Parker looked down at the phone once more, frowning at it. He closed his eyes and saw his panther lounging in his head. He tried to ask the animal if it felt any different since coming to Half Moon Key, he tried to suss out if the beast had felt their mate at all, but there was no definitive answer.
Apparently, where love was concerned, Parker was on his own.
* * *
Parker never consideredhimself to be a great romantic. Actually, none of his ex-girlfriends would even call him attentive. He was sure of that. It didn’t matter that it was a fairly short list. His luck hadn’t been great. Sure, he always put work first, but everything felt a little different this time around with Jade.
Now that he had Mason’s warning words in his head, he kept on wondering if Jade could be his mate, but he just hadn’t felt it yet.
Strange. Very strange.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that if hedidhave a mate somewhere out there in the world, it would be … orshouldbe … Jade Curran.
That’s what he told himself once everything was set up for their date. He hadn’t put that much effort into anything in his life before. Of course, that wasn’t strictly true. He had put that much effort into his company, but this was definitely the first time he gave everything he had for a date with a woman.
Hell, even the fact he called Mason spoke fucking volumes.
More than that, he had fully turned into a chivalrous man. One he barely recognized, and he didn’t even care. Hewantedto be that kind of person for Jade.
Parker was even picking Jade up at her house, even if she lived a five-minute walk away from his place. It was the right thing to do, though. Had they been in the city or anywhere else in the world, he would have picked her up to take her to a nice restaurant. Given that he didn’t want their first official date to be common knowledge in town, he was cooking for her at his cabin.
It was the most private place he could think of.
With a huge ball of nerves knotting his insides, he stood on her front porch, taking deep breaths.You’ve been in life and death situations with work, but here you are, standing on a woman’s porch, and you’re ready to puke with nerves. Real smooth, Parker. Real fucking smooth.
The door flew open, and there stood Jade. She wore a light and flowing floral skirt with a soft pink blouse that clung to her curves in the best way possible. Her shapely legs were on full display, and she was a bit taller than usual in a pair of white-heeled sandals that made his head spin a little bit.
“You were just standing there, driving me insane. For a second there, I thought you would leave without actually knocking.”
“Nope. That wouldn’t have happened.” He let his eyes roam over her. “Rosebud, you look amazing.”
Her hair hung in loose curls over her shoulders, and though he had no clue about makeup, he could tell her eyelashes were just a tad longer and fuller.
And her lips.
Wow.
Those lips were meant to be kissed all day, every day. They looked a little plumper, slathered with a pink gloss that had his cock hardening because he was a red-blooded male, after all.
“Thanks,” she blushed. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He shrugged. His black shorts were the dressiest pair he had, and he had paired them with a light blue button-down. He couldn’t imagine that he looked half as good as his date. He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. The skin was smooth but heated as if she also had a serious case of nerves.
“You ready?” he asked, holding out his arm for her to take.
She blinked at him, shocked by his general attitude. “Yeah, I’m ready.” She placed her hand on his arm, and the second their skin made contact, he felt it everywhere in his body.
He led her to his car, opened the door for her, and softly closed it with aheartpang. He didn’t want to let her go. If he could find a way to keep his hands on her all night, he would
Maybe having the date in his house where his bed was so close had been a bad idea.Do not expect to sleep with her tonight. It doesn’t matter what you want. If she wants to take things slow, then we will take things slow. I might die from frustration and sexual repression, but I can do it for her. I can probably do anything for her.
“Are you okay?” she asked as he pulled away from her house.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You’re so quiet right now. Is there something on your mind?”
“Yeah, you. You’re on my mind right now.”