“I could tell you,” he began. “Maybe … over dinner?” Damn it, he’d tell her the story and endure talking more about those gross amphibians if she said yes. Oh God, let her say yes.
Her teeth worried at her lip. “I … I suppose that would be okay.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I—yes. But”—a frown marred her pretty face—“I can’t stay out late. I need to be asleep by ten or else I won’t be able to get up early for work.”
Now that would be a problem, because he didn’t get out until nine at night, but it wasn’t impossible to fix. “I’ll take care of it.” Damon would understand. After all, he was mated himself. “It might take a day or two. Can I call you and arrange it?”
She nodded, and he handed her his phone so she could type her number in. “I’ll call you right away.” Then he winced. “I also called locksmith on the way here to fix your lock by the way. It’ll be done by the time you’re home.”
“Thank you. I should get back to work now,” she said. “Um, so I’ll see you.”
“See you, Temperance.”
With a quick nod, she scampered back inside. He waited for one heartbeat before expelling a great big breath from his lungs. “Yes!” he exclaimed, as he high fived his lion. We did it, buddy!
His animal let out a howl of triumph. Mine.
“Um, not quite yet. But soon.” He’d take her out on a couple of dates, and once she was ready to hear it, tell her they were mates, and then they could bond.
The lion titled its head, as if asking, how?
“Huh.” He scratched his head. “I’m not sure.” But he could figure that out later, or maybe ask Damon about it.
Mine. His lion huffed impatiently. Mine.
He shook his head. “It’s not time yet,” he said aloud. If he couldn’t control his lion, they would scare her away, maybe for good.
Doubtful, his lion seemed to say as it rested its snout on its paws.
Gabriel snorted, then turned and began to walk toward his Jeep. “Trust me, buddy. We had a big win today.” His lion had always been impatient, but he hoped just for this once, it would trust him and let him set the pace. “She’s worth the wait.” That, at least, they seemed to agree on. Now, to get back to HQ and work out their scheduling problem.
As he predicted, Damon was more than happy to hear things were progressing with Temperance.
“Congrats, man.” Damon got up from behind his desk in his office at the Blackstone Rangers HQ and clapped him on the back. “Mates are a special thing, you know. Not all of us get a chance at meeting ours.”
“I know,” he said. “So … what do I do to make sure the mating bond forms?”
The chief’s dark brows drew together. “I don’t really know … I mean, for Anna Victoria and me, it just kind of happened. From what I’ve heard, it’s different for each couple. But I think when you’re both ready and open to accept it, you’ll feel the bond form into place.”
Gabriel scratched at his chin. That really didn’t help, but he knew Damon wouldn’t be holding out on him if he really did know the answer.
“You should spend time with her, get to know her,” Damon added. “And get her to know you. Your animal already knows Temperance is your mate, but she’ll need more convincing.”
Good thing Damon had brought that up first. “Speaking of which … I do have a little problem.” He briefly explained Temperance’s schedule. “Anything you can do? I’m scared she’s gonna get cold feet if I don’t act soon,” His lion paced, agitated at the thought. Don’t worry, buddy, he reassured his animal. We won’t let that happen.
Damon rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “My hands are tied scheduling-wise since I don’t want to be accused of favoritism. But, find someone to swap with, and I’ll approve it. Do what you need to do to win your mate over.”
“All right, I’ll ask around. Thanks, man.”
Of course, he thought finding someone to swap shifts for a couple of days would have been easy, but it was more challenging than he’d anticipated since Temperance worked odd hours, so he might have to get two people to split shifts with. If he couldn’t, that would mean he would have to take some unplanned vacations days—and he couldn’t do that to Damon, especially with his wedding and honeymoon coming up.
The first person he had in mind was Daniel Rogers, who was easily one of the nicest and easy-going guys on the team.
“Sorry, Gabe,” Daniel said when he asked him. “My parents just got into town for a visit, so I already have all evenings off. Maybe next week?”
His lion huffed brusquely. Next week would be too late, but he knew Rogers wouldn’t have said no if it were possible. No one else he approached could do it either because they already had prior commitments or didn’t have the hours he wanted off. There was only one person he hadn’t asked yet, but he was absolutely Gabriel’s last resort.
“Hey, Anders,” he greeted the tiger shifter in the locker room. “Can we talk?”
Anders Stevens was flexing and admiring himself in the mirrors, completely unruffled by the fact that he was buck naked. Of course, shifters tended not to be self-conscious about nudity, though Stevens seemed to enjoy literally swinging his dick around for fun.
Anders put on a big smile and planted his hands on his hip. “Russel. Glad you finally came to see me.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. Heard you were trying to swap your hours for the next couple of days. Do you have something important going on?” He placed his hands over his heart in a mock gesture of shock. “Frankly, I’m hurt you didn’t ask me first.”
That’s because he knew he was going to pay through the nose for any favor from Anders. The man was an asshole. A lovable
