ROSE'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 5)

by Dalia Wright

  Jealousy tugged at the pit of her stomach. She knew it was wrong, but she was jealous. She had always wanted to find someone—someone Gott wanted her to be with—but so far she was just getting older and older with no sign that there was anyone out there for her. Just give it time, she reminded herself, but it only did so much good. It didn’t take away the jealousy. It just reminded her that she did have someone waiting for her. Someone Gott had planned for her to meet. It was just a matter of when, which was part of the reason she wanted to get home faster.

  She was sure that she would meet the right man, and the sooner she got home, the sooner that would be. Still, it will be nice to go out tonight. She was excited. She wanted to know what the date would actually be like. The rest of them had told her all about what their dates had been like, and although they seemed to find the dates disappointing, she found their stories to be wonderful.

  Once wearing the dress, Sarah settled on flats and a little makeup. She left her hair down, and by the time she was ready, it was almost time to leave to meet Brad.

  The door opened just as she scooped up her purse.

  “Wow!” Hanna stopped in the doorway and stared at Sarah. “You look amazing!”

  Sarah felt her cheeks flush. “Danka,” she said, not worrying about correcting herself.

  “Hot date or something?” Hanna stepped into the apartment as Sarah slipped past her.

  “Not sure about hot yet, but yes to the date part.”

  Okay, so Brad was what most women would consider hot. Growing up Amish didn’t impede her ability to pick out an attractive man. She just wasn’t willing to tell Hanna how hot—at least not yet.

  Chapter Two

  Brad sucked in a deep breath when he saw her. She cleaned up good. When he had met Sarah, she was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a plain shirt. Now, she looked like she could be red-carpet worthy; well, other than the fact that her dress looked a little low quality. A smile touched Brad’s lips. I could fix that. Of course, that was depending on how things went.

  “Hi.” He closed the distance between them and pulled her into a soft hug. Stepping back, his eyes roamed over her body. “You look lovely.”

  Her cheeks went bright red. “Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself.” Her eyes sparkled as she said it, a grin spreading over her face.

  “Shall we go inside and sit?”

  He cleared his throat. Brad still wasn’t sure what this girl’s deal was, but he knew she didn’t treat him like any of the other girls he had met in the past four years. She was nice. When he had bumped into her at the café, he had thought she might be a little ditzy, but for some reason he had still had this urge to ask her out. He was going to have to find out just how smart she was.

  Turning towards the door to the restaurant, Brad pulled it open and held it for her. She thanked him again, and they made their way inside.

  A waitress came over to them, her eyes sparkling, until they landed on Brad. She went wide-eyed and pale. “I . . . hi . . . I’m—my name is Ashley, i-is it just the two of you?”

  “Yes.” Brad tried to ignore the stares. He could feel people’s eyes on him, but he ignored them as he and Sarah headed toward a table at the back of the room.

  Thankfully, there were no cameras allowed here. That was the nice thing about the restaurant. It was designed for people who didn’t want to have their pictures taken. If someone so much as pulled out a cell phone and aimed it at another table, they would be asked to leave.

  The waitress fumbled as she handed each of them their menu and promised to be right back with some water for them both.

  Brad swallowed dryly as Sarah picked up her menu and said, “So this is nice. But I have to admit, I hardly know anything about you.”

  There was no doubt in Sarah’s mind that the girl had known him. Maybe she was an ex. Maybe that was why he had wanted to bring Sarah here. Maybe she was part of some sick game. It’s too late to turn around, she thought. Plus, a dinner would be nice. There was no doubt that money was tight for Sarah, and she wasn’t going to turn down a good meal. Her parents had wanted her to reach out and explore if she was going to do this, and one of the best things about the English world was the food. At least that was her opinion.

  Their waitress came back with two glasses of water. Her hands trembled as she placed the water down in front of them and walked away. Sarah looked up from her menu just in time to see Brad put his down.

  “There isn’t much to know about me, honestly. I’m pretty boring. I work, and well, that’s pretty much all I do. But if I’m not working then I’m normally sleeping or doing stuff that counts toward work.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “Oh, nothing interesting,” he said quickly. Too quickly. “Anyways, tell me about yourself. Here I am, hogging the whole conversation.”

  Sarah raised an eyebrow. He was far from hogging the conversation. In fact, they had hardly talked at all. But she didn’t point that out. Instead, she shrugged. “I guess you could say there isn’t much to me, either.”

  “Are you in college?”

  “No. I don’t think that’s for me.”

  “Why not? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was the same way. I’m just wondering why you don’t feel like it’s a good fit for you.”

  “School isn’t my thing. I’d much rather be a life learner. I’d much rather be out, exploring.”

  “I completely agree.” His eyes sparkled as he said it, reaching for his glass of water.

  Sarah’s cheeks flushed as their eyes locked. She looked away from him. She hated admitting just how happy it made her that he agreed with her on this. She’d been in the English world for a while now[S3], but she hadn’t really met a man who took an interest in her.

  “Does that mean you didn’t go to college?”

  “Nope. I wanted to be sure I never had to, so I started working early. Worked so hard I never had time for school.”

  Sarah laughed softly. She liked that about him, she had to admit. Maybe it was just because she had stopped going to school at what English people considered a young age. It was normal for Amish to stop going to school before graduating. After all, there were more important things than schooling.

  “Are you ready to order?” The waitress’s voice snapped Sarah back to reality.

  She [S4]stared at Brad, her eyes still wide. Whatever the deal with them was, she still wasn’t over it. Jealousy tugged at Sarah. She tried to ignore it but couldn’t. It’s not like we’re a couple or anything. She mentally shook herself. She was right—they weren’t a couple. It was just a first date, but the truth was, she had no clue how to handle herself on or after a first date, and that kind of scared her. She didn’t want to admit to him that she was Amish, but she didn’t want to come off as totally rude.

  Well, it will probably be one or the other, she thought, as she tuned Brad out as he ordered. When the waitress turned her attention to Sarah, Sarah ordered a burger with fries. She had no clue what kind of burgers an expensive place like this would offer, but she was looking forward to finding out. The waitress walked away after promising to bring the food out in a “jiffy.”

  Brad turned to her, his head tilting to the left. “You didn’t tell me very much about yourself.”

  “Yea, you didn’t either.” She grinned widely.

  “True.” He inclined his head to her, giving her the victory.

  “To be honest, I’ve never done this whole first date thing before. It’s a little new to me.”

  Brad raised an eyebrow. Whether or not he tried to control his shock, she saw right through it. “Really? You’ve never been on a date?”

  “Nope.”

  Back at the community, she had been on dates with her friends and their boyfriends’ friends, but that was different. Those weren’t actual dates, although when Jenny started dating her now husband, she had tried hard to set Sarah up. Jenny and Joshua seemed destined for each other the second they started courting. It truly was a match m
ade by Gott. No one had doubted that for a second.

  “Not even once? When you were younger?”

  “Nope, not even once.”

  “Wow.” He sounded shocked.

  Sarah felt her cheeks turn a deep shade of pink and burn hotter than they ever had. She knew he would think she was odd, but at least he wouldn’t think she was totally rude.

  “So needless to say, I’m kind of figuring this out as we go. Never done it before—still trying to get my wits about me.”

  “So you haven’t had a boyfriend before.” He studied her carefully.

  “No.” What wasn’t he getting about that?

  “Not even an unofficial boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  “Not even just someone you hung out with and did things with?”

  There—now it made sense. Sarah realized what he was getting at. Completely inappropriate! Her brow furrowed. “No, not that it is any of your business.” Her lips pursed.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it in that way, I just—so you’ve never even been kissed?”

  Sarah felt shame burn her cheeks deeper. She didn’t say anything, but she knew that was more than a good enough answer for the man in front of her. As much as she hated that he knew so much about her, there was no turning back now.

  “I didn’t have my first girlfriend until I was eighteen, almost nineteen.” He smiled softly.

  Sarah was sure he was trying to make her feel better, and it sort of helped. “Thanks, I mean for—”

  “No need. I was the one asking questions I shouldn’t be. So your turn—you can ask me anything.”

  Anything? Sarah bit her lip. “And you will tell me the truth?”

  “Of course.”

  She wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer, but she was going to take the risk. “Who is the waitress?”

  “What? She said her name was Jasmine or something, didn’t she?”

  “I mean, who is she to you? It seems like you know her, or it seems like she knows you.”

  “Oh, I’m sure that is nothing,” he said, too quickly once again.

  Sarah studied him for a couple of seconds. It seemed pretty clear he was hiding something from her, but she just wasn’t sure what it was. Sarah bit her lip softly, mulling it over. She would finish dinner with him and then chances were they would never see each other again, right? So it wasn’t a big deal. In a couple weeks she would forget all about him, and he would probably just forget about her in a couple of hours.

  Sarah continued to stare at him. He was beyond attractive. She knew that. She was sure he would have another girl interested in him in a matter of hours, if not less. Like that waitress. Although he hadn’t seemed very interested in her, maybe he was just pretending to make it look like he didn’t have any interest in her while Sarah was around.

  “Did you grow up around here?” she asked, trying to fill the silence.

  “I did. Even after everything that happened, I didn’t want to move away. I could have easily, but I wanted to stay here. It’s home for me. I, er, always travel a lot for work, and whenever I get back, it just feels right.”

  Sarah smiled softly. This was the first time she had seen this kind of reaction from him, and she liked it a lot more than she wanted to admit.

  “You travel a lot for work?”

  “Yes. I get to go to a whole bunch of exciting places. We’re going over to Holland next week.”

  “Really? Wow, that must be so cool.”

  His eyes sparkled as he looked lost in thought.

  Sarah’s heart skipped a beat as those eyes shifted to her.

  “Have you done much traveling?” he asked.

  “No, not really. It’s something I have always thought would be amazing, but no, I haven’t.”

  She had thought about trying to save enough money to travel a little, but after pricing it out, she knew it just wasn’t realistic.

  Chapter Three

  “I had a really nice time, thank you,” Sarah said, looking around. By this time, the busses ran on the hour, which meant she had probably missed the most recent one.

  “Let me give you a ride home, please,” he said, as if reading her mind.

  “Oh, I couldn’t ask you to go out of your way like that.”

  “You’re not asking, I’m offering it.”

  Sarah opened her mouth to protest, but the truth was, she really didn’t want to have to wait for a bus. It would be a long hour, and at this time of night, you never knew what kind of people you were going to run into.

  “Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle?”

  “I’m sure.” He smiled softly and motioned towards a bright red sports car. Sarah’s jaw almost dropped as she stared at it.

  “This is yours?” It was gorgeous. There was no doubt about that.

  “Yup, all mine. Although, she’s just my daily driver.”

  “Hm.” Sarah had to admit, she was a little impressed, though she had quickly realized that she wasn’t like a lot of English people. That sort of thing—cars, money, stuff—didn’t mean much to her. That’s not what life was about. Life was about Gott and his plan for those who were willing to listen. These days, most people weren’t willing to listen to Gott’s plan for them. They were too busy getting caught up in money, things, and sin. Sarah truly did believe it was a shame. She wanted these people to see the beauty of Gott just the way she did.

  Brad pulled the passenger side door open for her. She did a bit of a double take. She hadn’t expected him to be such a gentleman.

  “Thank you,” she said, without even having to think about it, her English flawless.

  She watched as he closed the door and circled around to the driver’s side. He gunned the engine and headed down the street.

  “Where do you live?”

  “Up on Rochale Street.”

  He nodded silently as they made their way towards her place.

  Sarah had to admit, the car was very nice. She could get used to being in something like it, though she never would. Her father’s friend back at the community had a truck that he used for work. He had taken her for a ride when she was little, but other than these past months[S5], that was the first time she had ever been in a car.

  “What’s your family like?” he asked.

  “Um, normal . . . ish.” Sarah looked out the window, making sure not to make eye contact with him. “What about you?”

  “I don’t know. They aren’t around anymore.”

  She could hear it in his voice. “I’m sorry.” She wanted to ask when they had passed, but she didn’t dare push the matter. She didn’t want to pry.

  “It’s that one just up there.” She pointed towards the building she was staying in with her friends. He slowed down and came to a stop outside it, shifting into park.

  “Sarah,” he almost sounded nervous, “you said this was your first date.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I hope I gave you a wonderful first date, but I was wondering—” He trailed off. Even in the dusk, she could see the blush on his cheeks.

  “What?”

  “Well, may I end your first date with a kiss?”

  Sarah’s heart jumped into her throat. She had never been kissed before. “J—yah.”

  He reached out, his fingers tangling into Sarah’s thick black[S6] hair. Her heart raced as he pulled her closer to him. Their eyes locked. He smiled softly, his lips brushing hers gently.

  Heat rushed through Sarah. Her heart raced so fast she was sure Brad could hear it.

  Their kiss grew more passionate, becoming more than just a soft touch on the lips.

  A soft moan passed through her lips. She pulled away, her cheeks flushing. Embarrassment overwhelmed her. Brad grinned softly. He looked her up and down. “I hope I made your first time worth it.”

  Oh he had, though she didn’t dare admit it. “I . . . I—”

  His lips touched hers again before she could say anything else. His eyes sparkled. “Can I see you again?”r />
  “Yes.”

  She said it before even realizing she had. Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to see him again. The thing was, she knew she really wanted to see him again, so why not say yes? Even if she was going home soon, she could have a little fun, right? She could at least get to know him so it wouldn’t sound like her time in the English world had been totally boring. I’m sure everyone would laugh if they knew how boring it has been, she thought. And it was probably true. Everyone else went out and did cool stuff. They had fun and tried new things. The most exciting thing Sarah had done was go out shopping, which she had enjoyed a lot.

  “Good. I can pick you up tomorrow. How’s that sound? For lunch?”

  Sarah nodded. She couldn’t think of anything better than the idea of having lunch with him. She couldn’t believe she was going to see him again. But that girl. Sarah couldn’t deny the fact that there had been something going on with him and that girl, and that whatever it was, he was lying about it. But she wanted to take a little risk before she had to go home. She wanted to have some fun, and Brad was sweet. He had taken her somewhere nice, and all he had asked for in return was a kiss and to see her again.

  Just don’t get fooled. That’s what her mother had told her. She couldn’t let herself get fooled by any men who pretended they were in love with her. But how would she know if they were pretending or not?

  “I . . . I guess I’ll see you for lunch then.” She smiled widely as she popped the door open.

  “I’ll pick you up,” he promised, as she stepped out of the car and headed for the door of her apartment.

  Her heart felt light the entire way up the stairs and into the apartment.

  “So how did it go?” Hanna asked, before Sarah had even closed the door.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your date. How did it go? Are you seeing him again? Er, is it a him?” Hanna looked at her carefully.

  “Jah, it’s a him!” Sarah reported. “And it went just fine, thank you for asking.”

  The thing about being in the English world for so long but being raised Amish was that Sarah found her language intertwining more than she would like. It left her nervous about when she returned to the community. What will everyone say about me?