by Zoe Chant
“Well,” she said neutrally, “I appreciate the offer. I’m really busy this week, but I’ll check my calendar for next week. I’m looking forward to meeting her at the company dinner this weekend.”
“Shelley...”
“Lots to do,” she said briefly. “I’ll have copies of the Twiller contract on your desk by this afternoon.”
“Shelley...”
But she was gone, and Damien shook his head and returned to the computer in front of him.
His weeks in Green Valley had made him realize how important his family was to him, and how little he’d ever bothered to show them.
His phone gave a little beep of warning and Damien shut down his computer and packed up his files. He caught himself smiling as he dialed the phone. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” he told Tawny, once she’d figured out how to answer it. “Be waiting downstairs.”
“Aren’t you mysterious,” she scolded him, when he pulled up to the curb and the doorman opened the car door to let her scramble in beside him. “Where are you taking me?”
“There’s a clue in the back seat,” Damien told her, delighting in her excitement.
Tawny reached back and found the bag he’d left there. “A Man to Remember? I just finished reading this. I got a copy from the library and could not return it fast enough.” She sounded disappointed and confused. “In fact, you kept checking to see if I’d finished it yet.”
Damien grinned. “I found us a book club,” he said with triumph. “The Franklin Library has a book club that meets every Thursday afternoon, and this was their book for the week.”
“Oh, Damien, you sweet man! You know I’ve missed our book clubs!”
The Franklin Library was in Uptown, and the parking was terrible, so they arrived several minutes late and were glared at by a librarian who made the vulture from Green Valley look friendly. There were several dozen people in attendance, and as they slipped into seats near the back, a young woman leaned over to them. “Did you get the discussion syllabus?”
“Syllabus? No...”
The woman grudgingly lent them her copy of the sheet, and Tawny giggled quietly. “It’s like they actually expect to talk about the book,” she observed, handing it back.
The librarian led them on a structured analysis of the book, occasionally soliciting opinions that Damien and Tawny quickly realized were selected from only a few of the politely upraised hands.
When Tawny finally voiced her opinion that the book had terrible pacing and failed at being entertaining, she was countered with a raised eyebrow and a stiff reminder that it had won a Man Booker award.
She was subdued the rest of the meeting, which ended exactly on the hour and broke up in a hum of quiet conversation.
Damien only realized as they were walking out that he had been scowling at people, and probably had sabotaged any attempts that the book club members might have made to be friendly with Tawny.
“That... wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped,” he confessed to her, as they walked back to the car.
Tawny put her arm into his. “You tried!” she said encouragingly. “But there are some things that Green Valley does better, and apparently book clubs are one of those things.”
Damien could think of several things that Green Valley did better, and the idea surprised him so much that he was silent until Tawny went on. “However disloyal to Gran’s Grits it makes me feel, restaurants are something your city does do much better. How about taking me out to Chinese food and we can make fun of the librarian and that ridiculous syllabus and exchange recipes for tater tot casseroles, like a real book club.”
Damien smiled down at her and willingly agreed.
Chapter 30
Tawny unlocked the door and picked her bags up. The huge door swung open on perfect hinges, and she sidled inside. It clicked locked again behind her and she walked into the living room that still felt like a museum. The only plants that Damien had in the whole apartment, as far as she could tell, were a row of hardy succulents on a short glass accent wall. The air smelled weirdly sterile compared to her own house, but the temperature was always perfect.
She put her bags down on one of the couches, first trying automatically to make them sit up straight, then deliberately letting them slouch.
Living here felt exactly like that—like she was a slouching bag in a perfect apartment.
Tawny lifted her chin. She was determined not to embarrass Damien that night, and she’d bought the nicest clothing she could afford and even splurged on a new lipstick and hairspray. She would never look young, and she would never look fashionable, but she could at least look like someone who could clean the dirt out from under her fingernails and curl her hair.
She missed having dirt under her fingernails.
She missed...
Tawny shook herself and went to take a shower. A note on the counter indicated that Damien would be working until it was nearly time to go, and implied that he understood she would forget to check her phone for messages.
It was an hour before she had arranged her makeup and curled her hair and put on her new clothes, resisting the urge to tuck the tags in and try to return them the next day.
The effect was not what she had hoped.
She was still herself, just with makeup and nicer clothes. She looked like someone’s grandmother, caught wearing someone else’s jewelry. This was a terrible idea. She was going to make a fool out of both of them. She was going to be the country bumpkin at the ball, and Damien would see her compared to all his high-class friends and socialites and wonder why he was wasting time with her.
“Tawny?”
Tawny frowned at her reflection and then had to laugh as she realized she was making the same face that Damien did when he didn’t want someone to guess what he was feeling.
She was still laughing as she opened the bathroom door and found Damien, already dressed for dinner.
He was breathtaking.
It was evening, and amber light streamed in through the ridiculously large windows and turned everything to gold and glitter. He was dressed in a suit that made Tawny recognize that all of his other suits had been casual, and he filled it up like no one that Tawny had ever known, all broad shoulders and a graceful strength that Tawny would have called lion-like even if she hadn’t known about his other form.
He was a king.
He was a king, and for some absurd reason, he was looking at her like she was a queen, and her laughter stilled on her lips as she blushed and her heart hammered in her chest.
“Will it do?” she asked anxiously, spreading her arms and turning in a circle.
Damien was quiet so long that Tawny began to worry she’d picked the wrong things. “I could... maybe not wear the scarf. Is it too loud?”
“No,” Damien said swiftly. “It’s perfect. It’s exactly right.”
Tawny sagged against the doorframe with relief. “Oh thank goodness. I was second guessing my taste, and my budget, and my size, and these shoes, and look!” She held up her wrist, where she was wearing the diamond bracelet that Damien had given her a lifetime ago in Green Valley. “I have somewhere to wear it!”
His look of delight was worth every anxiety putting the bracelet on had caused Tawny as she thought about how much it must have cost.
“Perfect,” Damien repeated. “Tawny, may I kiss you?”
“I’ll muss you!” Tawny objected, as Damien leaned to kiss her. “Your tie is so tidy!”
“It can be fixed,” Damien growled, claiming his kiss swiftly when she smiled at him and tipped her head up.
How did he manage to make everything better? Every time he looked at her, she felt like she was just where she belonged, even if nothing around her felt right.
Tawny smiled at him, and stroked his perfect beard.
“I got you something,” Damien said, frowning at her because he didn’t want her to see that he was nervous.
Tawny gave him a skeptical look. “Should I be afraid?”
“It might be cool when we come home,” he said. There was a large box on the bed and Tawny went to open it cautiously.
“Oh,” she said in awe. “It’s beautiful.”
It was a light wrap in fine golden wool, trimmed in pearls and embroidered with... Tawny bent to look closer. “Are those dandelions?”
“And a bee,” Damien pointed out.
Tawny leaned against Damien and laughed, forgetting to be careful of their clothes and hair. “Where did you find this?” she demanded.
“I had it made,” Damien said, sounding smug.
“Did they laugh when you asked for it?”
Damien snorted. “They would not dare.”
“I love it,” Tawny said, lifting it from the box and pulling it over her shoulders. It was deliciously soft, and light, and warmer than she expected.
“Silk and cashmere,” Damien told her. The phone in his pocket buzzed and he checked the screen. “Our car is ready downstairs.”
Tawny patted her hair. “Well, I’m as ready as I’m going to get.”
Chapter 31
Damien could not help but gaze at Tawny as they went to the elevator.
She dressed up as well as she dressed down, and was the perfect picture of understated taste in a subtle, pearl-gray pantsuit with a pair of low dress shoes and a splash of color at her neck on a watercolor silk scarf.
And she was wearing the diamond bracelet he’d given her what felt like months ago, self-consciously twisting it on her wrist.
“You look beautiful,” he finally told her, as the elevator descended.
Tawny beamed at him gratefully, and the compliment was immediately worth the effort. Damien vowed to use them more frequently.
“Thank you!” She smoothed the wrap on her shoulders. “I confess, I feel a little foolish, and I’m nervous about this dinner. I hope I don’t sneeze on someone important or insult the wrong person.”
“You’ll do fine,” Damien assured her. “And if anyone is mean to you, I will shift into a lion and eat them.”
Tawny laughed and hugged his arm.
Then she looked up at him curiously. “Wait, are these people shifters, too?”
“There are several shifters in the company,” Damien shared. “But most of them are humans.”
“Do they know about shifters?”
“Some of them, but most do not.”
“It sounds like a minefield,” she observed. “I shall be discrete.”
The rest of the elevator ride, and the car ride to the restaurant, Tawny quizzed him about taboo topics and behavior expectations.
“No one will care if you use the wrong fork or the wrong glass,” Damien promised. “And this isn’t Britain, so you don’t have to worry about titles.”
“Small comfort,” Tawny said wryly.
“You can’t start worse than I did,” Damien teased her, pulling up in front of the restaurant. “The first party I attended with you, I dumped an entire plate of food down your shirt and made a small child cry.”
Tawny chuckled. “Let’s not make it a competition,” she said practically.
The valet opened her door, and Tawny made a little noise of surprise when he offered his hand to help her out, clearly not sure what to do with it.
The valet adapted, and stepped back, letting Tawny scramble out on her own as Damien came around the car to meet her.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a driver,” she said as the valet took the keys and vanished with the car.
“I like to drive,” Damien said. “And if I ever feel like using a driver, I have a service on call.”
The back half of the restaurant, a big, imposing monster called Mel’s, had been reserved for the work party, and Damien led them through the tables to the back.
Tawny did a better job of not gawking than Damien would have, he suspected. She didn’t try to hide her awe, but she didn’t let it intimidate her, either.
“You must be Miss Summers,” Jack said, descending on them once Damien’s coat and Tawny’s wrap had been taken.
“Oh, just Tawny, please,” Tawny said swiftly, accepting Jack’s hand to shake.
“I’m Jack Morning, Damien’s counterpart in the design department.”
“I’m afraid I have no idea what that means,” Tawny said frankly. “But it’s lovely to meet you.”
Jack laughed. “My team draws up the plans that Damien’s construction teams completely change in the field.”
“If you’d design them right the first time, they wouldn’t have to,” Damien ribbed him, straight-faced.
“You wound me,” Jack joked. “Let me introduce you to my date, Tawny.”
Tawny at his side was everything Damien could have wished for. She wasn’t the same conversation dominating companion that Linda had been, nor the shy, retiring type that Shaun’s mother Dana had been. She was something else entirely her own: quiet, but not at all withdrawn. She was perfectly willing to admit when she didn’t have any knowledge of a subject, and equally willing to argue her point when she did. She was an attentive listener, never looking bored, and she was kind and polite and unabashedly excited about everything.
Damien kept an eye out for Shelley, hoping to introduce them, but she didn’t arrive until the meal was being served, and she ignored him when he tried to catch her attention.
When dinner was served, Tawny was enthusiastic about the dishes, ate gracefully, and if she was a little cautious about her manners, she picked things up quickly, and was willing to laugh at her own little clumsinesses.
“You’re really taken with her,” Jack observed quietly near his ear, halfway through dessert. “I’ve never seen you like this.”
Damien scowled to cover his surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled.
“I’ve heard you laugh twice tonight,” Jack pointed out. “And when you look at her, everything about you softens. You were actually charming with that jerk who runs permitting, and I haven’t heard you swear at anyone all evening.”
Damien gave a snort that didn’t qualify as a third laugh. “You’re exaggerating,” he scoffed.
“She’s not much to look at,” Jack said appraisingly.
Damien could feel his lion’s hackles rising. “Watch yourself,” he warned.
“Peace, Damien,” Jack added swiftly. “I can see the appeal. She’s lively and sweet, and she’s watching you the same way you’re watching her. I already like her better than your last wife.”
Damien was saved having to forgive him by the start of the speeches.
The speaker, fortunately, kept it brief and funny, and by the time the desserts were cleared, they were released from the tables to return to mingling.
Damien caught Shelley’s eye at last, and drew Tawny over to meet her.
“Dad,” she said coolly.
“Shelley,” Damien greeted her.
Tawny extended her hand without prompting. “I’m Tawny,” she said warmly. “It’s so nice to meet you, Shelley.”
Shelley shook her hand. “It’s Michelle,” she corrected.
Tawny blushed, and Damien was tempted to kick Shelley in the ankle because she was clearly just being unfriendly. Was she offended that Damien had failed to tell her about Tawny earlier? He remembered belatedly how rattled Tawny had been to find out about Shelley.
Tawny recovered, and gracefully said, “Of course, Michelle.”
“Shelley,” Damien said firmly. “Tawny is from Green Valley, where Shaun has settled down with Trevor.”
“So I’ve heard,” Shelley said shortly, giving Damien an unappreciative look.
“I teach Trevor piano lessons,” Tawny offered. “He’s a sweet boy.”
“I’m sure he is,” Shelley said unhelpfully. Damien suddenly wondered if she’d ever actually met Trevor.
“I taught Shaun’s wife Andrea when she was a little girl, too,” Tawny added nervously. When Shelley didn’t immediately answer, Tawny asked desperately, “Do you work for Damien’s company?”
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“She’s in finances and contracts,” Damien said for her.
“That sounds fascinating,” Tawny said too enthusiastically. Then she laughed at herself, and added, “But then, I found sorting mail satisfying work, so my bar is pretty low.”
“It’s interesting work,” Shelley said, but Damien thought she said a little more warmly, her expression softening. “Never a dull moment.”
No one could resist Tawny’s genuine sweetness for long, he thought triumphantly.
“Tawny hasn’t been here long, maybe you could show her around a little, meet her for lunch?” Damien said innocently, as if he hadn’t already suggested it to Shelley.
Tawny smiled. “I’d really like that,” she agreed.
Shelley’s face was unreadable, but Damien thought she seemed confused. She didn’t have many friends, he realized.
Or at least, not many that he knew about. But how well did he really know her?
“I’d like that, too,” Shelley finally said. “I’ll give you a call this week and arrange something.”
“I have a phone number! I have no idea what it is!” Tawny fished her phone from her purse and gave Shelley her contact information, laughing over her confusion with the device.
They parted amicably, and Shelley even smiled.
Damien frowned back thoughtfully as he led Tawny to the coat check for their outerwear. “I never had a good relationship with my kids,” he confessed, equally quiet. “But I’ve been getting to know Shaun and Trevor, and I’m realizing how much I’ve missed.” He hesitated as he helped Tawny adjust her wrap, wondering how much to put into words about how he wanted to mend his broken family, and how it was Tawny who had opened his heart.
“And you’d like me to smooth the way,” Tawny guessed.
“Am I that easy to read now?”
“I’m starting to figure you out,” Tawny said cheerfully. “And her expressions are just like yours. She’s not sure about having lunch with your country mistress, and you’re too afraid to have lunch with her yourself. Is she a lion shifter like you?”
Damien was so surprised by her self-depreciating title and the accusation that he was afraid that he didn’t have a chance to answer before she was waving at the traffic. “Oh, there’s your car!”