Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

For the next couple of hours, I buried myself in my work. I checked the stock lists that the girls had done for me at the start of the shift, updating my weekly order to accommodate the fast sellers. A knock on my door broke me out of my trance. I looked up and saw Jayden there, smiling.

“We’re all locked up and ready to head off, boss. You coming?”

I looked down at my watch. “Sorry! Lost track of time.”

“You’re fine.”

“How did the rest of the night go?”

“No problems. Angus said he wanted to speak to you tomorrow, though. He’ll be in early.”

“Did he say what it was about?”

“No, why?”

“I need to talk to him and Nick, but Josh let that guy in tonight without doing the usual security checks.” She growled and moved off the door she was leaning against. I quickly moved to stop her. “Jayden, stop! I can’t be sure yet. I need to talk to the other two first. You can kill him later!”

She shook her head and looked down at my chest before growling again. Fuck me, were these two about to get it when Jayden and Dalton got hold of them.

“Fine, but as soon as it’s confirmed, Josh is mine.”

“Take that up with Dalton.”

Jay just snorted. “Go get your stuff. I need food.”

I raised my brow at her, and she relaxed a little. Deciding it was better to just leave it, I went into my office and shut down my computer then grabbed my phone, bag, and keys. Taking my jacket off the back of the chair, I shrugged it on, mainly to hide the hideous bandage from Dalton if he was home when I got there. I locked the door behind me. Nick and Angus joined us.

“Everyone out?” They gave me a nod. “Okay, let’s get out of here. I want to talk to you both when we come in tomorrow. Do not breathe a word to Josh, though. It stays between the four of us.”

“Got it, boss.”

They walked out and I followed behind them. I set the alarm, locked the doors, and went over to my car. The girls were already gone, so after hugging Jay, I got in my car and pulled out of my parking spot. I knew Jayden said to sleep on it, but I don’t know that I could without talking to Dalton first. I had always been taught never to let the sun set on an argument and go to bed angry. Not only that, I was tired of going to bed alone. Not when I had someone who should be in there with me. I pulled into the driveway, shut my car off, and grabbed my bag off the passenger seat. Taking my keys, I got out of the car and locked it behind me. Inside, I went into my bedroom, slipped off my heels, and shrugged out of my jacket. A soft hiss left my lips as that action pulled at my wound. Note to self, don’t do that again.

I grabbed my phone and put on my favorite playlist, letting the music fill the silence of the house as I headed for the bathroom. I needed to take this off and clean it, but I needed a shower first. Did I leave it on while I did that? I knew it wasn’t waterproof, so it would have to come off. I would just have to take care. Stripping out of my clothes, I turned on the taps in the shower. Letting it heat up to the temperature that I liked, I carefully pulled the bandage away and tossed it in the trash can. With a clean washcloth from the bathroom drawer, I stepped into the shower. Wetting the cloth, I carefully ran it over my left shoulder to wash away any dried blood. I could feel my body beginning to relax a little as the hot water washed over me. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, letting it wet my hair. I finished up in the shower and turned the water off. I needed to get dressed and put a new bandage on. Not sure why, because Dalton was just gonna take it off to check it for himself when he saw it. I was hoping to distract him long enough to keep him from seeing it. I didn’t need him angry again, not if he had just spent all this time calming down.

I dried myself, being careful with my shoulder. I went into my bedroom, opened the top drawer of my dresser, and took out my underwear. Slipping them on, I grabbed my shorts from the bed where I had left them. I grabbed Dalton’s football jersey that I had stolen from him and put it on. Well, it wasn’t really stealing…he let me take it and didn’t put up a fight for it, so I had claimed it as my own. It had a V-neck, though, so with or without the bandage I was about to put on, he was gonna throw a fit. I considered throwing on a tank top underneath it, in case I lost the jersey so he could see it better. This way it took that temptation away, because I was already having a hard enough time keeping my hands to myself when it came to him. That would just add fuel to an already hot fire.

Going back into the bathroom, I took the first-aid kit from the cupboard above the sink and got out the tape and bandages. Cutting four strips of tape, I lifted my jersey and placed the bandage on after cutting it to size. I taped it down, doing my best to cover it. Turning off the light, I grabbed my phone and went into the living room. I put on the movie that I had been watching the night before when I’d fallen asleep, took the blanket off the