A mole would’ve been better.
The conversation between them flowed as easily as it had last night, and she looked right at home here.
He never wanted her to leave.
Which meant telling her about fated mates…
Where on Earth was he supposed to start?
6. Madison
She’d felt a little ridiculous when she’d knocked on Simon’s door. A beautiful dress paired with hiking boots? But when he opened the door, she was sure he’d never even noticed those boots, or the hiking socks she still wore.
His house was wonderful, and the kitchen looked out at the backyard where the sun was setting, casting the sky in a warm, orange glow. It was perfect.
And the meal was delicious. She’d half-expected him to buy a frozen meal from the store and pop that in the oven, but it was obvious at first bite that he’d cooked this himself.
A hot guy with a great house, who could cook, and looked at her like she was dessert? That did not happen to her.
And yet the evidence was undeniable.
She caught him looking away now and then, or a worried frown on his face before smiling and asking if she wanted more water or something else.
She took a sip of wine. First she thought he was nervous about her liking the meal, but even after several compliments, Simon remained on edge.
There were plenty of things for him to worry about. How everyone would take her presence here, for one.
“Do you think any of your neighbors worry that I’m gonna do some evil experiment on you?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
He laughed. “Maybe! Little do they know I’m the one who prepared an experiment instead.”
The tension in his face eased. Maybe he was just nervous about the date? “Well, good research means you have to repeat experiments to double-check that you’re right.” And she was definitely willing to eat s’mores for science.
“We can double-check as much as you like.” He gestured at the graham crackers and bag of marshmallows on the counter. But then the easy smile on his face faded as he turned to her again. “Although… sometimes you don’t need to double-check to know you’re right about something.” He glanced at her, then looked down at his empty plate.
She didn’t know what he was getting at. “Like a strong hunch?”
He sipped his wine, still holding the glass after he put it down. “Something stronger than a hunch. Much stronger.”
“Okay, like what?” Whatever it was, it was what made him so nervous. She wanted to reassure him, but couldn’t if she didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Like… when you look at someone and you just know.” His eyes met hers, and he looked both scared and hopeful.
If he was talking about love at first sight, her brain scoffed at the idea as her heart melted. “Know what?” she managed, meeting his intense gaze.
“That you’re destined to be together forever.”
Her breath caught. Part of her wanted to insist it wasn’t possible. But he looked so sincere and a few days ago she’d have insisted people couldn’t turn into birds. “Is that something you can know just from looking at someone?” Or was believing in that setting yourself up for disappointment?
“Some people can. If you have excellent sight.” He looked at her expectantly. “Which shifters have, and not just while we’re shifted.”
Hawks were known for their extraordinary sight. “You’re saying that you…” She felt silly even saying it. The idea that destiny and love at first sight were real sounded ridiculous. But she’d become a scientist to discover how things worked. Maybe love at first sight could be one of those things. “That you looked at me and knew we were meant to be?”
“We call it fated mates.” He took a sip of wine. “I did it by looking. It depends which of your senses is best. You look or hear or smell each other. And you know.”
He talked as if this happened to people every day. “And it never goes wrong?”
“Of course not.” He sounded shocked by the suggestion. “You’re together for life. There for each other, through thick and thin. You can’t leave your fated mate.”
Which explained a lot about how happy he’d been to hang out with her last night.
And why she’d been thinking about him all day.
“So does it work both ways?” she asked. “Because when I look at you, I don’t think ‘yep, that’s my fated mate’.”
He leaned closer. “True, but you’re probably thinking plenty of other things.” His smile turned suggestive. “Things you might not always immediately think about men you’ve just met?”
Her cheeks reddened and she finished her wine. It didn’t help with feeling flustered. “No comment.”
“Hm-mm.” He reached out to take her hand. Heat shot right through her. “But I’m right. I know you don’t know it like I do, but there’s a part of you that does.”
There was definitely a part of her that knew how hot and attractive Simon was. But that was not the part that determined whether she had a future with someone. That took more than immediate physical attraction. “We just met.”
He smiled, his dark eyes warm as he looked at her. His thumb ran across the back of her hand. That simple touch sent a shiver down her spine. “True.”
She wished she could feel as certain as he did, but she didn’t have his shifter senses. “I don’t—I can’t. Not like you,” she said at last. “I mean, yes, I’m attracted to you, but that doesn’t prove anything, and anyway, what if you snore or I have habits you find annoying? You don’t even know me!”
“That’s true,” he admitted. “We barely know each other, and we probably have annoying habits. But we can deal with them. Being fated mates doesn’t mean you’re happy with each other all the time. It means that when it gets difficult, you get through it together.
