Chapter One
“This girl is crazy,” Burke muttered.
Kieran Dunne ignored his brother as he stared at the total amount at the bottom of the property tax bill. $7,458.21. Due by January 15th, which was exactly four weeks from now.
“Did you hear me?” Burke asked. “I said this girl is crazy. Let me read you this ad.”
“Man, my mind isn’t on some girl,” Kieran huffed with a sigh. He tossed the bill on the table and linked his hands behind his head, stared out the window of his too-big, too-expensive house at the snowy, pine-tree-studded front yard. “I’ve saved up three grand, but that was stretching myself thin for the last six months. I’m so short this year.”
“You’re short every year, and you know what? It’s your own damn fault.”
Kieran frowned. “What?”
“Mom and Dad would hate that you do this to yourself. They didn’t leave you the house to drown in debt. You were supposed to sell it, dumbass.” Burke crossed his ankle over his knee and leaned back in the creaking antique chair their mother had bought from some estate sale when they were kids. His eyes were lightened to an amber color right now, but Kieran didn’t have a guess why. His brother’s inner animal was unpredictable at best. “They gave me the hunting cabin, and what’s the first thing I did with it?”
“You sold it like an unfeeling asshole,” Kieran growled.
“No, I sold it like they told me to do. That’s all they had to give us. Property. But you kept this giant house and paid these huge bills for the last five years. I’ve watched you stress every time the property tax bill is due, and for what?”
Burke didn’t understand sentiments. And if Kieran tried to explain to him that this felt like the last piece he had of their parents, he would just rib him about being a softy, so what was the point?
At Kieran’s dead-eyed look, his brother said, “That’s what I thought.” He leaned forward over the local newspaper again. “Shifter for hire for the holidays,” he read out loud. “A boyfriend for the holidays, no romance involved, no predator shifters. I want to survive this Christmas and you MFers are scary.”
Kieran snorted a laugh and coughed to cover it up.
Burke’s bright eyes met his before he told him, “There’s more.” He cleared his throat and took on a storyteller’s tone. “My family means well, but they are full of Judgey Judy’s, and this little Christmas delinquent has been ruining the holidays with her single-ness for far too long. Not this year. This year, I’m bringing a badass bunny shifter (or whatever non-terrifying type you are) to all holiday parties, dinners, and events. Why? Because none of my sisters have shifter husbands, so I will win who-has-the-best-partner contest they play every year. You must own a suit or be willing to shop for one. My family is fancy. They will also judge you if you don’t know what fork to use out of their nine-hundred eating utensils they will set out beside every plate. Must be willing to study forks. I want the whole experience this year. If you aren’t into holiday traditions and adventures, this isn’t the ad for you.”
“Geez, how long is this ad?” Kieran asked.
Burke flipped the paper toward him. “Rich girl paid for half of page three.” He turned it back to himself and continued, “I guess what I’m saying is, I need a shifter to be nice to me for the holidays. I want to figure out why everyone goes to mush around this time of year, and I want to stop hating the holidays quite so much. This is me trying to fix my holiday spirit. Pay is 2000 dollars at the conclusion of Christmas Day, and then you will never have to see me or speak to me again. Nice boys only.”
Burke stood and slapped the newspaper on the counter next to Kieran, then jammed his finger at the phone number printed in bold typewriter print at the end of the ad. “Call her.”
Kieran snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think this is my calling.”
Burke cocked his dark eyebrow.
Kieran’s sigh tapered into a growl, which highlighted problem one. “I’m a shifter, but not a harmless one. There are rules for you and me. You know that. Predator shifters can’t date humans. Any human mate chosen must be Turned so they aren’t hurt.” This rule had been recited to them since they were cubs. Humans got hurt and killed too easily.
Burke shrugged up his shoulder. “So lie about what you are. You aren’t trying to date this human. Just get her through the holidays. It’s money.”
Kieran narrowed his eyes. “I have a full-time job and don’t have time to babysit some crazy girl through the holidays. I don’t like the holidays—”
“But you don’t dislike the holidays either,” Burke pointed out.
“Nice boys only,” Kieran growled.
“You could pretend not to be an asshole for a week.”
“I’m not studying some damn fork etiquette and, besides, that’s not a solution. I’m still short on the property taxes, even with my paycheck, my savings, and her payment.”
Burke gripped the counter and dragged his bright eyes to the window over the kitchen sink. “You need to do something different with your time, man.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When’s the last time you went out? Had some fun? Did anything but work and take care of this place?”
Kieran wanted to pop back with a list of fun he’d had, but Burke was right. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. Burke’s ego didn’t need any help.
Burke pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and slapped it onto the counter.
“What’s that?” Kieran asked.
“Two thousand bucks to help—”
“I’m not taking your money, man—”
“It’s not charity. It’s me helping to pay for Mom and Dad’s place. Don’t think I don’t know why you kept the house. You only get this if you call that girl.”
“Nice,” Kieran muttered. “Of course, it comes with strings.”
“Go be nice to a girl and her fancy family for a holiday season. Pay another year of taxes. She can help you stay in the rut you’re in,” he quipped and then made his way to the door. “And next year we can do this all over again. You can obsess over keeping the giant house you don’t need and I can spend three months listening to you come up with plans on how to pay the bill. Repeat for the rest of our lives.” He grabbed his winter jacket off the coat hooks by the front door and left, slamming the door behind him like he always did because his brother was too fuckin’ rough.
So was Kieran.
I want to survive this Christmas and you MFers are scary.
Ha. That was funny, but also? She was right. Shifters paired up with shifters because humans were too fragile.
Way too fragile.
He stared at the number at the bottom of the ad. Had she purposefully made the last four digits 6969? If she had to hire a boyfriend, there was a reason she couldn’t find one on her own. It was okay if she was homely or weird, though. It was just one week. And she’d said no romance in the ad, so no pressure on him.
One week of pretending to be harmless and nice.
How hard could it be?