Chapter 4
My Mate
Pru didn’t know what to think when someone brought in a dozen rose bouquet. “This is for me?” She asked doubtfully.
“Yes, Ma’am.” The young courier said.
“Double check just to be sure.” She directed.
The youngster did as she asked. “No doubt about it. See?” He showed her the card he’d removed from the bouquet. Yes, it was for her.
She tried to figure out who sent it, but in the end there was only one way and she was nervous as she played with the card. Flowers had never come to her office before. If she was honest, she’d never received them at all. That was sad, wasn’t it? The card scared her. What if it were for some other female with the same name? That would be disappointing. A sweet aroma rose from them perfuming her whole office.
Despite her cautious nature, excitement began to take hold. Who would send her such a magnificent arrangement? They’d even used her cousin’s flower shop to send them. Fern had an incredible talent and they were beyond amazing. The card burned her fingers as she considered opening it to see who had sent these gorgeous flowers to her.
The card was sealed to prevent others from accessing its secrets. The information inside would be too tempting to look at otherwise. Pru pulled the letter opener out of her desk and opened the envelope. Now she sat and stared at it almost like it was alive. Who these flowers could be from was something she couldn’t figure out but the card scared her. She didn’t know why.
Sliding it out of the envelope slowly, her eyes moved down to read the message and the name at the bottom:
I’m so sorry I let you down. I made a mistake and want the chance to fix things.
With all that I am,
Herk
Pru laughed like an insane person. She laughed so hard she snorted. Herk was crazy and had just made a total about face. Did he want something from her? That was the only thing that made sense. He wouldn’t get it. That male had hurt her enough and it was time to move on. There was no way to contact him so she couldn’t tell him what she thought.
That was odd unless he intended to call her. Maybe that was his plan. Whatever he wanted, she planned to say no. That male had put her through hell as she’d drowned in her sorrow. Her pain still hadn’t gone away although it had dulled some. Did he enjoy hurting her? Was he playing games with her heart? What could she do about it?
Maybe she needed to go ahead and take a long vacation somewhere far away. The mountains, a beach, maybe a tropical jungle. Or even a big city on the other side of the planet might work. Something had to give or she would go stark raving mad.
Nothing happened the rest of the day, but now it was the next day and she had a feeling things were about to occur. It was no surprise when her intercom went off.
“Pru, baby?” Clive said.
“Yes?” She asked.
“You have some horsey company. If you don’t want to see him, Anders and I will entertain him.” Clive offered.
“No, send him in.” She directed.
“Will do. Go at it extra hard for me.” Clive replied with a chuckle.
Pru looked at her door which opened before Herk stepped inside. “To what do I owe this? Flowers and a personal visit for me?”
“I decided you were right and I was wrong.” He admitted.
“Males don’t say things like that especially ones like you. Just cut to it. What do you want from me?” She asked.
Herk’s eyes glowed and the look of need on his face made her center grow hot. “Just you.”
“That’s hard to believe. I think you’re playing me.” Pru observed.
“I’d like to play with you.” Herk said as his eyes slowly worked their way down lingering in certain places.
“No, I don’t believe you. You walked away without looking back. That shows no feelings on your part.” Pru insisted.
“No, that shows a lot of feelings on my part. I was trying to safeguard you.” He insisted. “It never occurred to me you would be part of the fight too.”
“You one of those keep them barefoot and pregnant types?” Pru asked.
“What? No! I’m not, but I do feel strongly about safeguarding my mate and our children.” Herk admitted. “Come to lunch with me. We can talk about what we want for the future and try to work out our life. The two of us are fated mates. Isn’t it worth a shot to see if we can be happy together?”
“Why do I feel like you’re trying to trick me?” She asked.
“I don’t know because I’m not. There’s no way either of us can be happy without the other. We both realize that. I never intended to reject you. All I wanted to do was put off our mating until the war was over. The thought of you getting hurt scared me.” Herk explained.
“We can go to lunch. I have to eat anyway, but I’m not making any promises to you.” Pru responded.
“All I want to do is see if we can talk things out. Our future is tied together and we can be happy if we try.” Herk stated.
Pru got her keys and her purse and she walked out from behind her desk. Her beauty struck him speechless as she walked past him. He’d been blessed and almost lost her. Maybe he could fix things and get her back. This was his second and probably last chance. Hopefully the goddess would be with him.
He followed her out the door. They walked past Clive who she gave some brief instructions to. As he passed the males desk, he gave him a thumbs up. Hopefully that meant Clive was on his side. Herk followed her out to the parking lot and motioned to the SUV Ram had loaned him. Holding her door open, he helped her in and shut the door.
Once he was in the driver’s seat, he felt more confident. “I have reservations for us at a new dining place.”
“Pear Tree?” She asked.
“Yes, I’ve heard great things about it.” He admitted.
“So have I.”
“We’ll test it out together.”
It was nearby and they arrived in no time. Herk pulled into a nearby VIP parking. “Are you sure you can park here?” She asked.
“Yes, I had it approved in advance.” He refused to tell her Ram had financed most of this place with a few other investors and got him reservations and parking approval.
Rushing to her door, he helped her out and kept hold of her hand as they walked to the door. Someone opened it as they got close and he led her inside. “Welcome to the Pear Tree. Do you have a reservation?” The hostess asked.
“Yes, for Herk.”
“Very good. Let me escort you to your table.” The lady smiled. She was average height and wearing a red and white uniform with Pear Tree in red on her shirt on the top left side. The skirt the shirt was paired with was short and she wore red heels. This was a classy place. The hostess held out the chair for Pru who sat as the hostess slid it in place. He sat on his own. “Here are your menus. Pierre is your waiter and he’ll be with you soon.”
“It’s nice in here.” Herk said as he stared at a wall size aquarium with colorful fish in it. The bottom of the tank had what looked like a miniature sunken galleon and treasure spread all around. When he’d been in here before, Pru had been with two males and he’d been distracted. It was not something he would bring up either.
“It is. Calming and the aroma of good food is everywhere.” Pru said.
“Good afternoon. I’m your waiter, Pierre. Do you know what you’d like to drink?” He asked. The young man wrote down their drinks. “Would you like some appetizers?”
“Yes, get us the sampler platter.” Herk directed.
“Yes, Sir.” The waiter turned and left.
“Tell me, what do you want out of our relationship?” Herk asked.
“Honesty, romance, and an equal share in decision making to start with.” Pru declared.
“Okay, I understand that.” They both got quiet as the waiter set their drinks on the table along with an appetizer. “Is it just me, or is the waiter fast?”
“They are quick here and we beat the lunch crowd. There’s a line at the door now.” Pru pointed out.
Herk popped a pastry into his mouth. “This is really good.” He observed. Pru reached over and took the other one. There were two of each type and ten different things.
“I really do want to talk, but I see you’re hungry.” Herk said.
“You started eating first.” Pru noted.
“Okay, so we’re both hungry. This platter has a little of everything.” Herk declared.
“It does.”
“Let’s see if we can carry on a discussion between bites.”
“Fine. It hurt when you just turned away without an explanation. You’d made a decision and that was it.” Pru explained.
“You’re right. I didn’t think things through. Maybe I thought because we’d not known each other long, it wouldn’t hurt you to wait.”
Pru snorted. “Maybe you just didn’t feel enough.”
“That’s not true. I felt enough to safeguard you even if I had to keep my distance. The thought of anything happening to you would bring me to my knees.”
“That’s hard to believe when you turned your back on me.” Pru said then grew quiet as their meal was set down in front of them. “Thank you.” The server nodded. She wasn’t as angry at him as she had been, but she wasn’t over her fury yet either.
“I could never turn my back on you. While I knew you hurt, you still went to work and seemed to be recovering. It made me think that most of the pain of our separation was mine.” Herk admitted.
“A pain you managed easily enough. Had I not gone to see you, you would have put me firmly in the past.”
“No way, my sweet mate. I thought of you constantly and my poor second is tired of hearing about you every minute of every day.”
“I won’t say you’re lying, but I have doubts.”
“You are a difficult wench. I believe you know exactly how I feel. With the new knowledge I now have, I understand your desire to test me.”
The food smelled delicious so they stopped talking to eat. It wasn’t long before their plates were clean. Pru leaned back nearly full and ready to talk more. “What is it you want now?”
“I want you to give me a chance to redeem myself. It was a mistake, but I can do better.” Herk declared.
“How do I know you are being honest?”
Herk leaned across the table taking her hands in his. “Look in my eyes and tell me what you see.”
Pru did as he asked. His eyes were dark, like black coffee and she could see the world in them. It almost convinced her that he cared. The decision had to be made, turn away from him or give him a second chance. There was no in between, it was all or nothing.
“I might see that you care, but what if you set that side again?”
“Never, it will not happen. Once committed, you know a mate can never turn away. All you have to do is agree to give me a second chance and I’ll lay the world at your feet. We’ll live together and love every moment of the day. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you because you are my everything.”
“Would you two like to order dessert?” The server asked.
“What choices are there?” Herk wondered.
“The special for tonight is rum cake. It is decadent and deliciously sweet.” The server said.
“Bring us two of those.” Herk replied. The server hurried away to get them their dessert.
“That sounds good, but shouldn’t you have asked me first?”
“Sweetheart, your eyes glowed when the server described it.”
“Okay, you got me there. Ah, here it comes now.” The server hurried to them with a tray.
“Here’s your dessert and two drinks compliments of the owners.” He said as he gave each one of them a plate with rum cake on it and a frothy drink.
“Thank you.” They both told him in unison.
“What do you think the drink is?” Pru wondered.
“Something with chocolate and cream.” Herk guessed.
“Mm, it tastes decadent and rich with alcohol.”
“Don’t get drunk. Never mind. Get drunk so I can take advantage of you.” He chuckled as he spoke.
“This is strong, but so sweet and chocolaty. I think it has cinnamon in it too.”
“Just a touch. It is good. Have you tried your cake yet?”
“No, here let me try now.” Pru said as she took a forkful of cake and ate it with her eyes closed as she softly moaned. “This is all that. You did good bringing me here. I enjoyed our meal.”
“You’re already done?”
“Yes and I’ve licked up all the crumbs.”
“Me too. I was hoping to find more even though I’m full. I would come back here anytime.” Herk admitted. He set his credit card on the bill and the server grabbed it as he moved by.
“I see you’re up to modern standards. I didn’t think you’d have a credit card.” Pru observed.
“Every few years my accountants bring my business up to date. They are good.”
“You use trolls?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“No, some use humans. We use both for different things. Trolls have been caught cheating their clients lately. I wonder if they always did it but didn’t get caught before.”
“Maybe I should double check on my money.” Herk said.
“I would. Never hurts to let them know you will.”
The server dropped off his bill to sign and laid the card down. He signed it then put it down. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Yes, we should go now. I need to get back to work.”
Herk helped her out of her chair. His hand at her back guided her to the door. “Will you see me tonight? Maybe a movie?”
“Okay. Pick me up at the office.” Pru suggested. They stepped outside and had to work their way past the last of the lunch hour rush.
Herk led her to her side of the car and he opened the door helping her in. He closed the door then went to the other side and got in. As he drove them back to the office, they made light conversation. Pru had plenty to think about. If he’d been honest with her, they would try again. It scared and excited her, this second chance to be mates. This time it would work out or she’d never come near him again.