The Shifter Romances The Writer (Nocturne Falls Book 6)

by Kristen Painter

  The cancellation on the stamp was too smudged to read.

  She got a steak knife and ran it under the edge, then pulled the card out. She stared at it, unable to comprehend what she was looking at for a moment.

  Enjoying your new house?

  The words were scrawled in black marker on a lined notecard, the kind people used to write recipes on. Or plot points. The handwriting wasn’t familiar. But it felt threatening. And deliberate.

  She dropped the card on the counter and backed away. She watched it for a few seconds, like it might do something. Then she put her hands on her hips and got a little frustrated with herself. “This is silly. It means nothing.”

  But that wasn’t true. It meant something. Otherwise, what had been the point of sending it? No doubt it had come from Thomas. Like their marriage hadn’t been punishment enough. The man just couldn’t let her be.

  A knock on the door made her jump, and she shrieked before she could stop herself. She snarled out a groan, angry at herself for reacting that way. She strode to the door and pulled it open. “Yes? Oh, hey, Alex. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

  His brows bent together. “Did I just hear you scream? Everything okay?”

  She waved her hand. “It was nothing. A spider. You know.” She wasn’t about to tell him about that silly piece of mail. “What’s up?”

  He glanced toward his house, a very long-suffering look on his face. “If you happen to run into my brother, our lunch tomorrow is a date. Like, an actual date. I told him that to keep him from asking you out. As you surmised, he’s kind of a player, but if he thinks I’m interested in you, he’ll leave you alone. It’s the bro code. Or something like that. Anyway, I thought you should know so you don’t get blindsided. Or think I’m trying to pull something.”

  She tried to suppress a smile. “Got it. Our lunch date is a date, but only if Diego asks.”

  “Right. Sorry to bother you.”

  “No problem. And no bother. Hey, one question.”

  “Sure.”

  Not that the weird note had made her jumpy about having strangers in her house, but… “Do you know Undrea Seely? She installs and maintains fish tanks? She’s cool, right? I mean, she seems that way and she came highly recommended, but—you know what, never mind. I’m just being weird.”

  But he answered anyway. “I don’t know her personally, but yeah, I hear she’s nice.” His brows lifted. “Is that who’s installing the tank for you?”

  Roxy nodded, liking that Alex had actually listened to what she’d said. Maybe that was just the cop in him, but it made her feel nice. “Yep. So it would be okay for her to be in my house alone? I just might not be here the whole time, and I was wondering.”

  “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Okay, thanks. That’s what I was thinking, but never hurts to ask. See you tomorrow. For our non-date date.”

  He smirked. “Yeah.” Then he gave a wave and jogged down her path to the sidewalk.

  Her gaze lingered a little longer than was neighborly, but Officer Cruz was in very good shape. His running shorts showed off muscular legs that were hard not to admire. She finally pulled herself away from the door as he disappeared down the street. Time to get back to her office.

  And back to the main man in her life, Wolfgang Blackborne.

  She settled into her chair, tapped the touchpad to bring the screen to life and logged in. Her manuscript sat there, formatted and waiting, the blank white pages of the Word document mocking her with their emptiness. She stared at the screen for a moment, then put her fingers to the keyboard and started typing.

  Wolfgang Blackborne stared out across the jagged castle ruins. Wind scoured the Scottish moors, buffeting his face and tugging at his long, leather coat. His childhood home had once been a majestic place. But that had been three hundred years ago. Before he’d been turned into the beast he now was.

  He’d thought his life was about to be perfect again. That he’d be able to rebuild here, create a legacy for the family he and Marabella would conceive. But he’d lost his beloved Marabella. And his brother had betrayed him.

  Now he cared only for one thing. Vengeance. And with the help of his pack, he was finally going to get it.

  Roxy nodded. That was good. That was a start. Only eighty thousand more words to go. She sighed and started tapping away, losing herself in the world of the Blood Moon Brotherhood until her stomach started to growl.

  She looked at the time. She’d been at the keyboard for almost two hours. That was enough for the day, considering it was getting late. She got up, went into the kitchen to fix something to eat and saw the note again.

  She picked it up and was about to pitch it in the trash when a small voice in her head said not to. She really didn’t want it in her house, but maybe she’d hang on to it for another day or two.

  Just in case.

  She gingerly stuck the card back into the envelope and set it on top of the fridge, which required some stretching, but also meant out of sight, out of mind. She brushed her hands off and decided another beer, or two, was in order while her low-fat, all-veggie frozen pizza for one heated up.

  She got the pizza in the oven, then turned on the TV and sat on the couch while it baked. Feet up on the coffee table, she scrolled through the channels, not paying so much attention to what was on as to what was happening tomorrow.

  Lunch with Alex. The non-date date. She grinned. Whatever it was, it would be fun. He was a nice guy, and she needed to get out and see the town some more anyway. Maybe afterward, she’d stop by and see Delaney. Get the real scoop on her neighbor.

  Hmm. Maybe she should get a picture of the two of them together and post it to her social media. Her fans would go nuts over Officer Cruz in his uniform. She shook her head. She wouldn’t do it, no matter how many likes it might get her. Some things weren’t meant for public consumption, like her private life.

  Roxy nodded, pleased with her plan for the next day. Who knows? She might be so inspired after lunch with Alex that she’d get some writing done in the afternoon.

  The next day started bright and early with the arrival of Undrea Seely, owner of Tanks A Lot. Undrea was stunning, in an unintentional sort of way. Her rose-gold hair was pulled back in a long braid and she wore denim overalls with a simple cotton tank top. Her amber eyes were bright and happy. “Morning! Ready to get fishy?”

  Roxy laughed. “Yes. I have been looking forward to a tank like this ever since I was a little girl. I can’t wait.”

  “I know you’ve probably moved some stuff in since I was here to measure so do you mind if I have a look at the space once more before I bring everything in?”

  “Not at all.” Roxy walked her back to the office. All she’d really added was a desk, a chair and a bookshelf. “I hope there’s enough room for you to do what you need to do.”

  Undrea nodded. “Yep. We’re in good shape. I’ll start the setup.”

  Roxy hadn’t seen anyone in the van with her. “You have help, right?”

  “Absolutely. I’ve got Aaron in the truck.”

  “Just two of you? Isn’t the tank kind of heavy?”

  “Um…” Undrea shrugged. “Not really. Not until it’s filled with water. These acrylic tanks aren’t nearly the weight of the glass ones.”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember you telling me that. And clearer, too, right?” Still seemed like a lot of tank for two people, but Undrea was the expert.

  “That’s correct. You’ll see. You’re going to love this when it’s all set up.”

  “I can’t wait.” Roxy was buzzing with excitement. She’d wanted a tank like this ever since she and her dad had kept goldfish. She knew now that getting the fish had been her father’s way of distracting her from the loss of her mother, but as a kid, she hadn’t understood that. She’d loved the time they’d spent together, staring into the tank and talking about the fish. Listening to the soft bubbling of the filter. It had done the job he’d intended, to a certai
n point. Spending time with him had taken care of the rest.

  She smiled and wished he could see this when it was all done. To be able to sit and work near something like this would take all her stress away. “Okay, well, I’m going to grab my laptop and get out of your way. I’ll have my cell phone, so call me if you need me. I’ll just be in the backyard, but that way you won’t have to go searching for me.”

  “You got it.” Undrea headed to her truck.

  Roxy picked up her laptop, stuck her phone under her bra strap, since her yoga pants didn’t have pockets, and went outside. She hadn’t written in the fairy house yet, which was what she’d named the playhouse, but today was as good as any to give it a try.

  She unlocked the door and climbed the spiral stairs to the loft. She’d had a memory foam mattress put up here last week and she’d loaded it with pillows, turning it into a great napping and writing nest. She positioned herself at the head of the mattress, back against the wall, and fired up her laptop.

  Her phone vibrated with an incoming message. Maybe Undrea had run into a snag. Roxy checked it, cringing immediately as soon as she saw Thomas’s name pop up on the screen. Unbelievable. He just couldn’t leave her in peace.

  She tapped delete and went back to her laptop, ready to focus on some words and not her bothersome ex. If he needed to talk to her, he already knew he could send messages through her attorney. Huh. Maybe that’s why he’d sent that note about the house. It was his way of showing her he could still get to her.

  Jerk.

  Twenty minutes and several pages later, she realized that she either needed the AC on or some fresh air. The loft was a little warm. And since it was May, fresh air won out. She set her laptop aside and crawled over to one of the transoms.

  The height of the fairy house and her position on the mattress meant she could look right down into Alex’s backyard. The morning sun cast streaks of light and shadow over his property, making it a little tricky to figure out what she was looking at initially.

  Well, now. He had a hot tub. That much she could see.

  She grinned as thoughts of peeping on him while he was in that hot tub drifted through her mind. That would be wrong. Right? Probably. Ooo, but fun. She closed her eyes for a second and tried to imagine him without his shirt. As a writer, she had a vivid imagination. Her mental picture of him only made the loft hotter.

  She laughed softly and opened her eyes. Time to get the window open and—she stared into his backyard.

  There was no way she was seeing what she was seeing. A panther. A big, black, freaking panther.

  She rolled away to lie flat on her back on the mattress and stare up at the pitched roof. Where on earth could that have come from? Then it occurred to her that the panther might not be real. This was Georgia. Not…wherever panthers lived.

  She’d seen a shadow, that was all. And the stress of moving and being behind on her book and Thomas was making her see things. She took a breath. That’s all it was. Just a weird shadow. Or a very large housecat. One of those things. Totally explainable.

  She rolled back to the window.

  There was no panther in the backyard. Just Diego. Shirtless and stretching. She frowned. He was hot. Too bad he was also so full of himself.

  Okay, so she was seeing things. It happened. Never to her, but stress made all sorts of weird things happen to the body. That had to be the reason. Stress. Because she didn’t want to think that her mother’s history was repeating itself in her. No, it was this divorce. It was giving her the kind of stress that made her want to drown in chocolate.

  Which reminded her, she really needed to go by Delaney’s shop. She added that to her list of errands for the day, then blew out a long sigh and went back to writing.

  Two hours later, her phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey,” Undrea said. “Your tank is in.”

  Roxy sat up a little straighter. “Water and everything?”

  “Yep. We bring the salt water with us. It still has to condition for a few days, then I’ll be back with fish. But come take a look. You can get a pretty good idea of how amazing it’s going to be.”

  “I’m on my way.” Roxy hung up, closed her laptop, stuck her phone back under her bra strap and headed into the house. She left the phone and her laptop on the kitchen counter before going into the office.

  She found Undrea in there, standing in front of the new tank and smiling like she was unveiling a masterpiece.

  “Oh, wow.” The tank spanned the length of the rear wall and had been designed to look like a built-in. The water was cloudy with unsettled sand, but it was still beautiful. The coral inserts were bright and colorful, and Roxy could definitely imagine how gorgeous it would be with fish. “I love it. So much.”

  Smiling, Undrea lifted the remote in her hand and clicked a button. The lights shining into the tank changed to blue. “That’s the moonlight setting.”

  Roxy squeezed her hands together. “I should have more words to say, but it’s kind of left me speechless. I’m so happy right now, you can’t imagine.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Undrea switched the lights back to daytime and set the remote on Roxy’s desk. “The timer’s set to cycle the lights as needed. I use live sand and rock that’s cured ahead of time at my shop, so everything’s basically ready to go, but I like to run the tanks empty for at least twenty-four hours, then check the salinity and adjust as needed.”

  “Do I need to do anything?”

  “Nope. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to test the water and possibly add some wrasses.” Undrea picked up her clipboard. “Just sign and date this first invoice and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “All right.” Roxy leaned in to scribble her name. Undrea’s perfume smelled like fresh salt air. Roxy smiled. Pretty appropriate for someone in her line of work. She glanced up.

  And saw gills behind Undrea’s ear.

  Roxy blinked and focused on the paper in front of her. She added the date. Not gills. A scar. She tried to look again, but Undrea had moved away.

  The woman tore off a copy for Roxy and put it on her desk. “We’re good to go.”

  Roxy nodded, her mind swirling. “Okay. Thank you so much.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  Roxy walked Undrea to the door, then went back into her office and sat in her desk chair. It was almost funny that life with Thomas had been so awful that the grueling process of divorcing him was now giving her hallucinations. She closed her eyes, then remembered the tank.

  She swiveled her chair around and stared into it, imagining fish gliding around in their quiet, perfect little world. She exhaled and already her stress levels felt lower.

  She sat there for a while, just thinking. Had she actually imagined she’d seen a panther in Alex’s yard? And gills on Undrea? She snorted. She needed this tank more than she’d realized. Thinking about Alex and his yard made her check the time.

  “Holy cow!” It was five after twelve. If she was going to meet him at one, she had to get going.

  First, she grabbed the book she’d promised to bring and stuck it in her handbag so she wouldn’t forget it, then she raced through her routine, showering and doing her makeup with as much speed and care as possible. Her hair got wound into a quick twist because she was definitely driving the Vette. It was sort of a necessity if she was dining with Alex.

  It was May and this was Georgia, so she went with white denim capris, a cute top and wedge flip-flops that gave her an extra three inches. That might put her at eye level with Alex’s chin.

  She was out the door and on the street in forty minutes, which didn’t give her long to find the sheriff’s station, but thankfully the GPS on her phone knew how to get her there. Checking her P.O. box would have to wait until after lunch.

  Finding a parking spot took a little longer, but somehow she managed to walk into the Nocturne Falls Sheriff Department at twelve fifty-seven.

  She stopped at the front desk, where a perky older woman
greeted her with a big, “Hi there! What can I help you with?”

  “Hi. I’m Roxy. I’m here to meet Officer Cruz.”

  The woman’s eyes lit up. “Oh, is that so? Officer Cruz, huh? He’s a handsome one, isn’t he? And such a good cook. Did you know that about him? He’s really—”

  “Birdie, I already have a mother trying to marry me off.” Alex walked up to the counter. “I don’t need you doing it too.” He smiled at Roxy. “Hi.”

  She smiled back. “Hi.”

  Birdie made a face. “I was just extolling your virtues to this nice young woman. Who you haven’t introduced me to yet.”

  Alex laughed. “Birdie, this is my neighbor, Roxy St. James.”

  Birdie’s eyes went wide. “Not the Roxy St. James? I heard you were moving into town, but I didn’t know you were here already. Well, aren’t we lucky?”

  Roxy knew the woman was being friendly, but the thought that people knew she’d moved here was a little unsettling. Maybe Birdie knew Delaney and that’s who she’d heard from. “Um, yes, that’s me. You must be friends with Delaney. Is that how you heard?”

  “I know Delaney well enough, but I know Pandora too, and that’s who sold you your house, right? Plus, Willa over at the jewelry store is a huge fan of your books. She got me reading them.” Birdie fanned herself. “That Wolfgang Blackborne is so hot.”

  Roxy swallowed. This was so…unexpected.

  Birdie seemed to pick up on Roxy’s unease. She reached out and patted Roxy’s arm. “Honey, it’s not like the whole town knows, but you’ve got fans here. We won’t bother you or show up at your door, I swear. This might be a tourist town, but it’s also a small town, and we’re real protective of the citizens who live here. We know what being pestered can be like. I promise, we’re not a bunch of crazies either. Well, Martha Vines is a little woo-woo, but you get one of those in every crowd.”

  Roxy still felt a little side-swiped. “Well, that’s good. The protective part.”

  Alex took her arm. “Birdie, we’re going out for lunch.” Then he guided Roxy out the front door and onto the sidewalk. “Are you okay? You look like you just got hit by a small truck. Birdie has that effect on people, but she’s mostly harmless.”