Jennifer wrung her hands nervously. She had left her shift a little bit early so she could wait outside for Dax, but now she felt stupid. What if he thought she was to eager, or something? Men couldn’t stand desperate women. Hell, even she couldn’t stand desperate women, and she’d never had to date them before. Maybe she should go back inside and wait for him there.
Just as she was turning around Dax arrived, his dark eyes glittering at her. He was walking and she wondered what kind of date would pick someone up on foot before she remembered she was on Oak Mountain now. Apparently things were different here.
“Waiting for someone?” Dax asked. It was as if he could sense her embarrassment and couldn’t resist the opportunity to poke fun at it. Jen’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She should have just stayed inside.
“Who’s asking?” she replied, trying to hide her embarrassment with humor. She had grown up a big girl and it was the best defense mechanism she had.
This made Dax quirk a handsome smile at her and he nodded. “Well, I was hoping you might be considering I had this special evening planned out and all.”
“How special are we talking?” Jen asked, taking a step toward him. It was strange how easy it was to flirt with this man. Usually she was always the one being flirted with, so the role reversal struck her as funny. “Am I going to need to change my clothes?”
“Actually, you look perfect. If this was some kind of fancy company dinner, I would’ve told you ahead of time. I prefer things to go as naturally as possible. No offense, but the human ideals of formality aren’t really my thing.”
Jen couldn’t help but laugh. “Like baseball… and don’t worry, formality really isn’t my thing, either. I like to play it by ear.”
While there was some truth in that, the reality was Jennifer had always been a careful planner. Although she had a tendency to fall or the bad boys and get swept away in their drama, for some reason with Dax it felt like she had stable footing. Stability was the thing she needed most in life right now, especially in a new place, and that meant she was going to have to be careful with Dax. He could end up being very serious about her, if the look in his eyes was any indication, and she had already seen how he treated he main priority in his life. What would it be like to be in a relationship with a stable, caring man who actually cared about her and tried to meet her needs? She couldn’t even imagine.
“Shall we go then?” Dax asked. “I wanted to take you somewhere special to me.”
Somewhere special to him? He was leading with a romantic foot strongly forward. This man was either too good to be true and was just trying to charm her into more sex, or he was a genuinely nice man who wanted nothing more than to have a romantic date. There was no way to tell for sure, though her gut instinct told her she should trust it and let the good things happen.
But her gut had been wrong before. Very wrong. She would proceed with caution whether she liked it or not and make sure she knew for sure what Dax’s intentions were before she invested too much of herself. Until she knew for sure, she would have to try her best just to enjoy the ride without getting her hopes up. There was nothing worse than the devastation of disappointment.
“You have a car, right?”
Jen prickled. She had heard that phrase before, usually from loser men who wanted her to take care of every aspect of their lives without ever having to take responsibility for themselves. People without cars, at least in her experience so far, were slackers of the worst variety.
“Do you?” she retorted, raising her brow at him. Dax chuckled.
“Yes, but I leave it at home in case the babysitter needs it. Most bear-shifters hoof it around the mountain, you know. It’s better for the environment.”
Jen considered this and nodded. “I have a car.”
“Good. Leave it here and follow me, if you trust me.”
Jen frowned. It was kind of early to trust him.
But the way his handsome face was lighting up at her, his kind eyes twinkling mischievously, made her go against all her more paranoid and human instincts.
“All right,” she said, kicking herself for being swayed. She had always been such a sucker and had vowed to herself not to fall for it again. However, there was just something so sincere about this man. She hoped she could truly trust her instincts and get out of this okay.
“Great,” Dax said. “Follow me.”