Page 80 of Hoofin’ It

“That means you can spend an entire day keeping your badge babe occupied. You can thank us later.”

My face heated. “Amy!”

“He’s very shy, Marian. You’ll have to get aggressive with him. I recommend you feed him first. Human males get so weak when they haven’t been fed. Wouldn’t want his performance to suffer because he’s hungry.”

I sighed and hung my head, my face burning even hotter at Amy’s complete disregard for my privacy. “Thanks, Amy. Do you have any other gems of wisdom?”

“Of course. Since his daddy’s a werewolf, you won’t have to let him rest for long, though I do recommend taking a few minutes to let him get a drink. Reward him with tidbits of sushi; he loves seafood and is too cheap to buy it for himself, as he views it as a special occasion food. Have fun, kids. Stay up as late as you want. Ernie made certain a few friends in high places are aware you’ll both be unavailable tomorrow, so you have all the time in the world. The general word down the line is you both had a long day, traffic was terrible, and you didn’t get in until late. There was also a mysterious overbooking at the first few hotels you tried, resulting in you both coming here. If I come back here tomorrow and you two haven’t exhausted each other to a coma-like state, I’ll have to help. A certain prude named Shane wouldn’t like that, as he’s a werewolf’s son.”

I whirled around in time to watch Amy slither off the couch, my sheets pooling to the floor around her. Striding towards the door, the succubus paused beside Marian, whispered something in the FBI agent’s ear, and swept out of my apartment, laughing merrily as she closed the door behind her.

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.” Marian joined me in the kitchen, her brows rising at the excessive selection of sushi waiting for us. She grabbed a piece and popped it into her mouth. “Well, we certainly aren’t going to starve.”

“I’ll say.” Shrimp waiting on perfect beds of rice lured me into grabbing one and savoring every nibble. Maybe Ernesto had been wise to send so much, because the first bite reminded my stomach it hadn’t been fed anything in almost a day. “I feel like I should set the table and pretend to be a civilized adult.”

“Food is here, table is over there. Why waste the effort?”

Too tired and hungry to argue, I grabbed another piece and went to work appeasing my appetite with Marian matching me bite for bite. Though we were both ravenous, by the time I couldn’t handle the thought of eating anymore, the amount of leftovers intimidated me. “If you want to take a shower, the bathroom’s the door on the right. I’ll take care of cleaning up and getting out the spare bedding.”

The leftovers went into the fridge, and I spent a few minutes tidying my kitchen so my unexpected guest wouldn’t view me as a complete slob. Once done, I considered the problem of sleeping arrangements. Would it be more gentlemanly to give her my bed, or would that send the wrong message?

I’d rather take the couch so she could have the more comfortable spot. I frowned, drumming my fingers on the counter while I thought it through. Later—long after Marian returned home—I’d have to ask Mom about the proper protocol for inviting a lady to my place for the night.

Dad’s solution would involve me and the lady sharing my bed and forgoing sleep altogether. On second thought, I decided I’d find someone reasonable to ask instead of my mother. My mother would begin planning a wedding. My godfather would side with Dad, as would everyone else I knew in Lincoln.

I had no trouble figuring out what Ernesto would advise, although I was astonished Amy hadn’t influenced either one of us. I wouldn’t last long if the succubus influenced Marian. One experience with a sex demon had taught me I didn’t have a chance in hell of resisting a demon’s influence, and if I didn’t end up with Marian, I’d end up with Amy, and Amy would love every second of it. Knowing Amy, I’d sleep with both of them at the same time.

That thought stopped me dead in my tracks, and I suspected my entire body blushed at the idea of them together. I took deep breaths and forced myself to think about something—anything—else.

Sheets. I needed to find sheets, and a blanket, and a pillow, and I needed to find them before Marian finished her shower. The satin sheets Amy had been snuggling went in the hamper. I had spares, which I dug out of the closet. Marian had an overnight bag, so I wouldn’t have to dig through my clothes to find her something to wear. The idea of her in my clothes bothered me so much I doubted I’d be getting any sleep, which would fulfill Amy’s requirement for me to be in a comatose state, although Amy wouldn’t appreciate the real reason for my exhaustion.

Absorbed by my task of matching sheets with my spare blankets, I didn’t hear Marian come out of the bathroom until she cleared her throat behind me. “Hey, Shane?”

I turned.

“Which do you like better?” Traditionally, upon finishing with a shower, people got dressed. In one hand, Marian held some red scraps of cloth tied together with some threads masquerading as lace. In the other, she held a satin nightgown. The garments would have done a lot more good had she put them on before asking for my opinion.

I recognized a trick question when I heard one, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out which answer benefited me the most. Was I supposed to dislike one of them? A better man wouldn’t have taken his time admiring the outfits presented or stared so openly at the woman holding them. What would happen if I picked the lingerie? What would happen if I picked the nightgown?

No matter what I said, I was in a lot of trouble. Was neither an acceptable answer? I decided to find out. “I like you just as you are.”

Marian smirked and dropped her clothes to the floor. “Good answer, Mr. Gibson.”

Women made my common sense dribble out my ears. More accurately, a specific woman, Marian, did. A sensible man would have remembered he needed sleep, but what Marian wanted, she got, and she had a ravenous appetite for things besides food. When she finally finished with me, birds were singing outside of my window, sunlight was streaming through the curtains I needed to replace with a darker, heavier material, and I barely had enough energy to burrow beneath my blanket before I passed out.

Amy’s snickers woke me. “You didn’t kill him, did you? I haven’t seen a man so worn out in years, and it’s my job to make sure they’re too tuckered out to run away.”

I groped for a pillow, found one, and crammed it over my head. “What do you want, Amy?”

“I came to take away the leftovers. I also brought you fresh food—food that wasn’t helpfully laced with Ernesto’s favorite aphrodisiac. He thought you deserved a nice reward for helping that family out at such a high personal cost, and he thought your badge babe should be able to enjoy you at your finest without the interference of my brothers or sisters. Marian, consider it Shane’s application for a long-term relationship.”

I should’ve known Ernesto would stoop to drugging our food. “When I get a hold of him, I’m going to sever his legs at the kneecaps so his children have to stitch him back together and help him feed for a week.”

Since I couldn’t decide between punishing him and thanking him, doing both at the same time seemed like a good idea.

“Oh, you must have enjoyed your evening a lot. I’ll make sure he knows to look forward to it.”