I had just let out a breath of relief, prepared to get back to creating the toy, when Dash came racing back in waving his phone. “We got a message. And look at her!”
The robot could wait. We had our priorities in order and settled down to compose a message to the stunning female who might be our mate. My reindeer was sure of it.
Chapter Seven
Aideen
Maria met me for lunch the next day, insisting I get out of the fluorescent-lit office. Plus, she wanted to know if I had any matches. I hadn’t told her about Comet, Dash, and Blitz. I knew what she would say. Three reindeer shifters who had those names? It had to be fake or a catfishing scheme.
Her face when I told her I had a date with them the next day was going to be priceless.
We met at a local food truck.
“Well, tell me everything,” she said, stealing one of my pickled onions.
“I had a match, almost immediately.”
She squealed and kicked her feet underneath the picnic table. “Tell me about him. What kind of shifter is he? Or…is he a human?” Mail-Order Matings was open to anyone seeking a relationship.
“Shifter. Yes. Reindeer.”
“Shut up. I wonder if James knows about reindeer shifters. What’s his name? Is he cute?”
Here we go. “It’s three of them.”
I waited for the scoff. The dismissal. The disapproval. I should’ve known better. Maria was the last person in the world to judge. “Three reindeer shifters? Holy crap. Now, you have to show me their pictures.”
We gushed over the pictures and, as I knew she would, she brought up their names, and we made some jokes about them knowing Santa personally and whether or not they could stuff my stocking.
Maria was the funniest friend I had but, today, she was hilarious. I’d given her some good material.
“Have you been messaging them? Video chat? I remember the first time James and I video chatted.”
“No video chats and not a lot of messaging. They…they asked me to meet them for lunch tomorrow. They live close. It’s only about an hour drive for them.”
“Really? They want to meet you that quickly?”
I shrugged. I thought the process would be slower as well. I expected late-night chats and sweet messages, but to want to meet me so soon… “Do you think it’s weird? Dangerous?”
Maria got serious. “I think shifters are serious and can be intense when they find their…when they find someone they like. A lot of who they are is based on biological markers and if their reindeer like you, then they take that as a clue to move forward. It’s different for us, but I think it’s a good sign. And the app does background checks. They verify identities. Do you want James and me to go and sit in the restaurant or outside to make sure you’re safe?”
I didn’t think that was necessary. My gut said the guys were okay. They were more than okay. “No. I’ll be fine. But keep your ringer on, okay?”
“Of course. I’m going to ask James to ask around about reindeer shifters too. Maybe they’re in a pack or something and he knows them. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure. It couldn’t hurt.”
We finished lunch, and I went back to the office, but my work for the day was finished and I’d gotten a head start on projects due to start the next day.
The boys, that was what I started calling them in my head, hadn’t suggested a place. Instead, they wanted to know what was my favorite restaurant and asked where I was most comfortable meeting them.
They were a stark contrast to the men I’d dated before who didn’t care what I wanted out of the relationship or out of life. I’deven tried human dating apps and, before the first date, many of them were already hinting about sex.
What happened to romance?
As far as I knew, it was dead. The only hint of it was some of my friends’ relationships. Of course, theirs started on the app. Maybe that was where all the good guys were.
I got on my phone, interested in some of the things Maria hinted at, shifters being intense. I stumbled on a TikTok account that centered around shifters, from a human perspective.
