“Do you have a children’s program this afternoon?” Betty asks.
I’m too busy staring at the giant skunk’s mouth to reply.
There isn’t anything particularly special about his mouth, mind you. It’s sewn into a perpetual silly grin, and it’s definitely not attractive. Yet one glance at it, and I’m flooded with desire. Desire an eighty-year-old woman has no business feeling... at least not anywhere outside the bedroom.
Yet it’s also the same sort of desire I felt less than an hour ago, when Liam sauntered through the front door, and I feel it around Nole every single day. What’s going on here?
I stare at the mascot and wonder if I’ve suddenly developed some sort of skunk fetish. That or I’ve always secretly been a furry.
But then, why wasn’t I turned on by the giant singing lettuce and tomato duo I hired to teach kids about healthy eating? Is it because I’m only into skunks? Is it a skunk shifter thing, getting aroused by their species’ mascot? Is this happening because I’m in Violet’s skunk shifter body?
The skunk dances across the foyer, tail swinging, and I desperately try to figure out what it is about him that I’m into. Is it the soft, white fur on his stomach? His round little ears? The white stripe on the inside of his tail?
It doesn’t make any sense until he gets closer. Close enough for me to finally see it: the mesh netting that makes up his mouth. Which isn’t a mouth at all! It’s actually a screen, and the owner is looking right through it. At me. Which means I got turned on the moment our eyes locked.
“Why is this happening to me?” I moan.
“What? What’s wrong?” Betty suddenly sounds as freaked out as I feel. “Don’t tell me that skunk broke the door?”
“What? No!” Not unless Liam’s hiding beneath that skunk suit.
That’s it! Liam must have changed into the skunk suit, and now he’s sneaking back into the library in disguise. I haven’t a clue why he’d do that—unless it’s widely known that skunk shifters are into mascots, and I just somehow missed the memo. Is that it? Did he decide the way to an old lady skunk shifter’s heart is through a giant, furry costume? Or is there someone else hidden underneath that suit?
He starts to cross the remaining distance between us, and my heart pounds wildly in my chest. It’s partly arousal and partly the knowledge that Betty might be about to discover the truth. Not the whole truth, just the part about her grandson being my mate. Unless Liam figured out the chameleon part, too, and that’s the real reason why he’s back.
“I think I need to sit down,” I mutter, and I do. I really, really do. It has nothing to do with earning ten more points.
“You do look rather flushed.” Betty rushes around the desk and helps me into a chair. “Should I get you some water?”
I nod and open my desk drawer, where I stashed away Gwinnie’s—Amber’s—book and where I keep my mug. Betty grabs the latter and rushes off toward the drinking fountain. The minute she’s out of earshot, I turn to Liam. “What are you doing here?”
“Volunteering with For the Love of Reading,” he practically purrs. He also doesn’t sound anything like Liam. His voice isn’t as deep, or as troll-like. It’s sweet, and soft, and seductive. It also doesn’t sound the least bit familiar.
Who is he? Why does everything about him turn me on? And what the Chameleon is he talking about—Oh! “For the Love of Reading! We have a program this afternoon. I completely forgot.”
I start to stand, which is a slow process that involves me holding onto the desk, but the skunk stops me.
“Hey, hey, there’s no rush! The program doesn’t start for another hour, I’m just here early in case you needed help setting up.” He reaches across the desk and places one large, furry paw on top of my hand. The fabric is soft, and tingles of arousal travel straight down to my core.
Suddenly, I want the skunk. On top of me, beneath me, any way I can have him.
“I’m not a furry!” I cry.
“You’re not a what?” The skunk grins down at me. Though, to be fair, ‘grin’ is the only facial expression he’s got. Then he reaches for his giant head and takes it off.
My mouth goes dry. My heart pounds in my ears. My granny panties... let’s just say I’d rather not think about granny panties at a time like this.
I have to say; the skunk is hot. All tall, dark, and handsome, like some sort of cliche come to life. Black piercing eyes. Brownish-black hair I long to run my fingers through. Perfect, kissable lips. And just the right amount of stubble.
Another wave of desire courses through me, followed by relief. Thank the Chameleon I’m attracted to the man and not the suit. Except, why now? First Liam, and then this skunk.
Is it some sort of spell gone wrong? Or have they finally found me and decided to play a game of cat and mouse before going in for the kill? But then, why would Nole, Liam, and this skunk be involved?
I look around wildly, expecting to spot one of them peeking out from behind a bookshelf. I don’t. All I see are the usual patrons, plus Stacks who’s running around sniffing the carpet.
“Here you are, Violet.” Betty rushes back with my mug of water and hands it to me.
“Thanks, Betty.”
“Violet and Betty.” The skunk smiles. “I’m Colin Stanton-Howe. Cash to my friends. And I can tell you and I are going to be good friends.”
His flirtatious tone sends my heart racing, even as I fight the urge to roll my eyes at the line.
“Cash? That’s a rather odd name,” Betty says, and I silently agree. It also sounds somewhat familiar, but I can’t seem to place it.
Cash shrugs and continues watching me until I start to squirm in my seat. How embarrassing is that?
“Is there anything we can help you with?” Betty asks pointedly.
“Actually, I’m right where I want to be.” Cash winks at me, and his tone is full of innuendo that really shouldn’t be there. Especially not when he could give me away.
“This young man is here for a library program,” I tell Betty. Five points. Take that, Cash the Flirting Skunk.
“Young man?” Cash snorts.
“What?”
“I’m two hundred and... well, I’ve actually lost count.” He shrugs. “I can figure it out, if you’d like. I’m definitely older than you.”
“You’re two hundred?” I gape at him.
“And something. At some point, age stops being important, wouldn’t you agree?”
Before I can shake my head no, Betty nods. “I seldom think about my age,” she says.
I think about mine all the time, I silently add. Between pretending I’m eighty and constantly being aware I’m actually twenty, age has been on the forefront of my mind for close to a year. Not that I can tell either of them that.
“You’re a vampire?” I ask Cash instead.
“Hybrid. Vampire and witch.”
“So... wampitch?”
Cash flinches.
Clearly, I got that one wrong, but unlike my sister, I didn’t go to some fancy supernatural academy. I went to a regular, human school. And the things I’ve learned about supes, I learned from my mother. That or the old books in Spell Library’s Supe section. But I never got around to books about hybrids.