Chapter Fifteen
Ugh! Why was this so hard? It had seemed like such a simple thing when she’d offered to cook dinner for Christian but now she was beyond stressed. After searching page after page of recipe sites, she still hadn’t found the right dish – and it had to be right. It had to be perfect. She needed to blow Christian’s socks off and leave him in awe of her culinary mastery. This was important, dammit! And she was a damn good cook – despite what that bastard she had been mated to may have told her repeatedly – she just needed the right dish, the right combination of flavors, to truly highlight her skills.
In need of suggestions, and possibly some moral support, Lily picked up the phone and dialed her sister. Daisy was currently in New York with her team investigating Nakamura Global, a company suspected of working with the fur traders – a group that preyed on shifters for profit, and a group that Daisy’s team was hell bent on eliminating.
“Were your ears ringing?” Daisy asked in lieu of a greeting, her voice filled with merriment. “We were just talking about you.”
Lily let out a laugh, her nerves calming immediately to the sound of Daisy’s voice. She loved that her sister was so happy. “Should I be worried?”
“Dev was trying to convince Alek that he could take you down in a sparring match next time we’re home.” Her sister let out a trill of laughter. “Both Sam and Alek are putting their money on you.”
Lily fell back onto the couch with a pleased grin. All three of the males on the team were big guys – shifters, all – but they’d seen her in action, and knowing that they respected her skill nearly had her purring with pride. Devon, the team’s tech wiz, was an Alaskan wolf shifter, and while his disposition may be that of a flirt, there was no mistaking that underneath all that charm, he was also a trained killer. Samuel, an African lion shifter, on the other hand, was the quiet, stoic type – a giant, hugely muscled, and incredibly intimidating the way he seemed to loom even when he was on the other side of the room. The male’s voice was such a low rumble that you could practically feel the bass in your chest when he spoke. And then there was Alek, Aleksandr Stepanov, Siberian tiger shifter and her sister’s mate. The male was absolutely lethal, but when he looked at Daisy, the love he felt for his mate was undeniable, even heartwarming, and despite the fact that Lily would always keep an eye on her little sister, she couldn’t have asked for a better pairing. The love the two of them shared was enviable.
Lily let out another little laugh. “I’ll be happy to make Sam and your mate a little bit richer. When are you coming back for a visit?”
She could practically hear the shrug in her sister’s voice. “We’re still tracking down some leads. You know how tedious this can be.”
Lily had heard most of the stories, Daisy filling her in regularly. It was a lot of hurry up and wait, watch and wait, listen and wait some more, the team ever careful not to show their hand too soon and risk the fur traders getting away with precious cargo.
Lily let out a little mm of agreement, “As long as you’re careful.”
“Always” was Daisy’s response, a grin evident in her voice.
“So, anyway,” Lily began, trying to get back on track, “I called to ask you about food. Since you’ve been all over the world in your new jet setting lifestyle…” Daisy cut her off with a snort and Lily grinned. “What has been your absolute favorite dish?”
“Cheese.”
Lily let out a bark of laughter. “Seriously.”
“Ha! You think I’m kidding? When we were in Paris I think the entire time I was there I gorged myself on bread and cheese. Couldnotget enough. So. Good.”
Lily shook her head and huffed. “I can’t serve him cheese for dinner, Daisy.”
Silence. Lily almost thought the call had been disconnected until her sister suddenly drew in a small breath. “Him?” She could hear Daisy swallow. “Do you have a date?”
Lily grinned. “I do.”
The scream that came over the line was so loud that Lily had to yank the phone away from her head and check to see if her ear was bleeding. When she put it tentatively back in place, chaos had erupted on the other end of the line, multiple male voices demanding to know what had happened and then Daisy screaming – not into the mouthpiece this time, thankfully – that Lily had a date. Well, that was somewhat embarrassing. With a wry twist of her lips, Lily shook her head.
“Hey, Lily kitty, it’s Dev. So, give me the male’s name and I’ll run a full check on him. You know, make sure he’s not some low life.”
Lily laughed, not at the offer, since he meant it sincerely, but rather at her sister who could be heard in the background hissing at Dev and cussing him out for stealing the phone. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’m good. It’s just dinner – a sort of first date – no big deal.” Oh, if only that were true. But thiswasa big deal, at least to her. Especially since she completely agreed with the old adage, the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach… and Christian was a bear, so it stood to reason it would be doubly so for him.
More noise on the other end, possibly some grappling, before her sister was back on the line and breathing heavy from her exertions. “Tell me everything. Who is he? Where did you meet him? Is he a wolf? Feline? Have I met him? Does he live in town?”
Lily couldn’t help but laugh at the rapid firing of questions, her entire body filled with giddy anticipation of sharing the news of Christian with her closest confidant. “His name is Christian and I met him here in town. He’s Sebastian Black’s older brother.”
A few seconds of silence as her sister digested the information, then hesitantly, “A bear shifter? Wow. I wouldn’t have expected that.”
Lily frowned. “Why?”
“Bear shifters are usually so big and burly, I mean if he’s built anything like his brother…” Daisy coughed, “Never mind, I’m sure he’s gorgeous and wonderful and I can’t wait to hear more.”
She couldn’t fault her sister’s logic. After all, her attraction to the big male had left her surprised as well. “Heisbig, but really good looking. We’ve sparred together and though I’m pretty positive he holds back, he lets me pound the crap out of him without complaint.” She finished with a chuckle.
“Aww, now that’s true love.” Daisy giggled.
Lily let out a scoffing protest. “This is just a first date – sort of. No one’s going to be declaring their love.”
