ToLoveaCougar (3 page)

Much to his pleasure, he found it to be a lot less stressful than approaching a female of his kind. There was always the added pressure she’d place on him, hoping he would be her mate. Most were raised to think that was their biggest ambition in life, to set off the magic in a male’s cougar head pendant, and that they wouldn’t be complete until they had.

Since Harley was human, she had no clue about his pendant. She could still set the magic off in it, as he’d learned from Aspen setting off Taylor’s, but it wasn’t something she’d be hoping for. No pressure for it to happen.

“So do you always let strange women talk you into trying on underwear for them?” Harley asked with a smile.

Blaise shook his head and laughed as they stepped off the escalator and headed for the next one. “No. You’re the first.”

“I guess I should take that as a compliment then. What made me so special?”

He shrugged. “I can’t say it was just one thing. You caught my eye so I was more than willing to play along. It seemed like the best way to get you to agree to go out with me.”

Harley smiled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. I would have gone out with you anyway without you modeling for me. And since we’re being so honest here, I didn’t think up the gag gift idea until I saw you.”

“What would you have done if I’d said no?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t. And I will pay you for the thong.”

“No you won’t. Think of it as compensation for making you go through all that.” She winked. “Plus, maybe you’ll feel as if you have to wear it for me again since I did buy it for you.”

“That would mean a second date so I can’t see that being a problem.”

They finally arrived at the upper level where the food court was located. Since it was a little on the early side for lunch, they had a lot of tables to pick from. Blaise let go of Harley’s hand and followed behind her as she wove her way through them until she settled on one sort of off by itself.

Once they were seated across from each other, Blaise looked at all the different places offering food. “What do you feel like eating?” he asked.

Harley looked around as well. “I’m thinking of getting a slice of pizza.”

“Sounds good. I could go for one myself. Why don’t you tell me what kind you want and I’ll go get it. While I do that you can stay here and save the table. My treat since this is supposed to be a date.”

Harley chuckled. “I don’t think we have to worry about that, but fine. I want a slice of pepperoni and a can of cola to go with it.”

“Will do.”

Blaise stood, then went to the pizza place. There ended up only being one person in line ahead of him. Once it was his turn, he ordered the slice Harley wanted and a meat lover’s for himself. Tray in hand with food and drinks on it, he worked his way back to the table.

They ate for a bit before Blaise started up a conversation. “Do you spend a lot of Saturdays at the mall?”

Harley smiled. “More than I’d like to admit. And it’s not because I like to shop. Wandering around the mall gives me something to do to pass the time. How about you?”

“Very rarely do I come here. Today I thought I’d switch up my daily routine.”

“If you can come to the mall and have this free time as part of your normal routine, it sounds as if you don’t have a job.”

Blaise smiled. “I don’t, and it’s not because I’m unemployed. My family has a very lucrative corporation that’s in the business of computer software. I worked there for a while, and have taken a bit of a leave of absence, with pay.”

“What’s it called?” Blaise said the name of his family’s corporation, and Harley’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. You must be stinking rich. Everyone knows that software company. My future brother-in-law has dreamed of working for you guys. He’s a computer programmer.”

“Then before our date ends I’ll give you a name and phone number he can call to be set up for an interview. He just has to tell the person in human resources I referred him and he’ll get a position.”

“Just like that? You don’t know Sean or his work background.”

“He’s going to be a part of your family, and after today, I hope you’ll want to keep seeing me, so why wouldn’t I want to help him out?”

“In that case, if he turns out to be shit rotten at the job, don’t blame me.”

Blaise laughed. “I won’t. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a medical technician at a lab. I run some of the tests on the various specimens that come in.”

“Sounds very complicated.”

“Not to me it isn’t. I like working in the lab.”

“I guess I know who to go to if I ever need a blood test.”

Harley smiled. “And I promise to be gentle with the needle.”

“That’s good to know.”

They finished eating, then by mutual consent decided to leave the food court. It was well into lunchtime and more people had arrived, causing the noise level to increase. Plus, they no longer had that many empty tables around them.

Blaise captured Harley’s hand in his and walked them out of the busy area. “Now what would you like to do on our date? I still have hours before that family dinner and I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

“Well, we can either continue to wander around the mall or we can go to some other place that’s a little more private.”

“All right. Where do you suggest we go?”

“I’d offer my place, but I have a roommate who works steady midnight shifts. She’s sleeping right now and tends to get really grumpy if I have anyone over while she is. She’s a bit of a light sleeper.”

“All my family live together, but our house is pretty large. Plus, if you like horses, we have a stable full of them. We can go for a ride.”

“Actually, I do know how to ride. It’s been years since I’ve last been on a horse. I’d love to see yours.”

“Then it’s a plan. Do you need to go home first?”

Harley shook her head. “No, I’m good to go.”

“All right. You can follow me to my house.”

He and Harley headed for the down escalator.

At the parking garage, it turned out they hadn’t parked too far from one another. Blaise waited until Harley got into her compact car before he climbed into his sportier one. She followed behind him to the exit, and once they paid their fees, they were on their way.

As he drove, Blaise made sure to look in his rearview mirror from time to time to see that Harley was still behind him. She had no problem keeping up, not that he was speeding, much.

He was pleased she’d agreed to come to his house. The longer he was around her the more he liked her. He wanted to see just how compatible they were. And a crowded mall hadn’t been the place where he wanted to test those waters.

Once they arrived at his family’s home, Blaise directed Harley to park next to him in front of the four-car garage. He got out of his car, walked to the driver’s side of hers and waited for her to get out as well.

As they headed for the front door, Harley said, “Yup, your house is as big as I thought it would be.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Definitely good.” She handed him the bag from the woman’s lingerie store. “Don’t forget this. I took out the one for my sister’s fiancé and stuck it in my glove box.”

“I’ll have to get this up to my bedroom before we head over to the stables. If my mom or my brother, even his wife, sees me with this bag there will be questions asked.”

“Ones you don’t want to answer,” Harley added with a chuckle.

“Exactly. I would feel a tad uncomfortable if I had to show my mother the thong you bought me.”

“I guess so. I know my mom won’t know where to look when my sister opens my gag gift at her shower. I’ll get a good laugh out of it though.”

Of course as fate would have it, Blaise opened the front door, allowed Harley to walk in first before he did and saw his mom standing in the foyer. She had a jacket on, looking ready to go out somewhere.

Her gaze landed briefly on Harley before it settled on the pink bag he held. “Please don’t tell me you’ve taken up wearing women’s underthings.”

“Mom!” Blaise said. “No. It just happens the store has a men’s section as well.”

“Oh yes. I forgot they did. Are you going to introduce me?”

“This is Harley. Harley, this is my mother.” He gave his mom a meaningful look. “Aren’t you going somewhere?”

His mother shook her head. “I’d have to be pretty thick not to get that hint. Yes, I’m going out for a bit. Your father is resting, so don’t disturb him.”

Blaise scowled. “Again? He did that this morning after Caleb was done examining him. He usually doesn’t sleep that much during the day.”

“Caleb said to expect it because of the change in medication he gave your father.” A look of worry flitted across his mother’s face before it quickly disappeared. She looked at Harley. “It’s nice meeting you. I hope to see you again.” With that said she walked around them, then out the door.

“Your dad is sick?” Harley asked once they were alone.

“Yeah. My cousin Caleb is a doctor, but he can’t figure out what’s wrong with my father.”

“Have you taken him to get another doctor’s opinion?”

“No.” Hoping to change the subject, Blaise held up the pink bag. “I’ll just run this up to my room, then we can go to the stables.”

He hurried across the foyer to the wide stairs that led to the upper floor. With Harley being in the medical field, she would think it strange they hadn’t taken his dad to see another doctor if Caleb wasn’t helping him get better. He couldn’t exactly tell her the reason why there was no one else. Not right now, anyway.

Chapter Three

Harley watched Blaise take the stairs two at a time. She dropped her gaze to his ass, appreciating how his jeans stretched tight across it with each step he took. Once he disappeared from sight at the top, she sighed to herself. The man had a killer bod.

She didn’t have long to wait before Blaise came back down again. He smiled as he met her gaze. Along with his hot body, he was handsome as sin. Harley was pretty pleased with herself for taking that chance back at the mall. He’d turned out to be better potential boyfriend material than she’d first thought. If she could get her claws into him, she would hold on for all she was worth.

“Let’s go,” Blaise said once he reached her.

Harley nodded, then followed him through the front door. She zipped up the jacket she wore as he brought her around the side of the garage and onto a graveled lane. A short distance away she saw another building that presumably was the stable. The large structure was all red wood and white trim. The paddocks near it were enclosed with white wood fencing.

Once they reached the building, Blaise led her through the large sliding door that stood open. Harley looked down the row of stalls. There were about ten of them and each one was occupied. As they walked farther inside, large equine heads appeared over the tops of the doors. The horses snorted in greeting as they walked by.

Blaise stopped at the end in front of a stall on the right and stroked the nose of a black one. “This is my horse. He’s a gelding called George.”

Harley burst out laughing. “You named your horse George?”

“I know it’s a suck-ass name. It started out as a joke. I couldn’t come up with one so my brother Taylor kept calling him George, thinking I’d get sick of hearing it and pick a better one. That didn’t happen so the name stuck.”

She ran her hand along the horse’s cheek. “Despite his terrible name, he’s beautiful.”

Blaise walked over to the stall beside George’s. “This is the one you can ride. Her name is Star.”

Harley could easily see why the bay mare was called that. She had a white star in the center of her forehead. “Hello, girl. Are you ready to go for a ride?” She scratched Star’s nose.

“I’ll get them saddled up and then we can go.”

She watched Blaise get saddles and bridles, then put the horses’ tack on while they were still inside their stalls. That task completed, he led Star out to Harley before taking George out of his. Once they were outside, they mounted up. Even though it’d been a few years since she’d last been on a horse, Harley had no problem adjusting the stirrups or holding the reins properly.

Blaise kicked George into a walk and Harley brought Star up beside him. They rode in silence until they left the stable behind them and were in a large stretch of open land. Fall had set in and turned the leaves around them to gold and red.

“All this belongs to your family?” she asked.

“Yes, as far as you can see and then some. How about we go a little faster? Since you’ve ridden before, you shouldn’t have any problem handling Star in a canter.”

Harley nodded as she set her heels into Star’s sides, getting the mare from a walk to a trot and then into a canter. She settled into the rocking motion of the horse and kept pace with Blaise and George.

They rode like that for about five minutes before Blaise pulled George to a stop close to a tall birch tree that stood alone in the center of the grassy land. There was nobody else around but them. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh air. It was nice to get away from city life once in a while. And this was the perfect place to do that.

Blaise edged his horse closer to hers. He reached across and cupped the back of her neck before he leaned forward while nudging her in the same direction. He took her mouth in a light kiss, brushing his lips across hers.

He pulled back and met her gaze. “I’ve wanted to do that since shortly after I met you.”

“Do it again,” she said, her voice on the breathy side.

Hunger rose inside his eyes. “Like this?”

Blaise took her lips once more. Only this time it wasn’t a light brush. His mouth settled over hers, sealing it tight. His tongue came out and pushed inside, dueling with hers. Desire shot through her body, causing her nipples to grow taut and a throbbing ache to make itself known deep inside her pussy. The man was not only a hunk, he also knew how to kiss a woman.

Harley dropped her horse’s reins and buried her fingers into Blaise’s thick hair, returning his passionate kiss with as much enthusiasm as he gave her. She tried to pull him closer, but their legs were already trapped between the two horses. Blaise soon took care of that.