Page 25 of Purrfectly Kissed

“Did he ask you out again?”

“Uh, no, actually,” she murmured, looking into her near empty marg glass.

“Well, that doesn’t mean anything,” Kylie said encouragingly.

But Jessica didn’t believe that. Lunch had been nice, but was it anything more than a pity date?

Ugh.

She wished she knew.

“Hey, let me show you the new nursing bra I was working on for the Nari.”

Just like that, Kylie changed the subject, for which Jessica was eternally grateful. She didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about what had happened or what had not happened between her and Brayden.

Her girly parts were screaming at her for not just taking the big man in hand, but she had never been that forward.

Could she even do something like that? Most Shifter’s owned their sexuality with a natural sort of sultriness that she did not seem to possess. Maybe she was doomed to a sexless life.

After all, if Brayden was her mate, he would have wanted her, right? Felt desire for her, at least. Isn’t that what all Shifters felt when they met their fated mates?

Maybe Brayden simply wasn’t hers.

Mine.

Her she-Tiger growled the thought, pushing it into her head with strength. The thought of trying to find anyone else made the feline positively furious.

But still. Jessica had her doubts. Maybe the infamous magical matchmaker Uzzi Stregovich had gotten it wrong.

Sad chuff.

ChapterNine

“Brayden?”

Hunter’s voice seemed far away as Brayden mulled over his lunch date with Jessica. He thought it went well, except for the nearly mauling her in her seat part. Damn female was so tempting, but she deserved better than to be jumped in a parked car like some horny teenager.

Then there was his other problem. Idiot that he was, he’d forgotten to ask her out on a second date. And no, he did not get her number either.

Fucking moron.

“Brayden!”

The snapping of the Neta’s fingers in his face soon brought him back to the present.

“Are you with us here, man?”

“Yeah. Sorry, Neta.”

“Alright, as Lance here is the newest member of your crew, I’d like to see you give him more responsibility than he’s been getting. Do you think you can handle that, Lance?”

The murmured‘yes sir’had Brayden’s eyes snapping up. He liked Lance, but he was aware that Jessica had had a crush on the Tiger only weeks ago.

Was that resolved? Did she still feel an attraction to the man who was not only her own species, but closer to her age?

Brayden was fifteen years her senior. He might not look like it, but that didn’t lessen the age difference. She’d seemed unaffected by the news at lunch.

It wasn’t odd for Shifters' lifespans to be supernaturally long. They maintained youthful appearances for many more years than the average normal, and it was typical to have couples a decade or two, or three apart. His own father was twenty-five years older than his mother.

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