Flipping the Bird (Shift Creek #1) - Carrie Pulkinen Page 0,16
Her lips curved up like a bow that refused to be unstrung. “He only asked me to dinner because he wants to figure out how I turned him into a crow.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Megan returned the jar that had held the mongoose to a shelf. “Maybe I should sanitize this before we try to sell it. That was one stinky rodent.”
“Good idea.” Alice straightened the pieces that were knocked aside during Donovan’s lopsided attempt at flight. “He was kind about the whole ordeal, wasn’t he? I mean, he looks like he comes from money…intimidating…almost scary. But he seems sweet now that we’ve met him.”
“And he asked you to dinner. What are you going to wear?”
“Definitely not this amulet.” She pulled the offending object from her shirt. “I can’t believe we made up that story. I don’t have any witch ancestry.”
“Well, you were flopping around like a perch on a pier when he asked you about being at Rainecourt Manor last night. I was trying to help you out.”
“And I appreciate it.” She was truly sorry she accused him of stealing her crow, and she did do it because of embarrassment. At least she hadn’t lied about that. But she was embarrassed not from untamed magic but because she’d gone dumpster diving in Mr. Hottie’s trash can. What would he think of her if he knew?
Nothing good, that’s for sure. “Do you think this is what he lost?”
Megan screwed her mouth up to one side as she eyed the pendant. “Doubtful. Unless you didn’t really find it in the trash.”
“Of course it was in the trash. I didn’t steal it.”
“You can tell me if you did. I know what’s it like when the animal takes over. Sometimes logic flies out the window, and we find ourselves ensnared in instinct…or a trap.” She winked.
“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Probably not.”
“Well, I cross my heart I found this necklace in the garbage can outside.” She examined the chipped stone. “I should return it to him, though. Just in case.”
“Okay.” Megan nodded and sprayed Lysol into the jar before attaching the lid and returning it to the shelf. “You can give it to him at dinner…and explain why you were on his property, spying on him in his home and digging through the trash. That won’t be embarrassing at all.”
Alice groaned. She couldn’t just hand it to the man and tell him she’d lied to his face after the cover-up story they’d fabricated. There was something about him…something that piqued her crow’s interest, making her want to know him. Her crow had never been interested in a man before. She couldn’t chance blowing it on their first date. “What am I going to do with it, then?”
“Throw it away? He tossed it in the garbage first. It’ll go to the same landfill whether it arrives with your trash or his.”
“That doesn’t seem right. If, on the off chance he accidentally threw it away, and this is what he’s looking for, I should return it. I’ll fly it back to his house and drop it on his balcony.”
“Sure, that could work…unless he sees you.”
“Why would it matter if he sees me? Our auras don’t glow in animal form, and there are plenty of non-shifting crows in the area. He won’t know it’s me.”
“Alice, dear…” Megan tilted her head. “He seems like a smart guy. Chances are he knows what that amulet is capable of. He knows you’re a crow shifter, and he saw a crow on his balcony last night. He already suspected it was you until our little fib saved you. Don’t you think he’ll put the pieces together?”
Megan had a point. Damn it, she hated when her bestie was right about stuff like this. Donovan may not have gotten a good look at her crow last night, but Farty Marty sure did. “You’re right. I should throw it away.”
“Maybe…” Her brows lifted as she grinned. “But aren’t you curious to see if you can get it to work again? Maybe it wasn’t the amulet at all, and y’all’s chemistry really did cause the power flip.”
“I am pure shifter. If I caused it, the amulet was the reason.”
“I know, but don’t you want to try flipping the bird to someone else? For science?” Her grin widened, and she wiggled her eyebrows. “Like maybe to your best friend who’s always wanted to fly?”
“Hmm…” Alice held up her hand and slowly lifted her middle finger. “How’s that?”
Megan pursed