Ben whistled to himself happily as he drove toward Greenville. As soon as he finished work, he had gone straight home to shower and get ready for his date. He’d been thinking about Penny the whole day, and now he was finally on the way to see her.

After she ran from him, he had vowed to stay away from her, for her own good. But seeing Penny and Luke together had driven him into a jealous rage. He felt foolish now, especially after Christina showed up and explained everything. Luke had told Jason and Christina what he suspected, and she was just trying to help Penny understand. She’d even arranged for Penny to have the night off so they could get dinner together, but then she had some emergency and couldn’t pick her up, so she asked Luke to do it.

Ben felt about ten inches tall after all that. He had accused Penny of dating Luke behind his back. He knew he had to make it up to her, so he chased her down to apologize.

He thought for sure she’d run away when he revealed that his bear had chosen her for a mate. Instead, she opened herself up to him. He gripped the steering wheel tight, thinking back on what she had told him about her past. He’d thought the worst, of course, but hearing that her mom’s asshole boyfriend didn’t touch her made him feel relieved. Though, it didn’t matter to him if something did happen to her; he wanted to be with her either way. However, he knew he had to watch his actions. She was still traumatized, obviously.

He couldn’t help himself and googled the Greenville High Football Team as soon as possible. Sure enough, John Stevens was still head coach, and he was married to Eleanor Stevens. The picture of the couple on the school’s Facebook page at a recent Homecoming Dance told him it was definitely Penny’s mom. It had filled him with rage, knowing she was living right in the same town with them. First chance he got, he would take her away from there and move her into his cabin.

He shook his head and let out a grunt. He said he would take things slow, but what was he doing now? He was being a possessive ass. Even though he wanted to go at light speed, he had to slow down. His bear was insistent, though, pushing him to claim her as his mate.

At least it wasn’t being belligerent, not since last night. It was ready to tear Luke into pieces for touching Penny, but as soon as she came between them, it backed down. Then, it got him thinking: Penny was the solution to soothe his bear. Or maybe, just maybe, he had it all wrong. Maybe there was no bad blood in him, and he just needed a mate.

He reached East Community Housing in no time, and as he pulled up in front of Penny’s trailer, he cleared his mind. He had to make a good impression and make Penny realize that they were meant to be together, their pasts be damned.

Ben hopped out of his Jeep but not before grabbing the dozen red roses he had picked up at the flower shop during lunch time. He walked up to her door, then pressed the doorbell. With his enhanced senses, he could hear her cute, nervous squeak, and then approaching footsteps before she opened the door.

“Hi.” She looked up at him with her shy smile and pushed a curl behind her ear.

“Hi.” He hoped his mouth wasn’t hanging open as he stared at her. Penny looked gorgeous. Her hair was shiny and smelled fruity, the curls cascaded down her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and perfect, and he remembered how it had felt against his palm. And her lips—plump and red. He could still feel how soft her lips were and remember the taste of her—sweet, like honey. He hadn’t wanted to stop when she asked him to kiss her, but he was getting overwhelmed. It took all his strength not to open the door and pull her onto his lap last night.

“Ben?”

“You look beautiful.” A blush stained her cheeks. “And these are for you.”

Her dark, jade-colored eyes widened. “Oh. You shouldn’t have.” She accepted them with a grateful nod. “Let me put these away.” She turned and disappeared into the other room, probably the kitchen, then came back, the roses already in a glass vase. She set it down on the coffee table and smoothed her hands down her front.

"You didn’t say where we were going, so I hope I dressed okay.”

“Like I said, you look beautiful.” She was wearing a green turtleneck sweater that matched her eyes and clung to her curves in a way that made his mouth water. The jeans molded to her delicious plump ass, and he had to keep his hands to his side to stop himself from reaching out and—

“Well, if you say so. Where are we going anyway?”

“To my favorite place.” He led her out of the house and to the Jeep, placing his palm on the small of her back. Slow, take it slow, he reminded himself.

The drive back to Blackstone was quiet, with only the sound of the radio filling the air between them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though. Once in a while, he would glance over at Penny, watching her watching the outside, wondering what was on her mind.

“Oh,” she said when they pulled up in front of Rosie’s.

“Er, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head with his palm. “So, this is my favorite place, which is why I was here last night.” He cleared his throat, slipped out, then went over to her side to open the door. “My mom brought me here all the time when I was a kid. It hasn’t changed one bit. It’s not fancy or anything, but the food is good.”

He helped her out and then led her to the entrance. The smell of fresh pastry hit his nose, bringing back all the good memories from his childhood when he came here with his mom and dad, and later, his cousins and friends.

“Smells amazing,” Penny said.

“I know, right?”

“Well, if it isn’t Benjamin Walker.” The woman who approached them smiled warmly. “I haven’t seen you here in a while.”

“Hey, Rosie,” he greeted. “Yeah, I’ve been busy, sorry about that.”

Rosie looked exactly as he remembered growing up—bright red hair and a white apron over one of the fifties-style dresses she loved wearing. She was one of those women who never seemed to age. “And who’s this?” she asked.

“This is Penny. Penny Bennet,” he introduced. “My date.”

“A date? You’ve never brought a date here before.” Rosie’s eyes sparkled. “Unless you count his mom,” she stage-whispered to Penny, which made her giggle. “Well, let’s get you settled. Booth okay?”

“Sure, Rosie. Thank you.”

Rosie led them to a booth by the window, which looked out onto Main Street. “Now, I hope you’re not going to press your nose up against my display case tonight.” She pointed to the large glass case of pies by the counter.

“I haven’t done that since I was twelve,” Ben said with a chuckle. Penny laughed, too.

“Only because you probably memorized my menu by then. So, how about my dinner special? Chicken pot pie with salad or soup, plus your choice of dessert. The pies are just coming out of the oven, if you don’t mind waiting a bit.”

Ben looked at Penny. “That sounds wonderful,” she said. “Salad for me.”

“I’ll have the same.”

Rosie nodded. “Coming right up.”

“This is really nice,” Penny said. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think of going anywhere fancy.” He frowned. “There’s that new French place that just opened up.”

“Oh no! I’d much rather come here. It’s more special since it’s your favorite place.” She gasped, then blushed. “I mean, not that I think this date is special or anything.”

“It is,” he quickly said. “Trust me, it is.”

“Will you tell me about yourself?” she asked all of a sudden. “I mean, I hardly know anything about you.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’m not good at talking about myself, but you can ask me anything.”

“So,” she began. “You work in the mines? What do you do?”

“Well, I believe, technically, my title is Vice President of Mining Operations.” He chuckled. “But that’s just a fancy way of saying I get stuff done up there. Basically, a chief foreman of sorts. I take care of the production schedules and day-to-day stuff.”

“Do you like it? Why did you choose to go there?”

“Yeah, sure I do. It’s kind of a family tradition.” The confused look on her face was adorable, so he continued to explain. “My dad was foreman before me, and his dad was before him, and his dad before that. In fact, my great-great-great-great grandfather Eustace Walker was the first ever foreman of the mines when his cousin Lucas Lennox started it back in the day. His mother and Lucas’ father were brother and sister. She was a dragon who married a Walker bear.”

“So, Matthew and Jason and Sybil aren’t really your cousins?”

“Technically, no. We’re far removed, but my side of the family has always stayed here in Blackstone with the Lennoxes. I’ve got relatives up in Morgan Valley, and my dad and I visit them from time to time.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, I haven’t visited the clan since I came back from college. I went to Colorado State to study Mining Engineering, then came right back here. Of course, I’d been working at the mines during summer vacations since I was sixteen. We all did, me, Jason, Matthew, Nathan, and Luke.”

“You all grew up together?”

“Yeah, we were the best of friends.”

“Sound nice,” she said, then took a sip of her water.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve been yammering here for a bit. Why don’t you tell me about Houston? You said you went to live with your grandmother there?”

For a moment, he thought asking about her past would make her sad again, but her eyes lit up with the mention of her grandmother. “Yeah, she was my daddy’s momma. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to live with her, but she welcomed me with open arms.

“You never saw her before that?”

She shook her head. “No. My daddy came out here to find work and then … they just lost touch. She thought he was dead, so she was surprised to find out she had a granddaughter.”

“What was she like?”

Penny smiled fondly. “She was a tough old bird. Didn’t take shit from anyone, not even because she was old.” She laughed. “Actually, I think she mouthed off because she was old and everyone let her get away with it. She told people what was on her mind and didn’t care what they thought.”

“But she was nice to you?”

“Yeah. She took care of me but never coddled me. Treated me like I was … normal.” She paused and dropped her lashes, quickly looking away from him. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She was vibrant, all the way ‘till the end, you know? She went to bed and just never woke up.”

Her sadness seemed to weigh down her shoulders, and he quickly reached across the table to cover her hand with his. “I’m sorry. For your loss.”

She looked up at him, her face pale and eyes wide. “Thank you.”

Her skin was soft under his palm, and her hand so small and delicate. He tried not to get too distracted. “So, is that why you came back?”

“Sort of. Mostly it was because my dad was dying. Liver cirrhosis,” she explained. “The doctors said it was a wonder it didn’t take him sooner. I got the call a couple of days after Grams’ funeral. I couldn’t stay in Houston. Her landlord had been looking for an excuse to kick her out all those years and now that she was gone, he was going to sell to some big developer. He started raising the rents to force everyone out.”

“That’s terrible.”

She shrugged and pulled her hand away. “That’s life. So, I came back, took care of my dad until he passed. He owned the trailer and left it to me, so at least I don’t have to worry about rent. Although—” She quickly shut her mouth and looked out of the window. Ben probably didn’t want to hear about her troubles with her dad’s medical debt.

Before he could say anything, Rosie came by with their food. “Here you go, honey,” she said, sliding a plate in front of Penny. “And for you.” Rosie gave him a wink. He laughed when he saw she had put four pot pies on his plate. He was a shifter after all and ate twice as much as humans.

“This smells incredible,” Penny said to Rosie.

“It even tastes good,” she joked before sauntering away.

“Hmmm, I haven’t had Rosie’s pot pie in a while,” Ben said as he dug into the flaky crust with his fork. He took a large chunk and put it in his mouth. The pastry melted on his tongue and the roast chicken and potatoes were tasty.

Penny was finishing her first bite, too. “Oh wow. I can see why you like it here. This is incredible.”

A small bit of pastry had stuck to her upper lip, and her pink tongue darted out of her mouth to lick it off. He was so transfixed at the sight that he forgot the right way to swallow and a big chunk of crust got stuck in his throat.

“Ben!” she cried when he began to cough. “Are you okay?”

He grabbed the glass of water and swallowed a long gulp, until he was sure his throat was clear. “Yeah … sorry … went down the wrong pipe.”

“Yeah, that can happen,” she said with a chuckle.

They continued their meal, making some more small talk. He asked her about her job at The Den, and he told her stories about growing up with his friends. Rosie came by to clean their plates, and Penny ordered a slice of apple pie for dessert, while he got sweet potato and chocolate cream pie.

Penny pushed her nearly empty dessert plate away. “I honestly can’t eat anymore. This was all so good.”

“Glad you liked it,” he said, as he finished off the last bite of sweet potato pie. “How about a bite of chocolate cream pie?” He put a small piece on his fork and offered it to her.

She eyed his fork. “Well, since you offered ....” She placed her hands on the table and pulled herself up, then leaned over to take the bite. He was staring at her lips and tongue again, thankful that he didn’t have any food in his mouth. When she let out a satisfied moan, however, the sound went straight to his cock and instantly made him hard. He muttered a curse and willed himself to calm down.

“Everything okay, Ben?” she asked.

“Yeah … just got another piece of crust stuck in my throat.” He took another swig of water.

“This was really delicious. Thank you, Ben,” she said.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“The company was good, too.” Another blush stained her cheeks. “I hate to be the one to say it, but I should get going or I’ll be late.”

“Oh yeah.” Where had the time gone? “I’ll take you to work and wait until you’re done so I can take you home.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she said.

“I kind of have to, don’t I? I mean, you didn’t bring your car.”

“Oh, right.” She chuckled. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think about that! I guess you can come back later.”

“I’ll stay,” he said.

“But Tim said—”

“We’re good, Tim and I.” Just that morning, he had gone to Tim personally to apologize and explain what had happened. Being a shifter himself, Tim accepted his explanation as to why his bear went crazy that night those men hurt Penny. But if you do it again, you’re banned for life, mate or not, Tim had warned.

“That’s nice. I’m glad you can come back to The Den now.” She stood up and excused herself. While she was in the ladies’ room, Ben paid for the check.

They bid Rosie goodbye, and Penny promised she’d come back for sure to try more pies. He helped her up into his Jeep, and soon they were on their way to The Den.

“You really don’t have to stay,” she said as they pulled into the parking lot. “You can go home. I’m sure I can ask someone for a ride.”

“Nah, I got you here and I’m getting you back.” Besides, this date wasn’t over. He didn’t want it to be over. Plus, it would be a good excuse to watch over Penny while she worked. He knew most of the shifter patrons in there wouldn’t try anything, but if any more of her ‘old friends’ showed up, he wanted to be there. It still made his blood boil, thinking of that night, but he controlled his temper and his bear.

“I’ll see you later,” she said as she hopped out of his car, then strolled toward the door in the back of the building marked ‘Employees Only.’ He maneuvered the car into the main parking lot, pulling into the first spot by the door. It was still early and The Den wasn’t open yet, so he waited inside the Jeep, checking his messages on his phone.

A movement outside caught his eye, and he snapped his head up. An unsettled feeling washed over him, and his bear suddenly reared up inside him, rattled and uneasy. He rolled the windows down and stuck his head out but saw nothing. He shook his head. Must have been my imagination.

Finally, the neon sign over The Den lit up and he knew they were open. He got out, locked the car, and headed inside.

Tim was standing by the bar. The older man shot him a warning look before giving him a nod. Ben walked to his favorite table and sat down, keeping an eye out for Penny.

“What can I get you, honey?”

He didn’t hear the waitress approach, which was unusual. Of course, when he got a whiff of fur, he realized she was a shifter, too. Bear, he recognized, though he’d never seen her before. “Just a beer,” he said with a cursory glance at her.

“Coming right up, honey,” she said before sauntering away.

When she came back a few minutes later with his beer, she leaned down, close enough to brush her breasts against his arm. “Anything else?” She was so near, he could smell her sticky perfume and fur.

“No, I’m fine,” he said, moving away from her and her cloying scent.

“Are you sure, hon?” She bent down so he could see the hint of cleavage as she used her upper arms to push out her breasts.

He let out an annoyed grunt and looked at her. Sure, she was pretty, with her dark hair and red pouty lips, but she was getting on his nerves. His bear was not too happy either, and it fumed each time she got too near. Couldn’t she feel it? “Yes, that’s it. I’ll call you if I need anything else.”

She gave a pout and then walked away, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner which might have been seductive. It’s not that she wasn’t attractive; he just wasn’t into it. He’d had his share of women over the years; even had a serious girlfriend for a year back in college though they broke up right before graduation. But now that he had met Penny, it was like other women didn’t even appeal to him.

Ah speaking of which …. He spotted her right away as she exited the employees’ door by the bar. His bear perked up happily at the sight of her, and he put all thoughts of the other waitress away. Penny had changed into her uniform shirt and jeans, and she waved shyly at him as she walked across the room. He considered sitting in her section, but he didn’t want her waiting on him.

As the night wore on, The Den started to fill up. He nursed his beer and got up to order another one at the bar when he was done so he didn't have to call that waitress. A couple of people stopped by to say hi and chat, mostly people he knew from town or the mines. He talked with them but kept a close eye on Penny. Thankfully, there was no trouble, and all her customers seemed to treat her with respect. Tim did run a tight ship and didn’t tolerate any bullshit, but he couldn’t control who came into his bar.

Closing time didn’t come soon enough. Ben waited for the last patron to leave, paid his tab, and went to the parking lot. He drove his Jeep over to the employee entrance to wait for Penny.

There was that feeling again, like someone was watching him. As he stood outside, he glanced around. A movement along the trees caught his eye. He wanted to brush it off; maybe it was a raccoon or a stray dog. As he was about to walk over and investigate, he saw Penny come through the door with Heather, the bartender. She waved goodbye to the other woman before walking over to him.

“Everything okay?” she asked as he opened the door for her.

“Sure,” he said, taking one last glance at the trees in the distance. His instincts weren’t screaming yet, but alarm bells were definitely raised. He filed it away in the back of his mind for now.

* * *

Their conversation was light as they drove back to Greenville. Ben asked Penny more questions about her job and what she liked to do, and she responded positively, asking him her own questions.

“I had a good time tonight. The date, anyway, not the work part,” she said as he walked her up to her front door.

“Me too,” he said.

They stood there for a moment, not saying anything.

“Pen—”

“I—”

She put her hand over her mouth, and he scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry, I—”

“You go—”

This time, she laughed. “Okay, you go first.”

His heart thumped in his chest. “I said we’d take it slow and we could go at your own pace and I would never do anything without asking. So,” he cleared his throat, “may I kiss you, Penny?”

Her lips curled into a smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Ben didn’t wait any longer. He placed his hands tentatively on her hips, leaned down to touch his lips to hers, then covered her mouth. Willing himself to be gentle, he drank in her taste and sweet scent. It took all his self-control to stay steady, but when she let out a low moan and parted her lips, it was like a dam broke loose in him.

He pushed her back against the door, his lips never leaving hers. His mouth devoured hers, and she responded eagerly. Dipping his tongue into her mouth, he tasted her, and she was even more delicious than he’d imagined. Her small palms landed on his chest, moving up higher until her fingers dug into his shoulders.

Her innocent touch sent his cock throbbing, and he moved his hands up to cup her breasts. Goddamn, her tits were amazing, overflowing in his hands. He pressed his hips to hers, so she could feel how hard he was, trapping her between him and the door. She whimpered against his mouth and her body froze.

“Shit.” He pulled away from her. “I’m sorry. That was too much.”

Penny’s face was flush; her green eyes stared right at him. She huffed out a breath. “I’m … I haven’t … been with anyone."

“I know,” he said. She was a virgin. He thought that might have been the case but didn’t assume. The idea that she was untouched stirred up feelings inside him he didn’t know how to name.

“Oh God.” She hid her face in her hand. “That’s so embarrassing. I can’t believe—”

“Shh …,” he soothed. “It’s okay. It’s my fault. It was too much.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared up at him with her pretty green eyes. He sighed. “Did you at least enjoy dinner?”

She nodded. “Thank you for tonight.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Would you like to go out again?”

“I’d like that.”

He let out a breath. “Good. Tomorrow? I’ll pick you up same time?”

She hesitated but nodded, making the tension leave his body. He hadn’t blown things yet.

“Well, I should get some rest.”

“Yeah, get some sleep. You’ve been on your feet the whole night.”

She turned and slipped her key into the lock. “Thanks again.”

“Good night, Penny.” He stood back and watched her disappear into her house. As soon as the lock clicked into place and he knew she was safe inside, he walked back to his car.

Ben supposed the night had gone better than he’d hoped for. He wanted Penny—of course he did—but he had to get a grip. If he lost control like that, he’d traumatize her for sure. Never again, he told himself. Can’t risk it.