Page 10 of Tiger Bitten

“Forget it,” he gritted out. Were his cheeks turning red? Had someone convinced him he wasn’t attractive?

Okay, he was interesting. “Of course you are good looking, Mars,” she said softly. “Look at you. Dark hair, blue eyes, chiseled jaw. Perfect beard stubble. Tall and muscular. You look like a model. You look out of everyone’s league. You hold doors open and pull chairs out and give compliments without a woman asking. Of course you are attractive.” Now her cheeks were burning and she ducked her gaze to the menu and busied herself pretending she knew how to read a single word on this laminated piece of card stock.

“Do you know what a Rabbit is?” he asked, eyes trained on his menu.

“Yeah? Long ears, fluffy little tale. Breaks into people’s houses and puts Easter baskets on tables for little kids. Why?”

His icy blue eyes found hers, and a slight frown drew his dark brows down. “No, I mean a Rabbit.”

“Is this like drug terminology or something? I don’t do drugs.”

He chewed on the corner of his lip and seemed to want to say more, but instead, he asked, “Have you eaten here before?”

“A ton of times. It’s walking distance from the shop. Sometimes I even meet my Uncle Ronnie here for lunch.” She grinned. “My mom’s brother. Yes. My dad was a no-show in my life. I never met him, but my uncle was always around. He even coached my little league softball team when I was growing up. He went to the father daughter dances and everything.”

“You don’t know your dad at all?”

“Chhh, my mom barely knew my dad. He blew into town, swept her off her feet for a night, and blew right back out of town, and never came back.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“I’m not.” She scanned the menu, debating between her two favorite entrees here. “I turned out fine and I don’t have the curiosity. Most people do. I just never had it. I wasn’t interested in tracking him down, I didn’t want to know him. He bounced before I was even born. That’s all I needed to know.”

Mars rested his hands in front of his mouth and studied her. “I don’t know which one would be harder. Never knowing a dad or knowing one and he ends up being a piece.”

“A piece?”

“A piece of shit.”

She huffed a laugh. “I would bet money that mine was both absent and also a piece.”

“Is your mom still mad at him?”

“She pops off about him every once in a while, but I think she healed from that one-night stand a long time ago. She’s dating someone nice. They’ve been together for years and she’s happy enough. My dad didn’t ruin her whole life,” she said with a wink.

“I like that you aren’t crying over it,” he said. “I wouldn’t know what to do with tears.”

“Tough guy?” she asked.

He shrugged and poured water into his own glass. “I don’t know what I am. I remember the before, you know?”

“The before?”

“Before I was Turned. I was more emotional in my reactions. I felt things differently. I felt…well I felt everything. I was young, I get that, but then I got the animal and all of a sudden everything was dull.”

“Is it still dull?” This was so interesting to her.

He chewed the corner of his lip and ripped up a piece of his napkin. “I think so. I’m starting to forget. It’s been a long time.” He shrugged and looked around. “I don’t know why I’m talking about this out here in public.” He shook his head, looking confused.

“I don’t mind,” she assured him.

The waitress approached and introduced herself as Sasha and then took their orders. When she walked away, Mars asked, “How was it for you?”

She took a sip of her water and asked, “How was what?”

“Do you remember how you were before you were Turned?”

She froze, not wanting to think about this part. Steady. “I don’t remember myself before I was…this.”