“Wow,” she smiled, “I love tigers. What are some of his quirks?”
“Well,” he cleared his throat, “it’s not a quirk per se, but right now my Tiger is thinking you smell fantastic.”
“Oh,” she said, her mouth forming a perfect circle.
Fucking hell. He squirmed in his seat. Damn suit. It was cutting off circulation to his balls. Or maybe that was because his entire blood supply was currently in his dick.
“Well, I am glad he likes how I smell,” she grinned.
Damn. His sweet mate had the cutest little dimple on the left side of her mouth. Lance could just imagine kissing and nibbling on the tiny indentation.
Grrrr. Yep. It was going to be a long night. He caught her watching him watching her and tried to relax. He didn’t want to frighten her with the strength of his desire, but fucking hell that was going to be hard.
Hard. Yes, he was hard. For her. Oh, that was great. Now, he was thinking about his dick again.
Change the subject, growled his Cat.
“Like music?”
“Sure,” she agreed.
“What kind?”
“Anything is fine,” she said.
“I insist, you pick,” he nodded to the dashboard.
“Okay, but I am warning you, I don’t play around.”
“What does that mean?” he laughed.
“It means, I am not going to tune into something I think you’ll like. If you are telling me to pick something I like, then I am really going to choose what I want to hear.”
“Good,” he meant it, “I want to know what music you like, Annalia. I’m curious about you.”
“Really?” she blinked her soulful brown eyes once before turning her attention to the satellite radio, “okay, here we go.”
Lance laughed as she tuned into a retro eighties station. The Go-Go’s were going on vacation, and why the heck not? He winked at her, then started singing along in his deep baritone. The beautiful woman laughed aloud, relaxing visibly beside him.
Good, he thought. His Tiger chuffed softly inside his chest, the noise mimicking a purr. Shock and then absolute pleasure rolled through him when she joined him in singing.
Fuck, she was so cute. Her voice was delightfully off key, but it was music to his ears. The trip to the event was far too short, but even as he pulled up to the valet attendant, he knew one thing for certain.
Elissa and Jessica had been right. Gerri Wilder had found her. This woman was it for him. His destiny. His mate.
Mine.
Now, he just had to win her heart.
Four
Oh, my goodness. Anna licked her lips, casting a sidelong glance at the huge, handsome man on her arm. She was going to have to send Gerri Wilder a gift basket or something.
Even if this lasted just the one night, her date was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Tall and wide, with short, tawny-colored hair, and a grin that made her panties melt clean off her body. Whoa! He was sexy personified. A veritable magnetic force in his own right, drawing stares from passing women as they waited their turn in the check in line.
But more than that, he was courteous and fun. When he started singing along with the eighties station she put on, she couldn’t help but laugh. In Anna’s experience, men who looked like that did not pay attention to girls like her. But he seemed to be paying attention. In fact, the heat in his sapphire gaze was mesmerizing.
“Did I mention how gorgeous you look?” he asked as he stood holding their coats while they waited to hand them to the young woman working the check-in.
They stood among a large throng of people, but Lance’s eyes hadn’t left her, not once. Especially not since she took off her long coat.
Anna bit her lip nervously. The deep, red dress was made of the softest velvet material she’d ever felt. There had to be some sort of elastic sewn within it because it molded to her curves like a second skin, leaving very little to the imagination. Though technically, she was fully covered.
The strapless confection made her feel like a character in a fairytale. She’d been nervous about it at first, but Jessica had insisted she looked amazing. Between the hair and the dress, and the sexy bustier and thong set she’d picked up in the boutique, Anna had to admit she felt great.
That little bit of naughty lace gave her the extra boost of confidence she needed to pull off the whole ensemble. Gerri had been right. Sometimes dressing sexy was good for the soul.
But even so, with her allergies she hadn’t done more than add a tiny bit of mascara to her eyelashes, and some red tinted lip gloss to her lips. This was a black-tie event, but Anna would rather not spend half the night in the bathroom. Trying to keep her eyes from tearing, like they always did in reaction to cosmetics, sometimes was not worth the effort.
With her hair styled by Pamela and a few choice accessories, Anna felt she made the grade. Especially with the way Lance was watching her. Every now and then, she saw a gold glint in his eyes. His Tiger, he’d whispered in her ear when she had asked him about it.
The idea of his Tiger half thrilled Anna. She wanted to ask him to show her but didn’t know if that was against any Shifter rules or anything. Hell, it might just be bad manners. This was only their first date. With time, maybe she would get to see his beast.
The pressure of his large hand on her waist nudged her forward. Shivers raced down her spine at the platonic touch. Was it normal for a woman to be so worked up over a man she had only just met?
Hardly an expert on the subject. Still, she knew one thing. Ever since she’d opened that door and saw the huge, sexy man standing there, she hadn’t been able to breathe quite right. And this had nothing at all to do with her asthma.
“This is taking long,” he peered ahead, “my apologies. I had no idea.”
Oh, wow. Anna wasn’t even listening to what he was saying, she was so awestruck by his profile. He was like model gorgeous. Even better, he seemed completely unaware.
She loved his deep-set eyes, straight nose, and that perfectly chiseled chin. His cheekbones were defined, but not overly so. Really, it was that smattering of five o’clock shadow that covered his jawline that did it for her.
It gave his positively beautiful face a sexy and rugged edge. She was dying to run her fingers through it, to feel his hair-roughened cheek against her skin. Especially that spot right between the cleft in his chin where it appeared just a touch thicker.
Damn, is it hot in here? If he kept this up, she was going to need a fan. And new panties. Of course, it wasn’t just his face. The rest of him was damn fine looking too. He had one of those V-type bodies. Wide shoulders tapering into a narrow waist that blended to long, muscular legs.
If she could’ve gone through a catalog of male parts, she wouldn’t have been able to come up with anything as perfect as he was physically. But damn, she’d have fun trying. Gerri was right. Shifters were hot. With any luck, he’d be hot for her by the end of the night.
Down girl. Your slut-o-meter is ringing off the charts! Oh well. A girl could dream, couldn’t she?
“Are you okay? Waiting, I mean,” he cocked his head to the side and looked at her with his blue eyes glowing a tad in the dimly lit hallway.
“I’m fine,” she said, “I don’t mind waiting.”
Of course, she didn’t. Not when she could spend that time with him. The small talk they’d made in the car was fine, but not informative. And here she was sizing him up like some prize pony at the state fair. She was almost ashamed of herself, but really. How was she supposed to react? She’d never had a date who looked like him.