Cats And Dogs: A Shifter Novella by Georgette St. Clair Page A

with her while she rang up his
purchases.

    She spun around to face him. He
was so tall, she had to tilt her head back to look up at him.
  The planes of his face were sharp and beautiful, and
his thick black brows framed eyes of a warm, rich brown
color.

    He had an earthy, masculine smell
about him, and she found herself inhaling, drawing the scent of him
into her. What would it be like to have that scent all over her, to
bury her nose in his hair and breathe him in?   Her heart
pulsed in her throat at the thought.

    “ Uh, hello…Axel, right?” she
struggled to sound casual, but her voice rose to a squeak, and
cracked. That was a ridiculous thing for me to say, she thought. Of
course she knew his name.

    “ Yes, that’s right.” He took a sip
of soda, just standing there and looking at her, so handsome it was
unreal, with his silky hair streaming over his shoulders. The
sunlight bounced off it, highlighting glints of blue.  His
gaze travelled over her slowly, from head to toe, and his sensuous
lips curved up in a smile.  “You look good. I see you’ve
pierced your ears.”

    “ Oh, ahhh…yes. Agnes made me these
earrings.” Self-consciously, she touched the feather earrings
dangling from her lobes.

    “ Very nice. And I like that
perfume. Rose with undertones of oak moss?” At her startled look,
he added “Wolf, remember? We have a great sense of
smell.”

    “ I’ll say.”

    “ You know what else wolves
have?”

    She stared at him, baffled.
  “Uhhh…sharp pointy teeth, when they turn?”

    He grinned. “A great sense of
hearing.”

    She stood there for a few seconds, letting
that sink in.  Realizing what it meant.

    Oh. Good. Heavens. He’d overheard her and
Agnes, from all the way across the street.
    And now, his two cousins were walking towards
them.  

    Belle felt the blush on her cheeks roar into
overdrive, spreading over her face, down her neck, and throughout
her whole body. She didn’t dare look at her reflection; she’d be a
giant glowing red Christmas bulb of humiliation.

    “ So, I’ve got the ass to end all
asses, is that right?” He grinned down at her. “I’m
flattered.”

    “ Uhhhhhh…” her mouth hung open.
 She glanced frantically at Agnes, who had both her hands
pressed over her mouth to stifle squeals of hysterical laughter. No
help there.

    “ I mean, I’ve noticed yours, too,
but I didn’t want to come out and say anything,” he said, grinning
hugely. “At least, I didn’t want to be the first one to say
anything.”

    “ Oh? Uhhh…what did you notice,
exactly?” Her voice cracked at least twice as she spoke.
  She was frozen in place. She couldn’t have moved from
the spot if her life depended on it.  

    “ About your ass? Its shapeliness.
Small but perfect.”
    “ Why…thank you.” She forced the
words from her lips. If her face got any hotter she might actually
spontaneously combust.

    Axel McManus was flirting with her. This
couldn’t be happening, but it was happening.

    His cousins walked up the steps to the porch,
big smiles on their faces.

    “ So, I understand you turned 18
last fall. I guess you’re nearly 19 now, right?”

    “ That’s right,” she said slowly.
Was this leading where she thought it might be leading? She folded
her arms across her chest and furtively pinched herself, hard. It
hurt. Okay, so she wasn’t dreaming.

    “ I’ve been wanting to ask you out
for years now, but I made myself wait.  Didn’t want to be the
creepy guy asking out a high school student.”  

    “ Oh, I don’t go to school. Never
have,” she blurted out without thinking.

    “ Never?” His brows shot up in
surprise.

    Of course, he wouldn’t know that, because he
only came to town for six weeks every summer. He left every year
before school started.  

    “ Well….” Her blush had faded, but
now it flared up anew. She glanced at the floor, scuffing her foot
self consciously on the wood. “My aunt and uncle needed the