Roar For More (Online Shifter Dating Agency Romance) Read Free Page B

Claire.
    In a sense it was a good thing that Jesse and Claire Keillor were good friends, because their business demanded that they would cross paths time and time again. Claire owned the mountain climbing rental store in their town—Pine Valley—through which Jesse was able to source much of his business. They’d been friends since junior school, and at this point, Claire was more like a sister to him than anything else. Many people doubted the fact that a man and a woman could remain only friends, but they’d never looked at each other like that, and Claire was currently in a serious relationship with Jesse’s cousin, James, anyway.
    “Jesse McCoy!” came her usual bright greeting as he entered the store. She always managed to make it sound like she was announcing him to an audience—even though there was no one else in the store at all.
    “Hey, how’s it going?” he responded in kind.
    “Good, thanks… oh!” She stopped when looking up into his eyes.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.
    “Jesse, this is the second time this week I’ve seen you,” she replied, while putting her hands to his face cheeks in order to stretch them and study the whites of his eyes. “And you look pale again.”
    “Yeah, I think you mentioned that last time.”
    “Yes, but it was a throwaway comment last time. This time you look a lot worse. Have you been drinking?”
    “Nope. There’s no reason to be making amusing shapes with my face,” he said with a grin.
    “Then maybe you need to see a doctor.”
    “No way. It’s just a cold or something.”
    “Oh, don’t be so macho. You’re just like James sometimes!” she said, finally letting go and putting her hands on her hips instead. “You look seriously worn out.”
    “I know. Look, to you and you alone I’ll admit I haven’t been feeling great lately, but I honestly think it’s just a flu. Happens to the best of us.”
    She rolled her eyes dramatically and flashed him a good-natured grin. “The best of us, huh? Of course…anyway, I can get you some medication.”
    “Nah, it’s okay. I’m not in pain. It’s only tiredness that’s the problem, but I’m just not up for dealing with it by lying down. Just some decent work and exercise is all I need. You know, something to focus my mind on. Any tourists around at the moment? I haven’t had anyone booked for an adventure tour for a few days now.”
    “Not yet. There’s rumors of stormy weather I think might be putting people off, but stick around, you never know.”
    Picking up a cup of coffee, that to Jesse’s eyes looked as if it had gone stone cold, Claire stepped back behind the counter while he grabbed a nearby stool and sat adjacent. They could often be found this way, chatting for hours on end until a customer came by, at which point they would swoop instinctively to point out all of the best things about each other’s services, without in any way trying to sell themselves. Small community attitudes often led to people rallying together and backing each other up in such a manner, and Jesse couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
    “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Claire continued, once they were facing each other again.
    “Well, you know I’m a sensitive soul,” he said in a mock warning tone.
    She rolled her eyes again. “Oh, shh. Anyway, are you still able to shift—I mean when you’re not feeling well?” she asked. “I’ve never thought to ask James. He never really gets sick.”
    “Yes, but I haven’t been doing so lately.”
    “By choice?”
    “Yeah. It would take up so much energy right now and my instincts are duller than usual at the moment, anyway. It’s not that it would kill me or anything, but it would wipe me out that’s for sure. I can if I really need to, though.”
    “If it’s a matter of life or death?”
    “It’s always a matter of life or death out there,” he said teasingly. She responded by throwing a pen at him,