Grayslake: More than Mated: A Bite of Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free

jeans, reaching for my T-shirt. It dangled on the banister.
    I threaded it over my head, covering my bare chest. I had worked all day without a shirt. I saw how her eyes raked over my skin.
    “Yeah. I did. What did you bring?”
    “It’s lasagna.”
    I could tell she was studying me. She had seen me haul the swing off the porch. She was trying to assess how dangerous I was.
    I shook my head. “I hate Italian.”
    Her eyes flared. “Who hates Italian?”
    “I do.” I barked back. “What else do you have?”
    My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday and had barely taken enough of a break to search for a catering number. I wasn’t planning on cooking here, but a man had to eat. I stumbled upon her website and dialed the number listed.
    “This is it for the night. I told you I’m not a dinner delivery service. This was from a party that didn’t need it.” I noticed how her eyes darted to the ground. “It’s all I have. If you’re hungry, it’s yours. If not, I’m headed back to town.”
    She took a step backward with the food.
    “Wait.”
    The hunger pains had ratcheted up a notch with the whiff of home cooked food.
    “I’ll try it.”
    Her eyebrows rose. “I thought you hated Italian.”
    “I do, but I’m hungry enough to eat an arm, so I might as well try it.”
    There was sudden fear on her face.
    I shook my head. “Not your arm.” It made me chuckle. I was so pissed; I didn’t know I had a smile left in me. It came out of nowhere.
    I yanked on the screen door and turned. “Are you coming?”
    “With you? Inside?” There was alarm in those baby blues.
    “Yes. I’m not going to bite.”
    She looked hesitant. “I pretty much know all the shifters in Grayslake. There have always been rumors about the Maddoxes. After I heard the growl on the phone and now the stunt with the swing, I’m putting two and two together. But we’ve never met. I need to know what you are.”
    “You are kind of blunt aren’t you?” I asked, standing in the doorway.
    Where I had lived for two years, humans didn’t know about shifters. It was one of the bittersweet parts about living there. We kept our identities a secret, but at the same time it gave us a kind of freedom shifters in open towns didn’t have.
    “I’m not blunt. I just want to know whose house I’m walking into. The Maddoxes are kind of a mystery around here.”
    “Jaguar,” I answered. “And I don’t think humans taste very good. Now will you come in? I’m hungry.”
    She pulled her shoulders back. I had to give it to her. I could tell she was nervous. And yet, she marched forward, carrying that huge pan of food. Was she brave or stubborn?
    I flipped on the kitchen light and pointed to the counter. She slid the dish across the yellow Formica countertops. The house had never had a makeover. Maybe I’d have better luck ripping out the countertops than I did with the porch swing.
    I dug through the drawers looking for a fork.
    “Let me help.” She started opening cabinets and retrieved a white china plate. “Wow, this is gorgeous.”
    She held the plate delicately between her hands. It was long enough for me to notice her left hand was bare.
    “It was my grandmother’s set,” I explained.
    “Are you sure we should use it?”
    I shrugged. I didn’t give a shit about the china. “There’s no one here but me.”
    “Right.” She rinsed it off and dried the plate.
    I watched while she sliced through the lasagna and scooped a large helping onto the plate.
    “I take it your Cadence?”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m Cadence. Cadence Hathaway and yes, this is my business. I’m the only caterer in Grayslake.”
    “Really?”
    I didn’t remember much about the town. When I was a kid I stayed in the woods or in the house. Every once in a while I’d ride into town and we would stop for a piece of candy or I’d get a chocolate ice cream cone. But training to be a royal leader didn’t leave much time for county jots out.
    “Yes,