Kissing Reno [Brac Village 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Lynn Hagen (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

was no longer in a big city. People in small towns tended to gossip and were close knit. He loved and hated that fact at the same time. Reno had no family, so the camaraderie he had found here was new, refreshing, but the nosiness, not so much. He was a private man who liked his life to stay his, not the front-page news.

“Oh, stop right there,” Travis said when Reno paused on a channel. “I love the cooking channel. You can find some damn good recipes on there.”

Reno tossed Travis the remote. “Have fun.”

“Where you going?” Travis asked.

Out of my mind. “Need some air.”

Travis gave him a strange look and then smiled. “Good luck with your air.”

Reno had only planned on walking while clearing his mind and getting his raging hormones under control. What he hadn’t expected was to find himself back at Baker’s. It seemed his coyote had a mind of its own.

Tonight Reno was going to let Baker get his rest and let the knowledge that he was about to be hunted be absorbed by the man’s mind, picking up the hunt in the morning.

Again, his coyote seemed to have a mind of its own.

It was panting to see Baker once more, even if it was just a glimpse. Reno knew knocking on his mate’s door would only freak the guy out. There was no way he could see Baker tonight.

After about ten minutes of sitting on the front step, Reno saw a cop car pull up to the curb. He wasn’t sure if they were just checking him out or if—did his mate call the cops on him? Looking over his shoulder at the window that belonged to Baker, Reno saw the blinds slip back into place.

His fury exploded inside of him. His mate had called the cops on him! Reno was both pissed the fuck off and impressed. Well, his coyote was beaming with approval that his mate wasn’t an easy catch. God, he was so deranged.

Both cops stepped out of the car, slowly approaching him like they had all the time in the world. Reno stood, dusting his ass off as he eyed both men. He hated cops more than he disliked wolves. “Evening,” he said, although it was only around three in the afternoon.

“We got a complaint that someone was hanging around out front who didn’t live here,” the cop to his right said. “You live here?”

Damn, they were fast. Where Reno had come from, the cops would have taken five hours to respond to a nonthreatening call.

If they had showed up at all.

It seemed Brac Village took every call seriously. “No, I was tired and decided to rest.”

“This is private property you’re resting your ass on.”

Reno took an automatic disliking to—he glanced at the name on the badge—Officer Johnson. The cop seemed full of himself, like he was a badass just because he wore a badge and carried a gun. Reno had met a few men like Johnson. They were always just this side of the law. He wouldn’t be surprised if the guy was dirty.

“I didn’t know that,” Reno lied. “I’ll be on my way.”

The cop put his hand up, the palm touching Reno’s chest. He barely managed to pull in the growl that threatened to erupt. He didn’t like anyone touching him, especially when all he had been doing was sitting on a step. “Let me see some ID.”

Reno locked eyes with the pompous asshole and then reached for his wallet. He pulled it free and dug his driver’s license out. He handed it to the cop.

“You look familiar,” Johnson’s partner said. “Where have I seen you before?”

“Probably a mug shot photo,” Johnson said as he scanned Reno’s license and then used the radio attached to his side to call in Reno’s information.

He really didn’t like this cop. “Firehouse,” Reno answered the second cop.

“Hey, Johnson, he’s a fireman. Let him go.”

Johnson didn’t look impressed. He took a few steps away from Reno as he waited for dispatch to come back with his information. They wouldn’t find anything. Reno was clean. It just pissed him off that Johnson was taking this so seriously.

What a fucking prick.

His partner gave Reno an apologetic shrug.

Johnson turned, tossing Reno’s ID at him. He barely caught it. “You’re clean. Get your ass moving, and no more loitering around.”

Reno was tempted to bare his canines, but he suppressed the urge. They were letting him go. No need to piss the asshole off. Shoving his ID back into his wallet, Reno walked away, already plotting on how he was going to punish Baker for this.

A nice spanking would do, but his coyote growled. In the back of his mind Reno knew he wouldn’t want an easy prey. His beast had already given his approval.

Reno smiled to himself. If Baker wanted the stakes to be high, so be it.

Chapter Three

Baker glanced out of the window once more as he saw the cops talking to his stalker. A part of him felt like shit for calling the cops, but another part of him smiled. If the shifter wanted to play predator and prey, then he should be willing to accept anything Baker threw his way.

He really didn’t want the man arrested, but he was proving to the shifter that he wasn’t that easy—although his heart was in his throat. The moment Baker had looked out the window and saw the guy sitting on the front step, he had panicked. The shifter now knew where he lived. He might as well go back to work. Nowhere was safe for him now.

Glancing out of the window once again, he saw the cop holding something small in his hand. Shit, they were running the coyote’s ID. Baker had thought the cops would just come by and shoo him away. He didn’t want the man arrested.

When Baker had thought the guy would accept anything thrown his way, he hadn’t meant for the guy to go to jail. That was downright wrong. He grabbed