Free Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set by Marissa Farrar, Kate Richards, Marian Tee, Lynn Red, Dominique Eastwick, Becca Vincenza, Ever Coming, Lila Felix, Dara Fraser, Skye Jones, Lisbeth Frost Page A

so—”
    If you’d like to make a call , the operator said, please hang up and try again. If you’d like to—
    “Son of a bitch !” Sheena swore, before clapping her hand over her mouth.
    Slowly, she put the shop phone back on the receiver and looked around at the customers who had backed away from her while she was getting upset. “Er,” she said bashfully, “sorry. That was just... you know what? Never mind.”
    She put her phone on the countertop, almost chewing her lip in anticipation, hoping she’d get a notification from her callback service, but at least for the eight seconds she stared at it, none came. She chided herself for being both desperate and pitiful, and then let out a heavy sigh.
    “Sorry,” she said, putting on her fakes smile ever. “How can I help you? Oh, hi Ms. Winterbottom. Here for the camp shirts?”
    As she turned to collect the small crate of child-sized polos, her heart sank to her toes. She let out another sigh, and forced herself to just forget about what she’d just started thinking.
    Never a good idea to get all optimistic , she thought. Just one more way to set myself up for disappointment. And I can’t take another shred of that shit, not now, not ever .

 
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    The entry door of the Mating Call Dating Agency, White Creek’s premier mate-finding epicenter, got an upgrade.
    Instead of the old pair of cast-off Christmas sale jingle bells looped over the front door, there was now a perfectly good, and very inexpensive, electronic door chime. As the door opened and broke the magnetic seal, a high pitched, shrill tone angrily shrieked and filled the office.
    Eve had decided that she’d be working from home for the time being, because if there’s anything an owl can’t stand, it’s high pitched, shrill tones that go on and on and on. Dora, on the other hand, wasn’t about to take her massive pile of files and folders and all the random things needed to make Mating Call work to her house. If she did, there’d be more random junk than there would be house for her to live in.
    So here she was, and there went the door, and she stuck a pencil in each of her ears, eraser-first. “Son of a bitchin’ door, why won’t you stay shut unless you—”
    “Hello?” a deep, growly voice slipped around the pink, rubber bits. “You open? God almighty that’s a horrible noise! Why don’t you just...”
    She looked up just as the long, tall, lean man with the mop of black hair turned around and flicked a switch on the door doohickey. “There,” he said as it went off and peaceful silence returned to the world. “You had it on continual tone instead of just letting out one ring.”
    “I could pretty much jump your bones right now,” Dora said flatly. “I mean I’ve got a mate, but still, he’d understand. Getting rid of that thing is going to make my life a whole hell of a lot better, I hope you know.”
    The guy let out a chuff of laughter. “Yeah,” he said, “I imagine. That thing is uh... yeah, I can’t believe this, but my ears are still ringing a little.” He pushed a fingertip into the hollow behind his ear, and clenched his jaws a few times. “I feel like I just went to a KISS concert. Or at least a KISS cover band concert in a really small bar with very loud amplifiers.”
    Dora laughed. “Yeah, well, that’s about the best description I’ve ever heard for that noise. I tend to use a string of profanity and free-floating hostility to talk about it, but,” she trailed off, sighed and then smiled. “Well anyway, thanks. What can I do for you?”
    “I’m not sure I’m in the right place,” he said, looking nervously around the office. His eyes fell on the piles of folders, the mountains of papers and files and then moved back to Dora, who had been following his visual tour. “But one of my friends told me to come here if I needed—”
    “Hard up?” Dora cut in. “Long dry spell I mean. Not getting the lovin’ you’re