Unfortunately, she didn’t smile at him like that. She mostly glared, smirked, or mocked. And she seemed to be a real big fan of pissing him off.
“So there’s a Cat Nation?”
“Of course there is. The dogs breed like rabbits. They kind of outnumber us. But being the biggest cats, tigers don’t worry too much.”
She grinned around her burger. “And a humble breed, I see.”
“What can I say? Not a lot of breeds are like us. Last I weighed in, I was damn-near seven hundred pounds.”
“Too many carbs?”
“Funny.”
“I am…and I look fabulous in my new shoes.”
Again with those damn shoes. “Do you goad everybody this much?”
“Me? Goad? Of course not. I bring joy and life to all. I’m sweet, charming, have a great sense of style—and if you wanna keep that hand, you’ll get it away from my fries.”
Busted. “Come on. Little gal like you can’t pack all this away by yourself.”
She stared at him for several long moments. Then, with a shrug, she slapped his hand away when he came in for a second pass at her fries.
“Aren’t you a little worried about staying here under my protection? You don’t know me from Adam.”
She chewed on her food thoughtfully before answering. “No. I’m not worried.”
“That seems a little strange to me. I think I’d be worried.”
She took a sip of her soda. “I slammed you with my head, hit you with a toilet, and shot a hole through your door. You, however, threw me in a closet.” She shrugged. “So, no. I’m not worried.”
He unwrapped his fourth burger. “I guess ya got a point.”
“I figure if you were gonna kill me, you would have done it by now.”
“I could always sell ya to the lions.”
“Well, if they look anything like that group we passed outside the diner—sell, sell, sell away!”
He debated about whether to hit her with the burger in his hand, but his hunger overrode his impulse.
She watched him eat for a moment, then asked, “So you’re not married, are you?”
Nik choked on his burger. He hit his chest several times to dislodge the beef while she watched him quietly.
“Why do you ask,” he wheezed out.
“Just a question.”
“My kind don’t get married. We don’t settle down. We live alone. Happily.”
“So you’re not like the wolves?”
He shuddered. “No. We are not like the wolves.”
“Interesting.”
“Really?”
“No. Not really. I’m just looking for shit to say.”
Angie’s phone rang. He’d gotten her a new phone but with her old number so she could keep in touch with her friends.
She pulled the gold-plated phone out of her Dolce & Gabbana handbag. Nik guessed it would be those dog friends of hers. He expected tears, soothing words about how she was doing fine.
What he didn’t expect…
“Don’t you dare yell at me, Sara Kylie Morrighan!”
“We’re coming for you. Tonight!”
“Like hell you are!” Angie stood up. “I swear to God, you push me on this and I’ll make that scar on your face look like a fuckin’ scratch!”
“Here!” Sara yelled away from the phone. “I can’t talk to her!”
Angie began pacing around the table. “She can’t talk to me? She’s being an irrational psychopath and she can’t talk to me?”
Nik worked on another burger—how many was that now? Forty?—and watched her, but didn’t say anything. She suddenly wanted to punch him in that handsome face, but that was because she felt a little tense. She stopped taking out her anger on others a long time ago. Or at least she worked really, really hard not to.
“Hello?”
“And when the hell were you going to tell me you were pregnant?”
“I just found out! I didn’t even have tests yet!”
“What do you mean you haven’t had any tests? Then how the hell do you know?”
“Because they can smell it on me! Like that’s not fuckin’ freakin’ me out! And why are you yelling at me?”
“I don’t know!” With a sigh, Angelina sat back down at the table, right beside Nik.
“Miki, you need to get control of Sara. Now.”
“I don’t think she’s wrong. I think we should come get your ass this damn second.”
“Miki Kendrick, I swear to God—”
“Angie, we don’t know these people you’re staying with.”
“They’re tigers.”
“Siberian,” he offered.
She glared at him over her shoulder, but barked into the phone, “Siberian, apparently.”
“Oh, really. Well, according to page six hundred and ninety-five of the Encyclopedia of Mammals, male tigers are one of the most vicious and deadly predators known to man. The males kill cubs just so they can get the female back into heat so they can get her pregnant with their own.”
Angie used her free hand to rub her forehead. “That’s fascinating, Kendrick. But I really don’t think I have anything to worry about here. You do. So why don’t you focus on yourself for awhile? You are the one about to breed.”
“I wish everybody would stop fucking saying that.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. How about you’re the one about to experience the wonders of childbirth?”
“You are such a bitch.”
“And you are such a psychopath.”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
Angie slammed her phone closed, then slammed it down on the picnic table. She picked it up and slammed it down two more times.
“Do you and your friends fight like that all the time?”
“That wasn’t really a fight. That was a disagreement. Fights usually involve finger pointing and the occasional headlock.”
“And parts of the toilet?”
She smiled, her anger evaporating in seconds at his humor. “Naw, sugar,” she mimicked back in her best hick accent. “That was a full-on assault. Texas style.”
Not even realizing her actions, Angie reached over and gently touched the cut she’d given him right above his eye. Already it damn-near healed completely. Must be nice to have that awesome shifter metabolism.
“I didn’t hurt you too bad, did I?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he closed his eyes, her fingers stroking along his brow, and leaned his face against her hand.
At that point, she really should have taken her hand away. Normally she would have. Normally she wouldn’t have touched him in the first place. But after being kidnapped by hillbillies, “normal” seemed the least of her worries right now.
Nik tilted his head down, rubbing it against her hand. His eyes still closed, she could just watch him. He had the longest black lashes she’d ever seen on a man. And his hair wasn’t black but a deep, rich brown that felt incredible against her hand. Not really knowing why, Angie dragged her fingers through his hair…and Nik purred back in response. A low one, from deep down in his gut.