Already Freakn' Mated Read Free Page A

so Chris could give him a single finger salute, but instead, the pretty Asian girl appeared, her head canted to the side. A smile curved her lips and she shook her head, as if chastising him.
    Dammit. He was acting like a child, a petulant one who didn’t get his way. With a growl, he let go of the brake pedal and took off.
    What he couldn’t escape? The dark eyes of the exotic female and her lingering, oh-so-yummy scent. Despite her taken status, his wolf rumbled at him to go back. Ours. Not likely. The woman was married which meant off limits. Out of bounds. No way, no how.
    Despite that, he couldn’t muster any interest to call the blonde who’d so eagerly given him her number. He blamed it on his annoyance at losing the job. Tried to convince himself he didn’t bother offering to pick the woman up because it would make him late for the lacrosse match.
    Liar. Liar. Wolf’s on fire.
    In truth, he couldn’t call the big breasted blonde because a pair of dark eyes kept appearing in his mind, full of reproach. Wait a second. He didn’t owe anything to the Asian girl. Yeah, she was hot. Yeah, he would have liked to tap her. But, that wasn’t happening. Time to move on.
    He scrolled through his contacts and found Brandy’s number. His finger, however, refused to push the button to dial. Even more messed up, his wolf growled at him. Him!
    “I’m in charge here, buddy,” he reminded his canine half. “And I will call whomever I damned well like.” He mashed his finger on the call button. It rang once. His stomach tightened. Rang a second time. His entire mouth went sour. A third time, and at the click signaling she answered, he quickly pressed the red hang up button.
    What just happened? Why did the act of calling someone else make him feel sick? It made no sense.
    I need a beer. Make that a dozen. And a chili dog, too, so he could forget the Asian couple – more specifically the petite hottie with the perfect mouth – and get back to normal. Well, as normal as possible for him considering his shifter status.
    What he wouldn’t give for a full moon tonight and a run through the woods. Nothing like howling up a storm and chasing down a rabbit to make him feel better. But I bet I’d have more fun chasing a certain cat.
     
    *
     
    Watching out the window, long after the handyman left, Jiao visibly jumped when Sheng laid a hand on her shoulder.
    “You scared me,” she admonished, a twinge of guilt assailing her at having gotten caught staring.
    “The immature idiot is gone, so why are you still watching?”
    “A better question is why you acted like such a jerk?”
    The hand slid off her shoulder with the accusation and she turned to regard Sheng as he paced the living room. Sparse, because of their recent move here, it contained a red pleather couch – because no shifter with an ounce of morality would own the real thing – a plush armchair in black crushed velvet – which attracted hair like crazy – and an oval glass table in need of cleaning. Again. She hated the damned thing. Stupid dust collector.
    “I saw no point in wasting his time. I didn’t like him.”
    His response didn’t surprise her. Sheng didn’t like anyone. Jiao rolled her eyes. “Gee, I hadn’t noticed. Still, it didn’t mean you had to slam the door in his face. He showed up at your request.”
    “He wasn’t right for the job.”
    “Why? Because he was young and good-looking?”
    Sheng shot her a dark look. “Exactly.”
    So shoot her for noticing. Hello, I’m married not dead. “So we can only use an ugly contractor, even if he’s not the best option for the job?”
    Lips tight, Sheng glared, but didn’t reply.
    “Wow. Can you say control freak? This is going overboard, even for you.” Throwing up her hands, Jiao stalked out of the room, but not without a parting shot. “Just so we’re clear, if we’re not allowed to have cute guys working in the house, then the same goes for cute girls.”
    Although, on second