Page 13 of Violet

I watch them walk away, and then it’s just me and Betty. Which means it’s time for me to face the music and tell her the truth before someone else does.

Chapter 6

Violet

I swear I would never take advantage of your grandson.

It’s all just a misunderstanding.

I’m secretly twenty-years-old, but I can’t risk telling anyone the truth.

“That must have been very traumatic for you,” Betty says gently.

“Huh?” I gape at her, wondering if she can somehow read my panic-stricken thoughts.

“Seeing someone break down the door like that. I’m just glad my Liam was here to intervene.”

“Right. Liam...” My mate. “Betty, there’s something I...”

That’s as far as I get before a flash of black and white draws my attention to the front door... which looks as good as new. That Zoe really does work fast.

Then I forget all about the door as I take in the skunk sauntering through it.

I don’t mean a real skunk, or a skunk shifter. We’re talking giant, human-sized skunk with a large, grinning head, abnormally large feet, and a big, fluffy tail. So basically, a mascot.

“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.