Marisa Chenery - To Lovea Cougar

“Then before our date ends I’ll give you a name and phone number he can call to be set up for an interview. He just has to tell the person in human resources I referred him and he’ll get a position.”

“Just like that? You don’t know Sean or his work background.”

“He’s going to be a part of your family, and after today, I hope you’ll want to keep seeing me, so why wouldn’t I want to help him out?”

“In that case, if he turns out to be shit rotten at the job, don’t blame me.”

Blaise laughed. “I won’t. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a medical technician at a lab. I run some of the tests on the various specimens that come in.”

“Sounds very complicated.”

“Not to me it isn’t. I like working in the lab.”

“I guess I know who to go to if I ever need a blood test.”

Harley smiled. “And I promise to be gentle with the needle.”

“That’s good to know.”

They finished eating, then by mutual consent decided to leave the food court. It was well into lunchtime and more people had arrived, causing the noise level to increase. Plus, they no longer had that many empty tables around them.

Blaise captured Harley’s hand in his and walked them out of the busy area. “Now what would you like to do on our date? I still have hours before that family dinner and I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

“Well, we can either continue to wander around the mall or we can go to some other place that’s a little more private.”

“All right. Where do you suggest we go?”

“I’d offer my place, but I have a roommate who works steady midnight shifts. She’s sleeping right now and tends to get really grumpy if I have anyone over while she is. She’s a bit of a light sleeper.”

“All my family live together, but our house is pretty large. Plus, if you like horses, we have a stable full of them. We can go for a ride.”

“Actually, I do know how to ride. It’s been years since I’ve last been on a horse. I’d love to see yours.”

“Then it’s a plan. Do you need to go home first?”

Harley shook her head. “No, I’m good to go.”

“All right. You can follow me to my house.”

He and Harley headed for the down escalator.

At the parking garage, it turned out they hadn’t parked too far from one another. Blaise waited until Harley got into her compact car before he climbed into his sportier one. She followed behind him to the exit, and once they paid their fees, they were on their way.

As he drove, Blaise made sure to look in his rearview mirror from time to time to see that Harley was still behind him. She had no problem keeping up, not that he was speeding, much.

He was pleased she’d agreed to come to his house. The longer he was around her the more he liked her. He wanted to see just how compatible they were. And a crowded mall hadn’t been the place where he wanted to test those waters.

Once they arrived at his family’s home, Blaise directed Harley to park next to him in front of the four-car garage. He got out of his car, walked to the driver’s side of hers and waited for her to get out as well.

As they headed for the front door, Harley said, “Yup, your house is as big as I thought it would be.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Definitely good.” She handed him the bag from the woman’s lingerie store. “Don’t forget this. I took out the one for my sister’s fiancé and stuck it in my glove box.”

“I’ll have to get this up to my bedroom before we head over to the stables. If my mom or my brother, even his wife, sees me with this bag there will be questions asked.”

“Ones you don’t want to answer,” Harley added with a chuckle.

“Exactly. I would feel a tad uncomfortable if I had to show my mother the thong you bought me.”

“I guess so. I know my mom won’t know where to look when my sister opens my gag gift at her shower. I’ll get a good laugh out of it though.”

Of course as fate would have it, Blaise opened the front door, allowed Harley to walk in first before he did and saw his mom standing in the foyer. She had a jacket on, looking ready to go out somewhere.

Her gaze landed briefly on Harley before it settled on the pink bag he held. “Please don’t tell me you’ve taken up wearing women’s underthings.”

“Mom!” Blaise said. “No. It just happens the store has a men’s section as well.”

“Oh yes. I forgot they did. Are you going to introduce me?”

“This is Harley. Harley, this is my mother.”

He gave his mom a meaningful look. “Aren’t you going somewhere?”

His mother shook her head. “I’d have to be pretty thick not to get that hint. Yes, I’m going out for a bit. Your father is resting, so don’t disturb him.”

Blaise scowled. “Again? He did that this morning after Caleb was done examining him. He usually doesn’t sleep that much during the day.”

“Caleb said to expect it because of the change in medication he gave your father.” A look of worry flitted across his mother’s face before it quickly disappeared. She looked at Harley. “It’s nice meeting you. I hope to see you again.” With that said she walked around them, then out the door.

“Your dad is sick?” Harley asked once they were alone.

“Yeah. My cousin Caleb is a doctor, but he can’t figure out what’s wrong with my father.”

“Have you taken him to get another doctor’s opinion?”

“No.” Hoping to change the subject, Blaise held up the pink bag. “I’ll just run this up to my room, then we can go to the stables.”

He hurried across the foyer to the wide stairs that led to the upper floor. With Harley being in the medical field, she would think it strange they hadn’t taken his dad to see another doctor if Caleb wasn’t helping him get better. He couldn’t exactly tell her the reason why there was no one else. Not right now, anyway.

Harley watched Blaise take the stairs two at a time. She dropped her gaze to his ass, appreciating how his jeans stretched tight across it with each step he took. Once he disappeared from sight at the top, she sighed to herself. The man had a killer bod.

She didn’t have long to wait before Blaise came back down again. He smiled as he met her gaze. Along with his hot body, he was handsome as sin. Harley was pretty pleased with herself for taking that chance back at the mall. He’d turned out to be better potential boyfriend material than she’d first thought. If she could get her claws into him, she would hold on for all she was worth.

“Let’s go,” Blaise said once he reached her.

Harley nodded, then followed him through the front door. She zipped up the jacket she wore as he brought her around the side of the garage and onto a graveled lane. A short distance away she saw another building that presumably was the stable. The large structure was all red wood and white trim. The paddocks near it were enclosed with white wood fencing.

Once they reached the building, Blaise led her through the large sliding door that stood open.

Harley looked down the row of stalls. There were about ten of them and each one was occupied. As they walked farther inside, large equine heads appeared over the tops of the doors. The horses snorted in greeting as they walked by.

Blaise stopped at the end in front of a stall on the right and stroked the nose of a black one.

“This is my horse. He’s a gelding called George.”

Harley burst out laughing. “You named your horse George?”

“I know it’s a suck-ass name. It started out as a joke. I couldn’t come up with one so my brother Taylor kept calling him George, thinking I’d get sick of hearing it and pick a better one. That didn’t happen so the name stuck.”