Page 9

Chapter Five

Silver

My gorilla was certainly on board with the thought of taking Charlie home with us.

He wanted him in our space, and I knew that once I finally got Charlie out in the open and away from all of the scents surrounding us, I’d be able to confirm what the Mate Match company had said.

Charlie was my mate. Despite my resistance to mating, even I wasn’t a fool.

You didn’t deny your fated mate. It just didn’t happen.

They were your perfect everything, and I was almost certain that Charlie was that person to me.

My gorilla absolutely would not stop pushing at me about him, and if nothing else, I knew to always trust my animal side.

We continued to eat our antipasto, and before we were even finished, Duncan came around and dropped off plates that were heaped high with penne pasta, grilled chicken, basil, and red sauce. It smelled delicious. I was torn though. Did I finish my antipasto or move on to the main pasta dish?

“Main course,” he said as he placed Charlie’s plate in front of him. “Are you finished with the appetizer?”

Charlie had made it a little over halfway through his, while mine was almost completely finished.

“Umm…” Charlie said, his struggle all over his face.

“Just push it to the center, and you can pick at it if you still want it,” I suggested.

I quickly stabbed the last few bites of mine and leaned back, allowing Duncan to take my now empty plate.

He placed the main course in front of me, and with it directly under my nose, I closed my eyes in appreciation. It truly did smell wonderful.

“Be sure to save room for dessert. It’s thick slices of coffee-chocolate cake layered with mocha-mascarpone frosting and a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Yum,” Duncan told us.

Charlie moaned while closing his eyes, and it went straight to my groin.

I got it at this point. There was no denying what my gorilla was telling me.

I was incredibly thankful that we were sitting down and things under the table couldn’t be seen because that noise had an impact on me unlike any other had in…

I couldn’t tell you how long. Although I had to agree that the cake sounded amazing, it was the sound Charlie made that really caught my attention.

Most certainly the attention of my gorilla.

“Okay, I’ve changed my mind. You can have the antipasto. I’m saving room for cake because that sounds absolutely heavenly.”

Duncan chuckled before he whisked Charlie’s plate away. “Don’t blame you. Have fun, and I’ll be back to check on you in a bit. Enjoy getting to know each other,” Duncan said. He was gone in a blink, and I was quickly drawn back to my dinner partner.

“This smells as good as it tastes,” Charlie said when I met his gaze. He was chewing happily while wiggling in his seat, and I grinned at him.

“That’s good. It does smell delicious. And the cake sounds amazing.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Doesn’t it?” He picked up his glass and took a drink of tea before he stabbed more chicken and pasta onto his fork.

I found myself once more transfixed by him, which was unusual for me.

I didn’t date. I didn’t have commitments beyond my immediate family.

But there was something completely different about Charlie.

There was certainly that draw that one heard about from puberty.

How when we met our mate, we wouldn’t be able to deny the attraction for long.

And my gorilla was currently beating his chest and growling out mate in my mind.

“So tell me what it’s like working with your brothers. You mentioned you get along with them, which is great. Are they like you? Or are they like Sam and drive you bonkers at times?”

I chuckled. “They’re all right. Some days are frustrating, others are good. We each have our own house, but we spend a lot of time together, even after working with one another all day. At least twice a month, there is a family dinner at our parents’ house. It’s not optional.”

“That’s really amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but I don’t think I could spend that much time with her. At least not since she got pregnant.” Charlie shook his head.

“Oh no?” I’d personally never been in close contact with anyone pregnant.

I’d heard some stories though. Immediately, my mind went to Charlie and wondering what he would look like carrying our child.

Did he want children? Until tonight, I had always been completely fine without having them, but now?

My gorilla definitely wanted to see our little mate round with our own baby gorilla.

Charlie shook his head. “No. I really do love her. Don’t think I don’t. But like I mentioned earlier, she thinks I need to be mated and having a family. It’s been crazy.”

“Ma has been like that,” I told him before taking another bite of the main course.

It truly was delicious, and I wondered if I could figure out how to make it since Duncan had said the meal was catered and not done by the restaurant staff here.

“She wants all of us mated and having kids. None of us seem to be moving at a timeline that she agrees with, so she apparently took matters into her own hands, and here I am.” When I first arrived, I wanted to growl at Ma and take some time apart, but the longer I’d been in Charlie’s company, I was beginning to wonder if Ma knew, or most likely, it was that fate stepped in.

“Who would have thought that out of all of the people here, two that didn’t sign up themselves were matched up,” Charlie said with a little chuckle.

I could tell he was trying to make light of the revelation we both spoke of earlier, but the tone of his voice sounded somewhat sad.

My gorilla didn’t care for that, and he insisted I do something to bring back the smile that had been on Charlie’s face just moments ago.

“True. But I’m glad I came,” I told him. “I’m really enjoying having dinner with you and can’t wait to see what else happens later.”

Charlie looked at me, surprise all over his face. He glanced around before leaning a little closer. “What are you saying? Or implying?”

I winked again. “Well, I had mentioned you not being home in the morning for your sister to wake you up and demand to know what all happened on our date. If that isn’t something that interests you, which is perfectly acceptable, then perhaps we could at least go for a walk and get to know each other a little more?

Perhaps we can even get a second date set up?

” It was my turn to glance around at the dining room.

“Not that this place isn’t amazing, because it is.

But it’s loud and doesn’t really offer privacy. ”

“We could walk around the zoo if you want. Although it closes at eight, so that probably won’t be an option.”

“What about everyone here?” I glanced around the room again. There was no way everyone here would be gone by the time eight came around.

“They usually have barriers put up and will have employees that volunteered to be stationed here and there to make sure people don’t go wandering around. It’s actually easier to close off sections of the zoo than you’d think.”

I thought about that for a moment, and it made sense.

With a place such as this, there was so much that could happen that it would need to be able to close at a moment’s notice.

“Well, there are other places we could go for a walk, aren’t there?

” I asked, trying to quickly come up with somewhere around town where we could continue our evening.

If nothing else, my neighborhood was quiet and had nicely lit sidewalks.

“Umm…I’m not sure. I don’t really hang out in the parks around town too much. I think most of them close at sunset anyway, don’t they?”

Hmm, he had a point. They did, and that really only left his place or mine. Or we could go to an all-night diner or bar. But again, neither of those places was overly private. My neighborhood it was, then.

“Well, I’ll just suggest that we can go back to my place—no strings attached, promise—and we can hang out on my back deck if you’d like.

Or go for a walk around the neighborhood.

I would recommend going to the beach, but I happen to know for a fact that it does close at ten, so depending on how long we’re here, we might not get a long walk. ”

“Your deck sounds like a good place to be. It was supposed to be fairly warm tonight, so I don’t see why not.”

The weather here was almost always warm, but that was what happened when you lived on the coast where we did.

The temperatures were usually mild, and we often enjoyed nice weather year-round.

We could still get cold weather, but for the most part, it was what I’d consider ideal.

My gorilla didn’t mind the snow, but my human side? It wasn’t something I enjoyed.

“We can do that. You can follow me home, and that gives you your vehicle there, and you are free to leave whenever you feel you want or should.” I held up both hands.

“Absolutely no pressure for anything. I truly would like to continue our conversation more. Talk about other things beyond what are normal first-date things when one is set up on a blind date. And, of course, continue normal first-date discussions.”

Charlie grinned and was about to say something, but unfortunately, Duncan interrupted us. I didn’t necessarily dislike the guy, but he was beginning to get really annoying with his timing.

“How’s your meal going? Need any refills?” Duncan asked. He had a pitcher in his hand and immediately started refilling my water.

“I’ll take another tea,” Charlie told him.