“I know something that’s going to brighten up your day, brother.” Axel strolled into the shop, a huge grin on his face.

“What?” I’d slept like shit the night before and I wasn’t feeling quite as bright and cheery as he was.

“You’re going to like it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“For some reason, I sense your skepticism.” He slapped my shoulder. “Charlie stopped by and talked to Luna last night.”

I gave him my full attention. “And?”

“She eventually agreed that she would meet with you.”

Eventually agreed. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so excited about my mate being browbeaten into meeting with me, but I’d take what I could get. I tried to contain my excitement, but it was useless. “When? Where?”

“Calm down, lover boy. She didn’t set up the date for you, man. You’ll have to set that up yourself.”

I tossed the wrench in my hand back into my toolbox. Snorting out a wry laugh, I shook my head. “She hides from me. How am I supposed to ask her out? I’ve been trying to catch even a tiny glimpse of her for months.”

Axel laughed. “Are you giving up? Because you sound like you’re giving up.”

“Fuck no.” As I wiped the grease off my hands with a shop rag, my face curled into a smile. “I’m just going to have to make it impossible for her to avoid me.”

“Just don’t be creepy. Apparently, she has some issues with men.” Axel looked away and sighed. “Charlie pushed her into agreeing to meet with you. She’s convinced your mate is ready and says she has a feeling about it.”

“A feeling?”

“A feeling. I don’t know, man. All the women in this town are kind of crazy. Haven’t you noticed?”

I thought about Luna and shrugged. “I wish. I haven’t gotten close enough to notice.”

Axel picked up a socket wrench and looked over the motor of the truck in front of us. “You’ll see soon enough. Charlie told me to let you know that she’s having lunch with Luna at noon at Muddy’s B&B today.”

I looked at the clock on the back wall of the shop. Eight minutes to ten. It was too early to just show up and wait. I could go home and get cleaned up, though. I needed a shower and a clean shirt. Clean jeans, too. I’d better scrub under my fingernails—make sure to remove all traces of grease.

“Hold your excitement. We’ve got to get this motor done before then. You’re extra motivated, I’m sure. We should be able to knock it out in record time.”

I swore and grabbed the socket wrench from his hand. “It gets close to lunch and I’m ditching you, brother, job done or not.”

As it was, we finished right before noon and I had to drive like a bat out of hell to get to Muddy’s before lunch was over and I missed my chance to talk to Luna. No shower, no clean clothes, and sporting mechanic’s hands. Maybe I should’ve felt guilty for ambushing her, but I couldn’t get over my eagerness at being able to talk to the woman.

There was some big crowd in my way so I had to park down the street and run the rest of the way. By the time I got to Muddy’s bed and breakfast, I was sweat-soaked and the wind kept blowing my hair into my eyes and it was sticking to my sweaty forehead. I had the feeling I looked something close to a zitty fourteen-year-old version of myself.

My heart raced. There was a little taste of bile threatening the back of my throat. I was fucking nervous. It was ridiculous. I’d talked to and done much more with more than my fair share of women. In that moment, I felt like I’d never spoken to a single female, though. And maybe I hadn’t, since none had ever mattered to me. I couldn’t remember a single one of them, nameless, faceless, all of them. I could only picture the face of my mate.

I burst into Muddy’s like some crazed loon and spotted Luna across the room. She was sitting with Charlie and the rest of her friends. I told myself to take it easy, but I was hopeless. She was so close.

Her smell was like a magnet, drawing me closer. I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from touching her.

Luna’s already large eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when I reached her table. She was on the outside of the table and she snapped up when I got there. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back and her wide mouth was turned down as she chewed on her bottom lip. She was so beautiful. I mean, like the kind of beauty that takes your breath away. Stunning.

Speak. Words. I had to say something. I couldn’t just continue to stare at her like a complete moron. Though, I wanted to. Fuck, I was pathetic. She was so tiny. I could practically wrap my hands around her waist and my fingers would touch. She looked soft. I wanted to touch her.

There were people talking around us but when she met my eyes, everyone melted away. So pale. Her eyes were light gray, just a few shades darker than the whites of her eyes. I wanted to see them animated in laughter.

How long? How long had I been standing there, staring? Was someone talking to me? It didn’t matter, Luna hadn’t spoken. Her lips hadn’t moved except to trap the bottom one between her teeth. She had a mouth full of teeth, a Julia Roberts mouth. Her lips stretched wide across her face and I knew her smile would be killer. I ached to see it. Maybe I could make her laugh.

Shit. Words. Words! What the fuck was I supposed to say? Come out with me? Not come out, go out. Yeah, that was better. Was I just supposed to open with something about us being mates? I wanted her to laugh, but not at me. What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d grown up in an outlaw biker gang. I didn’t get nervous in front of women. Shit, I should have practiced this on the way over.

I opened my mouth, but there were no words there. I had nothing to say that made any sense. The beginning of sentences kept playing in my head but none of them sounded good enough for Luna. I couldn’t say any of that shit. What kind of first, okay third, impression did I want to make on her? She might tell our grandkids about this. It was the start of our life. What I hoped would be our life. Unless I fucked it up by saying the wrong thing.

The pressure could break a man. But, saying nothing at all was potentially worse. So, I looked at her with a straight face, at least I thought it was, and as my voice emerged, it sounded like a high pitched squeaky adolescent boy’s. “So, uh, your friend, Charlie, uh, told my friend, Axel, that, uh, you might agree to, like, to go, uh, out with me? On a date? Maybe?”

The table erupted into a fit of giggles. Smooth. Yeah, I knew that sounded awkward and ridiculous. But, when the corners of Luna’s mouth inched upwards and she looked up at me through her lashes before breaking into a crooked grin, I felt like a fucking superhero.

Luna still didn’t say anything, but she nodded and then Charlie shoved me away from the table. “We’ll let you know when and where, lover boy.”

I couldn’t help the broad, goofy smile that stretched across my face and, laughing, I backed away nodding like a bobble head. “Great. Wonderful. Fantastic. I’ll see you soon.”

Luna nodded again and it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard her voice. There was time. A step in the right direction. Some might call it a small step, but after waiting almost six months to catch sight of her, to me it felt gigantic.

I had to force myself to break eye contact with her and leave. I had to get home and work on the house. If I had my way, we’d be living in it before long. Together.