GettingLuckyinGalway Read Online Free Page A

at ease with them as he would be any
member of his widespread but nosy family.
    Beautiful eyes the color of fresh lilacs blinked beneath a
thick set of black lashes that matched the long midnight tresses, curled and
braided and decorated as was the custom of house brownies. Standing no more
than four-foot tall, wearing jeans and a bright purple t-shirt and nothing
else, Nob looked no more threatening than the average six-year-old. Many fools
had perished under the mistaken belief as well.
    “You must change before my floors are ruined, mistress. Nob
will garb you, so please,” he waved small hands around the air, “please hurry.
Oh my poor original ash planked floors.” The last came out more a whine than
whimper, but in Roark’s mind it was close.
    The cat sat there looking between them with, if he wasn’t
mistaken, a confused look on her feline face.
    “Come, come, kitty-lady, shift,” the brownie urged more for
the sake of his poor floors than any urgency to settle Roark’s guest. Roark had
been on the other end of Nob’s tongue-lashing more than once. “My magic will
protect your modesty from the young one if that’s what worries you.”
    In a flash of sparks and glowing lights, the lion shifted
into a very beautiful and very familiar female.
    “Thanks for the offer, uh…Nob, but I’ve got that one
covered.”
    When she waved a hand across her body, Roark finally noticed
his guest had gone from a sopping wet feline to a casually dressed, fully dried
human female.
    And wasn’t he sorry to have missed the sight of her bare,
smooth, silky flesh.
     
    The amazing little…man stared at her with a weird light in
his almost too pretty purple eyes. Huh. Calder wondered where the heck
Roark had found this small man and how old he had to be to consider Roark a
young one.
    Then reality came crashing back with the viciousness of a
weekend bender. Whipping her attention from the tiny…person to the big man she
demanded to know, “How do you know about shifters? What are you and what is
he?” Shit, the one rule all two-natured followed was to keep their secrets from
humans, no matter the cost. She’d hate to kill either male, but sometimes fate
left her with no choice.
    In a placating manner that annoyed her to no end, Roark put his
arms out, palms up. “Relax, darlin’, no need to get your pretty kitty all
upset. We’re all friends here.”
    Did the man think she woke up on the stupid truck this
morning? Really, were all drop-dead sexy Irishmen this thickheaded and ignorant
or had she just gotten particularly lucky with this one?
    “ Cher , I’m not even close to losing my temper and my
cat is just fine. What we’d both like to know is how the hell you know about
us? What are you?”
    “The floor,” the diminutive man in the OshKosh jeans said in
an awed tone. “You’ve dried my floors, like new they are. Not so much as a damp
spot.” Nob bent to his knees, both hands rubbing along the water-free floor.
“Oh mistress, thank you so much.”
    She gave a casual shrug. “No big deal, uh…Nob. It’s all part
of the shifter package. We pretty much clean up after ourselves.”
    Standing up, he clapped his small hands. “Oh how wonderful,
truly wonderful, no wonder you have no house brownies in your lands. You
certainly don’t need them, not like some lazy creatures I could mention. The
one that used my finest cooking pot to test bombs. Have you ever heard of such
disrespect, such insolence?” The slight creature’s lilac eyes swam with unshed
tears and Calder rubbed his small but muscular shoulder in an attempt to stem
the waterworks. She didn’t deal well with emotional issues and tears were at
the top of the do-not-tolerate list.
    “Um, I’m sure he’s sorry and I bet if you asked he’d buy you
a new pot.” Calder looked over at the man responsible for her current
uncomfortable position. “Tell him you’ll buy him whatever he wants,” she
demanded.
    Roark huffed out a breath, green eyes