Stooping, Kimberly picked up the singed picture and wadded it into a tight ball, then tossed it back into the burn barrel.
That girl in the picture wasn’t Kimberly.
Not anymore.
That was the old her.
That was the her that Kimberly wasn’t interested in finding again.
Chapter Ten
“I need advice,” Kimberly admitted out loud. Out-freaking-loud!
“Advice on what?” Leslie asked around a bite of bagel.
Distracted by how much cream cheese Leslie had smeared onto her bagel, she asked, “How do you not gain weight?”
“Oh, the lioness keeps my metabolism super high. I’m hungry all the time, but I burn it fast.”
“Lucky,” she murmured.
Leslie snorted and joked, “Yeah, I had to die for this metabolism, so lucky.” She frowned. “Actually, I do feel really lucky.”
“You had to die?” Kimberly asked, picking at her own bagel. She was curious about shifters now. “Kieran killed you?”
“He had to kill the humanity for the lioness to be born, so in a way, yes, he had to kill me.”
“Was it awful?”
The smile faded from Leslie’s eyes. “It would’ve been if Kieran and Burke weren’t there. They both prepped me for how it would be, the pain and transition into a shifter. And then they didn’t leave my side for the first three weeks. Burke took off work that whole time. Didn’t make a penny of income and camped out on the couch at Kieran’s. I still struggle with the animal, but that won’t last forever. The boys answer every question I have, and Kieran always changes with me so he can keep me in the boundaries of our territory.”
“It’s not an option. For me, I mean. I can’t be Turned.”
Leslie gulped a bite and leaned forward on the paint-splattered table of her pottery shop. They had fifteen minutes until opening, and Kimberly and Leslie rarely ever got alone-time like this. “Why would you want to be Turned?” she asked carefully.
“I wouldn’t!” she answered a little too fast.
Leslie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and the blue turned to a muddy gold color. “What did you want advice on?”
“Maybe a little advice on boys. I mean dating boys. I haven’t done it in so long and I don’t know what I’m doing. About dating. Boys.”
“By boys, do you mean Burke?”
Kimberly took a big bite of bagel to avoid answering. She just shrugged and rolled her eyes, but Leslie was like a dog on a bone now and wasn’t giving up.
“You like Burke.”
“He’s just…nice to me. And he’s helping me out at the New Year’s Eve party tonight.”
“He’s your date?” Leslie asked, and there was that smile again, creeping across her pretty face.
“He already turned someone, Leslie,” Kimberly said low.
Leslie’s expression went completely blank. “What?”
“An ex. He thought she was his mate, but she was just with him so she could be Turned. And then she left him and started a life with another man. He used his Turn card on someone who didn’t stick.”
“Oh, my God. He’s never mentioned that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Kieran told me he had an ex-girlfriend a few years ago, but they split, and he hasn’t shown any interested in another woman until…”
“Until what?”
Leslie sighed. “Until you.”
“Doesn’t really matter.” Why did those words come out sounding so sad? “You know the rules. Lion shifters can only Turn one person in their lifetime. We met too late. I want to get to know him more, but there’s no future for us. He could be arrested and serve time if anyone found out we were even dating and turned us in.”
“So what? Is Burke not allowed to get close to a human woman again? He’s supposed to be alone for always because that woman burned him? It’s not fair.”
Kimberly shook her head. “No, it’s not. He has to find another shifter to pair up with, I guess. I’m not right for him.”
Leslie frowned so hard her forehead wrinkled up under her wild black curls. “There has to be a way around it. Let me do some research. Maybe if we get written consent from his ex, or we petition, or explain to the Bureau of Shifter Affairs or something. Kieran and I will think of something. Just keep being you, Kimberly. Don’t let this stuff in your head. Just get to know him, and everything will work out how it is supposed to work out. I’ll find out who his ex is and try to meet up with her. Get a written statement. You can come with me if you want to.”
Kimberly nodded and exhaled an explosive sigh. God, she felt so relieved. “You’re a fixer. I never knew that about you.”
Leslie beamed. “I sure am! I was just never interested in fixing anything inside of the Wilson Bubble.”
Movement outside caught her attention, and Kimberly watched a minivan pull into the parking lot. Their first customers of the day. “Wilson Bubble,” she murmured.
“Yeah, that’s what Kieran and I call it. There is a whole existence outside of the bubble, though. You’re going to have a big year, Kimberly. Your eyes are opening. It’s going to be so damn beautiful to watch what you do with your life.”
“Really? Leslie, I spent the last of my money on Hamburger Helper, just burned all the pictures from my marriage to Brayden, live in your tiny house, and still haven’t figured out the cash register. My life isn’t exactly the greatest show right now.”
“Mmm! Speaking of the last of your money. It’s pay day! Here!” Leslie pulled an envelope out of her purse and handed it to Kimberly.
She took it slowly, stared blankly at it as Leslie jogged to the door to unlock it and switch the sign from Closed to Come On In.
She’d earned this. It was the first paycheck she’d earned since she’d gotten married.
“What are you going to do with your riches?” Leslie asked.
Groceries? Another pair of comfy leggings? Get her nails done?
“I’m going to pay you rent on the tiny house and the bills I owe you.”
“On this pay period? It’s a short one since you started working right in the middle of it. I think after rent and bills, you’ll have seventy-two dollars left. You’ll get paid again next week, and it’ll be bigger if you want to wait until then to do rent.”
“Thank you, but I want to pay what I owe and get it behind me. I think I’ll be prouder of myself if I know I’m good for a month.”
Leslie’s smile was one she had never seen before. It was proud, and it pierced Kimberly’s heart in a good way. She had to look down before Leslie could see her tearing up.
“You’re doing good,” Leslie told her as she opened the door for the mother with three kids filing toward the shop.
“Thank you,” Kimberly said thickly.
“I was totally serious on the text loop earlier. I’ll match you if you go straight casual at a Wilson family party.”
Kimberly tossed her head back with a laugh and stood to clear off their paper plates and her half-eaten bagel that she was definitely going to save for lunch.