Free Southern Shifters: Stick Shifter (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Moxie North

can appreciate your… attributes.”
    “William Klein, you’re a dick!” Sybil snarled at him.
    “Maybe, but I’m honest. Try it sometime. You might get a better response from a man you’re interested in.”
    Will’s dismissal made Sybil seethe. She turned and bobbled on her shoes before stomping away to her car. She slammed the door when she got inside and revved the engine. She spun out in a spray of smoke and gravel, leaving Will and Delaney staring after her.
    “Well, that was enlightening,” Delaney mused. She couldn’t help but feel fan-freaking-tastic that this man had told off white trash Barbie for her. She was feeling pretty puffed up at his words.
    Will moved towards her and didn’t stop until his feet were straddling her legs that were crossed at the ankles.
    “Good morning, beautiful.” This was followed with him cupping her jaw and placing a closed mouth, but freaking hot, kiss on her lips.
    Delaney froze when he’d started to approach. His proximity took her breath away. The kiss wasn’t even something she could have anticipated after the uncomfortable conversation with that woman. Morning kisses were for people that had been dating casually at least for a week. One day and a picnic didn’t usually qualify for kisses and cuddles territory.
    When he pulled away, his smile was soft and crazy sweet.
    “What the hell was that?” Delaney was trying to get her brain to kickstart. She should have smacked him or at least pretended to be offended. Sadly for her, even with a closed mouth, it was a good kiss. He smelled so good, and her mind was a big pile of cuddly bunnies. Just a fluffy happy bunch of joy in a big mound of soft furry bunnies.
    “That was a good morning kiss, Monkey.” Will kept his hands on her face as he gazed into her cute confused upturned face.
    “Monkey?”
    “Yeah, like grease monkey. You don’t like it? I could use kitten, princess, turtledove…”
    “Turtledove? What is this, eighteen fifty-three? You’re one of those nickname guys, aren’t you? You probably call your employees pal, skipper, and big guy, don’t you?”
    Will paused and let his eyes tip up as he thought about it. His smile got bigger as he looked back at her. “That is only partly true. I only make up nicknames for people I like. Pretty much if I don’t like you, I’ll call you by your name formally. The arrogant aquarium guy that likes to make appointments with me to talk about algae? I call him Mr. Thompson. Never would I throw him a buddy or a slick. Nope, that dick is Mr. Thompson. You, on the other hand, are my cute little monkey. Unless it offends you. There are other names that might get thrown in occasionally. We’ll see how it goes.”
    “See how it goes? How what goes?” Delaney was trying to remember her plan of making all the calls today. That was out the window. Now it seemed like she was thinking a weekend with the cute, rich tourist was looking pretty insignificant compared to what he had planned.
    “Will, how do I say this without coming off like a tramp…” She took a breath and continued, “I’m cool spending time with you this week. I get all the conditions that come along with it. I’m a big girl. I’m not naïve. We can have a good time, and maybe next year when you come back, we can, uh…hook back up?”
    Delaney ended her little speech with much more of a question than she had planned. Worse she expected, well, she wasn’t sure what she expected from Will. The indulgent smile was not one of the options she’d predicted. In her mind, she was going to be all casual and tell him it was totally fine to have a fling with her. She was a big girl and could go with it. He was supposed to give her a “sweet, you’re so cool. Let’s totally have a hot few nights together. I’ll go back to my ritzy life and never think of you again.” Or something like that.
    “Oh, Monkey. You’re a riot. This isn’t a hookup.” He moved his hands from her face to pull her hands