Page 16 of Lucius

The best thing that had ever happened to her was getting that tour coupon in her inbox because it brought her and Lucius together.

When Lucius wassure that the call was over, he stepped out of the building. She turned to face him, eyes luminous and shoulders hunched.

“Hey,” she said, trying to sound happy when she clearly wasn’t.

“Are you okay, sweetheart? You look upset.”

“Just…my mom.” She waved her hand dismissively.

“Do you need to leave?”

She sniffled and pushed her phone into her bag. “Before I talked to my mom, I toyed with the idea of going home to change for our date, but now I don’t want to.”

“You look perfect anyway,” he said.

She snorted. “You’re sweet. I wouldn’t have minded changing into something a little dressier, but if I go home, I’m going to get into another argument with my mom and hard pass on that.” She smiled at him. “Do you need to go back to work? You were in the office for a while.”

“Not at all, I’m free to hang out with you. Unless you don’t want company?” He didn’t want to push her if she wanted time to herself.

“I’d love some. I think you said something about popcorn?”

“You got it,” he said.

They made their way to the kiosk that sold popcorn and cotton candy, which was staffed today by Marcus, the alpha bear.

The bears handled the food for the park, both for the patrons and the shifters who lived and worked there. There was an employee cafeteria aboveground as well as a cafeteria underground where their people had private living areas with each shifter group living together. The marketplace had not only a great cafeteria that served three meals a day, but also a sundry store, a nail salon, and a makeup shop, and there were offices and conference rooms underground as well.

He wished he could tell Sidney all about his life and take her to his home in the lions’ private living area. He wanted to show her the greenhouse where they grew the plants for the lions’ mating ceremony. But mostly he wanted to show her his lion, and tell her everything about himself so there were no secrets.

But that wasn’t how things went in the park.

Shifters didn’t tell the truth of their beasts until they had won the heart of their soulmate. That ensured the secret would be kept. So for now, he had to keep a big secret from his soulmate, and he hated it.

But soon, hopefully, she’d fall in love with him and he’d be able to show her his lion.

His beast made an inquisitive purr in his mind that was filled with hope.

“What can I do for you and your friend today, Lucius?” Marcus asked as he handed change to a woman who was buying a bag of blue cotton candy for her child.

He looked at Sidney and she said, “Is the colorful popcorn flavored like anything or is it just sugary?”

Marcus reached under the counter and set a small cup of the colorful popcorn on top. “Try it for yourself. It’s sweet with a hint of fruit. We picked the colors for Zephyr, the macaw.”

Lucius held the cup while Sidney took a few pieces and popped them in her mouth. “Oh, it’s good! Very sweet but a bit like fruit salad. Neat.”

“Would you like a bag? It’s on the house,” Marcus said.

“Actually, while I like it, my favorite is regular old butter popcorn.”

Lucius smiled. “I like that the best too.”

Marcus scooped butter popcorn into a square white-and-red striped box and said, “Drinks?”

They both took bottled water. “Thanks for the snack,” Sidney said.

“You’re welcome, stop back any time.”

“Thanks, Marcus.”

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