Sheer Bliss by Leigh Ellwood Page B

We
splurged a bit and went into the city for something unique. Might
as well—a cat’s only a debutante once in her life.”
    “ I’m sure Trisha will look
great in it.” Calla imagined a packed ballroom for the event. The
Indian Summer Ball, which heralded the end of the season, normally
served to pair off eligible weres with their mates. Non-shifter
patrons looked forward to the evening as one of the few when the
Houlihans and Winstons agreed to set aside their differences and
act civil toward one another.
    The open bar proved a nice
draw as well. Thinking back to the earlier commotion, a drink
didn’t sound half bad right now.
    Calla shrugged away the
temptation as she massaged the fragrant shampoo into Sheila’s scalp
and listened to the she-cat prattle. Whatever worked for
those....people, she decided, though she wondered why the Houlihan
pride would so eagerly betroth young Trisha. At eighteen, the girl
should be more concerned with college and having fun.
    “ He’s starting his final
year at Rutgers, and interviewing with a few law schools this
winter,” Sheila was saying about her destined panther-in-law.
“Thing is, he’s leaning toward entertainment law—contracts and
repping reality show divas.” Sheila made a face. “Unless he finds
work in New York we may just lose our baby to the West
Coast.”
    “ That a bad place for
shifters?” Calla cared less about geography, but preferred to keep
the topic of her stagnant love life, which Sheila always managed to
broach during her appointments, off the table. She didn’t want to
get into another argument like the one she had earlier with
Lorraine.
    “ Not really. I just hate
flying, and traveling by night in panther form brings on too many
risks.” Sheila blinked in the wake of spatter as Calla rinsed her
hair. “You’re coming, of course?”
    “ To
California?”
    “ The ball, you
dingbat.”
    Calla laughed. “Nah.
Thought I’d stay home with a bucket of chicken and season one of True Blood on DVD.”
    “ Vampires, please.” Sheila
sniffed, then leered up at her. “No date?”
    Calla said
nothing.
    “ That’s what Lorraine
proposed to you this morning, isn’t it?” Sheila then cackled. “She
wants to hook you up with a real dog.”
    Leave it to a cat to sniff
out a true gem. Calla shook her head. “And I told her no,” she
said, “just like I’m telling you right now. I’m not interested in a
blind date with any man, regardless of whether or not he can turn
into a dragon or a tree or whatever.”
    “ But what if I
just—”
    “ Sheila,” Calla warned,
“one more word and I’m rinsing with Nair.”
    The she-cat wisely
quieted, but didn’t lose her smirking expression. The remainder of
the hair appointment passed without further argument or discussion
of Calla’s personal life.
    Yet, as Calla watched her
client’s jaw twitch and her eyes dart from side to side—implying
the cogs in the she-panther’s brain were working overtime—she bit
her lip and said a silent prayer to whatever deity these shifters
worshipped that Sheila and Lorraine would honor her request to
recognize her private life as simply that.
    Right.

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    Leave it ‘til tomorrow to
unpack my case...
    Caleb hummed the rest of
the Beatles tune quietly, practicing as Paul McCartney preached by
dropping his duffel bag at the foot of the stairs. Stretching, he
paced the foyer slowly and inhaled, happy to be out of a car and
away from pressing pride issues in the city, eager to free himself
of all human accoutrements so he could enjoy a long night run on
the beach in panther form.
    He shed his jacket,
hanging it on the antique coat rack by the door, then kicked off
his shoes. So much better , he thought, wiggling his toes in
his socks. Maybe if he could sneak out through the kitchen and take
the back way to the beach, he’d be undressed and shifted before
anybody at home realized his return.
    No such luck, however. The
Houlihan women possessed