He lifted his shades and his resolute eyes looked sharply at me. “I took care of someone who needed taking care of.”
Reno pulled onto the street and I shifted my gaze out the window, wondering where he planned to take me. Maybe it would be an outdoor patio at a Mexican restaurant. What did Shifters do for fun? Reno wasn’t human, but it felt wrong to turn my back on him for something he couldn’t help just because I didn’t understand it. Maybe that’s why I had agreed to go—I was curious to learn more about him. I’d known Lexi for over a year and she seemed normal, so maybe I needed to be more open-minded.
After a short ride, we parked in front of a Target and got out. Well, this is classy, my inner voice remarked.
Inside the store, I eyeballed him as he pulled out two red shopping carts. “What are we doing here?”
Reno took off his sunglasses and tucked them onto the collar of his shirt. “I need to buy a few things, and I want you to help me. I have an open credit line, so anything goes. I want you to take one of these baskets and fill it up with decorations. The necessities are full sheets, a comforter, uh… pillowcases and all that junk. Something with a feminine touch. I also need sofa pillows, decorations for a bedroom and living room, and small area rugs. The whole tamale. Don’t look at price tags. Like I said, it’s all taken care of.”
Wow. They must have really messed up his house. “So I’m basically redecorating your house?”
“You have taste.”
“And you got that from my trailer?” I leaned on the cart and glared at him skeptically.
He rubbed the corners of his mouth. “I saw the little touches in there that were all you.” Then he glanced at his watch. “If I don’t find you first, then meet me back here in an hour. I have to grab some things on the other side of the store. Like I said, go all out.”
I wondered if they had a new woman in their pack. I’m not sure why, but the thought sparked jealousy in me. How could they live with a single woman in the same house and keep it platonic? Maybe this was for Ivy and they all shared her. I hadn’t thought to ask Lexi every intricate detail about their lifestyle. Reno said they outlived humans and he had seen three wars. Three? I wondered how old that made him. Recent wars, or were we talking Civil War?
“Don’t let me down,” he said. “We’ve only got an hour to get it all together.”
This was the weirdest date I’d ever been on. Maybe it wasn’t a date—had he even used that word? He’d just said we were going out, hadn’t he? Mental eye roll. I was jumping to conclusions again. If that were a board game, I’d be the undefeated champion.
“Gotcha. Shall I buy her some lingerie as well?” I angrily rolled my basket down the aisle and heard him chuckling behind me.
At first, I was irritated by the idea of shopping for another woman. But soon it became liberating to fill the cart and not look at the price tag. Reno could sift through my stuff later and decide what he couldn’t afford; my assignment was simply to fill the basket. I picked out a trendy set of lavender sheets that matched a purple and black comforter. After I’d selected the bedroom set, I specially chose accessories so her bedroom wouldn’t look like a purple nightmare. I found two lightweight mirrors that were classy and modern along with candleholders, candles, and a white vase with capiz shell flowers.
Then I hit the sofa pillows. Without a clue of what color the couch was, I went for neutral browns and a maroon. I also snatched a fuzzy maroon throw that could be put on the back of a sofa to match the pillows.
This was fun! Okay, maybe I went overboard when I spotted an adorable little bookshelf table, but it was too beautiful to pass up. I could put Hermie’s bowl on top and fill the lower shelf with my books.
Except the only problem being it wasn’t my table, and I was buying it for another woman.
Another woman.
Then my inner voice said, Wait a minute. Hold the phone. Little decorations with a feminine touch? Missy, I bet he’s seeing how into this lifestyle you really are. Those Shifters probably have harems.
Had I ever asked Reno if he was married or had a girlfriend? What if Shifters practiced polygamy? I sure as heck wasn’t going to be someone’s second wife if that’s what he had in mind. Or even a girlfriend on the side.
“April?”
I whirled around with my arms folded. “Do you have harems?”
His lips twitched. A slow chuckle rose, growing louder until Reno was rocking with laughter. I’d never seen him laugh and it unnerved me. So much so that I turned around and bumped into a man, causing him to drop an armload of towels.
“Oh, jeez. I’m so sorry,” I said, bending down to pick them up.
Reno’s laugh died down and he began clearing his throat.
The man knelt in front of me and winked. “It’s fine, sweetheart.”