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  It was time to end their first date, even though he didn’t want to go. Not now. But he had to.

  Reluctantly, he caught her fingers and stilled her movements, ending their kisses.

  “I’ve got to go,” he said, hating every word, but knowing it was the right thing. For now. “But I want to see you again. Are we still on for tomorrow? My place? I’ll pick you up.”

  He held her hands gently between his own, raising them to place little kisses on her fingertips. He couldn’t help himself. If she was near, he wanted to touch her. To kiss her.

  A bang came from downstairs, loud enough for Ashley to hear.

  “Damn, it must be later than I realized,” she said, blushing prettily now that the dazed confusion was slowly leaving her gaze. He liked that he’d put that dreamy expression on her face. “Tina’s downstairs.”

  “I know.” He kissed her knuckles gently. “That’s why I stopped us from going any further.”

  She blushed even more. Tom could see it in the faint light. His night vision was pretty good. And her response made him want to cuddle her.

  “I’m glad one of us kept a level head,” she muttered as she allowed him to hug her against his chest. Her head fit nicely into the crook of his neck, as if made to belong there. To belong to him, and him alone.

  “I will always protect you, Ashley. In every situation. It’s part of my instincts. Hard-wired, if you will.” He rubbed his hand down her arm from shoulder to wrist and back again in soothing motions. He loved touching her.

  “You know, that could sound stalker-ish, but I find it comforting. I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer than just a day.” Her words slipped quietly into the evening breeze, and straight into his heart.

  “I feel the same way, honey. Sometimes it happens like that for my kind. Courtships can be a bit…accelerated. But I give you my word, I will try my best not rush you.”

  She eased from his arms and sat on the bench next to him, then she met his gaze. “Is that what we’re doing? Beginning a courtship?”

  Tom took a deep breath, gathering his courage before answering. “I’d like to think so. If you’re okay with that. We call it the mating dance.”

  She looked out over the cove, then up at the stars before answering. “Yeah, I think I’m okay with it. I like you, Tom. That’s a good first step.”

  She stood and walked to the table, gathering the plates and putting them in a plastic caddy she’d had stowed to one side. He helped her clean up, prolonging the moments he had with her, but it didn’t take long to put the roof garden back to rights.

  Together, they went back down into the apartment after shutting off the little lights on the roof. Tina was nowhere in evidence, but they both knew she was somewhere in the apartment. They dropped the dishes off near the sink, and Ashley motioned for him to follow her down the stairs that led into the bakery.

  He kissed her again—a long, lingering but all-too-chaste kiss—in the door of the closed bakery, and then, he left, heading for home. They’d made a start. And for that, Tom sent a little prayer of thanks heavenward to the Mother of All.

  He wasn’t one hundred percent sure yet, but he had a good feeling that Ashley Baker might just be his mate.

  Chapter Six

  Tom couldn’t stay away. After a mostly sleepless night, he found himself at the bakery bright and early, when only Ashley was there. She welcomed him with a smile, and they shared a quiet breakfast while her bread baked.

  They even went outside to watch the sunrise and to feed Gus, the seagull. Little things that were becoming rituals after only two days with her. Tom wanted to spend every moment with Ashley, but he couldn’t. For one thing, he had promised John he would work on some permits from the state today. For another, he had to prepare for their date. He’d promised to cook for her, and he had to get some supplies and clean his house a bit.

  He left her as the morning customers started coming in and her sister joined her behind the counter. He didn’t try to kiss her. Not in public. Not with their relationship so new. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, but he was definitely making plans for kissing her—and whatever else she would allow him to do—at his place tonight.

  He couldn’t wait.

  By the time dinner rolled around, Asheley was a nervous wreck. She’d showered and primped, shaving and putting lotion on every part of her skin she could reasonably reach. She’d given herself a mani/pedi and spent almost an hour on her hair.

  The entire contents of her wardrobe was strewn all over her room again, but that seemed to be the norm now for preparing for a date with Tom. He’d left her at the bakery this morning, and she’d practically waltzed through the rest of her shift, her feet barely touching the ground.

  It had been a long time since the mere prospect of a date with a man had made her that happy, and she intended to savor it. Almost as much as she intended to jump his bones tonight if the opportunity arose.

  Tom drove up to the bakery and parked in front. He was driving a Jeep with the top down and looked absolutely scrumptious. Ashley stood in front of the display case, fighting the urge to step up to the door. It wouldn’t do to let him see how eager she was, would it?

  Tina came up beside her, folding her arms as she leaned against the case beside Ashley. The bakery was quiet for the moment, though a few of the locals were sitting outside at one of the tables they’d been able to set up on the sidewalk in front of the shop. They all seemed to stop and look when Tom pulled up.

  Ashley noticed the way the men greeted Tom with nods of respect, but Tom didn’t stop to chat. He had a rather intense look on his face that matched the way Ashley was feeling.

  “He looks good enough to eat,” Tina commented as they both watched Tom walk toward the door.

  “Hush,” Ashley chastised her sister.

  “Well, he does,” Tina protested. “I’m just sayin’…”

  Thankfully, Tina didn’t say anything more as Tom opened the door and the bell over it jangled. He strode in, and Ashley’s mouth went dry. He really was the most handsome man she’d ever seen in person. Certainly the nicest—both in looks and personality—she’d ever been on a date with.

  Tom walked right up to her, a smile stretching his face. “Hi,” he said, meeting and holding her gaze.

  “Hi,” Ashley replied in a breathy tone.

  “Well,” Tina’s loud voice intruded on the moment. “It’s good to see you again, counselor.”

  “Good to see you too, Tina.” Tom seemed to have trouble tearing his gaze away from Ash to acknowledge Tina’s greeting.

  Tina chuckled and flounced away, clearly amused at them, but Ashley was just glad to see her go.

  “Are you ready to go?” Tom asked.

  “Yeah, just let me grab one thing,” Ashley turned around to find Tina standing behind her, holding up the box of pastries she’d put together earlier.

  She and Tom walked out together, Tina snickering behind them, but Ashley didn’t care. She felt like Cinderella being picked up by Prince Charming, in the pumpkin coach, heading for the ball.

  The locals at the table outside gave them speculative looks as they passed but didn’t say anything. Ashley wasn’t sure what they thought about another of their kind dating a human, but so far, the response to Brody and Nell’s relationship had been mostly positive.

  Tom helped her hop into the vehicle then jogged around to the driver’s side and got in. Within moments, they had left the small Main Street behind and were out on the back roads that led around the side of the cove.

  Tom’s home was set a short distance from the shore, on a high point in the terrain that would afford some protection if the tide rose during a storm or something. It was a beautiful structure, with numerous tall windows that probably let in lots of light during the day. As it was, in the early evening twilight, Ashley got to see the beautiful views Tom had of the cove as the sun set in the west, turning the waters all sorts of vibrant colors.

  “This place is ju
st lovely,” Ashley complimented his home as they walked in, and she got a good look at the floor-to-ceiling windows that showcased the natural beauty of the cove.

  “Thanks. I designed it around the views, and my studio is all about the light.” He led the way around, showing her each of the rooms on the main floor. The house had a mostly open floor plan, so the tour didn’t take very long.

  She was impressed by everything she saw, but when he led the way into his studio, her breath caught.

  On an easel in the center of the room was a massive canvas that looked nearly finished. It was a view of the cove at sunset with the vibrant colors of the dying sun reflected off tempestuous waves. The piece spoke of the power of nature and the majesty of their surroundings. Its subject matter was rugged, and yet, the painting was refined in its technique. It was a masterpiece.

  “Oh, wow. Tom, this is brilliant.” She moved into the room, drawn by the beauty of the image.

  “John asked me to do something for the new town hall he’s building. This will hang across from the front entrance, so you see it when you walk in.”

  “It’s magnificent.” She stood, just admiring the big canvas for a while. “It looks alive. I can almost feel the motion of the waves.” She looked at Tom. “You’re really talented.”

  He seemed almost uncomfortable with her praise but gave her a gruff thank you before bringing her attention to the skylights he’d installed. He also pointed out the array of windows that he claimed brought in all kinds of light during different parts of the day. Light, apparently, was very significant to painters, which Ashley had known in a sort of abstract way but was becoming much more educated about as he expounded on the virtues and drawbacks of the light at different times of the day.

  She saw a few more of his canvases, propped up around the room. Several were drying, he said, in preparation for being moved to the gallery in town. And a few more were being held aside for a showing at one of the exclusive little galleries in Portland.

  “We had the gallery owner come through town on his way back from a fishing trip, and he asked several of us to exhibit,” Tom told her, downplaying his part in the event.

  “I heard about it from Lyn. And Nell sent the guy off with a box full of pastries. He talked to her the whole time he was in the bakery about the art in the town. He was really enthusiastic, she said.” Ashley remembered the incident, which had happened just after the bakery was finally up and running smoothly, about a month after they’d moved to town.

  They talked about the upcoming show and their reluctance to draw too much attention to the town. John had finally agreed to the showing as long as the gallery owner kept silent about where the artists lived. John was willing to entertain the occasional tourist in their new community, but they didn’t want to attract people who might want to take up permanent residence—or worse, reporters wanting to do a story about where the artists lived.

  Tom and several of the others were going to drive down to Portland for the opening, and they would make sure nobody asked too many questions about where they came from. The gallery owner would rake in his commissions, as long as he kept mum about where he’d found the art. At least until the town was better established and they’d gained experience dealing with humans and hiding in plain sight as a group.

  “Are we ready for dinner?” Tom asked as his short tour came to an end.

  He’d led her onto the patio, off to one side of the house. It was screened by the forest in back, the house on the right, but most of the left side, and the entire front, faced the water. Again, the view was breathtaking.

  “How far are you from town? Less than a mile or so, right?” Ashley asked, to make conversation as he busied himself starting the enormous grill.

  “Just under a mile. I wanted this view in particular, so when we were figuring out who would live where, the guys let me have it. Most of them wanted to be farther into the forest, anyway, but a few of us like the water more than others.” He looked up and pointed to the left, farther up the cove toward the ocean. “Drew lives next door that way. You can usually see his boat at the little dock he built, but I guess he’s out late tonight. Sometimes, he stays out on the water fishing for days when the weather is nice. On the other side, back toward town, is Sven’s place. His home is practically right on the beach but well hidden. He’s a polar bear, so he loves the water, but John wanted him closer to the center of town because he’s our only doctor. The beach house was the compromise.”

  “You sound like you’ve all known each other a long time,” Ashley observed.

  “Yeah, we have. Most of us congregated around John when we served in the military. John’s always been more Alpha than any of us, and he was a great squad leader. The man has a strategic mind, and he thinks so far outside the box, you can’t even see the box from where he is. This whole artists’ colony concept was his idea. You should’ve heard the grumbling when he first proposed it, but he sold us on it, and here we are. It’s working. And I really think it will work for years to come. We can finally settle down, stop fighting our way across the globe, and start living.”

  “I had no idea you had served.” Ashley was impressed. She had a great respect for any person who gave of themselves to help protect others.

  “We don’t talk about it much. We’re retired. We’ve put all that behind us now. The squad was sick of combat by the end. We’d put in too many years fighting human wars in faraway lands. Plus, we had about reached our limit for fooling folks. See, shifters don’t age the same way you humans do. We live a lot longer.”

  “How much longer?” she asked quickly. “What about Nell and Brody? Is he going to stay young while she ages?”

  The stricken look on her face made him answer quickly. “No, honey. Don’t worry about your sister. She is Brody’s true mate. The magic that makes us able to shift will also make it so that they grow old together—and Brody’s rate of aging. So your sister has a very long, happy life ahead of her.” She still seemed skeptical. “As for how long that could be, well, Brody’s about my age now, so maybe another century or two. That’s about all we’ll get. We’re not immortal, like the fey or the bloodletters.”

  “Fey?” she repeated, looking stunned. “Bloodletters?”

  “Fey are about what you’d expect. Beings from another realm where magic is a way of life, not just an exception to the rule, like it is here. And bloodletters are what vampires like to be called. They usually don’t like the word undead, so I’d avoid that if you ever run into one.”

  “Vampires are real?” Ashley looked shocked. Adorably so. Then she shook her head. “What am I saying? I’m talking to a guy who can turn into a bear, for crying out loud.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tom thought, all in all, Ashley was taking everything rather well, but he definitely didn’t want to overwhelm her with new information about the world she was just coming to understand. There would be time for her to come to terms with it all. At least he hoped she would stay with him long enough for her to get comfortable with the truth about this brave new world she had stumbled into.

  Deciding a change of topic was in order, he led the way back into the house. The grill was warming up. It was time to bring out the meat.

  Ashley helped him retrieve the platters he’d stashed in the fridge the night before. He had marinated some steaks overnight, as well as a platter of chicken.

  “I wasn’t sure what you liked best, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a little variety,” he explained.

  “This is great. It all looks delicious.” She helped him carry things back outside, and they worked together as if they’d done so a million times before.

  Ashley was comfortable to be with, yet her mere presence stimulated his senses in ways that made him think of long-term togetherness and commitment. He’d never thought of such things before with any other female, which argued for the fact that she might just be his mate.

  He figured he’d know for sure after they made love. If his bear was
still on board the Ashley forever train after that, then there was no doubt about it. They were meant to be.

  There was a large round wooden table at the center of the patio, with a few cushioned chairs around it. Ashley set the table and arranged the condiments they’d brought out. She also poured the wine and brought him a glass as he stood over the grill.

  “To a lovely evening,” she said, raising her glass to chime with his.

  “To a lovely companion,” he echoed, holding her gaze as they sipped the wine. He’d pulled out one of the special bottles for this evening.

  Ashley’s eyes widened when she tasted the vintage. “Oh,” she exclaimed softly. “This is delicious.”

  “Remember those vampires I was telling you about?” Tom put his glass down so he could attend to the chicken, flipping it expertly with his tongs. “The only thing they can actually ingest is wine. It has healing properties for them, so they say. As a result, some of the best vintners in the world have been perfecting their craft for a few centuries, if you know what I mean.” He gave her an exaggerated wink that made her smile.

  He flicked on a small radio, and soft music spilled out. Setting her wine glass down, he took her into his arms and began dancing around the patio in a slow, swaying rhythm.

  “You like wine?” Ashley asked in a tone that was casual, but the question seemed important to her.

  “I do. You saw the wine fridge in the kitchen, right? I have a little bit of a wine cellar under construction right now. Every season, my colleague at the Maxwell winery sends me a few cases of their best.”

  “A colleague?”Ashley seemed intrigued. Tom liked that she was interested in his life.

  “Their lawyer is some kind of big cat shifter. I helped her out a few times after she graduated from law school, since there are only a few of us who are both shifters and attorneys. We all know each other, and help out where we can. This girl, though, she was practically raised by vampires. She doesn’t know much about shifters, but we worked together via email a time or two, and for that, her boss put me on the VIP list when he found out I truly appreciated his work. Maxwell’s is one of the finest wineries in the States, and Maxwell has been at his craft for a very long time.”