“Oh,” he said after a bite. “Oh, that’s just cabbage and mayo.”
“Sorry. I forgot to tell you. Dag warned me against that.”
Teagan shot her a curious look.
“You talked to Dag for a while.”
“Well, yes. I wanted to make sure you were who you said you were.”
Instead of looking offended, he nodded, though she wondered if there was something cagey about him suddenly. It wasn’t quite as if he were trying to hide something. She didn’t know what it was.
“I hope he was nice about me.”
“Are you worried?” It came out more direct than she would have liked. She sounded like a private investigator or something, but Teagan didn’t take offense.
“Ha. Dag’s honest, and whatever he said would have been the truth. He does like a story though, and he might have mentioned that time we had to help with a mare giving birth. It’s... Let’s say, it’s not the most tidy of experiences.”
Of course, Ros had to hear all about that, and then Teagan wanted to hear about how she had gotten into bookkeeping and why, and over the admittedly excellent pot roast, something in Ros chimed, and sheknew, though what she knew, she wasn’t sure she could say.
Chapter Six
∞∞∞
Love was easy.
The old-timers had a lot to say about love, especially when it came to the matter of true mates. They talked about the instant recognition, the lifetime bonds, the feeling that the love had begun a long time ago and that it would continue forever, arcing through the world long after everything they knew was dust. Of course Teagan had heard the stories and thought about how it might look for him, how he might meet his mate and everything would change.
What he had never expected was howeasyit was. There was an undercurrent that ran under everything they did together, and he could drive himself to distraction thinking about leaning over to brush a curl back from Ros’s lovely face. There was all that, but there was also the fact that he wasn’t sure he had ever been more comfortable with anyone in his entire life.
We fit,he thought, and he hoped the foolish grin that kept sneaking onto his face didn’t make him look like too much of an idiot.
They stayed at the restaurant long enough that it emptied out around them, and then their teenage waitress gave them increasingly pointed looks until Teagan reached for his wallet.
“Oh, let me pay half,” Ros said, and Teagan shook his head.
“Nah, my treat for the lady who’s hitting nothing but home runs this month,” he said, and then at her slightly mutinous look, “How about if I let you pay next time?”
She eased at that, but she still gave him a suspicious look.
“All right, but something nice, all right? I’m not going to let you get away with a fast food place.”
Her face then fell slightly, maybe remembering that she was fresh out of a job, but he only grinned at her.
“You’re the accountant. I wouldn’t dream of trying to sneak by you with a burger and fries.”
She still looked suspicious, and he took her hand.
“I’ll be around. We can figure it out,” he said, and he thought she heard the promise in his voice, because she relaxed and smiled up at him.
By the time they made it back to the cabin, it was full dark. It was both sweet and exhilarating, being alone in the night with his true mate. It took everything he had not to reach for her when he pulled up to the door, and it didn’t help when instead of getting out, she only looked at him, her hands resting lightly on her lush thighs. He couldn’t keep from noticing how round and smooth they were, how he knew they would fit his hands just right, and he forced his gaze back up to her face.
“This feels like–” Ros laughed. “This feels like a first date in high school. Like we just got back from the diner, and we know we have to split up for the night. But...”
“But we don’t want to?” Teagan guessed, and she nodded.
“Do you want this to be a first date?” he asked.
She sighed, a soft sound that speared him straight through the heart. He could imagine her sighing like that first thing in the morning. He could imagine her sighing like that in a lot of situations.