“I know just the thing,” Calla said, a sparkle in her eye telling Jade she wasn’t going to like it one bit.
When they finished, both females cheered at their makeover. Jade was scared shitless to see what she looked like. “I better not look like a clown.”
“You don’t,” Evie promised. “You look amazing.”
Jade was pulled from the makeshift styling chair and brought over to the mirror. When Jade saw herself, she gasped. The woman staring back at her looked nothing like the person she knew. Calla had styled her hair in the classic pinup girl look. The top of her hair was styled in three big curls, the side pinned to the back of her head, while the rest of her hair hung down her back. She twisted to the side, noting the ends of her hair were curled too.
Her makeup was that of a magazine model or those humans who do makeup tutorials online. Her eyes were lined and her lashes were perfect. The shadow was smoky, and her lips were covered in a deep red lipstick that promised not to come off while she ate, and Evie had mentioned it wouldn’t smudge if Booth kissed her.
“Do you like it?” Evie asked, hopeful.
“I…I don’t know,” she said, leaning in closer to the mirror. “I mean, it doesn’t even look like me. Are you sure he’s going to like this?”
Jade hated crying, but she was so nervous, she felt the prick of tears in her eyes. She looked up to the ceiling and blinked rapidly, praying to the gods she wouldn’t mess up her face before Booth arrived.
“He’s going to love it,” Calla gushed.
“Do you want us to stay until he gets here?” Evie asked, touching her elbow. When Jade’s eyes leveled on the other female, she saw happiness. It wasn’t ever a thing in her old pride for the females to help each other out. Usually, the elder females took care of things. Having females around her age willing to help her made her heart ache.
“Will you?” she asked, feeling vulnerable. “How the hell am I going to keep this dress from showing my ass?”
The dress fell just above her knees, and she mentally tried to remember what the weather forecast was supposed to be. Was it going to be windy tonight?
“Come, let’s practice,” Evie urged, pulling her toward the living area of the dorm. They showed her how to sit, how to hold her dress should the wind be too much. She’d just practiced standing without looking like she’d just stumbled out of the circus when the front door opened and Booth froze, his large body filling the frame.
“You…you look…amazing,” he breathed, his eyes sparking amber. His mating scent filled the room, and the females made an excuse to leave, but she didn’t respond to them. Booth was all she saw.
He wore a pair of denim jeans and a button-down shirt. It was black like most of his clothes. His boots matched and he’d trimmed his short beard. Oh, how her fingers itched to touch it.
“You clean up nice,” she teased.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” she sighed, and walked out the door when he made room for her. He walked side by side with her to his truck and opened the passenger door. Once she was settled inside, he climbed in his seat and they were off.
On a date.
How ridiculous was that?
“How was your day?” he asked, making small talk once they turned out of the pride’s land. She quickly realized she hadn’t left the land other than the night when Evie came to her to let her know her old pride had showed up at the local bar owned by the alpha’s mate. It felt odd going out into civilization after being there for almost a month.
“It was good,” she replied. “I trained with Hope today.”
“Who else has been training you?” he asked. She heard the soft growl he tried to cover up.
“Ranger came with Hope today to assist,” she answered, fidgeting with the hem on the dress. When she sat down, it rode up to mid-thigh and while she wasn’t ashamed of her body, being exposed in the human public was frowned upon.
“What about the two days before that?” he continued with his questions.
“It was just me and Evie,” she offered. “Taze came by twice, but he didn’t stay long. The males pretty much stayed out of the facility while we were there.”
“As they should.”
“Why is that?” It was her turn to ask questions. Coming from a pride who didn’t allow any females to fight, she knew nothing of the rules surrounding one that did.
“Unless we have been asked to assist in training, the alpha requests we give the females their space while they are there. All of the females who have trained to fight are mated, with Calla being the exception. She has hit her maturity, and since then, they train on their own or with their mates.”
“Calla doesn’t train as much as the other females,” Jade noticed.
“No,” Booth sobered. “She doesn’t. The only way she can learn any hand to hand combat is with the other females. She won’t touch a male, and that has caused her training to slow since she found a job in the human world. There’s only so much Evie and Hope can teach her.”
“Who was training her before?”
“Taze,” he chuckled. “Those two have had a weird friendship for the past three or four years.”
“I’m sure Calla will come around,” Jade shrugged. “Maybe when she finds her mate, he will allow her to fight.”
“I think he will,” Booth said, smiling as he turned into the steakhouse. “I thought I’d take you here. They have amazing food. Afterward, we can go see a movie or head to The Deuce.”
Booth hopped out of the truck to come around to open her door. She wanted to take his hand, but she clasped her fingers in front of her body instead.
“Table for two?” the hostess asked.
“Please,” Booth replied, holding his hand out for Jade to go ahead of him.
The woman sat them in a darkened booth toward the back of the restaurant and set the menus in front of them as they found their seats across from each other. The poor human female’s face fell as if she thought they were a couple and was disappointed they didn’t sit closer to each other.
Booth ordered a beer when the waiter arrived, and Jade decided on a glass of wine. They looked over the menu and sat in silence for the longest time. Once the drinks arrived and they had placed their orders, they were left with nothing to distract them, forcing them to talk.
“Have you decided on a movie?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “I really don’t know if I want to go out for very long.” She didn’t say it, but being around humans in the city was a little nerve wracking.
“You look nervous,” he observed, taking a swig of his beer. She wasn’t surprised he had read her like he did. Booth was very observant.
“I’m not used to big cities,” she whispered.
“Olive Branch isn’t big,” he chuckled. “Where did you live that you consider this big?”
“I lived in Steelville,” she said. “I think the population was right around two thousand people.”
“Yeah, that’s small,” he replied.
“Where I lived in Missouri, there wasn’t much to do,” she began. “I worked in a warehouse, but I worked alone in my own area. It helped me earn some money, and it also kept me from interacting with humans. Most of the townspeople didn’t associate with the shifters, anyway. There was a common rule that they accepted us, but they didn’t want any of us to be their friends. I think they were afraid of us.”
He frowned. “That’s terrible.”
“Do you have any human friends?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“We have humans who work for Talon’s construction company, but since we came out to the humans, Talon has pulled all of us back from there, and we only work on projects at the pride like building the new cabins,” he admitted. “The Guardians work for his security company now, and we assist the local law enforcement when they need to search for a lost child, an elderly human who wandered away from their home, and sometimes a suspect who has fled to an area the humans
can’t access.”
“That’s kind of you,” she replied, relaxing a bit. The date wasn’t as awkward as she’d thought it would be, and by the time their food arrived, they’d ordered another round of drinks and settled into easy conversation.
Chapter Twelve
They decided against the movies since it was Friday night and the place was packed. As tough as Jade was, Booth noticed little things about her. Like how she was nervous being out in public around so many humans. Two males had gawked at her, coming too close, but she was super aware and sidestepped them when they moved out of her line of sight. She kept an eye on her surroundings, proving to him she was trained well.
The shifters were still uneasy around humans, but it was his beast who felt protective of her. He’d almost bared his fangs at the males, but she had it under control.
“Want to go to the bar?” he asked as they sat in the parking lot of the movie theater.
“Actually, I’d like to go back to the pride,” she blushed. “Would you want to have our movie night at the dorm?”
“How about we go to my place?” he suggested, hoping she would agree. He didn’t want to be interrupted by the other males, and if he was being honest, he wanted her all to himself.
“That would be fine, but I have to be honest with you,” she chuckled.
“What’s wrong?” he worried. A million reasons why she wasn’t happy ran through his mind. Booth knew this dating thing would be a bust. He should’ve just cooked her dinner at his place instead.
“I really hate wearing a dress, and while I love the hair, I’d rather wear my usual clothes. I hate the makeup, too,” she admitted.
“Is that why you’ve been fidgeting all night?” he asked, relief making his shoulders drop as the tension fled.
“Yeah,” she scowled. “Calla and Evie dolled me up.”
“I think you look amazing, but I’d rather you be yourself,” he agreed with a shrug. “I actually like the workout clothes better.”
“It’s the sports bra, isn’t it?” she teased.
“You’re not wearing it now?” He frowned, refusing to lower his eyes to her chest.
“I’m not wearing one at all,” she replied, looking down at her breasts. “It was either the dress or a bra, but not both.”
“You’re killing me,” he mumbled and threw the truck into drive. “We will find a movie at my house.”
Her laugh echoed through the truck as they headed south of town to the pride’s land. She turned the radio on a rock station and leaned against the window. They chatted about music, and he was surprised she liked the same style he did.
“The heavier, the better,” she said.
When they reached the pride, Malaki waved them through the gate. First stop was the dorms so she could change clothes. When he reached his cabin, he walked around to open her door, hoping he was treating her right. He was doing what came naturally to him, and the things his father had told him about respecting a female.
Treat her like she is your queen.
His father had always drilled into his head that women were fragile and they had to be protected, but Jade blew all of those old ways out of the water.
“Want a drink?”
“I’ll take a beer,” she replied as they entered his home.
The cabin was so new, the scent of paint still lingered in the air. His living room was right inside the front door, and behind that was the eating area. He had a small bistro table to use for his meals, but since it was only him, he usually sat in his oversized recliner and watched television while he ate.
He passed the bistro table and entered the kitchen to the left. When he returned to the living room, Jade had taken up residence in his recliner. “Did you find anything?”
“Action or romantic comedy?” she asked, waiting for him to set the bottle on the end table. He took his seat as she reached for her beer.
“Action,” he suggested, knowing watching anything romantic would be a bad idea. He’d already had to control his beast around her during dinner.
For the next hour, he tried his hardest to watch the movie, but her scent drifted across his nose more times than he could count. She eventually removed the pins from her hair, shaking out the curls. He smiled to himself when she pulled her hair up into a sloppy bun. He really liked seeing her in her comfort.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Yes,” she sighed and kicked out the footrest on the recliner.
Booth didn’t mention how she’d taken his chair. As he continued to watch her from the corner of his eye, he and his beast realized they liked seeing her in his things. The recliner was the first. If he could get her in one of his slightly worn shirts, he honestly thought his life would be complete.
His panther growled in his head when he imagined the other unmated males scenting him on her when she wasn’t with him. Oh, his thoughts were beastly and even a bit dominant, but he didn’t give two fucks.
He adjusted his cock and tried to sit back and watch the movie. He was finally able to pay attention the last thirty minutes of the flick, and when it was over, he went to ask her if she wanted another drink, but the female was fast asleep in his chair.
A glance at the clock said it was nearing midnight. Instead of waking her up to take her home, he dug out an old quilt his late grandmother had made and carefully laid it over her body. He placed a throw pillow on the armrest and turned off the lights. His room was off the kitchen, and he couldn’t see his living room from his bed. Instead, he left his bedroom door open so he could hear her if she woke. With her scent in his nose, he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
Jade’s eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she wasn’t sure where she was, but her beast purred inside her head when she pulled the quilt up around her shoulders. His scent was everywhere: the quilt, the chair, the freaking air.
Booth Woods surrounded her in every way. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize she was in his home. Once her brain started to function a little more, she remembered the night before. Thankfully, he’d brought her back to the pride’s land, and they settled on watching a movie at his place.
It wasn’t that she was having a terrible time with him. No, it was the exact opposite. She didn’t want the night to end. He’d admitted he thought she looked amazing, but preferred her in her workout clothes. When she had finally removed the pins from her hair, she heard his beast rumbling from his spot on the couch. He didn’t apologize for the panther’s behavior, and she was glad he hadn’t.
As tough as she liked to be, she liked how he still looked at her as a sexy female. It made her body heat, and the beast inside her sat up with need. Sitting here all day, sniffing his quilt, wasn’t going to make things better either. She already felt wetness between her legs, and if she didn’t get control of her hormones, she’d march herself into his bedroom and beg him to mount her.
At that point, they both knew they were mates. Their beasts were clawing at their human sides to touch each other, but they still hadn’t done it. Why? She’d hoped it was because he wanted to get to know her better. Just as she wanted the same.
“Good morning,” he drawled, bringing her attention to the large male exiting the kitchen. He was shirtless, and his chest was rippled with muscles. The only tattoo on his chest was a heart and it flexed as his eyes explored her body regardless of the quilt that covered her. Booth had a way of undressing her with his eyes, and she wasn’t sure he was aware he did it. “How do you like your coffee?”
“Cream and two sugars, please,” she yawned. “What time is it?”
“Just after six,” he replied as he turned the corner. She heard him rummaging through the cabinets. The tinkling of a spoon being stirred in the ceramic cup was next. He wasn’t gone more than a minute when he returned with her cup, setting it on the end table. “You missed your workout.”
“The girls weren’t going to train today anyway,” she shrugged. “They told me to sleep in.” She tried to hide the blush, but couldn’
t.
“They thought we’d touch last night?” he asked, leaning back into the couch. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt, and she tried to keep her eyes locked with his, but his abs were just too tempting. Oh, how she’d love to trace them with her tongue.
“Yeah, they didn’t come right out and say it, but I’m sure they were thinking we would.”
“We should talk about that,” he announced.
“I’m conflicted, Booth,” she admitted, closing her eyes as the steam from her coffee drifted into her face. She couldn’t look at him just yet.
“Conflicted, how?” he asked as he leaned forward. Jade’s eyes popped wide when she sensed him moving closer. He wasn’t so close to touch, but he did move close enough for them to have an intimate conversation with the connection.
“I still want to know why my father and old alpha showed up at the bar here in town,” she began, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “I understand why females can’t be Guardians, but I still don’t like it. Lastly, I’m really not mate material.”
“Not mate material?” He frowned. “What gave you that idea?”
“Look at me,” she scoffed, waving her hand to indicate her body. When he continued to frown, she threw the quilt off and did it again.
“I am looking at you, Jade,” he replied, his eyes flashing amber. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful female in my life.”
“I’m tough,” she reminded him. “I’m not soft, not by any means. I would rather be sweaty and fight all day than have my hair and nails done.” Ugh, the reminder of her nails had her looking at the purple paint on her toes. Okay, maybe that could stay.
“I wouldn’t know how soft you are, because I haven’t had the honor of touching you,” he responded, setting his coffee cup on the end table next to hers. He stood from his seat and dropped to one knee in front of her. She didn’t dare move. She didn’t even breathe, afraid of touching him. If they were going to touch, this was not how she wanted it.
“I’m not entirely softless,” she snorted. “Is that even a word?”
Booth (Rise of the Pride, Book 9) Page 9
