Page 81 of Bria and the Tiger

“Um, I’m Rosalie by the way. You’re Hudson, right?” She asked as she buckled her seat belt.

He nodded and slouched a little so the top of his head didn’t hit the ceiling. “Yeah.”

“What’s your address?”

He recited the address and she jerked in surprise. “That’s in Standen Park?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m in Standen Court which is right next to Standen Park. We’re neighbours.”

He grunted in reply and she cleared her throat before driving out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, she said, “So, uh, thanks again for helping me at the bar.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Do you like working there?”

“It’s a good place to work.”

“That’s good.” He hadn’t asked but she said, “I work at a real estate agency. I’m a personal assistant but I’m thinking of becoming an agent.”

He didn’t reply, and she stopped at a red light. The silence in the car felt thick and uncomfortable. She studied him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing jeans with dark brown work boots and a t-shirt. This one fit him way better than his work shirt but it still stretched across his broad shoulders and clung to his upper arms. He wasn’t wearing a jacket despite the cool air.

“Aren’t you cold?”

He turned to study her. “I’m a polar bear.”

“Oh right. That was a stupid thing to say. You probably never get cold, huh?”

Another shrug before he stared out the window. She studied the back of his thick neck as the light turned green. She drove forward and cleared her throat again.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” She decided his low grunt meant yes. “Where do you buy your clothes? Pretty sure you can’t just walk into a Macy’s and buy a pair of jeans.”

“Order them online.”

“Oh. Like a speciality store for, uh, large shifters?”

“Yeah.”

“That must be annoying. Not being able to buy clothes from a store here in the city.”

“There are shifter clothing stores here.” He scowled at her. “Do you know anything about shifters?”

“Not a lot.”

“That guy you were with at the bar was a tiger shifter.”

“Yes, but he’s my boss. We don’t, like, hang out on a regular basis or anything. The new receptionist, Bria, is a tiger shifter and we’ve sort of become friends. Are you, uh, friends with any humans?”

“No.”

“Oh. Because you don’t like humans or…”

“I don’t know any humans. Can I ask you a personal question?”

She nodded. “Oh, uh, yes, of course.”

“Why do you wanna fuck a lion shifter?”

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