Chapter Eight
Nikki sat at the table, observing Joe as he walked away to the coffee counter to place their order. She had butterflies in her stomach and her heart actually skipped when she caught him looking back at her over his shoulder. The man was getting to her.
Damn, she was in trouble.
Watching Joe with Sarah while they had been on that carriage ride had been one of the sweetest things she had seen in her life. He had been so attentive and caring with her sister that it had warmed a small piece of her determinedly frozen heart. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it was too good to be true though.
Could this just be an act? A show he was putting on to get what he wanted? Would a man go that far to win over his mate?
She liked to think nobody would be that manipulative, but her cynical heart just couldn’t be sure. Nikki steeled her spine once more and reminded herself that she had to stay vigilant. She wasn’t falling for him. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s mate. Not ever.
“I like Joe.”
That little voice, that shy and sweet admission from her baby sister was the nail in the coffin. She had no intention of mating him and bringing him around Sarah, knowing full well that she planned to send him on his way, was wrong. That baby had lost enough. Sarah didn’t need to get attached to a male, even if it was Nikki’s mate. Her panther screamed in protest at the thought of leaving their mate behind, but she told her cat to be quiet. They had to think about what was best for their cub. “This is a one-time thing, Sarah. We’re only spending this evening with Joe. No more. So don’t get attached to him.”
The little girl looked up at her in stunned surprise. Her lower lip trembled and she immediately shoved her thumb in her mouth. Looking down at the table, she muttered around her thumb, “You’re mean!”
“Don’t pout. We’ve had a fun time and when this is done, we’re going home. Back to the two of us. Just me and you, kiddo. Okay?”
Sarah nodded, but her pout remained firmly in place as Joe returned, bearing three steaming Styrofoam cups. He placed them all in the middle of the table. “Let’s let that cool off just a little, sweetling.”
“Okay,” Sarah said, still talking around her thumb and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
Joe looked at Nikki questioningly. “Did I miss something here?”
“No. But this isn’t a good idea. I can’t take the chance of her getting attached to you and you not sticking around. It was a dumb move on my part,” Nikki said. Her tone was sharp. Sharper than it had to be, but she needed to cut the ties that were already developing between them. She could feel herself becoming more bonded to him with every passing minute and it terrified her. “Thank you for the carriage ride and the hot cocoa, but I think we’re just going to Uber it back to the mall and get my car. It was nice meeting you, Joe.”
Again, her panther started screaming not to leave their mate, but Nikki ignored her. The animal didn’t get human logic. That didn’t mean that her panther wouldn’t make her pay for ignoring it. She felt like claws were raking down her insides, and her body was trying to shift of its own accord to let her panther free in protest.
Nikki rose from the table, but as she reached for Sarah’s hand, Joe’s fingers closed over her wrist. His grip was firm but not painful. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, but she wasn’t going anywhere until he let her. What he didn’t realize was that one touch helped stop her shift. It grounded her…and she resented him for it.
“Don’t do this, Nikki. Don’t run from the good things. I know what that’s like. I’ve done my fair share of it,” he urged in a low whisper.
“I can’t risk it. Not for me and not for her,” Nikki insisted.
“It’s three days till Christmas. Give me three days, Nikki, to show you how good it can be.” The look in his eyes, the heat of his gaze resting on her and the need she saw in him, swayed her. Whatever else he might be, he was sincere.
Could she risk it? Could she give him three days without also giving him her heart?
God, she wanted to, she realized. She wanted three days of bliss with a hot, sexy man who made her feel alive—who made her feel like the girl she’d been before her whole life went to hell in a handbag. “Three days…and no biting?”
“Oh, there’ll be biting. Just not the permanent kind. Not unless you ask for it,” he purred.
Nikki shivered at the husky tone of his voice, the sensual promise of what was to come. Shifters were insatiable in bed. A shifter with his mate? She’d be lucky if she’d be able to walk when they were done.
That thought was more of an inducement than a deterrent.
“Fine. Three days. You can come to the house with us and once I get her to bed,” she said, pointing toward Sarah, who was no longer pouting but avidly listening to their every word, “we’ll talk ground rules. Fair enough?”
Joe stood and slipped his hand from her wrist, down until he was cupping her hand and they were palm to palm. “Fair enough,” he agreed with a handshake. When they parted, he picked up the cocoa and pried the lid off to check its temperature before handing it to Sarah. “That should be cool enough to sip now, but why don’t you let your sister check it out first?”
Nikki took the cup from him, sampled a little sip and nodded. “It’s fine.”
He put the lid back on, popped the tab out for the kiddo to drink through, and then handed it to her. “All right. Let’s grab another carriage and head back to the mall and your waiting car. I’ll follow you home on my bike.”
Sarah giggled. “You ride a bicycle?”
Joe laughed. “It’s got two wheels, sweetling, but it’s not a bicycle.”