Page 39 of Chasing Stripes

“Nervous?” Bartek asked as they pulled away from the curb.

“A little,” she confessed. “I haven’t done the ‘meet the family’ thing in... well, ever.”

He shot her a surprised glance. “Never?”

“My relationships in the city were casual. Brief.” She toyed with her purse strap. “Nothing serious enough to warrant family introductions.”

“And this is?”

The question hung between them, layered with meaning.

“This is... different,” she said finally.

His hand found hers across the center console, warm and steady. “For what it’s worth, they already like you.”

“How could they? They haven’t met me.”

“My sister stalked your bakery’s social media page. The twins are obsessed with your rainbow cupcakes. And my mother...” He sighed. “My mother has opinions on everything, but especially on who would make a good match for her son.”

THIRTY-FOUR

Artemis raised an eyebrow. “And I qualify?”

“Apparently, you have ‘kind eyes and capable hands.’“ He made air quotes with one hand, keeping the other firmly on the wheel. “Her words, not mine.”

“High praise from a tiger matriarch.”

Bartek’s features arranged themselves into something almost sheepish. “She may also have driven by the bakery three times since I mentioned you.”

“Reconnaissance?” Artemis laughed.

“She prefers ‘preliminary research.’“

They drove beyond Main Street, past the tidy cottages that housed Enchanted Falls’s diverse supernatural community, until the landscape opened up into gently rolling hills. The road curved through a section of forest, tall pines creating a natural corridor.

“My family settled here when the town was first established,” Bartek explained. “Tigers appreciate the combination of privacy and territory.”

The trees opened up to reveal a sprawling craftsman-style house nestled against the edge of the forest. Warm lights glowed from multiple windows, and smoke curled from a massive stone chimney.

“It’s beautiful,” Artemis murmured, taking in the details—the wraparound porch with its comfortable-looking rocking chairs, the carefully tended garden beds, the sense of history etched into every weathered beam.

“Home sweet pride house,” Bartek said, pulling into a gravel driveway where several other vehicles already waited. “Fair warning—my mother has invited everyone.”

“Everyone?” A flutter of panic took wing in Artemis’s stomach.

“My parents, sister, brother-in-law, the twins...” He hesitated. “And my great-uncle Darius.”

Something in his tone made her glance over. “Problem?”

“Darius is... traditional. Old school. He’s from a generation of tigers that didn’t socialize much beyond their own kind.”

Understanding dawned. “And I’m very much not a tiger.”

“You’re you,” Bartek said with surprising fierceness. “And that’s what matters.” He reached across to squeeze her hand. “But if he says anything inappropriate?—”

“I can handle cranky old shifters,” Artemis assured him, summoning a confidence she wasn’t entirely sure she felt. “My third-grade teacher was a grizzly bear with hemorrhoids.”

The surprised laugh that burst from him transformed his features, erasing the worry lines and making him look younger. It settled something in Artemis, a reminder that beneath the alpha exterior was someone who appreciated her particular brand of humor.

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