Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
If I wasn’t on the job, I just might have said yes to that drink.
A part of me wants to go to the pub in town and hope that he shows up, but I know that’s not going to happen. The professional part of me always wins out in the end.
I drop down on the bed and stare at the ceiling as I wonder what it would be like to see him change into his polar bear.
He’s not into you. He has a mate for Christ’s sake.
My heart sinks when I realize that. Shifters mate for life with one girl and unfortunately that girl is not me.
So, he wasn’t asking me out? Did I misread the whole situation? Should I have gone for that drink to get some more information out of him?
I rub my eyes with my palms as I breathe out long and hard. Why am I so shaken by this guy?
With my head spinning, I sip on the rest of the vodka and turn on the TV. Some reality show is playing where the contestants are getting slime shot into their faces and it’s stupid, but I can’t help but laugh.
I’m half asleep when my phone rings. I jump up and spill the rest of the vodka on the bed as I check who’s calling.
Shit. It’s my boss.
“Hello,” I say after clearing my throat.
“Look alive, Burks,” he barks on the other end of the line. “We just got a tip through the network.”
I perk up on the bed, breathless with my pulse racing.
“I’m listening.”
“Blackcloud Pub,” he says. “A credit card assigned to Sperling Kirk was used seven minutes ago.”
“On it!” I toss the phone down, grab my coat, and sprint out of the hotel room and onto the street.
The pub is close enough that I’ll get there faster by running so that’s what I do. I’m sloshing and slipping on the snowy sidewalk, but I don’t dare slow down. If he used his credit card, it could mean he’s closing his tab and on his way out. I got to move fast.
My body is urging me to go the other way. It’s not fear. It’s something else… pulling me to go in the opposite direction.
I just ignore it and keep running.
When the pub comes into view a few yards away, I see him walking out.
Sperling Kirk.
I’ve seen his picture enough times to recognize him immediately. He’s tall, slim, and what most women would call handsome, but not me. I know him too well to be attracted to that monster.
I pull my gun from my hip and race across the street.
“Kirk!” I shout as I point the gun at his back. “Don’t fucking move!”
He freezes and then slowly turns around. His bright jade green eyes send cold shivers racing through my body as they bore into me.
“FBI! Put your hands up!”
I’m trying really hard not to let my hands tremble, but they’re shaking a bit. I tell myself it’s from the cold, but my pounding heart thinks otherwise.
He doesn’t move. He just stares at me with a smirk on his face. The fucker is amused by all of this.
“Put your fucking hands up, Sperling,” I warn.
“And then what?” he asks in a light voice. “You’re going to put handcuffs on a man who can rip a car in half with his bare hands?”
“Would you prefer that I put a bullet through your fucking forehead?” I shout.
“You haven’t done your homework, agent,” he says with his chin in the air. “I’m bulletproof.”
“Then I better aim for your eye,” I say as I lift the gun an inch. “Let’s see if they can stop bullets too. Want to find out?”
We stare at each other for a long heated moment and then he puts his hands up with a sigh.
“Now turn around. Slowly! And put your hands behind your back.”
My finger is hovering over the trigger as he does what I say.
When his back is to me and his hands are behind him, I slowly move up to him and pull out my handcuffs.
I lock one around his left wrist and then the other around his right.
“Keep your hands behind your back,” I say as I step back and point the barrel of the gun at the back of his head. “Don’t move.”
I know that my boss has already dispatched some backup my way. I just have to hold him here until they arrive, whenever that may be.
“What’s the end game here?” he asks as he looks at me over his shoulder with an amused grin on his face. “You going to put me in jail where I can break through the ceiling and fly away whenever I please? I’m a dragon shifter. Your human laws don’t apply to me. I can do whatever I want.”
“Don’t move,” I shout back. “Keep your eyes on the pavement.”