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"Yes, I am" Hope stirred anew that Jake had left contact infor for her saddened her, too He had to have been angry with her for running out on him the way she had She wanted so badly to see hi what she’d now become?

The wo for you" The woman didn’t look pleased and stalked off to a desk near the entrance

So it wasn’t Alicia’s i bone-deep sadness that she couldn’t see Jake further and that she had to cut any ties with him, Alicia watched as the woman pulled an envelope out of a desk drawer, then returned But a streak of jealousy raced through Alicia’s veins, too, as she considered how the woman would most likely ply her feallery when Alicia wished she could be with him instead

Alicia’s hand tre to see what he had said to her Afraid also

She tucked it into her purse and said, "Thank you"

She glanced back at the photographs Although she knew she shouldn’t buy one, that taking one with her would reether and what she had lost, she reasoned that her ht firerine spotted wood lilies Although she wanted the fuchsia fairy slipper orchids, the picture was too big and cost too much "I’ll take that one"

Alicia handed her a credit card, and the woned a polite smile "I’ll just wrap this up for you"

As soon as the woman had taken the photo down and walked off, Alicia pulled the envelope out of her purse and ripped it open In bold strokes, Jake had written: Call me! And left his phone nuhtened She sensed frory and frustrated with her for having taken off without a word And she didn’t blaiven in to threats by Constantino or his men If Jake had knohy she had left hi to deal with them in his oay But he didn’t knohat the men were capable of And his wonderfullymurdered On the contrary, his protectiveness for her would have gotten him killed faster

She pulled out her phone and opened it The battery was dead She’d have to call Jake when she got to her hotel roo his hands down the ar to in a solicitous lanced back at the other two employees, saw they were occupied, and then with a smile, he motioned to a little room, led the woman inside, and shut the door

At the same instant, Alicia felt sudden heat penetrate every inch of her body The heat Oh God, no

The urge to shift hit her fast and furious Heat shilanced around the gallery, looking for a way out of this nightmare

The woman with Alicia’s photo had disappeared into a back room She had Alicia’s credit card, and Alicia had to have it to survive The other saleswo outside with the art students and their teacher, blocking the doorway

Looking for the restroo her down a hall and rushed to make her way there before she had an "accident"

As soon as she entered the ladies’ restroom and found no one in there, she hurried into the handicapped stall Nor the handicapped stall if another stall was available, leaving it to woht she was as handicapped as anyone

Slipping out of the short-sleeved dress she wore, she hung it on the hook on the door, then kicked off her pumps Barely free of her bra and panties, she shifted, the heat fusing every inch of her body until her bones felt as if they were liquefying and re she knew, she was dropping down on all four feet--furry, long legged, with long a bushy tail--a sain she cursed Ferdinand Massaro for having bitten her and leaving her to face this dileh she wouldn’t have wanted to see what he’d had in mind to do with her if he’d lived And she would have been in a lot er if she’d remained with hier now

Pacing, she stalked back and forth in the stall--still too s ti she’d been in the restroo to will herself back into her human form, when someone knocked on the restroole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>