A Hollywood Shifters' Christmas: BBW Tiger Shifter Paranormal Romance Read Online Free PDF

the valet parking booth.
    As soon as they entered the lobby of her building, Dennis hefted his go bag, and said in a low voice, “Listen, Mork. If you want back-up with relation duty visits, I’m your man. Just give me a bit of notice, because I’ve got a couple things to see to.”
    As soon as the elevator doors closed on them, she kissed him. “My sweet menace. It’s okay. I plan to limit myself to phone calls—they’re used to me being gone. The only one I really want to see is in the Middle East.”
    “I’d like to meet that stepbrother of yours some day,” Dennis said as the elevators dinged open.
    “You will,” she promised.
    And there it was—that feeling that they would be together. That being together felt so natural. And she knew he felt it, too.
    But . . . there was the M-word again. Marriage.
    As they walked into her apartment in which she’d lived alone for six years, she watched him look around, admiring her space—the bright paintings on the walls, the furnishings chosen for comfort, the wall-sized windows looking out at Marina del Rey and Santa Monica, with the ocean beyond.
    She loved Dennis, she loved how he fit right in her space, she loved everything about him. As she tiptoed mentally around the M-word, she began to realize that her joke about jinxing others’ marriages was half true, except the marriage she was sure she would jinx would be her own.

 
    Chapter Four
     
     
    Dennis would have preferred a few days to wrap his head around the whole prenup idea, but he didn’t have a few days. He wanted to ask Mindy to marry him, he wanted it to be romantic and memorable and he wanted his friends there, too. Tomorrow Mick’s plane would take them to Sanluce, so he had to get all his shit together today.
    From what he knew of lawyers, they needed time to do their thing. It was too late right now for lawyer calls, obviously. They ordered in and both worked through email and call lists until it got late. Knowing they had some very busy days ahead, they went to bed early.
    He waited until Mindy was in the shower the next morning, after a lingering breakfast. At ten on the dot he made what he fully expected would be the first call of a day of annoying phone tag games and waits. But to his surprise, the melodiously discreet voice of the secretary said, “Dennis O’Keefe? Referred by Mick Volkov? When would you like to meet?”
    “Today, if possible,” he said, trying not to make it sound like a question.
    She said smoothly, “Mr. Winters has openings at two and four-thirty.”
    “I’ll take the first one,” Dennis said.
    They exchanged information, and Dennis hung up just as Mindy came out of the shower, her curly hair hanging in clinging ringlets around her face. He had to drop the phone and kiss her.
    And kiss her.
    And . . . when they finally got dressed, she sat down at her desk and faced her list. “Duty calls,” she said.
    “Where do you want to eat tonight?” he asked, and then sidled around to his real question with what he trusted was subtlety. “I know we don’t have time for a lingering dinner, but hey, I’m curious. What’s your favorite restaurant in L.A.? Melisse? Urasawa? Spago?”
    To his surprise, she shook her head. “Those are great, but they’re for a certain type of mood, or moment, or clientele. My favorite place is the Huntington Gardens. I love the high tea at the Rose Garden Tea Room, but mostly it’s the beautiful garden.”
    “That’s a great place,” he said, making a mental note. Would he be able to get a table there for Christmas Eve? Would it even be open? He was going to do his damndest. “I’ll leave you to your duty.” He leaned down for another kiss. “I’ve got some stuff to do. Including getting a suit for JP’s wedding, since I gave the one I bought for Mick’s to that poor bastard back in Barbados.”
    “Oh yes, that poor guy whose boat sank on the way to his daughter’s wedding.” Her face lit up. “I would love to go watch