a single train line running through it, which people hopped on to access the nearest city an hour away. To the north of Clydesdale was a heavy, primeval forest, and beyond that, a mountain where the shifters lived. Humans who transformed into animals. Who preferred to keep to themselves, though some struck out for reasons of their own. The thought of shifters made Claire shiver a little. She’d heard a few too many horror stories of people wandering off into the woods and never returning. The local police wanted nothing to do with the shifters, and higher authorities like the FBI had no jurisdiction in their territories.

  The table they a
ll sat at was rectangular, with a stained, brown cloth covering the wood. Although the bar wasn’t as popular as the other ones in town, it survived mostly by people who organized events on certain days of the week. And, of course, with Claire’s group of friends. Nine of them liked to visit the bar, but not all nine managed to get the same time off.

  “Don’t look so anxious,” Rita assured Claire, smiling her gap-toothed grin. “He’ll be here soon. Then you’ll have some real fun.”

  Fun. Her friends looked at her as if she didn’t know the meaning of the word. “I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea. I mean, what if he murders me or something? Aren’t some of them man-eaters?”

  “They take their contracts very seriously,” Shannon answered, checking something on her phone. “Many people use the services effectively. Including Rita.”

  “Mm.” Rita’s expression turned dreamy. “Man. I had some good times. But now I’m in debt and have to save money, so those are put on hold for now.”

  While most of Claire’s friends in their uni years threw money at excitement and glamor, drinking and plunging in and out of relationships faster than Claire understood what was happening, she’d worked hard. Just like her parents wanted. Oh, they’d been so proud.

  Look at our daughter, they boasted to the other parents. She’s sensible. She’ll go far. Not like your screaming hippies, wasting their time and money on parties and pot.

  True, Claire completed her degree and secured an easy job in the Clydesdale publishing house. She’d never even needed to budge to the city. She’d tried starting some relationships because it was the acceptable thing to do, but she was too much of a workaholic for the men. Always prioritizing her work, her money. Often not turning up for dates at all. Or going out with her friends when they asked. Of course she went out—just not quite to the extent they did.

  “I’d be up for trying one, but I have an actual boyfriend now, unfortunately,” Shannon said. “I think he might propose to me soon. I’m seeing the signs.”

  “Good for you,” Claire replied, smiling at Shannon, trying not to feel jealous. “You’ve been dating for how long? Four years?”

  “Yeah. He’s not the brightest spark out there, and I guess he does look like he’s been punched in the face several times, but he’s a good lad, nice job in the city. When we do start a family, they’ll have security.”

  “Mm,” Claire said, again feeling uncomfortable at the thought of family. That insistent, needling pressure that she needed to start one, and soon. While her body hadn’t yet failed her. Did this happen to all women once they reached a certain age? Did they feel the ticking of time in the silence, an increased sense of impending mortality?

  “He’s boring as hell,” Rita said. “And he’s got a microdick.”

  Claire almost choked on her drink, while Shannon simply glared at her friend.

  “Not everyone went and slept around with the entire school like you, Rita.”

  “What! I was sowing my wild oats. Getting some while I was young and hot. Before all these responsibilities.”

  “Slut,” Shannon said cheerfully, though this didn’t offend Rita at all.

  “Rather my life than Claire’s. Uh, no offense, Claire,” Rita said. “But you missed out on so much fun.”

  “As you’ve told me, numerous times. But I went out with you guys. I did things. I had fun.”

  Rita made a negative buzzing sound. “You studied night and day, maybe went out with us once a month, and went straight into your publishing business. The guy I offered for you dumped you in two months because you kept forgetting to turn up to dates!”

  Thinking back on it, Claire supposed she had missed out on a lot of opportunities. But that was the point of today, wasn’t it? She was going to take those opportunities missed. Live the wild child years in her thirties that everyone said she’d have no regrets about. Plus, she had the money to do it. Because she’d saved up, and booked herself a holiday for the first time since forever. Though that holiday didn’t exactly mean going to any exotic places.

  “My mother was always going on about how she wished she hadn’t had me early,” Claire replied. “You know that.”

  “Baby career killer,” Rita noted, before rubbing her hands gleefully. At her request, Claire brought up her contract page for Date Monsters Shifter Agency on her phone. A site where people could hire shifters for all sorts of services. Expensive, but a great investment for those who wanted something different and legal.

  The profile page of Kallen Grayfur shone out like a beacon on the page. A werewolf. One with previous job histories of searching for cheating women, one-night stands, and more. Claire once again examined those bright orange eyes, wondering if she’d made a huge mistake. Rita proudly examined the words of the contract—all words she’d personally inserted, to make Claire sound spicier and wilder than she actually was. More like a thirsty slut than a workaholic who never left town. Claire took her phone back when Rita started scrolling a little more than necessary, since she knew her friend liked to nose through people’s secrets.

  Where was Kallen now, anyway? He said he’d be here around this time. Give or take an hour. Though she’d really prefer earlier.

  “Remember, you just have to act loose. Like nothing fazes you. Confident yet demure. You gotta do that coy eyelash thing and laugh at all his jokes. If he says something sexy you need to be all for it. Got it?”

  Most of the information flew over Claire’s head. Some of it seemed a little contradictory. “Uh, sure.”

  “And don’t sit like that,” Rita said, firmly closing Claire’s legs, and then crossing her ankles. “Better. Shannon, how do you rate our girl’s makeup?”

  “Passable,” said Shannon, who Claire knew spent a good hour every morning applying hers. Claire usually restricted it to a light foundation or moisturizer, mascara, and lip gloss. Ten minutes work max, since she hated wasting too much time. “Some guys like it subtle. Claire is already quite pretty, so she doesn’t need to do it too thick. I have to put in a lot of work to give my face the optimal selfie look.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? You’re the prettiest person I know! And you have a partner.” Claire raised an eyebrow at her friend, who let the compliment slide off her like water. Give that woman a hundred compliments, she ignored all of them. Offer one negative critique and it was all she thought about for days.

  “It’s hard work, maintaining a relationship, you know. He doesn’t like me unless I’ve got it all on. Says I transform into a witch at night when I use the remover. He means it jokingly, obviously!” she added, though something about the grit of her smile made Claire think that Shannon didn’t particularly consider it a joke.

  “Dump him,” Rita suggested.

  Shannon pointedly ignored her, fawning over Claire’s appearance instead. Claire leaned back a little in her chair, feeling a horrible cramp needling her spine. “Don’t forget, if you’re going to send him selfies, show your left cheek. The shadows look better from that angle. A little pout can do wonders to make your lips look big.”

  “Shannon, I don’t have Instagram. I don’t take selfies.”

  “If you’re going to be sexting...”

  Claire blushed a crimson red at that, and let out a squeak. “I wasn’t planning to sext...”

  Both Shannon and Rita glared at her as if she was stupid.

  Right in the middle of a face inspection, the entrance door swung inward. Claire flinched away from her friend, just in time to settle her gaze on the newcomer. The one she’d been waiting for.

  Kallen Grayfur.

  Unfortunately, it seemed, his profile picture did him no justice at all. Not compared to the magnetic presence he radiated, just from existing. How unfair. The werewolf shifter looked around the small bar, focusing on their group. He saw her, and both his eyebrows rose up.

  Calmly, he strode over and extended a hand for Claire to shake. She did so, though her grip was uncertain, feeble. Rita’s eyes were big, and her mo
uth two seconds away from drooling. Shannon plastered on her brightest, fakest smile, and her voice went up an octave or two.

  “Hi! So you’re the one Claire hired for tonight!”

  “Sure am,” he replied, and his voice was deep, sonorous. A faint brushing of black stubble covered the sides of his cheeks, and his hair was slicked back, gelled by something that held a fragrance of mint. His white shirt had the top three buttons undone, exposing more than just a hint of chest, and the sleeves were rolled up to reveal powerful forearms.

  Shit, Claire thought. He really was pulling off the bad boy persona to perfection. Instead of experiencing admiration or even desire for his act, she just felt intimidated. Out of her depth. She’d never attract this kind of person in reality.

  “Sorry about my friends. They’re just here to make sure everything’s okay.” And to make sure you’re true to your profile and contract. People could lie, after all. Even if Date Monsters had an impressive reputation, that didn’t mean that people told the truth. Everyone lied a little. What about the ones who lied a lot? Who exploited the vulnerable, the desperate?

  He gave them both a rather cool glance. “I promise you both I’ll stick to my contract terms. Now, are you all planning to stay around? I’m sure I can make an accommodation for more than one.” His eyes glittered, and his teeth bared in a slight, predatory smile.

  Claire grabbed him by the elbow. “Oh no, they won’t be joining. In fact, I’m sure I’ll be just fine!” she said, though a part of her was begging for her friends to refuse and just whisk her away. Now that the money she’d paid for Kallen had resulted in him being right here, physically in her face, oozing with… whatever it was werewolf shifters oozed with, she suddenly realized that this was a stupid idea.

  Why the hell did she agree to this? Why did she let Rita write her profile? Here they all were, waiting to see the lie in Kallen, when the worst liar of all was Claire herself.

  Shannon and Rita said their goodbyes. Shannon whispered “Good luck” in Claire’s ear, while Rita started miming a thrusting motion with her fingers, grinning that wicked smile she always wore when she spotted her next booty. Kallen carelessly ordered some drinks, not bothering to watch the friends go, and spread himself out over two chairs, lounging in a graceful way.