Page 17 of Shark 2

Reed smiled as he watched my awkwardness and embarrassment. I was never the savior or the one praised. I was the villain or seen as evil in most situations. It was … weird.

“We have to close for tonight, but please come back tomorrow and your food will be on the house,” the restaurant manager said, teary-eyed, as he shook my hand vigorously.

“Okay,” I agreed, not one to turn down free food.

The police came a short while later, took everyone’s statements, and the surveillance videos for proof.

“Well, since this place isn’t open now, where else would you like to eat?” Reed asked, his arm around my waist.

“Tacos,” I said. “I want tacos.”

He nodded. “Okay, let’s get tacos.” We walked in silence a bit as we headed to our favorite taco place and I finally felt the bloodlust fully dissipate. “Are you really okay?” he asked. “I’m sorry I was late. I should have been there sooner.”

“If you’d been there sooner, you might have gotten shot instead of me and you don’t have bulletproof skin, Reed. I’m really okay.”

He shook his head and growled. “I’m sorry.”

I set my hand on his forearm, stopping him just outside of our favorite Mexican restaurant. “Reed, you really don’t?—”

His arms wrapped around me and he hugged me tight, burying his head against my neck. “I know you’re capable of protecting yourself. I know you aren’t a damsel in distress. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t protect you. I’m courting you and that means I should do everything in my power to protect you. Knowing you were shot, that you could have been killed, sets off my protective instincts. If you hadn’t used your scales, or been too slow to use them, I could have walked into that restaurant to find you bleeding on the ground.” His grip tightened and I was glad for my strong skin or I might have had to ask him to release me. Instead, I relished the tightness, the closeness I’d been missing for so long.

“You weren’t there to protect me,” I reminded him. “Are you going to blame yourself if I’m injured when you aren’t here in the future? That’ll lead to insanity. Let’s just focus on the fact that I’m uninjured and enjoy our night, okay? The only important thing is to focus on our now, not the uncertainty of the future or what-ifs.”

He leaned back and looked down into my eyes. “Kass…”

Whatever he’d been about to say was interrupted by a group of drunk males shouting and laughing as they walked by.

“Let’s get some tacos,” I said with a smile, kissed his cheek, and linked our hands together.

He returned my smile and said, “Tacos and margaritas.”

My smile widened. “You know the way to my heart.”

Once seated and margaritas before us, I told him about the stupid humans I’d defeated.

He relaxed and laughed as I told him about it and things finally felt like they were going back to normal between us.

He told me about work and I told him about some of the kids who’d come to see me.

“You know, you’re getting quite famous for your aerobatics in the tank,” he said with a smirk.

My eyebrows rose. “I am?”

He nodded. “Lot of kids are talking about it and there’s even a discussion board questioning the oddness of it since sharks don’t normally do backflips. Some think you’re a super intelligent shark. Some have mentioned you possibly being a shifter, but overall, everyone seems to love that you are part of the aquarium, so you don’t have a reason to worry. So long as you don’t shift, I think you’re just making little kids excited to see you and come to the aquarium.”

I felt my cheeks warm and looked down at my drink. “I love seeing their smiling faces. When I first started, they looked at me with awe, but also fear and I didn’t like that fear. That’s when I started doing it. I just hope I don’t end up getting the aquarium in trouble if someone does discover I’m a shifter.”

He set his hand on top of mine on the table and when I looked up, he smiled warmly at me, so handsome and loving. “You’re doing good not just for the kids, but your species. There are kids now doing projects and research on tiger sharks, a species not previously discussed frequently. I think it’s awesome. You’re awesome.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest, but there was still that bit of coldness, fear, that he was going to ultimately leave me.

“Thank you,” I whispered and looked down so he wouldn’t see that sour note on my face. So I wouldn’t ruin our date, which had been awesome so far.

We finished our meals and drinks, then strolled down the city streets, hand in hand. I swung our arms a little bit, smiling like a kid headed to a candy store.

“Would you like to head home and watch a movie?” he asked. “I can make caramel popcorn.”

My eyes widened. “Yes, please!” I said excitedly. “I haven’t had your famous caramel popcorn in a long time. I’ve been dying to have some.”

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