Dane had bought her a ring. He had actually gone out, bought her a ring, and proposed. Holy shit, Batman. Dane Abbott proposed to her! Marley had never been so nervous, or proud, in her life. Being there at Chez Vaison with Dane was like a dream come true. If she didn’t have the ring on her finger to prove he had been serious about them being together, she would’ve felt like Cinderella, all dressed up pretending to be something she wasn’t. Not that she was opposed to getting dressed up every now and then. She didn’t miss the way Dane’s eyes lit up when she opened the door. She only hoped he didn’t expect her to be that pretty every day.

She couldn’t help but notice the heads that turned Dane’s way as he strode away from the table. Women blatantly followed him with their eyes, and most turned her way to see who had snagged the handsome blond god. As she studied the opulent setting surrounding her, Marley’s insides tingled when she thought about what kind of night lay ahead of them. Not only were they going to finally have sex, but Dane was going to bite her and seal the mate bond. Marley shivered at the thought of his sharp fangs digging into her skin. She couldn’t say she wasn’t excited about it.

Not counting going to Dane’s house and chilling, this was the first real date she’d been on in a while, and she did her best to tamp down her nerves so she could enjoy herself. The last time she’d dressed up and gone out had been with Brandt. Marley refused to think about her ex-fiancé. He wasn’t worth a thought. The bastard had tried to change Marley. Make her into something she wasn’t. Marley was a simple girl with simple needs. She wasn’t book smart and had hated high school. The idea of torturing herself with four more years of school by going to college made her break out in a cold sweat. She was content working as a waitress. Someone had to do it, so why not her? She enjoyed her mornings at the diner, especially now that Dane was there every day for his latte. Would he expect her to quit working now that they were engaged? He said he had plenty of money—

“Marley?”

No fricking way. Looking over her shoulder, Marley sighed as she assumed thinking of her ex somehow conjured him into being. His voice cutting through warm thoughts of Dane was akin to a bucket of ice water putting out a fire.

“Hello, Brandt.” Her ex-boyfriend was still nice looking, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Dane. Where her fiancé was tall and muscular, Brandt was on the shorter side and lean. He had never worked out as far as she knew, and it didn’t appear he’d taken up the hobby in the two years they’d been apart.

“Look at you,” he beamed. “It seems like you took my advice after all.” Brandt pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, turning so he could rake in her whole body. “You’ve overdone the make-up a bit, and red really isn’t a good color for your lips, but at least you’re trying.” He reached out and grabbed the hand closest to him, cradling it in his lap.

“What do you want besides critiquing my fashion sense?” Marley asked, trembling. Damn him for making her feel the way he used to. Every time he came to visit from college, he spent the weekend giving Marley advice on not only how to dress but also how to change her southern twang so she wouldn’t sound like a bumpkin. The boy she fell in love with as a teen changed the older he got. Brandt had scoffed at the small house she and Cammie rented, which, for him, was somewhat hypocritical. He had grown up in a similar house and was given everything he needed by his parents, the same as Marley and her sister, Lynette. When he left for college, Brandt told her he was going to make something of himself so neither of them had to live like that anymore.

His idea of who they were as a couple changed once he graduated college and got a job with an accounting firm. True to his word, he leased a large condo in a high-rise and expected Marley to jump right into married life, all while he berated her on her choice of jobs as well as her clothing and hairstyle. If it were up to him, she would look the way she did then, sitting at the fancy restaurant, every day of her life. Instead of accepting her the way she was, Brandt wanted to change everything about her.

It didn’t take long for Marley to figure out he wasn’t the man for her, and she’d broken things off with him. When she tried to give the ring back, he sneered at her, telling her to pawn it and buy some new clothes. Instead, she shoved it in her jewelry box as a reminder of the type of man she didn’t want.

“I just wanted to stop and say hello and ask if you wanted to go out sometime. Now that you’re making an effort, I think we can get back what we had.”

Marley pulled her hand away from his and scooted her chair over, trying to put some distance between them. Brandt didn’t take the hint and stretched his arm across the back of her chair, rubbing his hand across her back.

She found enough of her voice to say, “No.”

“No what?”

“No, we can’t go out sometime.”

Brandt frowned and leaned away, taking a good look at her face, leaving his hand on the back of her chair. “You think you can do better than me?”

Marley felt a shift in the air. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she responded, “I know I can. Now, if you’re done—”

“Is everything okay here?” Dane growled from behind Marley.

She hadn’t heard Dane return to the table, but she had sensed him. It was something she still hadn’t gotten used to about the man. No, not man – a half-blood. The fact that her fiancé was something more than human made her insides tingle. For such a large being, he was silent on his feet. It was something she figured he’d learned being in the military. Stealth would be important to a Marine. Now she knew the reason behind it. He had a shifter inside helping him be stronger, faster, quieter. Sexier. She found it sexy except for those times he snuck up behind her and scared the crap out of her.

 “Everything’s fine. You can move along,” Brandt said without looking at Dane. Marley knew her ex was full of false bravado. It was something she’d seen more than once.

“Actually, you can move along. You’re in my seat,” Dane responded, placing his hands on Marley’s arms, rubbing them the way she had been. She leaned back into his touch, doing her best not to purr. The tone of Dane’s voice both scared Marley and turned her on at the same time. When his hands landed on her shoulders, Marley placed her left hand on top of his. Brandt looked up at Dane, and his frown deepened. He was probably trying to figure out how Marley had snagged someone so handsome as well as intimidating. She really couldn’t blame him.

“Who are you?” Brandt asked.

“Dane Abbott. Who are you?”

“Brandt Standifer. Marley and I are old friends.”

Dane growled, Brandt sucked in a breath, and Marley laughed. “Well, Brandt, as you can see, Marley has a new friend now, so you can move along.”

“Marley.” Brandt froze when he finally eyed the ring on her left hand. “You—”

“You have three seconds to remove your ass from my seat,” Dane lowered his voice so the other patrons couldn’t hear him.

“Threaten me again, and I’ll call the cops,” Brandt huffed.

Dane stood up to his full height, pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, and flipped it open, showing his credentials. “Let me reintroduce myself – Dane Abbott, Chief of Police.” Brandt snarled at Dane and opened his mouth to say something. Before he got the first word out, Dane leaned closer. “Only one of us is smart enough to know the kind of woman Marley is both on the inside as well as out, and that man is not you. Since you obviously know nothing about Marley’s life now, I’ll fill you in; she’s mine, and I don’t plan on letting her go. Ever. So run along back to whatever hole you crawled out of.” Dane emphasized his point by flicking his fingers at Brandt for him to leave.

Marley’s smile widened as Dane claimed her in front of her ex. The butterflies in her stomach were doing somersaults of exultation. Brandt scooted the chair back and stood, adjusting his tie. Dane took a step closer, his large body dwarfing Brandt’s. Her ex had the intelligence to let it go. He didn’t bother saying goodbye. Instead, he turned on his heel and strode away without looking back.

Dane shoved his wallet back in his pocket before he pulled the vacated chair close to Marley and sat down. Leaning in, he whispered against her ear, “I happen to love the red on your lips. I love it even more when it’s smeared after I’ve kissed you. I can’t wait to see what it looks like later tonight.”

Marley shivered again. It was something she did often around Dane. “Is it too soon to ask for the check?” she stammered.

“Yes. You’re going to need your strength.” Dane nipped her earlobe before moving his chair a respectable distance away. Picking up his tumbler, he gestured toward Marley’s wine glass, and she picked it up. “Here’s to the beginning of a beautiful life together.” Tapping his drink against hers, Dane kept his eyes on Marley as he sipped his whiskey. She took a sip of sangria, and her insides fluttered again. She let her imagination run wild with thoughts of a future that included the possibility of little blond-haired Danes running around.

 

 

Dane had only walked far enough away so he wasn’t a distraction to other patrons. He had his eye on Marley while hitting Frey’s number. When the Goyle answered and began explaining the situation, Dane’s attention was divided between Frey’s update on the Unholy and the man who had taken up residence in the chair next to Marley. Dane had rudely asked Frey to hang on while he used his shifter hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation at his table. It was her fucking ex. The father of her child. Dane saw red, and it wasn’t the same red on Marley’s lips. The asshat had the audacity to make Marley feel bad for looking good, and Dane told Frey he’d have to call him back.

The beast demanded Dane take Brandt outside and show him who Marley belonged to. He was used to the shifter inside trying to take over when he fought against the Unholy, but this was the first time it had really pushed against him around his mate. It wanted to get her naked so they could claim her, but whenever she was around, that was more of a nudge than a hard shove. He and the beast had yet to have a conversation that blew up, but Dane had a feeling it was coming and soon.

As badly as Dane wanted to follow Marley’s ex, he calmed the rage and made a toast to their future instead. He wouldn’t ruin the rest of their meal by allowing the spirit of the human to remain at the table after he’d walked off. Their food soon arrived, and Dane used his shifter strength as well as the task of eating and enjoying his mate’s company to further calm his beast. The candlelight flickered, and the rest of the world fell away as the two of them shared their meal, offering the other a taste of what they’d ordered.

The waiter never let their glasses get empty, and by the time they had cleaned their plates, Marley’s face was flush. Being part Gargoyle, Dane no longer felt the effects of alcohol. Sometimes that was a good thing, and sometimes he missed getting wasted to forget about life for a while. Now that he’d found Marley, he no longer wanted to forget. Now, he couldn’t wait to spend more time with her and remember every second of those moments.

“Would you like dessert?” Dane asked as he pushed his plate back.

“What I want isn’t on the menu.” Marley licked her lips, and her nostrils flared. His girl wanted him, and Dane wasn’t going to make her wait any longer. As he motioned for the waiter, Marley asked, “Do you think I could get a job here?”

“No,” he said abruptly, not thinking about how it sounded. When he caught the hurt on Marley’s face, he reached across the table and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “I don’t mean you couldn’t, I mean you shouldn’t. They’re only open for lunch and dinner. If you got a job here, you’d be working nights. When would I see you?”

“You barely see me now.”

“I see you every morning, and now that you’ve agreed to be mine, I’ll be seeing you every night as well.”

“You want me to move in with you?”

“Of course, Sweetness. After I have a taste of you later tonight, it won’t be enough. I’ll need you in my bed every night. As a matter of fact, why don’t you go ahead and call that boss of yours and tell him you need some time off.”

“I can’t do that. Roberta’s on vacation.”

“Then I suggest we get going. I’m going to keep you naked until six-fifteen Monday morning.”

“Where’s that waiter?” Marley asked.

Dane laughed again, his insides warm at the beauty sitting next to him. “Have I told you how stunning you look tonight?”

“You might have mentioned it. Or drooled when I opened the door, but honestly, Dane, don’t get used to it. This isn’t the real me wearing all this make-up.” Marley tried to pull her hand away, but Dane held on tighter.

“I know the real you, Sweetness. I see you every morning. Don’t think I only come in for the lattes, because I don’t. If you never put on make-up again or did your hair up in a fancy twist, I’d be fine with that. The only reason I brought you here tonight is to show you I’m not just some loser cop who doesn’t know how to treat his lady. I don’t want all our dates being at my apartment or at the local steakhouse. Why don’t we continue this discussion at home?” He signed the receipt and pulled his mate to her feet, escorting her through the restaurant and out the front door.

Marley didn’t wait until they got to Dane’s to continue their talk. While they were waiting on the valet to bring the car around, she looped her arm through his and said, “I don’t think you’re a loser cop. I don’t think they let the losers be in charge of the rest of the bunch, do they? I’ve watched you for a long time, and you’ve changed. Now that I know about… you know… I can understand the difference, like why you want me instead of the pretty redheaded reporter you used to chase after. But you’ve gone from being a smug detective to a confident leader. I rather like this new you.”

Dane didn’t want to think about, much less discuss, Katherine Fox. He’d made quite the fool of himself where she was concerned thinking she was his mate. It’s a wonder Julian hadn’t taken his head. “My life has changed quite a bit over the last year, and some of these changes made me realize I’m not ‘all that and a bag of chips’ like I used to think. In the shifter world, I’m not the one in charge. I’m basically the one at the bottom, working his way up.”

Dane helped Marley into the Boxster, and once they were buckled in, he eased out of the parking lot and onto the side streets leading away from downtown.

“Since you’re going to spend the night, we need to—”

“Dane, watch out!”