She choked on her water.
Once she caught her breath though, she wanted to scold him. Instead, the intensity of his gaze made her stop. She shivered as he licked his lips and her panties were suddenly wet.
A chair clattered, and she glanced over to Tan.
“Who do you think you are? She is my fiancé. You do not talk to her like that.”
Aisha almost told him to shut up. Instead, she looked him dead in the eyes.
“Look, Tan. You’re a nice guy. I value your friendship, but maybe we aren’t really a good match? I meant to talk to you about that tonight. I mean, before he decided to-”
Decided to what? She didn’t want to say crash the date, because secretly she actually didn’t mind. Sort of. Aisha had been losing sleep over this conversation with Tan. Was it really the right thing to do? Would her father approve? Was she just being ridiculous?
Tan’s mouth opened, but Deo’s voice is what she heard.
“Perhaps we should find him a mate as well?”
Both Aisha and Tan turned to look at him.
“What?” she asked, trying to hide the surprise in her voice.
Deo shrugged. “You seem to worry that this male is alone. Perhaps we find him a mate as well.”
Tan still hadn’t spoken yet, and Aisha honestly wasn’t sure how to react.
Was he for real? It wasn’t a horrible plan, really. Or was it? Was she committed to letting her dad’s last wish die with him? Just because she wanted to end things, didn’t mean she actually ever really would. That was the bigger issue. If she didn’t ever actually follow through on ending the agreement, she’d just let Tan talk her back into whatever because she was so emotionally tired.
Glancing at Deo, she figured maybe if he tried and succeeded then it wouldn’t be on her.
“You mean a girlfriend? Humans don’t mate, Deo,” she said.
The longer she thought about it, the more she liked this plan. Why hadn’t she thought about that, hire someone to find Tan his soulmate or well, anyone really? It would get rid of the guilt of not wanting him. Also, maybe he’d find someone who would make him happy.
A heaviness sat in her chest. The agreement had been that she wouldn’t be alone. But Deo had said he was offering himself. That counted, right? And it wasn’t like Deo seemed to mind she was emotionally unavailable.
Emotionally unavailable yes, but dang it if her body wasn’t vibrating with energy every time Deo was around. That screamed she most definitely wouldn’t be alone if he had any say in it.
“I already had her father find me someone, she’s right there. Why would you do any better?” Tan said, pointing at Aisha.
Aisha squirmed under Deo’s attention.
“I do not claim to be better at anything, but she is wrong for you. I believe that if one is open, listens to his soul, his mate will find him. Just as Aisha has,” Deo said, never turning his attention away from her.
There were literally so many things wrong with this moment she didn’t know where to start. Looking between the two, she started with Deo.
Her mind was at odds with her heart, and the fact was her libido didn’t care about either of them.
Tan stomped his foot like a toddler. That didn’t help his case. His brotherly appeal went up while husbandly appeal pretty much just fell off a cliff headfirst and started on fire.
“Tan, I. Uh. Why don’t I walk you home and then I’ll talk with Deo later? Okay?”
Deo scowled, but she ignored it. Or she tried to. Was he growling?
“I will walk this male home, you will not be alone with him,” scolded Deo.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to envision this going worse. Did she tell him how weird that sounded? Did she argue about him taking away her freedom to walk with someone she’d walked with before?
He reached across the table, his hand resting on her free one.
Maybe she should start by telling him to remove his hand before she came in public? No, probably not that one.
“Deo…” she hung her head. “Never mind. Let’s go.”
Aisha got up and walked to the doors and if the men followed, then whatever. She didn’t care. Aisha didn’t need the guilt of Tan, and she didn’t need the distraction of Deo.
The heat of the late day sun hit her face as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. Aisha could practically feel Deo’s gaze burning a hole in her back. She turned around to wait for them and stepped into the wall of Deo. Breathing in, she instantly wanted to bury her face in his shirt more. Deo had followed because of course he had, and he hadn’t left much space between them either.
“Have you ever heard the phrase personal space?”
A stoic stare looked down at her. Right. Dragon shifter or something.
Maybe they weren’t around people much. With looks like his, he probably had to fight off mobs of women. So, maybe he just didn’t care.
A small piece of her was beginning to believe his crazy story. He talked strangely; he said human instead of person a lot, and he wasn’t like any shifter she’d ever met before.
She started to walk down the street, trying to decide how she really felt about Deo. Maybe she was blinded by his charm. Good-looking only got you so far if you were really bat shit crazy. Only, she wasn’t sure he was.
There was something more. Aisha thought back to a few days ago, remembering what he’d been like. Different from this possessive man in front of her.
The way he’d run into her office, nearly begging to know what kind of chemistry she specialized in. He’d looked half crazed with desperation, or well as much as his stone exterior ever looked crazed. He didn’t have many facial expressions, or maybe there just wasn’t much that got to him. His eyes, though. His eyes said everything, and all she had to know was what to look for.
This had all started when he’d
