Chapter 3
Dare wasn’t nervous by nature. He’d been on dozens of dates through the app and had never felt the nerves that he was tonight.
Maybe it was because he felt like a lot was riding on how things went.
He’d said he would delete the app, and that meant he was giving up on finding his truemate until she fell into his lap through some twist of fate.
Maybe he wasn’t going to get a truemate. Maybe all the bad dates were just the universe’s way of telling him his heart and bed were always going to be empty.
Shit, he was depressing himself.
Although Trick was covering the bar for him while he waited for his date to show up, Dare was still behind the bar, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and wiping down the counter even though it was clean.
The main room was full thanks to Sigh’s burger of the week, ridiculously named in Dare’s honor. It was a damn good burger, though.
Something stirred in him suddenly, his wolf on alert.
But it wasn’t danger that walked through the door.
It was a female. And he knew the moment he met her gaze that she was not only his blind date, but his truemate.
His wolf lurched in him with a happy howl, and he gripped the towel so hard his knuckles cracked while he resisted the urge to leap over the bar and run to her.
Damn, she was beautiful.
He lifted the pass and moved through, walking across the main room to the door.
“Audrey? I’m Dare.”
She blinked beautiful jade-green eyes at him. “Dare?”
“It’s Darrin, but my pack calls me Dare.”
“That’s a pretty cool nickname.”
Trick snorted and then tried to cover it with a cough. Dare shot him a glare.
“I saved a table for us since it was starting to get busy.”
He led her to a table with a view of the deck. He wished it was open so they could have eaten outside, but the view was still nice.
They sat at the table, and Tara, the server, hustled over with menus and took their drink orders. They both looked over the menu. When Tara returned with their drinks, they both ordered the burger of the week.
He just knew that Juliette was going to say this was proof the burgers of the week were magic.
He was beginning to think she might be right.
While they waited for their food, Audrey asked about the pack and the tavern, and he asked about her job and family.
She asked questions like she wasn’t prying or looking for details about him being a shifter. He didn’t feel like a novelty.
Sigh appeared with the burgers and smiled. “Hello, Audrey. I’m the most creative brother, Sigh. My mate Juliette and I hope you enjoy the burger.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet, thank you.”
“Enjoy,” Sigh said, then grinned at Dare before heading back to the kitchen.
“Okay, so I have to ask,” Audrey said as she picked up a fry.
“Anything.”
“What does mate mean? Is it like marriage? I know next to nothing about shifters and I don’t want you to think I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot. It’s like marriage, but it’s more binding to our wolves. Mating means the shifter has marked his mate with his fangs in her neck, and that’s as close as two people can get. It’s ancient. Wedding vows with teeth.”
“Sounds like a wedding band that can’t be taken off.”
“Exactly.”
“Your brother came to check me out?” she asked.
“It seems so. My other brother Trick is behind the bar covering for me. He’s also been paying attention.”
She let her gaze slip to the bar where Trick lifted his hand in greeting because he’d clearly been eavesdropping. She giggled and Dare loved the sound.
They talked while they ate, about various things.
The sort of surface topics that people talked about on first dates.
But underneath all the chatting about jobs and families and friends, was a hum of heat that was steadily growing.
He noticed everything about her. The way her fingers curved around the glass, her thumb rubbing up and down.
The way she smiled at him and her eyes crinkled at the corners.
The way she sucked in a quick breath when their hands touched reaching for the saltshaker for the fries.
He wanted to touch her more.
Explore her curves with his fingers and tongue, until he was drunk on what he was certain would be the intoxicating taste of her. He’d never been so singularly attracted to a female before, and he knew it was because he’d never been in the presence of his mate.
It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, it was that every cell in his body was attuned to her now. She was his sun, the center of his world, and they’d just met.
When the table had been cleared, they spent the better part of an hour trading questions about their lives. Dare didn’t want the evening to end. He’d never been so enchanted by a female before.
But she was human. What was she feeling?
“Would you like to check out the deck? It’s not opening to the public until the first Friday in June, when we’re starting our summer concert series on the weekends.”
“Sure,” she said.
He took her hand and led her out to the deck, closing the door behind them so no one followed.
“Oh, it’s beautiful out here,” she said, stopping at the railing and looking out over the river.
The night was cool but not cold, the afternoon heat slipping away once the sun set. The moonlight rippled on the river’s lazy current below, and the sounds of the tavern and the town across the river were a low hum around them.
He leaned against the railing, watching her and not the scenery.
She seemed to know he was watching her, because he caught the subtle scent of her arousal, and saw her skin slightly darken on her neck from blushing.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said, her voice low and soft.
“I’m glad you came.”
“So am I.”
Silence stretched between them, their gazes locked, their bodies close but not touching.
She moved a little closer.
He moved a little closer.
Now they were nearly touching, but not quite.
“I don’t usually do this,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Feel so connected to someone I just met.” Her head tilted slightly. “I can’t figure it out, but I’m wildly attracted to you. And I don’t even feel a little weird about saying that out loud.”
His heart kicked hard in his chest. She felt the connection! Even if she didn’t get it, she felt it.
He closed the distance between them, slipping his free hand to her lower back and drawing her against him. “I feel it, too, Audrey. You’re gorgeous, and I feel like I’ve known you for a long time, not just a couple hours.”
Her lips parted and that was all the invitation he needed. He leaned down and kissed her.
The moment their lips touched, his wolf howled in his head. Audrey made a soft sound in her throat and curled her hand into his shirt. He kept the kiss gentle, but then she stroked her tongue against his, and his plan to keep things PG while they were on the deck in public went out the window.
He pivoted so her back was to the railing and she was blocked from view inside the tavern, and he kissed her back with all the feelings he could muster.
Her body was perfectly curved to fit against him.
She was human. She was his.
Mine.
He eased from the kiss, drunk on the sweet taste of her, his body strung tight.
“We should stop,” he said, his voice rough, his wolf howling in dismay.
Her fingers twisted in his shirt. “Do you want to?”
“No.” He answered so fast she let out a little chuckle.
“I don’t want to either.” She went onto her toes and brushed her lips over his. “I don’t do this. I don’t kiss guys I just met or make suggestions for where the night might go, but part of me – a big part – feels like if I leave now, I’m going to regret it.”
He inhaled, picking up the scent of her arousal, warm and sweet.
“I live behind the tavern.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“It can be, Audrey. I’d like it to be. But only if you want to.”
“I do,” she said.
“Then come with me,” he said.
She nodded and took his offered hand. He led her from the deck through the main room and out the back.
Dare had swiped right on a whim, finding her photo enchanting but not expecting anything to come of it.
But now he was leading his mate home.
Maybe the burgers really were magic.