Wanted: Wild Thing (Midnight Liaisons) Read Free Page A

tasting last week, but no one had shown up except vampires. Big strikeout; no one wanted to date vampires. Well, except Marie.
    Things were usually complicated around here. I still had bad memories about the time I’d set up a nice werewolf guy with an anxious were-bobcat lady. First rule of a supernatural dating agency—don’t mix cats and dogs.
    I sighed, thinking of Josh and Marie. I wanted a big hunky were-cougar boyfriend, too. I’d take were-anything, actually. I’d even take human. Nothing wrong with a little normal in a guy. Unfortunately, none of my dates went past the first one, thanks to my monster.
    No sense in dwelling on it; I’d only end up in a bad mood. I turned on some upbeat music and was soon singing along and dancing around the office, my blond pigtails whipping about my head as I boogied between my desk and the copier in the back room, creating flyers and printing them for an upcoming mixer.
    The cowbell on the front door clanged, and I called, “Be right there!”
    Probably Savannah. Several months pregnant, the poor girl still had morning sickness, afternoon sickness, night sickness, and anytime-she-smelled-anything-at-all-sickness.
    But when I entered the main part of the office, I stopped in my tracks, surprised to see two men. One was a nearly seven-foot-tall, muscle-bound guy with weird hair and weirder clothing that looked like something out of a historical movie.
    And the other was . . . well, he looked like Ryan Gosling in a leisure suit, but the odds of a movie star showing up here were slim to none. Which meant he was a fae prince.The fae occasionally used our service; my guess was that they got bored with finding their own dates. They were weird customers, though. They liked to use their glamours to take on the appearance of famous actors, and they always had a bit of a chip on their shoulders when it came to humans. Like we should bow down and kiss their feet in gratitude for being able to serve them.
    I usually let the others deal with fae, since I found their attitude boorish, but tonight it fell to me to be the welcoming committee. “Hi, there,” I said in a chipper voice, beaming a smile at the two men as I turned the radio down. “Welcome to Midnight Liaisons.”
    The blond, smaller man—the prince—studied me and gave me a slow, pleased smile. “Well, aren’t you the cutest thing?”
    Ugh. “Thank you! How can I help you gentlemen? Do you have profiles set up in the system? One of you is clearly fae and the other . . .” I stared at the big bruiser. You usually couldn’t tell just by looking at someone, and a fair number of Alliance guys were big and scary. But this guy . . . this guy exuded danger and wildness. I couldn’t help but draw back a little at the sight of him.
    “I’m here to meet someone,” the prince said.
    “Oh?” I pulled up my datebook and didn’t see anything marked. “Did you arrange something with one of the other dating specialists?”
    “Actually, you’re the person I came here to see.”
    The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, but I kept it cool. “Oh?”
    He moved closer, that delighted smile still on his face, and circled around me. “Perfect. Just perfect.”
    “Thank you,” I said, “but I’m afraid I don’t recognize you as one of my clients.”
    His lip curled. “As if I’d use your cute little service.”
    “I don’t understand why you’re here, then?” I glanced at the big bruiser behind him, but the man said nothing. The more I looked at him, the scarier he seemed. I decided to avoid looking at him after that.
    “Why, I’m here to see you, precious.” The fae’s tone became sweet and soothing. “I wanted to see how my little prize was coming along, and it looks like you’re almost ripe for the picking.”
    “Ripe . . . for the picking?” Who was this guy? “Excuse me?”
    “Come now, my little changeling. Don’t act so surprised.” He reached out and stroked my arm.
    Scales prickled to