Page 3 of Cougar

I scan the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of the fiery red hair or the green soul snatching eyes—anything to tell me she is still here.

My search is halted when I hear an electric guitar start through the sound system, and I turn my head as I hear this sweet smokey voice comes through with a rendition of Heads Carolina, Tails California. I can’t peel my eyes away from her. Her eyes are closed, and she doesn’t need the screen. I can see the way her body sways, with her hand clenched at her side, that she’s feeling the words and the music.

She is killing this song.

I’m honed in on her. Nothing can break this connection. I want to know if she can feel my eyes on her while she sings her heart out. She can belt out anything up there, and I would sit and watch her all night. Once again, the minutes seem to fly by, and she’s done. Her name is lost over the crowd of drunk men cheering and catcalling her. If I pinpoint who it is, I’m beating them to a pulp.

Again, what is wrong with you?

I watch as she tries to reach her seat but stalls when she notices the women there. Her eyes scan the crowd. Hope is blooming deep inside my chest that she is looking for me. I am sure she is looking for a place to sit, not concerned for the man in the cowboy hat watching her.

I start to move through the crowd to her. I am just about there when a rather large man approaches her, catching her attention. I slow my movements, trying to gauge whether they know each other or not. They share a smile, but when his hand works its way toward her face, I can’t stop the sinking feeling that the woman of my dreams is already taken. The green-eyed beauty moves her face away from him and tries to leave. My hope is blooming again. When the man grabs her arm and stops her from walking away, I see red and speed up my steps. The people mulling around make it hard to get to her as fast as I want.

“Hey!” I yell over the sound of the new singer on stage. He doesn’t hear me and starts to lean into my woman.

Seriously, dude, you need to get your head checked.

I push a bit more through the crowd when I see her pull back and punch the offending guy as hard as she can—effectively dropping him to the ground. His friends see this and start to make their way to her. I don’t know what they are going to do with her when they get to her, and I also don’t want to find out. I come up behind her and take her hand, pulling her with me out the side door and away from the chaos she created.

“Hey, let me go. I could have handled myself.” Her voice has a smokey sound that makes my dick twitch with need. I slow down, and I turn to look at her. Her eyes widen a little when she looks at my face.

“Trust me, Birdie. I know you could have taken them all. But the thought of you even having a chance of getting hurt didn’t sit right with me at all. Plus, I wanted to meet you, the person behind those soulful green eyes I couldn’t look away from while on stage.”

Out in the open, on the sidewalk a block away from the bar, she hasn’t dropped my hand. I adjust my hand a little, and she tightens her grip. It’s almost like she isn’t ready to let go. My heart speeds up a little, and I watch her watch me.

“You…. You don’t even know me. Why would it matter if I got hurt?” She finally says, swallowing hard. Her questioning eyes flit back and forth between mine and our joined hands. A chance glimpse at my lips makes me run the tip of my tongue along my lower lip.

“You see, while that might be true, the moment your eyes met mine, my whole future flashed before my eyes.” I flash her a genuine smile.

She looks into my eyes, almost like she is gauging the sincerity of the line before amusement is reflected in her gaze. She starts laughing. It’s this beautiful melodic sound that, at any other time, would make my dick stand at attention. But now it feels like she is laughing at me for trying to convey how much I want to get to know her and bring her into the fold of my life. The longer we stand there, the harder she laughs.

“Does that line ever really work?” She asks once she has calmed enough to find the words.

“I wouldn’t know since it’s not a line. Never in my life have I said that before,” I say and shrug my shoulders. “It’s how I felt when my eyes found yours while I was up there singing a song I’ve only ever sung at home. I continued to feel that way as I watched you close your eyes and feel the music you were singing” I take my free hand and hold her cheek, making her gaze stay on me while she processes how I just I poured my heart out.

You really have lost your mind over this one, haven’t you?

“I don’t know what to say about that. You almost sound sincere in your words. But I have been fooled before. I have more than enough baggage to scare you away, though. Hell, I don’t even know your real name, and that seems like something that should be traded if you see a future with me.” She lets go of my hand to put air quotes around the word future.

“My name is John Wayne,” her eyes roll, but I don’t let it stop me. “My parents had a thing for old westerns and thought it would be a good strong name.” I chuckle. “They could have gone for authenticity and named me Marion Robert instead.” I thought I was being funny, but her look tells me she doesn’t get it. “It was because John Wayne was his stage name and Marion was his real…. You know what, never mind. I shared my name. Fair is fair. I should know my future wife’s name.” I reach for her hand again.

Stop sounding like a serial killer.

She scoffs but doesn’t take her hand away. She does look away for a moment, and I see the lines shaved on the side of her head. I take in her profile as she stares off into the distance, probably thinking about how great of a husband I’ll be, and smile at myself. She has long red hair and a septum ring that I can now make out because it’s no longer shadowed by her face. Her nose is small, with a slightly pointed tip. Her jaw is strong yet soft, and her cheekbones are impossibly high.

She’s beautiful.

“My name is—” When her eyes meet mine again, she stops talking. Her breath catches a bit, and I see her chest stutter. All too quickly, she averts her gaze, clearing her throat. “My name is AJ.”

“That’s all I get? Okay. I’ll warm you up to me and get you onto my side.” I chuckle, then stop. “But in a totally consensual kind of way. What I mean is, I want you to see me the way I see you, but on your own. But…. Uhm, ya.” I start stuttering and stumbling over my words. I’m trying to make what I feel sound sweet and friendly and less me Tarzan, you Jane.

Then I see it. A ghost of a smile on her lips. She tries to turn her head so I can’t see it. I reach out and take her chin in my hand, gently guiding her gaze to me.

“We have known each other for fifteen seconds. You shouldn’t make me feel like this.” AJ whispers to me. “You make me smile, which is something I haven’t done a lot of lately.”

“Then I am doing my job. Come here,” I lead her over to a small playground across the way.

We slowly make our way over to the park, where I guide her to the swings. We each take a seat and rock back and forth.

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