He wondered if it was because she was a Valkyrie or if it was something she’d inherited from her mother or father.
“Whatever this is between us, whatever happens in the end,” she said. “I won’t forget that you are worth whatever issues that may arise between my parents and me. If they can’t see all the things that make you a good man, that’s their problem. Not mine.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that when we’re in public,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I can’t kiss you the way I want to.”
The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him. “That might be a good thing because I can’t think at all when you kiss me, and I might do something reckless.”
“Damn, now you tell me when I can’t take advantage.”
She released him with a laugh. “Oh, I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because you’re a good guy.”
“Not that good.”
Astra laughed again and scooted away to pick up the last of her cheesecake. “Maybe not.” She shot him a look with eyes that were suddenly very green. “But I wouldn’t want you to be that good either.”
“Shit. Why do you keep saying stuff like that in public?”
She smirked at him and forked up a bite of cheesecake. “Because you may not be that good of a guy, but you’re not a bad one either.”
“Yeah, yeah, give me another slice of cheesecake to drown my misery in.”
She got another piece of dessert for him, an evil grin on her face the entire time.
Rune knew he was in over his head, but he was going to drown a happy man.
ChapterSeven
Rune was having a great day.
His weekend picnic with Astra had been wonderful. She agreed to have dinner with him again the next night and that had gone well.
It had been a long while since he’d enjoyed a woman’s company as much as he enjoyed hers.
The only problem he foresaw was her family, but only because she thought they might be an issue.
Astra tried to downplay it, but Rune knew that family could make even the best relationship difficult. He’d lived long enough to see it happen more than once.
Then, there was the fact that Astra had yet to expound on her warning that her parents would give him a hard time and how.
He sat in front of his computer, but instead of writing, he was mulling over the problems he could see hovering on the horizon.
His mother would have told him to stop borrowing trouble, but he couldn’t help himself. Besides, chance favored the prepared mind.
Rune used his feet to turn his chair from side-to-side, a small motion that helped him concentrate.
His internal focus was so intense that he almost missed the ringing of his cell phone. With a sigh, he picked it up and glanced at the number. It looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Ferguson. This is Veronica Salt with Mystical Matchmakers. How are you doing today?”
