Kitten Around (Shifting Hearts Dating Agency Book 3) Read online

  She stiffened, glancing again at Ian against the backdrop of the airplane he freaking owned. A black panther shifter, he didn't have that rugged look about him that all of his guards did, them all being part of his pride. Instead, he stood there beside her with not a smug smile on his face, but one confident without arrogance. A semi-sexy nerd, he had short, over-styled jet black hair with too much product smoothed through it. His lean build held up his over-priced suit nicely. She wondered at her own choice of attire. Although she'd been informed their destination remained secret, she had been told to dress in a nice but comfortable cocktail dress. That sounded like a contradiction in terms to her.

  She'd gone with her rather decadently embroidered knee-length dress rather than add shopping to her agony just yet. The ornate illusion neckline with intricate, scalloped, black lace which reached all the way down to fall over a white, tulle-lined skirt, did her ample chest-line its due while hugging her curves in the right places. She'd gotten quite a few looks already. Most of the men she'd encountered so far had seemingly been introduced to her breasts rather than her face. She may have been complimented or offended had the curiosity of looking for her so-called savior not preoccupied the majority of her thoughts. The idea again gave her pause, catching her breath, tightening her fingers into fists, as she realized the genius of Sylvia. The woman had fired up Sam's natural curiosity, underhandedly making her interested to figure out who this savior was. She'd invested her in the damn scheme despite her reservations and reluctance.

  Before she could start into another round of cleansing, calming breaths, once she had the mind to come up with a breathing exercise to follow, Ian clasped her hand, startling her when he asked, "Oh no, please don't tell me you are afraid of flying."

  "What?" she abruptly responded, then catching herself, stated "No. I'm not. Why would you ask such a thing? Do shifters have empathic skills or something? Because yours are off then, buddy."

  "Um, no, we don't unless in that form," he responded, his eyes narrowed she assumed in response to the way she'd bitten off the end of each word, letting her voice go bitch deep in the process. "I asked because your hands are in fists, and your breathing had become quite erratic."

  "Oh, that. No, nothing to do with the flight. My mind had wondered away on me down a path of...well, work stuff," she lied. "Sorry. Bad day. I will remove it from my thoughts and appreciate our little trip here, though I must say, I have never been flown to dinner. You do this often?"

  "Not as often as I would like, but yes, it is known to happen," he answered before his brows furrowed. "You had a bad day at a yoga studio?"

  "It happens," she snipped, then took a deep breath and tried again. "Let's just say that some people NEED the yoga more than others do."

  "They are ready for you, sir," a deep voice said from behind her, the man so close she jumped.

  Of course, surrounded by so many, the flight crew, the bodyguards, it was no wonder she hadn't heard anyone get so close. When she fully opened her blinking eyes, her breath caught at the sight of the owner of the voice. Her lungs burned before she realized she hadn't breathed again in however many seconds had passed between them as they looked into each other's eyes. She planned to deny later how mesmerizing his dark orbs with the silver glints had been. If she kept this pattern up, she'd soon find herself to have fainted on the runway.

  "Samantha, this is my head bodyguard, Jacob," Ian thankfully interrupted her insensible swoon into a trance-like state of observation. "Not only is he a member of my pride like the others, but Jacob and I have been best buds since we were cubs. I'm never without him, thankfully. I'd trust him with my life, as I do everyday, so guess as a clique thing to say, it is a grave understatement. Poor guy, I also burden him with my every thought most days, too." He chuckled, flashing his 'best bud' a grin.

  "Oh, hi," she managed, feeling like a fool, her mentality back to that of an adolescent meeting a cute guy.

  Her embarrassment faded, thankfully stopping the rush of blood to her cheeks, when the man responded back in kind with, "Uh, hi." She didn't believe him making fun of her, instead he seemed as caught off guard by her as she had been by him.

  When both men put their hands on her back to guide her to the steps to the plane, she stiffened, her posture suddenly perfect other than the fact her shoulders were climbing toward her ears. Her magic actually tingled along her spine, a new occurrence that unnerved her further than her instant attraction to Jacob. More alarming, she could only guess the interest mutual given the brush of energy coming from his palm, a stampede of gently tapping fingers which danced all over her back now.

  Hell, if this guy were to be her savior, she'd be in a whole world of trouble saving herself from falling in love with him. Just the mere thought instilled such fear into her that she gasped out loud. Lucky for her that rush of air into her lungs occurred at the precise moment they stepped into the plane, so the elaborate display of wealth could be blamed, breaking her I'm not impressed cover.

  "Ridiculously nice, in a mind-blowing sort of way, isn't it, miss," Jacob added, his low voice so close to a growl it sent shivers across her neck. "I somehow never get used to it myself. It tends to awe me no matter how many times I step into it."

  He stopped talking abruptly, given his rush of words, only to look away from her with much the same haste to admire his own shoes. When she followed, the black loafers were nice, but nothing compared to looking at his face.

  Shit, stop it! Just stop it! You are not going to carry on so about this guy. He's not going to be your savior. He can't be. Keep focused on...um...Ian, yes, Ian here. Your date.

  "I thought you'd long become unimpressed with my wealth, Jacob," Ian stated, his good-natured teasing confirming them to be the best of friends, a condition she found, for some unknown reason, to begin to calm the sudden rush of butterflies in her stomach.

  "I've grown used to it in a way, not surprised anymore, but not unimpressed either. Also, I must add, most of what you own is not to my taste, but not so much that I can't appreciate it for its beauty." Jacob followed with a boyish laugh after having stated the string of words in such a formal fashion.

  "Jacob prefers his cabin out in the woods, where you can find him the few days I give him off from time to time. In opposition, the room I've given him to stay in on the other end of my penthouse, which tops the building I own, he didn't care for. Complained about so much, in fact, I let him redecorate it to his own caveman style" Ian said, as if a rebuff, still a light teasing, though the topic caught her interest.

  "Oh, I'd love to live in a log cabin. In fact, my yoga studio is far outside of town in an old retreat house in a park. It is mostly wood floors, and walls, with great windows to view the woods that surround it," she nodded to Jacob.

  Before he could answer back, Ian interjected, "How did you manage getting an old retreat house for your yoga studio? I did look it up."

  "Persuasion. I'd gone to many a camp at this park growing up. I'm more the outdoor type over fancy private jets, no offense."

  "None taken, but go on with your story," Ian said, though she caught herself looking at Jacob still and had to forcibly redirect her attention, much to her dismay, which unnerved her further.

  "Well," she continued, trying to force her brain to form actual sentences, suddenly concerned with how she sounded, the impression she was making, "I found out through a friend that one old building, more just a large room that had a large entrance way to greet guests in, which had been built to be reserved for large gatherings, weddings, etcetera, because of it's location a bit off the beaten path, had not been used much in the past few years. So, I called up the park and made them an offer to rent it, at a reduced rate, for a year."

  She stopped to catch her breath after the string of babbled phrases had escaped her, her cheeks flushing crimson again. She'd have physically kicked herself if possible. Instead, she attempted to realign her thoughts and continued on. She'd never found herself to be so talkative on a first date. />
  "Anyway, after some negotiating, they took my offer, let me hang a little sign on the door, and agreed to let me do some minor renovations before opening it up as a yoga studio. It has no direct access, as in you have a ten minute hike from the nearest parking lot to your car, but people seem to like the getting away feeling when coming to my classes. I specialize in a lot of restorative yoga along with meditation, although we do offer a few power flow classes and such here and there. While I have some regulars on monthly memberships, I get a lot of new customers, too, who have come to vacation in the park. Wow, sorry, listen to me go on. Get me started on my studio, and you will have to tell me to shut up."

  "No, I'm impressed," Ian said, gesturing her toward the seats in the main cabin of the plane.

  "I'm impressed that you have a fireplace along with a couch that looks comfier than the one I own, and several recliners in your plane," she offered, to return the compliment, worried she might have hurt his feelings not giving this impressive display of wealth it's due.

  As she took a seat on the couch next to Ian, Jacob, who had taken one of the recliners, sitting forward, his arms on his massive thighs, interjected, "I would love to see your studio. Not that I know the first thing about yoga, other than I'm sure I can't bend that way, but still, the place itself sounds amazing." He stopped a second after glancing at Ian, before turning back to her to continue, "And, with that said, I shall butt out of your date, stop being the friend, and go back to just being a bodyguard. Enjoy your evening, you two."

  "Thank you, Jacob," Ian said, amusement lighting his eyes as if to accuse them both of falling into Sylvia's plan.

  Oh, hell no. Not that easy. This guy will not be my savior. I will not have one. I refuse.

  Sensing a moment of animosity between the two, though slight, barely detectable to those who had not her gifts, or had not taken the time to refine them as she had, stopped her internal protests. She'd turned her body more toward Ian then, and had continued on in conversation with him for the remainder of the hour flight. It hadn't gone bad. The conversation had actually flowed easily. The appetizers and drinks served to them to hold her over until dinner had been phenomenal.

  Actually, she'd have to admit, if only to herself, that so far, this had been the best fix up she'd been on in a long time. Not at all painful. Still, Ian was not her type exactly. But he appeared to be a genuinely nice guy. While they could carry on a conversation without issue, they had little in common. Open and accepting of others, they'd discussed and debated on different sides of issues without ever venturing toward argument. A rare trait in a man, especially one in a position of wealth, she assumed, though she hadn't met many, so she thought to dismiss the stereotype. In addition to the little they did have in common, she also could sense a mutual lack of attraction toward each other. This soothed the guilt she'd carried with her since agreeing to this preposterous plan. With every glance at Jacob, she wanted out of it before she became another check on Sylvia's list of successes. She refused to be that. She didn't want that. Sam found safety in focusing all of her attention on Ian when she could remind her wayward mind to do so.

  To her dismay, out of the corner of her eye, she'd caught Jacob's subtle glances, catching them as if she could sense his attraction on the other hand. He'd spent the trip playing chess with another bodyguard he'd called Big Doom, or sometimes just Doom, which she figured had to be some sort of joke of a nickname that had stuck the way he used it, the specific inflection in the way he said the name.

  At the end of their flight, a car and driver met them at the airport, another private one, though she'd been informed it not his this time but rather a friend's. Whisked away, by the time they pulled up outside of a rather secluded beach house, the hour had struck nine o'clock. She'd been warned ahead of time their dinner would be a late one. However, with the food on the plane so amazing, she wasn't what one would call hungry by the time they got there, but with the smell of the food being served to them the minute their asses hit the chairs, she figured she could always eat. Appetite had never been an issue for her. Besides, given the amount of classes she had taught that day, a teacher having called in at the last minute sick, she had earned every calorie she took in, not that she ever counted or cared really. She kept herself healthy, but being a lean, bendy yoga teacher had never been her thing. She prided herself on the fact that she made the women who came to her studio feel comfortable in their own skin, showed them that every body, regardless of size or shape, could benefit from the practice.

  During the gaps in conversation at dinner, which had them seated at a table on a large deck overlooking the beach and ocean, she'd found herself finding Jacob over the overwhelming allure of the scenery. He stood, his back to them most of the time, looking down the beach, or out at the water She'd never felt more unsafe, not of an attack, but of her own thoughts, her own body. Both betrayed her where the man was concerned. While the ocean under the light of the moon, which danced over its waves, should have been what took her breath away, she had barely noticed the beauty of the place. The sounds didn't soothe her at all either. Not tonight. The way Jacob's ass filled out the black pants he wore distracted her from what nature offered. The way his light white dress shirt clung to his muscles as the wind from the water blew it against him didn't help her plight. Honestly, sheer shock gave her pause as muscles had never really interested her before. Not that she couldn't appreciate a well-built body, just usually the guy owning them spoke, and she'd not wanted to touch them or anything.

  She prayed that was it. Jacob had not really had much of a chance to talk to her, to ruin the attraction that tugged at her body's urges in ways she wished would subside. At this rate, by the time she made it home from this place, she'd be giving her toys a work out.

  She'd dozed off staring into the fire on the flight back home from wherever it was they had been. Ian had evaded answering that question, she presumed because he assumed the mystic made him more desirable. By the time they'd reached the private airport again, a car with another driver, and two other bodyguards took her home.

  After Ian had given her a small peck on the lips goodnight, Jacob had gone with him. They'd made another date, as in he agreed to have his secretary call her with the details, and she'd agreed to his terms per her agreement with Sylvia. To appease her mother, she told herself, though the flutters in her stomach at the prospect of seeing Jacob again, stole her sanity, her ability to rationalize anything in the ways she usually did.

  As a means of self-defense, she continued to think through every man she'd met tonight whom Ian employed and who had muscles as this potential savior of hers apparently did. Any of them had to be a safer bet than Jacob. She had to force that sexy as sin panther from her mind. Besides, as most of Ian's employees were in his panther pride, most of them had muscles to spare, giving her many options to obsess through. At this point, she couldn't be sure if Jacob being her savior would be a blessing or a curse, but her gut feeling, the knot he'd left in her stomach, led her to believe the latter to be true.

  Find more of Her True Savior and the other books in the Shifting Hearts Dating Agency Shared World at your favorite retailer.

  Watch for more of Paige, Silvia, and Rafe in the new Shifting Hearts Dating Agency spin off series of books, Shifting Hearts Dating App, coming soon to a retailer near you.

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