“You know what?” Becca lifted her chin. “You’re right.” She broke off a piece of pretzel and let her tongue lick the salt the same way she did with the french fry at the Boathouse restaurant.

“You know, I think we forgot to take care of something upstairs,” Jaylon said, turning her toward the hotel’s doors.

“Really? What?”

“My hard on.”

Becca rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Jay—”

The bellman interrupted, calling for them curbside where he held a cab.

“Guess we’ll have to put that idea on ice for now,” she giggled.

“Literally.” He nodded with a grunt, and the two headed down the steps to get into the cab.

“Where to, mister?” the cabbie asked.

“Central Park West. The American Museum of Natural History, please.”

* * *

“I can’t believe this is real.” Becca stared at the majestic cat on the wide platform, its heavy skeleton and massive saber-like fangs staring at her from the staged set.

“That would have been you, eleven million years ago.” Jay slipped his arm around her shoulder with a chuckle and kissed her hair. “For real, I’d have to tell you to watch your teeth on my sensitive parts.”

“It’s amazing we descended from this.” She shrugged. “Well, me anyway.”

He nodded. “Wait until you see the size of the prehistoric wolf. That canine is no joke.”

She laughed at the pride in his voice. “You don’t say.”

With a grin, he pointed across to the exhibit and then tugged Becca over to look at the display.

“Wolf shifters came from something very similar to that very species. It was called the Dire Wolf, one of the deadliest predatory mammals of the prehistoric era. Its teeth were larger with greater shearing ability and more bite force than any other creature of its category, only our ‘sabers’ grew from the bottom jaw, unlike our feline counterpart.”

He gestured with his head to the saber-toothed exhibit behind them. “The two species coexisted for millennia, side by side. Separate but equal.”

Becca watched his face and smiled at the kid-like delight in his eyes as he explained the different animals and their prehistoric eras.

“I never would have taken you for a history nerd,” she teased.

“Brains and brawn aren’t mutually exclusive, Bec.” He slid his arm from her shoulder and took her hand, lifting her fingers to his lips.

“I love it here,” Jay continued. “Being surrounded by all this history and science gives me a foundation, and time to think about who I am.” He shrugged. “You can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve come from.”

He gave a chin pop toward the smaller animals surrounding the two apex predators exhibited. “Everything here explains our past. Canines and felines competing for prey to survive, for territory to live and breed. For us, things may have gotten more civilized, but it all boils down to the same thing. Shifter wolves and shifter cats—mountain lions, leopards—it doesn’t matter. We’re still in competition.”

“Are we?” Becca asked, looking at him with new eyes.

“Sure. Can you deny that your Leap will be overjoyed that the male you chose for your mate is a wolf?”

She shook her head. “No, I suppose not. Not everyone, but some.”

“Exactly, but if you look at where we came from,” he spread his arm out, “like what they’ve displayed here, we’ve actually come a long way, and with us now, maybe we can take it to the next level.”

She looked into his bright eyes. “I bet you were one of those kids who watched travelogues on TV growing up.”

Jay laughed. “Guilty as charged. I still am. I live for NatGeo and the Discovery Channel.”

Grinning, she hooked her arm with his. “What? No Animal Planet?”

He faux shivered. “Ooh, baby. Talk animal to me.”

They moved through the hall of primitive mammals into an adjoining corridor. “So, lady, where to next? Dinosaurs? Birds?”

Becca shrugged. “I like those, sure, but they’re not my favorite.”

“Not into T-Rex and his pals.” He chuckled. “Okay, then. What are you into, besides me, that is?”

She smiled at him. “Ocean life.”

Jaylon nodded, impressed. “I would never have guessed. You’re a Shark Week kind of gal, huh?”

Now it was her turn to shrug. “When your people come from the forests and mountains, you don’t get much time near the ocean. The mystery ends up holding your imagination hostage. At least for me.”

“And I live my life surrounded by ocean.” He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “At least I know you’ll love living with me for that alone. My house is right on the beach.”

“Right on the beach? Like walk out the back onto the sand, beach?”

He nodded again. “You can even see dolphins in the water from time to time.”

She grinned, realizing Jay had steered them into the hall with everything ocean. “Oh, Jay,” she murmured. “This is amazing.” She didn’t know where to look first.

“What’s your favorite? Sharks? Seals?”

Becca shook her head. “Nope.” Looking up, she pointed toward the large exhibit hanging from the ceiling. “Right there. That is my all-time favorite.”

“Whales?”

She nodded. “I’ve never seen one in real life.” Walking toward the informational plaque, she exhaled. “Even this is a fiberglass model. I’d love to see one out in the ocean. It’s fluke breaking the surface like a giant sea fan. Free and majestic, not held in some tank at an amusement park.”

Jaylon took her hand in his again. “Stick with me, kid. I got connections when it comes to all things ocean.”

She laughed at his 1940’s gangster imitation. “What, you going to make the whales an offer they can’t refuse?”

He laughed out loud. “Sharks, seals, whales, and the Godfather. What a mix you are, love.”