Cynful: Halle Shifters, Book 2 Read Online Free Page B

if Alex told her about it. “Hey, it worked!”
    Everyone laughed. Julian ripped the Post-It note off his forehead. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”
    “Ahem.”
    Glory’s eyes widened as she stared at something over Alex’s shoulder. He turned to find Ryan, dressed as a sheik in all white, grinning at them. He carried a white rose in his hand. “Someone call for the Moonlight Knight?”
    “Oh hell no.” Alex shoved his cousin back a step with a low, menacing growl. “You stay away from Sailor Moon, you sneaky bastard.”
    Julian burst into laughter. Ryan must have found out about the costumes the girls were coming in and bought his costume to match, but he’d picked the wrong guy for Glory’s Sailor Mercury.
    “Your Sailor Scout is safe. I find myself enchanted by the color blue.” Ryan held out the rose to Glory. “Sailor Mercury, may I have this dance?”
    Glory took off running in the opposite direction.
    Ryan grinned. “When will she learn that predators love to give chase?” Ryan took off after his errant, unclaimed mate.
    When he stopped laughing long enough to take stock he realized Alex and Tabby had also disappeared. Only Cyn was left. She batted ridiculously long, false lashes at him. “Want to dance?”
    Did he look stupid? He glanced down at his red-checkered shirt. Perhaps he shouldn’t ask that out loud. “Yes, please.” He vibrated between the need to take her in his arms and hold her close and the need to cover her skin so no one else could see how fucking sexy she was.
    She stepped into his arms and his first need took precedence. God. Damn . He had to buy his woman more miniskirts. “You look gorgeous.”
    “Thank you. You look…lumberjacky.”
    He grinned. “Thanks. And for the record, I’d love to show you how I swing my axe.” He waggled his eyebrows, chuckling when she threw her head back and laughed. That ridiculous wig almost fell off her head. “How did you get roped into this outfit, by the way?”
    She scowled and tugged on her skirt again. “Tabby lost a bet.”
    “And?”
    “She talked us into this stupid shit.” She glared at him. “Not. One. Word.”
    He had no idea what she was talking about but he zipped it anyway.
    “This skirt is illegal in twenty-five states. The wig itches like a bitch and I look horrible in white.”
    Huh. He thought she looked delectable. He bit his tongue and kept dancing. Was it his fault if his hands just happened to slip down to the top of her ass?
    “And then she has the nerve to try and talk me into full makeup! She even wanted me to wear these— hands !”  
    Julian’s hands, which had made a very happy foray to her southern hemisphere, moved back up to her waist.
    “These stupid contact lenses you can’t even buy off an eye doctor. You have to order them over the web. They’re the same ones Lady Gaga used in this video— hands! ”
    Julian immediately removed his hands from under her skirt. Damn, she was wearing boy shorts under it. All of his secret fantasies of backseat explorations were dashed.
    “Do you have anything to say for yourself, mister?”
    Julian pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking his head.
    “Jeez. It’s like talking to a three-year-old.”
    “A three-year-old wouldn’t be trying to shove his hands down your pants.” Julian stopped dancing long enough to rub his shin. Those pointy red shoes were hard on the anatomy.
    “Jules!”
    Julian stood and grinned at Jamie and Marie Howard. They’d dressed as a cowboy and a sexy cowgirl. Damn, he’d have to buy Cyn a pair of chaps. He wondered how Jamie felt about his mate wearing them with nothing more than a pair of boy shorts under them. “Nice party!”
    “Nice kick.” Marie high-fived Cyn, the fringe of her short, tummy-bearing vest swinging with her movements. Julian was definitely begging Jamie for the name of the shop he got that outfit from.
    “What if Julian didn’t deserve the kick?” Jamie patted his wife’s butt.
    Marie