by Gina Kincade
"My apologies, Luke, but I am going to have to decline. Nothing personal. I'm sure Lyle and Trina must have filled you in by now if you hadn't heard talk yourself today, of how my parents are in an uproar over my brother, Jason, bringing Micah here. They do not approve of the whole interspecies mix thing. They are strictly panther and panther only, keep it within the species. So, as much as I would love to dance, my mother was already out there hyperventilating when we had to the first time, when it meant nothing short of an obligation to the ceremonies of the day. For her sake, I hope you will understand why I decline your offer."
"Tallan," Trina said, her voice again high-pitched like her mother's when she scolded.
"No, it is fine," he said. "I not only understand, but I appreciate anyone who thinks of family first. You are a beautiful woman, inside and out, whether you believe me or not, Tallan. It has been a pleasure today to meet you."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving her with a round of butterflies dancing around in her stomach for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on, nor did she care to take the time to figure it out. A sucker for a gentleman. That had to be it. And, bear boy was most definitely a gentleman. On top of that, no woman with eyes could say he wasn't handsome, the darker skin tone, winning smile that lit up his whole face, and the muscles that visibly rippled beneath the suit he wore. No one could deny wanting those muscles pressed against them. She, on the other hand, had just turned that down. She wouldn't give in to whatever the obviously fleeting attraction to him was for her, or the desperate need the man must have that had made him single her out when he could clearly have anyone in the room.
He'd be gone soon, and she'd never see him again. Why that caused a knot in her stomach and her mouth to turn down, well only another drink would take care of that nonsense. She intended to have another. They still had the whole cake thing to do anyway.
"You are sad you turned him down," Trina said, more of a statement than a question even with all the excitement of a child lifting her voice to a high pitch and volume.
"No, I'm not. I just want another drink. I was contemplating what to have. You know my face gets all serious when I think of the important things in life, like if I should go back to champagne or have another something with whiskey in it."
"Stop it, Tallan. For once in your life admit a man interests you rather than pushing each one away in fear they won't be interested in you back."
"Wow, harsh, sis. You think because it is your wedding day you have a free pass to say and do whatever you want it seems."
"Maybe, but I do, honestly and truly, with all of my heart, want the happiness I feel today for you, too. No quote. I just want you to be happy."
"How many ways can I say that I am before you believe me?" Tallan retorted, her mood all but shot at this point.
She contemplated if anyone would notice her disappearance.
"Don't you have a cake to cut, or a husband to kiss, or something? Anything. Go tell Lyle how happy you are today. I'm fine here on my own. I promise you, sis. I love you. More than I can ever say. Forever and always. But, if you love me, too, you need to let me live my life as I choose. I agreed to this date Gerri is concocting, so please let it be enough for now. Now, shoo, go back to your husband, bride."
"I love you, too. Always and forever," Trina said, hugging her tightly before turning away to swish gracefully over the polished floor.
Looking the direction her sister fled, seeing Lyle first, she then spotted Luke looking back at her. He grinned, a little to hopefully, and she turned, straight for the bar.
Chapter Two
Tallan arrived at the park early, for no reason other than being anxious to get this blind date Gerri set her up on over and done with. She hadn't been on one in years, preferring books, friends, family, anything other than putting herself out there for a man to turn down. She'd had her quota of that this lifetime. Men could be cruel. She'd heard it all, been through it all with plenty, and if there was still another way for a man to lay hurt on her, she preferred to remain ignorant of it.
She sat in her car contemplating those events in her life that made her give up on men as if building a wall of protection around herself before she even met this mystery man. Gerri had to be joking when she said she'd sleep with this man tonight. That wouldn't happen. A virgin she'd stay after the last time she let a man get to second base, only to have him not call her back again. She found out later, once her brother had broken the guy's nose, that he'd been bragging about this fact, only having dated her to get to see her huge tits, as if she was some circus side show act with her double whatever they were. She bought the bra she could manage to stuff them into when at work, and other than that she hung free.
In a distraught fit of rage, she'd once come up with this delusional list, a preposterous code of conduct that would protect her from men. At the top, she'd make the guy laugh by cracking jokes about the size of her ass or tits, that way not only did she control the narrative, but he'd fall in love with her sense of humor. She'd also tried wearing heels to make her legs look slimmer, only to find she couldn't walk in them once her feet started to hurt less than an hour into the date. The list of things she'd tried went on and on, and she'd gained only a multitude of disaster stories for her troubles.
She found most men confused a curvy girl for a desperate one, being pretty verbal, on the border of abusive as to how she'd be easy. She'd even had a guy come right out and say that he'd sleep with her, but could never introduce her to his family. As if she'd accept this wonderful offer. Him she'd come close to stabbing with a fork, but instead walked out of the restaurant only to spend nights after contemplating shifting, then stalking him until she found a place she could literally scare the shit out of him. Then he could take that back to his family. One can only take so many insults before the urge to retaliate stepped in. She had a good grasp of control over her beast, of course, but the repeated garbage she'd encountered from men had pushed that control to the test a time or two over the years.
Despite all of these not so wonderful experiences, without men to muck it all up anymore she'd come to love her body. She'd also come to terms with the fact her sister turned men's heads and she didn't, at least not in a way she wanted to anyway. Yet, she considered herself lucky to have a job she loved and many people who loved her.
She had batteries to power the only cock she needed. Nodding her head in agreement with her own thoughts, she maneuvered herself out of her compact car to explore the park Gerri had sent them to. She knew of it, though she'd not visited here before. Her romps in the outdoors tended to be under the cover of night so she could take her other form, so public, city parks like this one, were out. Still, she appreciated nature's beauty, even bits trapped in the middle of a city, man made or not, and figured at least today she could relish in that.
As she walked up over a small rise of pavement, the actual park, green grass and lush green foliage came fully into view. It rolled out before her, waves of untouched land save for the human footstep made paths that opened to a small lake or large pond with an island of trees in the middle. She had to give props to the architect of this place, to have thought to leave a patch of the original landscape and build a water feature around it. Surrounding the small body of water, according to the map in front of her, trails and hills surrounded the water on three sides, because this park had been built on an old landfill. Quite the private little getaway here, really.
She took her time reading all about that process, how they'd made the park over the refuse, looking at the pictures on the board they'd created as tribute there. Pretty fascinating stuff really, like the invention of a bioplastic layer that inhibits methane from reaching the surface, also protecting vegetation from underlying contaminates. They now called it a 'waterfront, hillside retreat complete with hiking trails and serving as a wildlife sanctuary,' all built on a dilapidated mountain of trash that had been here since the nineteen forties.
To her left, they'd cleare
d space for picnic tables and a playground. The joyful cries of a few young children distracted her from her high-strung nerves, brought a genuine smile to her face. She didn't know what her date would have planned, only that this was their initial meeting place. She figured it would involve a meal of some sort, though Gerri had said to dress casual, which was perfect for her tastes anyway. If they didn't stay to explore the park, she figured she might come back one night and do that herself when the children and parents were gone along with all the food vendors that lined the back of that area. She guessed since it was a city park, food was to be purchased rather than brought in picnic baskets.
"Tallan," a familiar deep, gravelly voice came from behind her, making her turn from the park information board to come face to face with Luke.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have to get back to some base or assignment or something?"
She looked past him, wondering if her date would come when she was talking to him, perhaps scare the unknown man off if she were really lucky. Her mystery man's way to spot her was to be a small flower in her hand. Gerri had told her to pick one of the wildflowers along the border of the park to let the man she sent find her. She hadn't managed to do that yet, so her plan to scare the dude off would probably fail, she grumbled in her head with frustration.
"I had a couple of extra days leave, so I planned on sticking around. I have family in the area, an uncle and aunt, actually, whom I was close to growing up, so I wanted to visit them while I had the chance, too."
"Oh, are you meeting them here?"
"No, actually, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but Lyle talked me into letting this Gerri woman fix me up while I was here. I confess that a drink too many at the wedding lead me to agree. However, I fulfill my commitments once sober, so here I am. I'm on the lookout for a woman with a wildflower in her hand."
"You can't be serious," Tallan hissed the words. "Stupid, meddling family!"
"You can't mean... Do I dare hope..." he stopped as if waiting for her to say something, confirm his suspicions. When she didn't, he continued, "Please tell me that you just haven't picked your flower yet, that Gerri set me up with you?"
She wanted to say no, but figured it didn't matter. The dude was leaving in a few days anyway, so how Gerri thought they would fall in love and last forever long distance, she couldn't imagine. He seemed the safest way to go through with the date, get Trina off her back, and help Sam in putting a dent in Gerri's invincible record. Win, win, and win!
"Tallan?" he asked, pulling her attention back from her own internal ranting and celebrating. "Gerri set me up with you, didn't she? Please say yes. Because soon I'm going to take your avoidance of an answer as my yes."
She glared up at his growing smile, shaking her head as her eyebrows knit together.
"I'm sorry to say, but yes, it appears she did. I hadn't gotten around to the flower picking thing yet. I came early to scope the place out. I've never been here before, and the history of its trash origins intrigued me. I have to say that I am impressed by what they've done with the place, but I am sorry she wasted your time in making you come, too."
"Are you kidding? I'm thrilled. I wanted that extra dance with you, if you remember, but you turned me down. Now I get a whole night."
"Well, now let's not be hasty, or too excited. Yes, I did turn you down, so why would Gerri do this? Plus, she knows of the family scandal my brother has caused falling in love with an eagle. Shit, and my mother knows I'm on a date. Damn it. She will expect me to come home and tell her about a wonderful gentleman, one of black panther descent, whom the whole damn family probably has me mentally married off to already. Shit! What was Gerri thinking? And you are leaving in a matter of days, I assume! So what is the point of all of this?"
"The point is that I want to spend more time with you, Tallan. I find you beautiful, so much so that I couldn't stop staring at you during the entire the wedding. Something about you intrigues me, calls to me. I couldn't help myself even if I'd wanted to, which I didn't really. I enjoyed watching you, truth be told. Sorry if that's creepy or anything." He flinched at his last words, as if the thought had just occurred to him that she may have seen him as more of a stalker or some other weirded out guy than a blind date with potential.
Tallan shook her head. "No worries. You were drunk. You just said so."
"Not that early in the evening. And, prior to the drunk part, I'd wished I would have the chance to get to know you better that night. In fact, I drank heavily after you turned me down for that dance."
"You can't seriously expect me to buy the line of bullshit you are selling here?" Tallan gawked at him. The gall of the man! He was already playing her with the same kind of games the other douchebag men in her life had, and they'd only been on this "date" for a few minutes yet. She was starting to wonder if finishing out this evening was really going to happen or if getting away now might be the safest thing.
"Gerri must have picked up on that," he continued rambling on as if he didn't hear all of her pissy comments. "She did tell me the woman I was meeting was stubborn as far as dating went, but she thought I would be pleased, and I can tell you that I am. I definitely am. Gerri hit the mark on point."
"Pleased? Really? Come on. I don't buy lines like that. Despite my weight, I am not desperate. So, you can think again on scoring, soldier, before heading back to your base. I will not take pity on your situation either."
"I'm not like that at all, Tallan, if you would just give me the chance rather than bitching and insulting my character. I am genuinely thrilled that I have been given this chance to spend time with you, if only for a few hours."
His expression seemed sincere, swaying her a little toward believing him, confirming her first instinct from the wedding of him being a gentleman and not some crazed stalker. She breathed a small sigh of relief at the receding panic that had begun to grow in her belly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you, though I'm still not convinced... Well let's just leave that alone for now. I guess I should be thrilled, too, with the match, in that I said this was a one-time thing. One date. And, well, that won't be a problem since you are leaving soon. Gerri must be off her rocker. First Sam and Ian, now us. Wow, her record of perfect matches is doomed. It's almost as if she's up to something. Wonder what it is? She's a feisty one, and smart, witty. I don't get it."
"So, you are agreeable to the date then? This is what I am hearing in all of that."
"I don't really see the point, but if you wish then, yes, sure. I honor my commitments too. Maybe my mother will get pissed at Gerri instead of me, though I'm sure I'll still have to hear about it. A panther and a bear. Damn. The woman will have a coronary."
"Then let's make the evening worthy of her heart attack." He chuckled, a light glinting in his chocolate brown eyes and catching her attention.
She stared at him, her face scrunched up, shaking her head, her hands resting on her thick hips. "You are something else, you know that? I'm not real sure what to make of you just yet."
"What. I want this date. It was a joke about your mother. I agree a poor one, but a lame attempt at cracking that attitude of yours. I like to seize the moments when made available to me. I am liking that in this moment you are available to me."
"But, why? You are leaving? What if you had met someone else here, fallen head over heels in love, fallen into that whole love at first sight myth, what would you have done then? Just left her. You kind of have no choice, really."
"And you kind of have no faith in life working out, do you? Nor do you believe in things happening for a reason, in their own time..."
Tallan raised her hand, palm toward him, effectively cutting off his barrage of continued talking and explaining. "Let me just stop you right there. I'm the psychologist, and I will not spend this date being analyzed. So, can we just get on with it? What had you planned to do with your mystery woman tonight? At least if I see this through I can get my sister off my back, and then lecture her into silence for a
time about my choice of being single."
"Sure. Go out with me for that reason. Man, you are good for a man's ego. Do you think, though, seeing as how you are stuck with me for a few hours, maybe you could drop the pissy attitude for just a little while. Try to just see me as a friend, maybe even get to know more about me before you continue on with the mega judgment. I mean, we are practically family after the wedding."
"Fine. Sorry. This whole thing put me in a mood before I even got here. So, yes, I will make myself amiable. Again, let me ask nicer, what did you have planned? Where are we off too?"
"Here," he said, his eyebrows now pinched together as his expression showed both surprise and maybe confusion at her sudden switch to compromising and agreeable attitude.
She had to admit he wasn't hard on the eyes. His dark gaze, short cropped chestnut hair, towering body rippling with muscles to spare, the tight set of his shoulders and hips, the nice ass, as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest in a tight t-shirt, snug fit 501's, well, it all came together in a rather nice package, really. Plus, he had one of those faces that took him from serious, looking like a grizzly bear, the bad boy, one you wouldn't want to mess with, to happy, looking like a teddy bear, sweet, one who'd have a tender touch when making love to a woman. She may as well enjoy the scenery while she could, right?
She shook her head to dispel the thoughts, giving him back her diverted attention.
"Here?"
"Yes. I chose this place. I love it. You grab some food—the hot dog vendor is my favorite—then hike around the lake. There are some beautiful sights along those trails, along with a rich and scary history about this piece of land. Things happened here before they dumped trash on it. They leave that off this board but I can fill you in. Unless, you want something fancier than a hot dog and a walk in the woods."
