Chapter 4

Chloe blew out a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. This was her first date with Jim, their first real attempt to be mates.

She was scared stupid.

Her hands were shaking, her palms were sweaty, and she’d swear from the way her heart was beating she’d run sixteen miles in her three-inch pumps.

What would she do if he changed his mind again?

Her Fox snarled, yipping and snapping at the thought. If Jim tried to walk away just one more time, she’d bite his ass. He was a shifter now, feeling the mating pull just as much as she did. If he ran, he was not only denying her but his Wolf’s needs as well. The Wolf would never allow that to happen.

She hoped.

Chloe gulped and slipped her purse over her arm. Jim should be here any minute, and no amount of fussing in front of the mirror was going to make this date any easier. She’d dreamed of him so much it felt like just another

—

The doorbell rang, and she jumped.

“Okay, Chloe. This is bit. We’re a bad-ass Fox and we don’t take shit from anyone.” She bared her fangs at her reflection. “Grr.” She smoothed out a nonexistent wrinkle in her skirt. “Right. Let’s go get our man.”

She spun on her heel and stumbled right into the wall. “Ow.” Shaking her head at her own clumsiness she stumbled toward the front door. “Oh, yeah. I’m so badass. Look at me, beating the crap out of the wall with my face.”

She sniffed at a crack in the front door, very aware of what dangers could lurk in the most innocent places. A peephole could be covered, but unless it was another Fox on the other side of the door deliberately hiding its scent, she’d know who it was.

Her sniffer didn’t fail her. She opened the door to find her mate holding a bouquet of daisies. “Jim.”

“Here.” He held out the flowers with a small smile. “I thought they suited you.”

She blushed as she sniffed the daisies. “Tank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked around, the small smile becoming rueful. “May I come in?”

“Hm? Oh!” Chloe stood back and held the door open for him. His scent enveloped her as he brushed by her, making her shiver with need. Her Fox wanted him so badly she was surprised she wasn’t furry.

And that thought wasn’t wrong at all, was it?

“Um. I’ll go put peas in water.” Chloe dashed for the kitchen, almost tripping once more. The man was going to think she was a complete flake, a kid who couldn’t handle a simple bouquet of fucking daisies.

Chloe filled the vase, ignoring the sounds of Jim moving around her apartment. It wasn’t much, just a simple one-bedroom she could afford on her waitress salary and a little help from her parents. Not that she worked anymore. Her parents were covering her rent while she recuperated, despite the fact that they’d wanted her to move back in with them as soon as she was discharged from the hospital. When she’d refused, absolutely horrified at the thought of living with her mother again, they’d relented.

Her father understood. Her mother did not. While Chloe adored her mom, living with her was like being a sun worshipper in Antarctica. It just didn’t work.

“Chloe?”

Chloe yipped and spun around, almost dousing Jim with water. “Hi.”

He bit his lip and took the vase from her. “We have reservations at Noah’s.”

Noah’s. Oh, she hadn’t been there in ages. “The powers can wait.” She snatched the vase back and put it on the counter, ignoring his chuckle. After all, Noah’s had the best damn chicken cacciatore she’d ever had. “Let’s go.”

“A little birdie told me they have blackberry tarts for dessert.” Chloe whimpered. She adored blackberry…

Wait.

“How did you know those are my favorites?” He winked and held out his arm. “My lady?”

She took his arm, resting her hand on his forearm. She squeezed lightly.

Was the man made of muscle? There was absolutely no give there. If she wasn’t careful she’d be caught squeezing, and petting, and, hell, she might start climbing him like a spider monkey. She peeked up at him through her lashes, hoping he hadn’t noticed her feeling him up.

If she didn’t know better she’d swear he had a slight flush to his cheeks.

Maybe she hadn’t been as subtle as she thought.

They left the apartment, Jim watching closely as she locked her door. He tested it himself, nodding as the door didn’t open.

“I can mock a door, you know.” She chuckled ruefully over the misspoken word and pointed at the door. “Your mother wears brass knobs.”

He burst into laughter. “I know, little vixen.” He led her down to her car. “But I had to check.” He shrugged. “It’s like a compulsion. I need to know you’re safe, even when you’re with me.”

“That’s your Wolf protecting its mate.” Chloe admired Jim’s vintage cherry-red Mustang. She’d wanted a ride in it ever since she first saw it,

when she’d been applying for the intern job at his clinic.

“Mm, nah. Don’t think so.” He held open her door for her. “I’ve always been overprotective of the women I—”

Chloe snarled as she climbed into the car.

“It could be the Wolf.” Jim shut her door and walked around the hood of the car, his shoulders shaking. Apparently, he was amused by her display of jealousy.

What was good for the goose was good for the gander. Chloe waited until Jim was putting on his seatbelt before she said, “My ex used to kiss me hello every time he picked me up.”

Jim smiled sweetly. “Would that be Gabe?”

They stared at one another for a few moments before Chloe rolled her eyes. “I swear, I’m taking your name off my pony princess tote book.”

“Then you can’t have any of my candy after class.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “I never dated Gabe.” His brows rose. “I never dated Sarah.”

“But we both did a good job of convincing each other, didn’t we?” She sagged in her seat. “Sorry about bat. I clever realized what it would look like when I talked about him in front of you and Sarah. I swear we were just friends.”

“I get it. And just so you know, I haven’t been on a date in over a year.” He held out his hand. “Truce?”

She studied his expression, but it was completely sincere. She decided to take a chance, and trust he was telling the truth. “Truce.” She shook it solemnly.

He leaned toward her and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to her lips. “Would you like to go out with me, Ms. Chloe?”

She licked her lips, eager to catch his taste. “Sure.”

He started the car and drove away from her apartment.

Jim admired Chloe’s dainty fingers as she held up the menu. Even her scarred left hand was delicate, the marks only highlighting her strength of will. “Anything look good?”

She lowered the menu long enough to smile at him. “The picking cacciatore.”

“Sounds good.” He leaned his chin on his hand, unable to take his eyes from her. He could stare at her all day long and never get tired of her expressive face. Everything she felt flitted across it, from the small wrinkle of her nose as she looked at the menu to the way she kept peeking at him over the top of it. Even the way she bit her lip and blushed when she caught him staring was incredibly endearing to him.

That openness had always been there. More than once he’d caught her staring at the animals in the clinic, distressed over the ones who wouldn’t make it, overjoyed at the new births, and just loving each and every one that came in. He’d often thought she might be too soft for the job, her heart too open, but that deep love of animals had translated into someone fiercely determined to help each and every one of them to the best of her abilities. Her compassion toward the animals and her empathy with the owners had earned her more than one admirer during her work at the clinic. He’d been fascinated by her vivacity, fighting his attraction with everything in him. She deserved someone nearer her own age, someone who could be everything she deserved. Or so he’d told himself over and over again.

Every woman he’d dated couldn’t compare to Chloe Williams, so he’d given up trying. He’d simply watched, wondering if there would come a time when he could approach her as an equal. Then she’d flirted like hell with Gabe Anderson, driving Jim farther away.

No, he’d told himself. She was better off with someone else.

When she’d been hurt he’d been frantic for news, but he had no right to push himself into the family’s space. He’d waited as patiently as he could, relieved when he’d gotten word that she would be all right. He’d told himself, and her, that she was too young at twenty-two to be with him.

But then he’d learned her career was over and wanted to kick his own ass. He’d heaped pain on top of someone who was already suffering so much. She would have made an incredible veterinarian, one he would have been proud to work with. As it was, he was even prouder to call her his mate.

“Hello. My name is Kelly, and I’ll be your waitress today.” The tall brunette smiled and poured them each a glass of water. “Can I start you with something to drink?”

“I’ll have a Poke, please.” Chloe smiled at the waitress and turned back to Jim, ignoring the confused frown that crossed the woman’s face. “Jim?”

“I’ll have the same.” He waited, hoping the waitress wouldn’t question Chloe’s words.

The waitress stared at her pad for a moment. “So…two Cokes?”

Chloe’s smile was so wide Jim could practically see her molars. “Yes, please.”

The waitress nodded as if she was used to dealing with someone with Chloe’s disabilities on a daily basis. “Would you like to start with an appetizer?”

Chloe bit her lip and stared at the menu again. He could tell his mate was hungry as she gazed at the menu, but from the way her fingers tapped the menu she was also nervous.

“Get whatever you want, sweetheart.”

She blinked at him, blushing adorably again before staring at the menu

blankly. “The pos…toss…cross…” She took a deep breath, her hands beginning to shake.

The waitress leaned forward. “If it’s easier you can point,” she said softly, her expression compassionate rather than pitying.

Chloe blew out the breath she’d been holding and pointed. “That.”

“Tomato basil crostini.” The waitress didn’t say it slowly or loudly, something Jim noted. She was treating Chloe with respect rather than trying to “help”. The woman would be getting a huge tip tonight for the way she was handling Chloe’s disability.

“Thank you.” Chloe’s relief was obvious. “Some words are harder than others.”

The waitress smiled. “Take as much time as you need.” She turned to Jim. “And you, sir?”

“A cup of the butternut squash soup, please.”

The waitress made a note of it. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.” Chloe put the menu down, her hands still shaking. “I hate this.”

“Don’t.” Jim grabbed hold of her left hand, massaging the scarred fingers. “None of this is your fault. You did nothing wrong. The bastards who attacked you need to be strung up by their balls with piano wire.” He squeezed her hand. “And I’m a guy saying this.”

She huffed out a laugh. “That’s something.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “It doesn’t bother you?”

“The way you talk or men being strung up by their bits?” She nodded.

“Which one, sweetheart? You’re starting to scare me. Or at least my bits.”

She covered her mouth as the giggle escaped. “My speech.”

“Nope. Not at all.” He had no real trouble figuring out what she meant.

Her speech might be odd, but it wasn’t incomprehensible. He just had to put a little thought into it. “I know it bothers you, though.”

She shrugged. “I may get better, or I may get worse. We just don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” If that was what she needed tonight, he’d listen. Being a sympathetic ear when needed could be the biggest gift a person could give.

“Not now?” Her expression lightened, her natural sunshiny nature coming to the fore. “But thank you.”

“Hm.” He stroked her fingers, trying to bring back the mood they’d had when they’d first walked into Noah’s. “Then what should we talk about?”

She blinked, her fingers tightening on his. “Um. Nice night?”

He chuckled as the waitress dropped off their appetizers. “So it is.”

He kept the conversation as light as he could while they ate, asking about her family and swapping stories about how he met Spencer. “So there he is, this man I’d never met, staring at me like I was public enemy number one. I swear I thought he was going to try and run over my toes or something.”

“What did you do?” Chloe was so caught up in the story a piece of chicken fell back onto her plate completely unnoticed.

“I told him our sperm donor was a douche.”

God, that laugh. He’d live for that sound alone. “You didn’t!”

“I totally did.” Jim chuckled, remembering the look on Spencer’s face. “He just grinned and said, ‘Then mi casa es su casa, bro,’ and that was that.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. It turns out he’s a great guy, just has a sucky dad.” He grimaced, wondering what Spencer’s life would have been like if their father had deigned to acknowledge him. “When I was growing up my parents had their

problems, but nothing like the mess we’re all going through now.” “They sheltered you from it.” Chloe took a bite. “Mm.”

“More than likely. I think what killed my mother wasn’t finding out that my father cheated, but that he’d done it so early in their marriage. I mean, I was what? Seven when Spencer was born? Then finding out he’d produced a son?” He shook his head. “In her mind it’s unforgiveable.”

“And you acknowledging him only made things worse.”

“Not for them, for me. But I won’t give Spencer up. He’s the only member of my family I give a damn about anymore.”

“Do you think they’ll come around?”

Chloe’s concern was touching, but misplaced. “Honestly? I don’t care. I would have, even six months ago, but too much has happened. Sometimes you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life, even if they’re family.”

She sighed. “I just wish it didn’t have to happen at all.”

“Spencer was worth it.” He tried to explain, hoping someone with as close a family as Chloe would understand. “He’s the only one who’s accepted me exactly the way I am. If I wanted to keep having a relationship with my mom, he wouldn’t care one little bit. The only thing he does care about is the fact that she hurt me. I know he wishes things could be different with our dad, but he’s one of the most resilient people I know. He rolls with the punches almost as well as you do.”

She smiled at that, almost hiding the expression behind her hand before she put it back down on the table. “Thanks.”

“When we thought he was dying we had long talks about what it was like where we grew up. He had a good childhood, Chloe. He had a mother who loved him and adored him. When his mom died he was alone, until I came along. My father refused to have anything to do with him, even when

Spencer told him that he might be dying.”

“Might be why he was hostile when you thirst showed up.” “Yeah, I think so too.”

“Do you wish…?” She shrugged. “Never bind.”

Uh-oh. Her speech was getting worse again. “Ask me.”

She bit her lip. “Do you fish you’d been at the hospital? With me?”

Ouch. How could he answer that without upsetting her more? “Yes and no.” She stared at him, and the hurt on her face was almost more than he could bear. “I won’t lie to you. I did think you were going to be all right, and I did think you were too young for me. Too young to deal with all the shit coming down on my head, and far too young to have to deal with your injuries and my family at the same time.”

She didn’t seem happy about that, but he wasn’t going to fib just to make her feel better. He couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to her. “I’m not.”

“Chloe, there’s almost ten years between us. You’re twenty-three now, but when we met you were nineteen. I felt like a dirty old bastard every time you smiled at me.” He still did, to a certain extent, but neither his Wolf nor he was going to allow that to stop him from claiming her. “And there’s no way I’d lie to you about it.” He stared at her intently, hoping she’d see how serious he was. “Do you ever remember me saying I didn’t want you?”

She opened her mouth to respond, then stopped, her expression stunned. “No, you don’t. That’s never been the issue.” He’d wanted her so badly

he’d been a goddamn mess. “Think about it, Chloe. Nineteen. All I could see was this young, gorgeous kid with bright green eyes and a future I had no part of.”

She whimpered in protest. “You did.”

“You knew that, but I didn’t.” He allowed the Wolf to show just a little bit, his vision changing to the animal’s rather than the man’s. “And as sorry

as I am for that, I wouldn’t change it.” “Why?”

“I couldn’t respect myself if I went after a kid, no matter how dazzling she was.”

“I’m not a kid now. And I had four years of mate dreams to deal with.”

He winced. Oh, the mate dreams. He’d begun having those, and they were driving him insane. She had to be the strongest woman he’d ever met if she’d been dealing with them for four fucking years. “I’m sorry.” He brushed the back of his knuckles across her cheek as gently as he knew how. “I’m having them too.” His gaze followed the line of her jaw as he pressed his thumb to her lips. “Boy, am I having them.”

“And?”

Oh, the filthy things he wanted to do to her would make that pretty little blush turn even brighter. “If I thought you’d allow it I’d have you for dessert.”

Her face turned redder than her hair, but she leaned into his touch. “Thanks.”

He stroked her cheek. “You’re welcome.”