Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Paranormal Dating Agency World
About the Author
Also By Michelle Ziegler
Coming Soon From Michelle Ziegler
Copyright © 2018 by Michelle Ziegler
Published by M.T. Worlds Press, Inc.
Winter Springs, FL 32708
http://mtworldspress.com
Formatting by: Glowing Moon Designs
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
http://mtworldspress.com
For my husband and brother. Thanks for being examples of great men who stand beside strong women.
Acknowledgments
Behind every good book is a great community. Thanks to my tribe of authors, Aidy Award, Lyz Kelley, and Katie Yaddof for their support. Without you this project wouldn’t exist. Thank you for my amazing editors, Landon Literary’s Julie Cameron, and Hopey Gardner for taking a mess of words and making it resemble a story. I thank my husband and his patience every time I asked him something about the male perspective, even if it makes him blush. I can’t thank Bridget and Carol enough for being amazing beta readers, and I thank all the readers who believe in happily ever after. Never give up just because you hit a speed bump in life.
When It Raines, He Purrs
Raine Collins has moved beyond her troubling past, and she's come out stronger. Throwing herself into teaching self-defense, she won’t let anyone control her life. At odds with her meddling Gran’s ghost, Raine agrees to meet with a matchmaker. Gran is determined to make sure Raine doesn’t end up alone with one last birthday gift.
Kian Walsh sent his abusive father to prison years ago, too bad the man didn't stay behind bars. Knowing his dad is on parole has Kian's instincts on high alert. Kian’s built his life around controlling his cougar and the instinct that drives them. Now the overwhelming need to find a mate has him seeking out help.
Kian knows she’s the one, Raine thinks he’s full of crap. With the help of Gerri the matchmaker, maybe Raine and Kian can find love together. Will Raine’s past stay dead and can Kian come to terms with his cougar?
"Scratch their eyes, ladies. Use those nails. Inflict as much damage as you can."
Raine paced back and forth behind her class. She'd earned a name for herself in self-defense.
"Now show me how you'd take him down. Get those knees up. Really punch those bags, picture the face of your ex on there."
Thuds echoed around the warehouse space as Raine walked the row of heavy bags in the martial arts gym. She smiled at one of her adult students growling and tearing at the heavy bag.
"Wow Mary, you must really hate your ex."
Everyone laughed. Raine’s feet sunk into the gray padded mats covering the floor as she moved through the bags admiring her work. She loved her women’s classes, a stark contrast to the normal clientele.
"Good. Great job. Keep it going, a few more seconds ladies."
Raine couldn’t handle the male dominate classes, not with her past. Not yet. In her mind all the men in the world boiled down to the same genetic makeup.
A ding at the front doors interrupted the destruction on the poor punching bags. Raine rolled her eyes as three large bodies eclipsed the sun behind them. All the same. Large muscled, ego filled, testosterone laden Meatheads. She caught herself staring at the tall one in the middle as her breath caught. Nope. Not going to happen.
"Alright ladies." Not a single woman looked at her. "Ladies?"
Trying to bring the wandering eyes back to the class, she clapped. "Ladies. Picture those bags in front of you as the men who just walked in."
A few women giggled. Another said, "if that was my attacker I'd probably just let him have me."
Raine had to laugh at that last comment and decided to give up on the last three minutes. Hands on hips, she tried to ignore the men in the background. She couldn't even remember the last time a man had touched her. Raine sighed. The men she picked always seemed like more trouble than they were worth.
"Alright ladies, let's call it a day. Great job! If you want to enroll in the fitness classes, the owner is giving twenty percent off for anyone who takes my self-defense classes."
One of the older women in the group came up to her. "Thank you so much, Raine. This has been the most productive three days of my life. Well, maybe not life. But I feel so much more aware of my own protection."
Raine shook her head, the lady's smile infectious. "I'm so glad. It's always best to be prepared for anything."
Another lady followed behind, still catching her breath. "I just can’t thank you enough. I'll be getting one of those tactical pen things. You said they have a few features against shifters and vampires?"
Nodding she pulled out the pen she suggested to everyone who took her class. "Yes. There's a whistle that will mess with most shifters and any other species that has super hearing. This button here," she pointed to the side, "activates a small UV light for those with light sensitivity. And when in doubt just start stabbing."
They both laughed. "Thank you again."
As all the women gathered up their belongings, she headed to the backroom. Today was her day to try and get caught up on life, with no kid classes later in the day.
Running through her mental list of to-dos, she didn't notice the wall of a man in front of her.
"Ooph."
He reached out to steady her.
"Hey there. You okay?"
She blinked several times and regained her footing. His hands held onto her shoulders and the warmth from his touch jolted through her. Looking up she met green eyes that flashed gold.
A shifter.
A slow tendril of anger slowly snaked through her. She had no love for shifters.
"Thanks. I'm fine. Maybe next time you guys could stay out of the aisle."
He released her and she instantly missed the roughness of his hands, which she kept telling herself was not something she had time for.
Her reality said differently. All she had was time.
"I'm sorry. No harm meant miss...?"
Blowing out a breath she attempted to reign in the anger. Running her tongue over her top teeth she debated whether she talked to him or not.
"Raine Collins." There. She was polite. Raine shuffled her feet, trying to get around him. This was her only day off for another three days and the state of her fridge said she needed to get to the store. Or so she told herself. Maybe she was using the gym's added kids’ martial arts class as one more reason to avoid living her life.
Truthfully, after her last relationship, there wasn't much to entice her to lea
ve her apartment. No matter how much she did to ensure her own safety, the reality was she didn't think she would ever feel safe again.
"Alright Ms. Collins, or can I call you Raine? That's an interesting name."
She flicked her eyes to the ceiling and then back at the hulking man in front of her. "Yeah. My mom said the earth was so sad when I was born it rained, hence the name.” Raine tried to bite back the sarcasm and failed as she studied each pair of eyes on her. They saw too much; he saw too much. “Yeah, wonderful mom. She was a super loving person. Who the heck knows where she is now, probably Europe or something. Anyway, can I get by now?"
Raine felt a little bad about being negative. It wasn't like her Gran hadn't more than made up for her mother's lack of interest.
A flicker of what she guessed might have been concern ghosted across the man's face. Maybe she should just stop telling the truth. Figure out a much better story, like her mom loved the rain or maybe that her dad was obsessed with water magic or something.
"That's a pretty crappy reason for the name, especially looking at how beautiful you turned out."
An embarrassing heat touched her cheeks and had the walls she'd built around her flexing a little.
"Uhm. Thanks? Can I get by now?"
"Why have I not seen you here before? I'm Kian and this is Ethan and Tristan."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she glanced towards the other men near the wall. They were all good looking and articulate. Okay, so maybe not meatheads. Living alone had her growing more and more cynical. It was that, or her ex and his meat-head pack.
Raine took in the size of the guy talking to her. What had he said his name was? It has sounded sort of a like a shoe brand. Well whatever it was, she didn't care. Although, that smile had her heart doing a flipflop. His biceps stretching the arms of his t-shirt had her pressing her thighs together at the sensations surging through her.
Okay, fine. Maybe she'd take it easy on this mountain of a man. Her body seemed to warm by just looking at him, a few long neglected parts of her aching to be played with. Staring up into his face, the softness sparkling behind his eyes had her choking back her next sarcastic remark. The way he looked at her made Raine feel like he saw more than she wanted, but she still didn't turn away. Raine cleared her throat but found herself lacking the right words.
Adjusting her stance, she put one hand on her other arm, then she tried switching them, and finally she just crossed her arms over her chest. He had her all confused. The weight of his gaze had her heart beating faster. Yup, maybe she should cross her legs instead of her arms.
It wasn't a surprise to see abnormally large men in the gym. It was a martial arts fitness center, after all, and that usually attracted a lot of alpha men - more shifters than humans for that matter. Their aggression ran deeper than that of their human counterparts, so it made sense. Then why was this guy getting her all hot and bothered?
"Did we lose you?" Kian asked.
"Oh. I." Raine paused and words formed on her lips, but nothing good came out. Instead, she flashed something like a smile. You couldn't give any man too much, regardless of whether he sparked your libido.
"No. Sorry. I was already onto my next class in my head. Lots to do and so little time. It was great meeting you Tristan, Ethan, and what was it? Keen?"
The biggest of the three, the one that had her panties damp, furrowed his brow and his jaw dropped. "Ouch. No. Keen, that's a shoe. Ki-an is my name. And although I'm sure I'd love to massage those tiny feet of yours, believe you me when I say I'm much more than something that makes your feet feel good."
Rolling her eyes and choking down a laugh she didn't bother hiding her sarcasm. "Excuse me? I am not sure who that line actually works on - okay, actually I seriously hope you've never tried that line before." She bit her lip trying to hide the smile. He looked the tough guy, but she wasn't sure he was. "Right. So I am the woman that teaches other women how to get away from men like you. You’re going to have to try a lot harder. Or maybe just stop trying altogether."
Maybe she shouldn't have baited him. His name wasn't that hard to remember, but something about him made her want to push his buttons. Or maybe, she wanted to simply push him away before he could even try to get close. It was her thing: beat them at their own game, or beat them up later. Self-defense came in a lot of different forms.
Nibbling the inside of her cheek, she fought to hold in a laugh at his cheesy line. Raine didn't get attached, she had a list a mile long of what she would want if she ever found a man who might be good enough and although Kian checked several boxes - one being that he could make her laugh - this wasn't the time.
"Aw, come on. What was I supposed to say to make you remember me? You called me the name of a shoe brand." He held his hands up in surrender as the other two guys seemed to be holding back on the laughter.
"I promise, we aren't creepy. We even have background checks."
A deep sigh was all she could get out. "Okay. I'm sorry. It's not nice to call people creepy, but you will have to excuse me all the same. I really do need to get going."
"Right. Sure. Maybe we will catch you again?"
Raine resisted the urge to rub at her chest. Heartburn maybe? She didn't get heartburn, but something just didn't feel right.
"Uh. I doubt that. I usually teach the evening kids’ classes. There isn't a lot of overlap with the earlier classes, except when I do the self-defense and that's not often."
A slow nod of his head. "All right. I see what you are doing. It's fine. Well Raine Collins, I'll see you around. Hope you get whatever you need done."
Raine sidestepped him, struggling to break free from his gaze.
He's a shifter, Raine. He's a man. Just don't.
This might have been the first mental pep talk she'd ever given herself since swearing off relationships. Especially with a man who looked like him, a shifter who looked like him.
Finally, she found the strength to look away, right as the most adorable and somehow smoldering smile spread across his face.
"Shit." Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized that she'd said the word out loud.
His eyes sparkled as she ran for the small closet sized room used as storage, slamming the door behind her.
Leaning against it, she couldn't hold in a giddy smile of her own. He wasn't what she needed, but his dark brown hair, tanned skin, eyes as green as a summer meadow with golden flecks of fireflies, and those full lips that had her licking her own in memory.
Her grandmother’s words haunted her. Or well her grandmother haunted her.
"See dear? I told you. You can tell a lot about a man by his smile. And oh that smile."
She cocked her head. "For crap sake Gran. Can't you haunt me another time?"
The little lady in front of her floated about. Same gray pixie cut, same purple jogging suit.
"If I didn’t watch you, you'd be a shut-in. Now, let's go see Gerri. My soul isn't resting until you are married."
Wandering around in the badly lit room, Raine grabbed her shoes. As she pulled them on she tried to figure out how to end the conversation once and for all. She could handle living with Gran, she couldn’t live with the meddling though. Raine had already come to terms with being alone forever, maybe Gran could accept it too.
"Okay, look. I have crappy taste in men. I literally walked in on the last guy dead, all because he liked drugs more than he liked me. The guy before that, he was human. He seemed so nice and normal. But tell him you see ghosts and suddenly he can't date blondes. The guy before that was some kind of shifter, but I never found out which type because of the fact he spent the entire time we dated talking about how beautiful he was in his 'manly' form. Remember him? Even you were bored stalking me on those dates."
Gran clicked her tongue; sometimes Raine wished that the afterlife had some kind of mute button.
"You are so special, Raine. Your mom didn't do right by you, I'm still sorry about that sweetheart, but you are special. You can commu
nicate with people's loved ones once they are gone. Yeah, maybe that's not always a picnic, but you're too much for a human and you are definitely not a pushover for those alpha species.” Gran circled her, making Raine feel a little dizzy.
“The good news, sweetheart, is that I know Gerri can help. You’re a strong woman and there is someone who needs you. Now, put on your fuck-me shoes and flounce that ass that my genetics have handed down. Shake it in front of those hot men out there. They’re all still standing there last I peeked through the wall."
Raine turned her head to look at the white space and slowly looked back to Gran. "There is something wrong with you Gran. Seriously."
The old lady laughed. "Yeah. I have you as a granddaughter and you won't go get me any grandbabies with one of those studs."
Shaking her head Raine zipped her boots and grabbed her purse.
"Gran, if I ever do agree to get married, please tell me you are going to disappear at least for the honeymoon stage?"
A transparent grin was all Raine was left with as the old lady disappeared.
"Wow. So, she's a spunky one. What were you thinking?" asked Ethan.
Kian stared at the door listening to her breathing, and he could hear a shuffling noise.
Crap, was she changing. The idea of her naked right behind that door had his dick twitching for attention. He could smell her; he could smell her arousal adding fuel to his already burning libido. She was turned on by him. He was turned on by her, and he had pretty much put his foot in his mouth. Where in the hell had that all come from? He was a loner. The cougar within him circled around, prowling back and forth. He mentally growled in disapproval, practically commanding him to sit and stay. Stupid cat didn't know what was good for either of them.
When It Raines, He Purrs (Move Over Fate Book 2; Paranormal Dating Agency) Page 1