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Chapter Four

Charlie

It was wrong of me to be even slightly upset when Silver had mentioned that it was his mother who had signed him up for this and he didn’t even want to come.

I was here at my sister’s insistence, so I honestly had no right to feel any slight.

He was only being honest with me. Forget the fact that the moment my eyes met his, my koala pushed in my mind that we belonged to the sexy, tall man with the fascinating hair.

Thankfully, Duncan came by just then and was able to pull attention away from my flash reaction to him telling me he didn’t even want to be here.

It wasn’t that I could fault him too much because I was only here to get my sister off my case about being single still.

That was until I got a look at Silver. There was something about the man that drew my koala unlike anyone I’d ever met before.

“Is this really what they consider a salad?” Silver asked.

I couldn’t help but laugh. And it wasn’t a quiet chuckle; it was a full-out hoot.

I agreed completely. It looked terrible and, well, pathetic.

I understood they were trying for a fancy, high-end experience, but we were still in the aquarium restaurant at the zoo.

It wasn’t a Michelin-star restaurant or anything.

When I finally got myself under control, I could only nod at Silver. He started poking at his salad, and I wondered if he normally ate them. He was a gorilla shifter, after all.

“Do you eat salads?” I decided to ask.

“I eat everything. I love food, and yes, I often order a salad with meals when I go out with my brothers. But this…this is not a salad.”

I had to agree. It really didn’t look like a salad.

I picked up my fork and knife and decided that perhaps if I cut up the lettuce, it would be better at resembling an actual salad, but I wasn’t really holding out hope.

There just wasn’t enough lettuce to rate this as being an actual salad. Maybe a garnish?

Duncan came back by, dropping off a basket of crusty bread for us. “How are the salads?” he asked, a smirk on his face.

“You’re kidding, right? These aren’t salads, Duncan. Why didn’t they cut up the lettuce and give us actual-sized salads? I know the restaurant has them.”

Duncan leaned closer. “The company that is hosting tonight’s event catered the meal.

None of this was cooked by anyone from the normal kitchen staff.

I promise, from what I’ve seen, the rest of the meal looks and smells really good.

But the salads are a bit…” Duncan glanced down at my plate, where I had started cutting up the three leaves of romaine. “Well, lacking,” he finished.

“What’s the appetizer?” I asked, hoping it truly was better.

“Antipasto. And it’s a lot more than the salad, which I’m honestly thinking was an afterthought, really.

But for the antipasto, there are four skewers on each plate, and all of the chunks are hefty.

Lots of pepperoni and prosciutto, olives, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, peppers, tomatoes, and lots of chunks of cheese. They look really good.”

I grinned up at Duncan. “Thanks, Duncan.”

“No problem. Have fun, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything.

” He walked off, stopping at the next table, where a couple had finally sat down.

I pulled my attention away from Duncan and back to Silver, once more entranced by him.

He was just…everything I’d ever been looking for.

He was tall, good-looking, muscular, seemed to be nice and well-mannered so far.

I sighed inwardly. He most likely wasn’t going to be for me though.

I definitely felt a pull toward him, but I wasn’t sure he felt the same.

If he did, he’d been amazing at hiding it completely.

“At least the antipasto sounds promising. How is the cutting going? Does that seem to work?”

I shrugged but continued to cut up my salad.

“Possibly. There’s not enough lettuce to be a salad in my book.

” I gave up and instead just pushed it to the side to let Duncan take it away once he returned.

Silver chuckled and did the same. I placed my elbows on the table and grinned at the handsome man across from me.

If nothing else, I was going to enjoy what little time I had with him.

It wasn’t often that I had a “date” with such a handsome and intriguing man.

“So, Silver—that’s an interesting name?”

“For whatever reason, Ma decided to name me and my four brothers after metals or minerals.”

I tilted my head to the side, curious. “How so?”

“Well, there’s me, then Clay, then Flint, then Mica, and finally Slate.”

“That’s certainly original. I thought your name came from your hair.”

Silver chuckled. “It just works out that way. Poor Clay, he doesn’t have anything red about him, but I guess the silver could end up looking like grayish-colored clay?”

I smiled. “Well, at least your name isn’t that of a very recognized cartoon character.”

“Charlie?” Silver seemed deep in thought. “The only one I can think of is Charlie Brown.”

I nodded. My entire life, I’d been the butt of Charlie Brown jokes.

“Seriously? Your name is Charlie Brown?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know. You can go ahead and crack the jokes now. I’ve had almost thirty years to get used to them at this point, and I doubt you can come up with something I’ve not already heard.”

Silver’s gaze darkened, and his brow furrowed. “Why would I make jokes about your name? Why would you expect that from me?”

I shrugged. “I’m used to it. Most of the time, I don’t really hear them anymore. It just happens, and I ignore it.”

“No. That’s not right. Who’s been picking on you about your name? I’ll go growl at them and set them straight right now.”

I ducked my head, my cheeks heating at the thought of him doing such a thing.

We’d just met, and although I definitely felt a strong attraction to him, I hadn’t known if he felt anything.

But if he was willing, or even saying he was, to growl at people who made comments about my name, that had to mean something, didn’t it?

No, this was how I always ended up with the wrong men.

My desire for sweet and romantic gestures was dumb, and I knew I wouldn’t find that with Silver despite the attraction I was feeling.

“Charlie?”

I looked up at Silver, who was staring intently at me. “Yeah?”

“Who? Anyone at work here?”

I shook my head. There had been one person, but they no longer worked at the zoo, so they were no longer an issue.

“No. Everyone here is professional.” I shrugged.

“Besides, most don’t know anyone by anything other than their first names.

” I thought about that for a moment. “Well, besides the veterinarians. They’re all known as Dr. Whoever.

But that’s a special case, I think. Everyone else is more of a family sort of thing. ”

Silver looked thoughtful for a moment before he finally nodded. “So, did you always want to be a zookeeper?”

I shook my head and laughed. “No. I absolutely didn’t.

I actually have a teaching degree. An advanced one, but after a year in the classroom, I was joking around with a friend that it would be easier to work with actual animals than it would the students.

He told me that the zoo was hiring, and here I am.

” I stared into space a little while, thinking back to that moment, and chuckled.

When I looked back up at Silver, he was studying me again.

“I wasn’t wrong. Working here is so much easier, and honestly, it’s been more rewarding. ”

Silver nodded. “I get it. I have an Economics degree, but it wasn’t for me come to find out, and now I run Silverback Security with my brothers.

We do all different kinds of security. Cyber, personal, events, things of that nature.

When it comes to personal security assignments, there are some that we know going in are going to be a pain.

Some people just don’t know how to act, it seems.”

I could certainly agree with that. “We have guests like that sometimes. They can be complete nightmares. Throwing things into the exhibits, teenagers running around and screaming, parents not watching their small children—you name it, we get it.” I sighed.

I did love my job, and working with the animals and my coworkers was great.

But yeah, at times, dealing with the public was dreadful.

Silver shook his head. He looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by Duncan’s approach.

“Salads a no go?” Duncan asked as he came back, two plates in his hands.

“Oh well. Yours won’t be the first to go back to the kitchen.

Here’s your antipasto. As promised, it’s much more appealing.

At least to me, it is.” Duncan said as he placed a plate in front of me and then grabbed my salad plate.

He did the same for Silver and then disappeared with the salads without another word.

“This certainly does look better,” Silver said as he picked up a skewer.

He slid his fork through the stick and then pulled it out, dropping all of the pieces onto the plate.

I watched as he did that with all four of them before I did the same.

Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be fitting to just eat the chunks off the skewer. Etiquette and all that.

“Do you like your job? And do you like working with your brothers?” I asked, hoping to fill a bit of the silence we’d seemed to settle into.