Cadence stood in the kitchen, debating on what she should do. She’d been standing here for the better part of five minutes, the kitchen sparkling clean, trying to decide if she should go to her bedroom or watch a movie with Jameson.

The answer should have been obvious. She should absolutely go straight to her bedroom and lock herself in until morning. It was the prudent thing to do. Hell, screw prudent. It was the smart thing to do. The last thing she needed was to spend time with him. Let him get closer to her. Let him possibly convince her that he actually was a genuinely nice guy. Fuck if she didn’t know better than to believe any of those existed outside of romance movies or books.

The problem was, she wanted to go to the living room. It’d been so damn long since she was able to relax while watching a movie. She hadn’t watched one in years. Hell, she didn’t even know what was out there.

But that wasn’t the only reason why she wanted to. Yeah, she’d been burned, literally, by men before. She’d never met a truly nice guy. They only knew how to take, only thought of themselves, and didn’t give two shits about women at all, much less their feelings or what they needed. But they sure knew how to pretend quite convincingly that they did, only letting their true colors out once they had the woman locked down and she had no way out.

Even knowing that, and that the person Jameson seemed to be was most likely a lie, she still wanted to spend time with him. And it made little sense. She was suspicious of him. Skittish. Freaked out if it looked like he was coming close to her at all. Why the hell would she want to be anywhere around him? Especially with her history.

Her hand dropped to her belly as she felt a nudge from within. She didn’t know what she was having yet, but she knew one thing. If it was a boy, she was teaching him better. Teaching him to be a good man. That women had value, too. She’d be damned if he grew up to be like his father, or any other man she ever met.

Except… maybe, just maybe, Jameson wasn’t like the men she knew. Already, he acted far differently than even those she knew who changed later. And if she added in how he treated his sister, how she reacted to him, it muddled her thoughts further.

Cadence just couldn’t see how, if he had a different nature, he could keep the mask in place long enough to fool Tarun. That would be a lifetime of never slipping up. She wasn’t sure how old he was, but his sister was twenty-five, just one year younger than Cadence. And she couldn’t see how he could go twenty-five years without slipping up once—unless he really was a genuinely nice guy who cared about people, women included.

If that were true, he was basically a unicorn among men.

Gah. She wouldn’t solve this riddle tonight. She needed to just put it aside and go upstairs, relax with one of the few books she had with her. Keep herself separate from both Tarun and Jameson, and leave here as soon as her new radiator was installed.

She ordered her feet to take her out of the kitchen and to her room.

Instead, they turned and took her to the pantry, where she got a bag of popcorn out. Placing it in the microwave and turning it on, she fixed two glasses of Coke, thinking it would go well with the snack, all the while wondering what the hell she was doing.

This was the very opposite of going to her room. Of keeping herself separate. Of staying the hell away from Jameson and the possibility—no, probability—of getting hurt again.

But her body wasn’t listening to her. Not as she finished filling glasses with ice and Coke and placed them on a tray. Not as she got the popcorn out of the microwave and poured it into a large bowl, putting it on the tray next to the drinks. And not as she carefully picked it up and made her way to the living room.

She walked to the living room, hesitating in the threshold. Jameson was standing in front of a large cabinet full of an astonishing amount of DVDs. Truly, it looked more like a video store than someone’s home collection. He was starting to reach for one when he suddenly paused, head whipping around, spotting her instantly.

His blue eyes immediately lit up, the dark blue seeming to have lighter hues of blue swirling in the irises in a way she hadn’t noticed before. “Hey! I didn’t think you’d join me. And you made popcorn. I’m still stuffed from dinner and dessert, but I can always make room for popcorn. It’s one of my favorite treats. Can I take the tray? It looks heavy.”

Brow furrowing, she wondered why he was asking, and then her cheeks heated when she realized why. He’d obviously noticed the way she flinched away when he came near, and she hated that. Couldn’t help her embarrassment over him noticing the way she reacted. Dammit, she hated how she cowered sometimes. It really wasn’t how she was, but after the last year, she couldn’t help it.

“That’s fine,” she finally answered, willing her voice to sound normal. “I’d probably drop it if I tried to set it on the coffee table, anyway.”

Approaching slowly, he held his arms out and took the tray from her, making sure he kept a decent amount of distance between them. As he set the tray on the table, he glanced over his shoulder at her. “I’m glad you’re joining me. I didn’t think you would, and I’d have to watch a movie by myself again.”

Shrugging, she slowly moved to the couch, taking a seat on one end and hugging the arm so she was as far away as possible. “I wasn’t going to, but it’s been a while since I watched a movie. I thought it might be nice, and I’ve read the books I brought with me a thousand times. What are we watching?”

He moved back to the cabinet. “I haven’t picked one out yet. What would you like to watch? We have it all, just about. Old and new. Romance, action, comedy. Even some Disney movies from when Tarun was little.”

“Anything except romance,” she blurted, a little too vehemently, judging by the way his eyes widened.

“Okay, no romance. I mean, I’m a guy. I’m not gonna argue with that. It wouldn’t be my first choice, either. How about Red? It’s pretty good. It’s an action movie, but really funny, too. One of my favorites. It has Bruce Willis in it, among other big-name actors.”

She nodded, but although she thought she knew who Bruce Willis was, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t going to admit that, though. “That sounds good to me.”

Giving her a big smile, he turned around and plucked a movie out. Quickly popping it in the DVD player, he grabbed a remote, turning the TV on and pushing some buttons. When he faced the couch, she held her breath, worried he’d sit too closely to her. But he walked to the other end of the couch, leaning against the armrest like she was.

Blowing out a relieved breath, she slid her flip flops off and pulled up her legs so she could lean more naturally, and then froze. Shit, shit, shit, she just put her feet on his couch. They were clean, but that didn’t matter. It was still rude, and he would get so mad. She caught him glancing over at her, and she panicked, babbling as she lowered her feet.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have put my feet on the couch, and I swear it’ll never happen again. I just got too comfortable, I guess, but—”

“Hey,” he said gently turning to face her. “Slow down and take a breath. It’s totally fine. Me and Tarun put our feet on the furniture all the time. It’s no big deal. It’s not like the couch is new, and even if it was, I wouldn’t care. I’m just happy you feel comfortable enough in my house to do that. Go ahead and put them back up. Settle in for the movie. I promise I don’t care.”

Studying him closely, she wondered if it was a trap. He might say it was okay and then ream her for it when she did it. God knows, Winston backhanded her so hard she saw stars and was spitting blood when she did it back in Atlanta. But Jameson’s eyes were open and honest, so she slowly put her feet back up. He just smiled warmly at her and turned his attention forward.

He’d been telling the truth. He really didn’t care if she put her feet on the furniture. Feeling equal parts relieved and puzzled, she relaxed into the arm of the couch. He confused her so much. He didn’t react like any man she ever knew before. And she was beginning to believe that, despite all odds, he really was the nice guy he seemed to be.

Leaning forward, he took one of the glasses and handed it to her. She accepted it, sucking in a breath as their fingers touched. Holy hell, what was that? It felt like his touch lit up her body. Trying her best to ignore it, she took a sip before placing the glass on a coaster on the side table next to her. Reaching out, he grabbed the bowl of popcorn and put it on the cushion between them.

“There, now we don’t have to reach too far when we want some. Thanks for thinking of it.”

She smiled at him as the previews played on the TV, surprised to find it was genuine. “You’re welcome. You said most of the people in Durga Valley are Indian, right?”

Looking surprised at the change in subject, he nodded. “Yeah. We have a lot of Russian people here, too, and a few other nationalities. But for the most part, we’re Indian.”

“Including you and Tarun?”

“Yep. Why do you look confused?”

She shrugged. She didn’t want to offend him with her questions, but she was going to ask them anyway. From what she knew of him, he wouldn’t be upset. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t.

“You both have lightly tanned skin, and darker hair. But you have some red highlights in your hair, and your last name is Campbell. Neither seems very Indian.”

He laughed, the rich sound dancing over her nerves and sending a shiver up her spine. “It’s because my paternal grandfather was Scottish. He had bright red hair, was pale as a sheet, and spoke with a brogue. But the rest of my ancestors were Indian, so it mostly canceled out the Scot. Except for the reddish glints in mine and Tarun’s hair, and our last name.”

“I like it. I’ve never seen black hair that has red highlights in it. It’s unique and looks good.”

He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at her, smiling slowly, and she blushed, cursing her runaway mouth. Did she really just compliment him? Yes, yes she had. What the hell was wrong with her?

“Thanks. I’m glad you like it,” he replied, dark blue eyes swirling with lighter blue, and intense as he watched her.

Clearing her throat, she forced herself to look casual—at least she hoped she did—as she looked back toward the TV. “Looks like the movie’s starting.”

Smiling crookedly, he nodded as he turned his attention forward. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she turned to watch the movie as well, but it took her a moment to focus. His smile hit her straight in the chest, making the fickle organ swell as her body warmed.

He was gorgeous, there was no denying that. But she shouldn’t be noticing it, and sure as fuck shouldn’t want to act on it. How many freakin’ times did she have to learn her lesson before it stuck?

It took everything in her, but she managed to blank her thoughts completely. And it wasn’t long before she was sucked into the movie. Jameson was right, it was funny. And it did have a small romantic side story, but there was so much going on that it seemed like nothing. They watched silently for a while, and then she absently reached over for some popcorn.

At the same time he did.

Their fingers touched in the bowl, and she sucked in a breath as she jerked her gaze to him. He did the same, the light blue swirls appearing in his eyes, lightening by the moment. She’d never known anyone with eyes like that, and it was kind of weird, but interesting, too. She liked it.

Neither one of them moved. She told herself she should, but she just couldn’t seem to make herself. His eyes were intense, questioning, but when she didn’t take her hand away, he slowly tangled his fingers with hers.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, she swallowed hard, expecting the panic to set in. Waited on it to wash over her. But, though it was there, it was in the background, just barely felt, and she still couldn’t make herself move her hand away. In fact, her fingers tightened just a tiny bit around his.

What the hell was this sorcery? Instead of freaking out and jumping away, she tried to keep their connection, to deepen it. She should feel scared, uneasy at the least, and instead, she felt… safe. Like Jameson could protect her. Like he’d never hurt her, and he’d keep the monsters under the bed—and in her past—at bay.

His eyes warmed as he smiled at her, and her breath stalled in her chest as she got caught in his gaze. She wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, fingers locked together in the popcorn bowl as the movie played in the background. But the spell was broken as a forceful nudge moved her belly. Gasping, she pulled her hand away to place it on her stomach.

She’d never felt the baby move that strongly before, and she put her other hand on the opposite side, hoping to feel it on the outside, too.

When she felt it again, a tiny foot or hand push against her hand, she smiled so big her cheeks hurt. That was so amazing. And she didn’t know how she could love someone so much she hadn’t even met, but she did. More than anything, more than she knew it was possible to love.

Jameson watched Cady as she rubbed her belly, completely taken with the huge, genuine smile on her face. She was rubbing her belly, and he thought maybe she felt the baby move.

When she first pulled her hand away, he was disappointed. He thought maybe she was freaking out and decided touching him was a bad thing. Still, he hadn’t expected her to allow it at all, so even though he was disappointed, he was still encouraged. It meant progress was being made.

And then she put her hand on her belly with this look of awe on her face, and he realized what happened. She hadn’t pulled away because she was freaking out. She pulled away because something far more important than holding hands was happening.

He watched as she cupped her belly, rubbing it softly. He wished more than anything he could feel the baby move with her, but it was far too soon for that. One day, though. One day he’d get to experience it all with her. Hopefully.

No hopefully about it. You will make this happen. That baby’s ours, too, his tiger said.

Only if she lets it be, and we have a long way to go before that happens.

Cady glanced over at him, still smiling, and he couldn’t have stopped smiling in response any more than he could stop the Earth from spinning.

“Is the baby moving?”

She was basically glowing as her smile widened further. “Yeah. I’ve felt it before, but never that strongly. It was amazing. It’s still moving a lot. Really active tonight.”

He was pretty envious. He’d never once thought about touching a woman’s stomach to feel a baby move, but this was different. She was different. If everything went the way he was praying it would, her baby would be his one day. Truly his. It didn’t matter to him a bit that the baby didn’t biologically belong to him. It was still his.

“Feeling it must be amazing. I can only imagine, because I’ve never felt a baby move, but surely it is. Babies are miracles, plain and simple, and feeling one move must be like feeling a miracle right under your palm.”

She glanced over at him, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. “Do…” she trailed off, hesitating. Squeezing her eyes shut her a moment, she looked at him again, wariness lurking in her chocolate brown eyes. “Do you want to feel it? The baby’s still moving a lot.”

Freezing, he stared at her in shock. He never in a million years thought she’d give the okay for him to touch her, not this soon. He longed to, but he wanted to make sure she was okay with it. It wasn’t worth it if it made her uncomfortable. “Yeah, I want to, but are you sure?”

Her teeth bit down harder on her lip, turning the surrounding skin white as she thought about it. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m fairly certain, at this point, that you wouldn’t hurt me. And honestly, having anyone’s hands so close to my baby makes me want to break out in hives, but you—well, I trust that you wouldn’t hurt the baby any more than you’d hurt me. Just… don’t make me regret that trust, okay?”

Fuck, what her words did to him. His heart swelled as warmth, and affection for her, washed over him. Trust from this woman meant fucking everything to him. “I promise I won’t, Cady. I would never hurt you. Ever. And I’d never break your trust.”

She nodded slowly as she looked at him. “It kind of shocks me, but I believe you.”

Turning sideways to face her, he stared at her belly. Her position made her shirt hug it, and he could see her baby bump clearly. He started to reach out and then paused, looking back up into her eyes. “How do I do this? I don’t know where to touch, and I don’t want to do something that hurts you.”

She laughed, the sound caressing his soul and making his heart happy. Jesus, that sounded corny as hell, but still, it was the truth.

“You won’t hurt me. Here, I’ll show you.”

She took his hand, and he sucked in a breath at the awareness that zinged through his body, tightening his skin as it woke up every nerve ending in his body. It was potent as fuck and unlike anything he ever felt before, but even still, it all flew out of his mind when she put his hand on her belly. Moving it slightly, she pressed her hand on his, pushing his hand harder into the hard swell of her stomach.

The baby moved, nudging his hand, and it was stronger than he imagined it would be. Almost as strong as his emotions. He thought if he was standing, he would have fallen straight to his ass, he was so overwhelmed. The baby nudged his hand again and he pursed his lips, fighting to keep the emotions he was feeling off his face.

That’s our baby. Our cub, his tiger whispered.

Not ours yet. But hopefully soon.

Swallowing hard, he tried to find his voice. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he slowly pulled his hand away, clenching it into a fist to keep from reaching for her again. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so he cleared his throat and tried again.

“That was amazing. Thanks for allowing me that moment, Cady.”

She smiled, but her eyes were puzzled as she looked at him. “You’re welcome. Are you okay?”

Nodding his head, he shrugged as he tried to look casual, but he thought it was probably a lost cause. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Pausing when she looked at him skeptically, he exhaled. Might as well just tell her the truth. “I’m just a little overwhelmed. I’ve never felt a baby move, and that was pretty fucking magical.”

She smiled as she nodded. “Yeah, I think so, too. I’ve been around pregnant women before. Quite a few of my foster mothers were pregnant at one point or another. But like you, I never felt it until I got pregnant.”

“You said you don’t know what you’re having. Do you want to know, or be surprised? Would you rather have a boy or girl?”

“I’d love to know. I’m not sure when, or if, I will, though. Obstetrician’s are expensive. I go when I’m supposed to, but things like ultrasounds are astronomical. I won’t have one done unless it’s absolutely needed. And I honestly don’t care what I have. I’ll love either gender just as much, and teach them the same things.”

“Like what?” he asked, curious.

Pursing her lips, she hesitated for a moment before answering. “That women have value. That their feelings matter. I’ll teach a girl to be strong, to take no shit. To be a warrior. That she has just as much worth as a man, and she doesn’t have to put up with a man pushing her around, treating her like shit.

“And I’ll teach a boy that it’s beyond wrong to lay his hands on a woman. To treat her like she’s less than the dirt under his shoes. That women are just as important as men are, and that he should have just as much respect for them as he does men. Maybe even more. That women aren’t necessarily delicate or fragile, but he should treat them like they are. I don’t mean treating them like they can’t think or do for themselves. I mean keeping in mind that they can break easily. And even if they’re strong and they don’t, he shouldn’t take that as a challenge to try to break them. Respect above all things.”

Jameson swore his heart broke then and there. It was clear that the things she listed, the things she’d teach a son not to do, were things done to her. Fury toward the man, or possibly even men, who did that to her, burned through his veins. He wanted to find them all and crush them. Let his tiger free so he could take them out. But he wanted to hunt them first. Toy with his prey a little before he had his dinner. Make them suffer as much as they’d made his Cady suffer.

It took every single ounce of his control to keep what he was feeling off his face. He didn’t want her to think he was pitying her because of the heartbreak he was feeling, and he sure as fuck didn’t want her to be scared by the anger coursing though his body. Especially not when it seemed like they were finally moving forward. It was slow as hell, a half an inch at a time, but it was progress, and he didn’t want to mess with that.

“I think those are both worthy goals, and something every parent should teach their kids,” he said, thankful his voice came out normal and even.

Turning sideways on the couch to face him, she searched his eyes. “You mean that, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. Tarun and I weren’t taught much of anything one way or another, but I still know right from wrong. Even raised in a tribe like this. Men and women are equal, and I think women are deserving of all our respect. And I can only hope my sister is a badass, that she would never stand for a man treating her with anything less than respect.”

Her brow furrowed. “Tribe?”

Fuuuuuck. He hadn’t meant to say that. Shrugging, he thought fast. Gambling on her not having much knowledge of Indian culture, he said, “Just something we call the people in the village. It’s an Indian thing.”

To his relief, she nodded, taking him at his word. Dammit, he hated lying to her, so much. But he didn’t have a choice with that kind of stuff. The truth, that he was a shifter who could turn into a tiger sometimes, would have her jumping in her car and peeling out of here, whether it was fixed or not, so fast it would make his head spin.

He'd tell her soon. Not only did he not have a choice if this went where he was hoping it would, but he wanted her to know. He wanted her to know everything about him, whatever she wanted to know. He wanted her to know him. And his tiger was a huge part of his life.

He only hoped she could handle it when she found out. Some humans couldn’t, and she’d been through so much. Even muted, his gift still picked up on her having a troubled past. Curious, he cautiously opened it, almost flinching when the extent of it hit him. Hers was definitely worse than most. Fuck. He hated that, and not only because it might make it hard for her to accept his nature. But because he couldn’t stand that she’d been hurt, that her life had been anything less than perfect.

“What do you do for a living? You said you weren’t a mechanic when I asked, but you never said what you did.”

Stilling, his mind raced again. He wasn’t sure he could tell her he trained warriors. That wasn’t exactly a term used a lot these days. He could word it differently, though. “We have fighters here. And I’m a trainer. Head trainer, actually.”

It was the truth, but damned if he didn’t feel like he was boasting when he told her. Hell, maybe he was, just a little. He was good. Why not let her know how good he was?

She stiffened beside him, and when he looked closely, he could see the wariness in her chocolate eyes. Frowning, he tried to figure out why it was back, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of one single reason.

Glancing at the TV and back, she began easing off the couch. “Looks like the movie’s over. I should get to bed. It’s been a long day. Thanks for inviting me to watch it with you.”

Mouth open, he watched, stunned, as she picked up her glass and quickly went upstairs. He was so surprised that he didn’t even tell her goodnight, let alone ask her what was wrong. Troubled, he faced forward, thinking hard as the credits of the movie rolled.

But he couldn’t figure out what the hell he said that bothered her. That made her wary of him again. Clearly, something had, but he had no clue what. The night had been going so well, better than he’d thought it could. Real progress had been made, but he felt like they just took a huge step back. The problem was, he didn’t know why.

When he offered to watch a movie with her, he hadn’t expected that she’d actually do it. And he hadn’t dreamed he’d get to touch her, to feel her baby move. It almost didn’t feel real, and it’d been amazing.

So had getting to learn a little more about her. She hadn’t spoken about herself directly, but what she said about how she’d raise her child—that said more than she probably realized. And it made him want to give her the life she deserved, the life she should have had, even more than he had before.

But he somehow screwed all that up. He just needed to figure out how the hell he did that, so he didn’t do it again. He wanted to keep making progress with her, not go backward.

Exhaling, he turned the TV off and pushed to his feet, grabbing the almost empty bowl of popcorn to take it to the kitchen. The best course of action here was probably to back off a little. Not too much and not too long, because she wouldn’t be here much longer. Once she was gone, he knew he’d lose her forever.

But he would back off just enough to give her a little bit of breathing room. He didn’t want to be all over her as soon as she woke up, although he wanted to, no denying that. He’d give her a little breathing room in the morning, but after that—it was on.