Chapter 23
She mattered.
And Tank was holding her hand gently, like it was a precious butterfly that he might crush if he held it too hard. Lissa felt like she was in a fairy tale, in a ball dress with a handsome prince beside her.
Her life wasn’t supposed to be like this, and for once, she didn’t know if she could forget the past and the future and make the most of this. It was hard to live in the moment when the moment was so amazing, and she knew it could never last.
Tank walked right up to the hostess station and said, “Two, please.”
The hostess looked up from her little podium. “Do you have a reservation?”
She looked incredibly elegant, in a slim black dress with simple gold jewelry, her hair in a sleek bun. Yikes, Lissa thought. I never thought I’d be in a restaurant where the employees dress better than me.
“No,” Tank said, a small frown crossing his forehead.
The hostess frowned as well. “We normally only take reservations…”
Tank hesitated, then stepped in closer. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “I surprised my girlfriend with a spontaneous road trip—no luggage, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Lissa. “She really wanted to eat here, and I just bought her this new dress, and I’m trying to keep the romance alive. Is there any way you could help me out?”
He slipped her a folded bill, and the hostess smiled up at him, looking mesmerized. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She walked off into the dining area.
Wow. Not that it was surprising—Tank was a complete hottie. A few more melting looks like that, and the hostess wasn’t the only one who was going to do whatever he asked.
Lissa slipped her arms around Tank’s huge one and hugged it to her. “This imaginary lost weekend is getting more and more romantic,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
In a couple of minutes the hostess was back. “Come this way, please.”
She led them to a secluded table in a corner, and Tank thanked her before moving around to hold Lissa’s chair for her. She felt like a queen.
He sat down across from her and smiled, his green eyes sparkling in the candlelight. Just seeing him look like that made her feel all quivery in the pit of her stomach.
Then she opened the menu and saw the prices. Panic hit her.
“Tank!” she whispered. “We can’t stay here. Look at how much all this costs!”
He put his menu down, frowning. “It’s fine,” he said. “I knew how much it cost before we came in. Do you want some wine?”
Lissa flipped to the wine list and gasped again. Nine dollars just for a glass of wine? You could get four bottles of Two-Buck Chuck in Trader Joe’s for less than that. She started doing math in her head.
“Tank, if we had entrees and wine and dessert, it would be over a hundred dollars just for the two of us!”
“Don’t forget appetizers,” he said.
“They cost a week’s worth of tuna and crackers and Ramen,” she informed him.
Tank stopped, and put his hand over hers.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Look at me.”
She met his eyes, still feeling like she was going to hyperventilate at the idea of someone spending the equivalent of a month’s worth of food on one meal for the two of them.
“This is a date,” he said. “And call me old-fashioned, but on a date, the woman isn’t supposed to have to worry about how much it costs. It’s my pleasure to take you out, and you can trust me not to spend more than I can afford. Okay?”
She tried to slow her breathing down, but with Tank holding her hand and looking across the table at her, looking all hot in his new clothes and with all that sweetness in his eyes, she just kept breathing faster.
“Okay,” she said.
He squeezed her hand and smiled, the dimples flashing under the sexy scruff on his face. “Good,” he said. “So pretend there are no prices on the menu, and tell me exactly what you want.”
You, she thought. I want you.
But she couldn’t say it, so she went back to looking at the menu, a warm sensation growing in the middle of her chest.
They ordered huge rare steaks and cheesy potatoes, and Caesar salads that were made right at the table, just like on TV. Lissa loved it all.
Tank watched her eat, looking happy every time she exclaimed over how good it was. She didn’t know why he was so happy about spending way too much money on her, but he seemed to enjoy it.
They’d spent a lot of time talking over the last few days, but there was still so much she wanted to know about him.
“So,” she began, between bites of steak. “Since this is a date, then it should be something special. So, tell me something new about you, that I don’t already know.”
He thought for a minute, then said mischievously, “I’ve never wanted to be a rock star.”
She laughed. “That doesn’t count. There are probably a thousand things you’ve never wanted to be. What do you want to be? If you could do anything you want? Astronaut? Pro football player? Gigolo?”
He grinned at her. “Sorry,” he said. “My dreams aren’t that exciting.”
She smiled back. “I still want to hear them,” she said softly. “I want to know what would make you happy.”
He gazed into her eyes for a moment, then said shyly, “What I’d really like to do is build tiny houses. As a business, I mean.”
“Big Man Tiny Houses. I like it. I could draw you a logo.”
Tank picked up her hands and kissed it. “Don’t make fun, Smartass Bear.”
He ducked his head. “I like tiny houses because they’re like building little jewel boxes. Each one can be different, and pretty. I like tiny, delicate things.”
He looked up at her, and she felt her face grow warm. “What about tiny, delicate-looking but actually badass street bears?”
He smiled. “I like those too.”
Lissa rubbed her hand up against his sexy scruff. “I think a tiny house business would be so cool. You could create a few standard models you could customize, and build them ahead of time and have them on your construction lot. And then you could also build completely custom homes for people, based on their preferences.”
Tank’s face lit up. “That’s what I was thinking,” he said. “It would take a while to establish myself, but I have a little money. I could build it up slowly.”
“I could build you a web site,” Lissa offered. “I know all about SEO and how to get it noticed. And I could design brochures for you, and you could maybe put the plans of the standard models online so people could look at them. I think it would be amazing.”
They talked about it through dessert, Tank explaining that he had a whole portfolio of sketches and floor plans. When the check arrived, Tank got out his credit card and slotted it into the pocket of the leather folder. Lissa reached for it as he put it down, and Tank pulled it away. “Date, remember?” he said. “You’re not supposed to worry about the cost.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “I just want to see the card.”
“Why?”
“Condition two,” she said. “I want to know what your real name is. Assuming your parents didn’t actually name you Tank. Besides, I can’t date a guy without knowing his last name. It makes me seem flighty and irresponsible.”
He smiled a little at that, but he still hesitated, holding the folder.
“Oh, no, it’s a secret, right?” she said. “If you tell me you’ll have to kill me.”
He pulled the card out and handed it over.
“Gilbert Morrison,” she read. She tilted her head, studying him. “Gilbert. I don’t think it suits you. Not badass enough.”
“It used to,” he said. “But I left the name behind with everything else when I lost Angie and left my house in Georgia. After that I was just Tank.”
When he’d joined the hunters. He hadn’t just lost Angie, he’d lost himself, all the way down to his name.
“Do you think you’ll ever call yourself that again?” She meant, Do you think you’ll ever get yourself back?
He took the card back. “I don’t know.” He put it back in the little pocket and laid the folder down on the table. He was quiet for a moment.
“I still have the house in Georgia, did you know that?”
She shook her head. He hadn’t told her that. Was he planning on going back there? Somehow that made the pit of her stomach feel like it was dropping through the earth.
“The one you lived in with Angie?”
He nodded.
“After I left, I guess I just figured the house was gone. Foreclosed on, or destroyed by the shifter hunters.”
He bit his lips. “But then after we escaped from Grant, I checked on my bank accounts and I realized the money to pay for it had been taken out of my savings this whole time. And I called up my neighbor, whose property adjoined mine, and I found out he’d been looking after the place for me.”
“So you could go back,” Lissa whispered.
Tank nodded. “Or I could sell it,” he said. “With the house and the land, I could make enough set up my tiny house business.”
“That would be amazing,” Lissa said. “I think you should consider it.”
He squeezed her hand, looking into her eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe I should.”