Miki nodded her head, but kept her distance. “Professor Leucrotta.”
“Well, I’m off.” He secured his computer bag on his shoulder. “I’m avoiding this little cretin student. I hate when they’re needy.”
Now Miki really hated the guy. She was almost positive he was talking about Craig. One of her best buds. And a helluva lot less creepy than this guy.
Leucrotta gave a less than masculine finger wave before strolling down the hallway.
Miki looked at Conridge. “I hate him.”
Conridge chuckled. “You certainly do make snap decisions, don’t you?”
“Am I wrong?”
The older woman shook her head. “No. You’re not. He’s a scumbag.”
Conall appeared suddenly in the stairwell opposite where Leucrotta disappeared. He raised his nose in the air and sniffed. She realized he was casting for a scent. Conall followed his nose all the way over to Miki. He sniffed her. Then he sniffed her again. Miki got that little tingle in the back of her neck, and the next thing she knew, her pussy was wet.
Okay, when the hell did that start happening?
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Hyena,” he muttered.
“Jackal,” Miki shot back.
He looked at her and frowned.
She shrugged. “I thought this was word association.”
Conridge snorted a laugh and Conall looked at her. He sniffed the air again. “You smell familiar.”
“I’m married to a Van Holtz.” Boy, the woman said that with a lot of pride.
“Oh. Yeah, I remember. I met you once. It’s nice to see you again. I’m Conall.” He reached down and picked Miki’s backpack up, throwing it over his shoulder.
“Why did you say hyena?”
“That’s the smell I couldn’t place. The scent that was on you after you were attacked. I’ve only dealt with them once or twice when I was a kid. A bunch of them beat the hell out of me in sixth grade.” He looked at Conridge. “I was a lot smaller then.”
“I see.”
Conall looked at Miki and the papers in her hand. “Need some help there, slim?”
“Just a little.”
Conall grabbed a handful. “Do either of you know Professor Leucrotta?”
Miki frowned. “You just missed him. Why are you asking?”
“That’s where the scent was strongest. At his office door.”
She sighed. “He was asking about me.”
“What?”
“He wanted to be Ms. Kendrick’s advisor for her dissertation,” Conridge filled in helpfully. “I politely told him to go to the devil. He seemed to take that rather personally. I don’t like him. But I didn’t bring him into the university. The dean did. But there have been lots of activity from the hyena clans lately.”
“We hadn’t noticed.”
“Not surprising considering your hands were full with the Withell Pride. Anyway, you may want to keep an eye out for them. They can be quite barbaric.”
“I remember that. I mean, for little kids they were really vicious.”
Conridge nodded. “Hyenas aren’t as big as lions, but they make their lives a living hell. The females and the children are especially brutal. So watch your backs.
She turned to Miki. “You’ve got tonight and tomorrow to relax. I suggest you do that. Don’t panic over this, Ms. Kendrick. You’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.”
“I don’t say so. I’m ordering it. Now go away.” Conridge went back in her office and closed the door.
“You brilliant types can be awfully abrupt.”
“What a ground-breaking observation.” Miki headed back to the stairs, Conall right beside her. She wasn’t shaking him any time soon.
Once outside, Conall took the rest of the papers from Miki. “Gimme.” Since molesting her in the stairwell, he was in a much better mood.
“What’s with you? Why are you so accommodating?”
“’Cause I won.”
“You won what?”
“You. Me. The seduction. In the stairwell.”
“I didn’t fuck you in the stairwell.”
“I didn’t say you had to. I said I had to get between your legs by Friday.” He grinned. “And I did.”
Miki stopped and stared at him. “You’re high. That was not the agreement.”
“Yes, it was.”
Miki made a fist, ready to deck him again when Craig walked up. “Hey, Mik. Can I talk to you for a sec?”
Miki wasn’t done with Conall. “Can it wait?”
“Go ahead. I’m satisfied.” Conall winked at her and walked off, her backpack and dissertation in his big hands.
“Asshole,” she muttered after him.
“Dude, it’s worse than that.”
Miki looked at Craig. “What are you talking about?”
“I found him sniffing Leucrotta’s door. Really sniffing it.”
Miki sighed. Damn shapeshifters. They were simply not discreet.
“Don’t worry about it, Craig. Besides, I’ve got bigger problems than his fetishes.”
“Like what?”
“Everything.”
Craig smiled. “That’s a lot.”
“I know.”
“Look your dissertation isn’t until Friday. So why don’t you come to my house party tonight. Everybody’s going to be there. You can even bring the Beastmaster if you want.”
Well, at least he didn’t call him teddy bear.
“I love your house parties.” And she hadn’t been to one in ages.
“Then come.”
That would give her a little reprieve from being alone with Conall. “Okay. I’ll be there.”
“Cool. It starts at nine o’clock. Bring any video games.” She chuckled. Techno geek parties were the best.
Craig headed off and she walked to where Conall stood.
She took a deep breath and forged ahead. “Look. Craig invited me to a house party he’s throwing tonight…wanna come?”
He’d wondered if Miki would say anything about Craig’s party. He could hear the dweeb invite her even though he stood a good hundred feet from them. When she asked him if he wanted to go he felt his heart swell a little. “Sure. Sounds great. I’m assuming I’ll be your date.”
“Well, you’re assuming wrong. We’re going as friends.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t win,” she bit out between clenched teeth.
Conall watched her walk off, and waited ten seconds before he yelled after her, “Yes, I did!” He laughed when Miki raised her middle finger high in the air like a salute.
He was really starting to love that woman.
Chapter Twelve
Miki looked up as Conall held out her cell phone. “It’s Angie.”
Miki took the phone and watched Conall go back into the room, closing the glass door behind him. With the bed no longer attached to the wall, they’d been forced to change rooms. Conall had been polite enough not to mention how much he had to pay the hotel for that little “accident”. But she loved the new room they had. She had a great view of Seattle and a small balcony she’d been sitting on for three hours with her feet up on the rail and her laptop right in front of her.
“Hello?”
“So how’s the big, blond pooch? Has he started humping your leg yet?”
Miki didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer.
“Okay, Kendrick. Spit it.”
“It’s complicated.”
“You fucked him?”
“No. Not exactly”
“What are you two up to?”
“Too much. It’s getting out of control.”
“Okay. Hold on.”
Miki waited while it became quiet on the other end. She assumed Angelina was at work and had a customer.
“Okay. I’m back. And I’ve got Sara on the line.”
“Oh, shit.”