“Well,” she replied, “he was the cutest, and I didn’t really feel like getting the blowup hammer.”
“Tigers are ferocious, not cute,” he said.
Mel laughed. “How would you know? Last I checked, there weren’t many tigers prowling the Texas wilderness.”
Dallas opened his mouth to respond, then closed it slowly like he wasn’t sure to say, then just shrugged.
At that moment, however, her stomach growled loudly. She hadn’t had dinner yet. Oops.
He frowned at the sound and looked around frantically before his eyes fell on a pretzel cart, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to it.
“I’m fine, really, Dallas,” she tried to explain. But he would not be deterred.
He ordered two steaming hot pretzels. When he got them, he handed them both to her and nodded expectantly.
“Oh, no,” Mel replied, shaking her head. “I’m not eating both of these in front of you. Take one.” She held it up to him, but he just stared obstinately, folding his arms. “I’m not eating until you take one.”
Realizing he couldn’t win, he harrumphed and took one of the pretzels from her. But he didn’t eat it. Instead, he nodded again, so she took a bite.
Oh man, was it delicious. Soft and salty and exactly what she needed at the moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dallas pay for two drinks, then take them from the cashier.
He looked content now that she was eating. He was so funny sometimes.
The sun was beginning to set as they meandered down the lane, enjoying their food. They cut a wide berth through the crowd, probably because Dallas was growling at nearly everyone that came close to them.
She loved that he was so protective of her. He really was her ideal man in every way. As they walked past a family with a few small kids, Mel was hit with an image.
Mel and Dallas settling down and making a life out here, having a few kids, and spending the rest of their days playing, laughing, and loving together.
It was a beautiful image. She couldn’t think of a more perfect future.
After a few minutes of wandering around, he pulled her over to the Ferris wheel, and they got on, squishing into the ride. Dallas was far too big for one of these, but Mel didn’t mind. She liked being close to him.
He held her tiger with one hand but draped the other over her shoulders, pulling her close as she cuddled into him.
When they got to the top, the wheel shifted to a stop, giving them a breathtaking view of the glowing horizon and the sun as it waved good-bye for the night.
The perfect moment with the perfect man. She reached up and touched her lips to his for a second, then pulled back and held a hand to his face.
“Dallas, I’ve been thinking,” she said.
He eyed her curiously.
Mel took a deep breath. “I-I’ve never felt this way about someone. I’m not sure how all of this will pan out, but I want to give this a try. Us, a relationship. I want it. With you.”
She paused. Maybe there was a small station she could work at out here. Or, if there wasn’t, she could give it up and become a cowgirl. Not yet, of course, not while they were still trying to figure everything out.
At this point, it wasn’t even about the story anymore. It was just about finding the truth.
And the truth was that she wanted him in her life.
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I want you too, always. No one else, just you and me.”
She nodded. “Just you and me.”
They shared another kiss as the Ferris wheel started moving again, carrying them back down toward the ground.
Even when her feet hit the ground and they got off the ride, it still felt like she was in the clouds.
They were together. It was almost all too perfect to believe.
As they exited the ride, however, she got the odd feeling that she was being watched. She got that a lot these days, but right now, it was especially strong.
As Dallas was opening her water bottle for her, she looked around, her eyes catching a familiar tattooed figure watching from the shadows behind one of the booths.
He looked just as intimidating as before, but for some reason, she couldn’t make out the colors of his eyes.
When she turned back to Dallas, his eyes were wide, his gaze questioning as he held the bottle out to her.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “I just need to use the restroom.”
He nodded understandingly, and together they made their way across the carnival.
When Mel looked back, the tattooed man was gone.
17
Dallas patiently waited outside, just taking in the scenes of the fairground and the multitude of things that came with it, ready to be back with Mel as soon as she came back out.
He was having the time of his life. More fun than he’d ever had before even in spite of himself and the fact that he never, ever went to places that were crowded with people like this.
But being with Mel, he was starting to let go of his reservations. Just seeing her live life to the fullest made him want to come along with her. To get caught up in her sense of adventure.
One of many things he loved about her.
But even as families bustled nearby and couples walked hand in hand, oblivious to the world of shifters around them, there was that hint of something on the wind he’d been picking up off and on all week.
Where was it from?
Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He could feel their body heat come closer, could hear something being pulled from a pocket even as whoever it was had the ability to move so noiselessly it could only be—
Dallas whirled around, drawing the Bowie knife he kept tucked into his jacket just as the person reached him.
In the exact same moment, there
