Page 13 of Catch a Tiger

“Well,” she fiddles with the straw in her cup, “I - no.”

“Tell me about them.”

She looks at him from under her lashes and blows out a breath. “All of them tried to change something about me.”

“Ah.” It makes sense. It all adds up. The reluctance to go on a date with him. The reluctance to come out of her apartment. The fact that she has him leading the conversation. The fact that she doesn’t think highly of herself. It makes him angry that they have changed the way she thinks about herself. “And you think I’ll be no different.”

She shrugs. “Will you? I mean, I don’t know you.”

“I have no intention of changing you, Maria,” he murmurs. “I don’t change people. I just help them be more comfortable with themselves.”

“So I’m a charity case?”

He shakes his head. “You’re a woman I happened to be drawn to. One that was brave enough to date me before you’ve dated me.”

“Yeah,” she says, wincing. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be.” Without her doing that, he would have never seen her. He wouldn’t be here. “I’m a big believer in fate.”

“You are?”

He nods. “It takes balls to do what you did.”

“Or a crazy person to do what I did,” she mumbles under her breath and he chuckles. “I don’t even know you and I did that.”

He shrugs. “So get to know me. Ask me anything.”

Looking at him sidelong, she begins firing questions at him. Where he grew up. How many girlfriends he’s had, which isn’t many. How many pets who owned and if he had any now. Where he lived. The list continues to go on and on, and he gladly answers them, grateful that she’s getting more comfortable with him.

It turns out that they became friends on social media because she was looking for fitness trainers at the gym a year ago. She had friended a few fitness coaches with the intention of contacting one of them, but she never did. It’s a shame. He could have met her sooner.

When she seemingly runs out of questions and their meals are half-eaten, he starts questioning her with almost the exact same questions. He wants to know everything about her, and everything she says, he stores away willingly. The way she talks about her life and her past is full of energy. He feeds off that energy, smiling throughout her explanations and adventures. He senses a theme that she lives life on the edge whenever she can, often with her roommate by her side.

By the time he’s paying for their meal, she has relaxed. He knew she wouldn’t be nervous around him forever, but he didn’t realize that all he needed to do was inquire about her life.

He walks her out to the car, opens the door for her, and gets into his side of the car. The entire way back to her apartment, they talk about random things. He doesn’t want the night to end, but he knows that they have to take this slow. Or try to at least. They click. They fit together, and it baffles him.

The car veers off the road and into the parking lot of her apartments. She looks at him, relaxed in the seat. “Thank you for a fun night.”

“It was my pleasure. The question is, will it happen again?”

“Do you want it to happen again?” she asks quietly.

“I do.”

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she thinks it over. She releases her lip and holds out her hand when she comes to a conclusion. “Can I have your phone?”

Frowning, he pulls it out of his pocket. He puts in his password and she takes it from him. Her fingers fly across the screen, and soon she’s passing it back to him.

“What did you do?” he asks.

“I saved my number to your contacts.”

He turns a grin in her direction. “So you want to continue this?”

She shrugs a little and meets his gaze. “I enjoyed my night with you. I wouldn’t mind a repeat.”

His smile fades when his gaze travels to her lips while she was talking. He didn’t mean to, but all night they’ve captivated him.