Changing Times by Marilu Mann Page A

he reached out and took her hands.
    Carly felt his thumbs rubbing across the backs of her hands,
but she couldn’t take her eyes off his. Tony’s eyes shown with a warm green
color today, though even as she watched a ring of gold appeared around the dark
iris. Carly took a deep breath and pulled her hands out of his.
    “Fine. Where are we going?”
    Tony shrugged as he turned away from her slightly. “What
about the Trianon? We could have an early lunch.”

Chapter Four
     
    Tony waited for her answer with a faint grin on his face. He
could feel the tension in her even with the distance between them. And, even
though she thought he was delusional, she was still attracted to him. As a man,
that made him smile. As a shifter, it gave him pause.
    His last liaison with a human had turned out badly and he
wasn’t willing to go through that type of pain again. He reached once again for
the memory. A frail human with brown hair who had needed him. He had failed her
by not protecting her from other shifters. Those who would, to this day, hurt
or kill humans who got involved with shifters.
    Jenny hadn’t asked for any of the grief he’d brought into
her life. She’d been human and hadn’t known about his shifting. She’d been
caught up in a battle he hadn’t anticipated and had paid the ultimate price
before he could reach her side to protect her. That was the price a human paid
for loving a shifter. And he would never ask another human to risk that.
    He only wanted to have lunch with the doctor to talk about
Susan. That was all. Clamping down on his physical reaction firmly, he opened
the car door for her.
    Tony smiled as her almond scent mingled with fragrance of
the leather seats in his car. She breathed in so deeply he wondered what she
was expecting to smell. She let her head fall back against the headrest in an
indulgent motion. Obviously she thought she might as well enjoy the ride. Her
attention slid across the seat to rest on him.
    “‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than
are dreamt of in your philosophy.’”
    “Excuse me?” Tony looked at his passenger. Why on earth was
she quoting Shakespeare? Then he shook his head. Micah. That was what that
phrase reminded him of. Micah was always quoting that line or something
similarly obscure when he did one of his disappearing acts.
    Her response snapped him back to the here and now. “Did I
say that out loud? I apologize. I was just remembering something…”
    “Micah told you, right?” At her astonished gaze, he allowed
himself a smug feeling. He’d surprised her. The fact that she didn’t say
another word until they swung into the narrow lot that served as parking for
Trianon was a drawback, but Tony guessed she was trying to figure him out. Too
bad she would never be able to do that.
    He eased his car between another luxury car and someone’s
old junker, marveling at the disparity that was so typical of New Orleans. She
met him at the rear of the car. So, she wasn’t going to give him all the moves,
was she? Smiling, he placed his hand on her elbow to lead her across the
parking lot toward the restaurant.
    He could feel her tension in the stiffness of her arm. It
seemed as though all her senses were engaged at that one joint of her body. She
jerked slightly and he raised an eyebrow.
    “Sorry,” she muttered. Straightening her spine, she offered
him her arm again. He could almost feel her thoughts, so plain were they on her
face. She seemed to be reminding herself that this was the South and men still
acted with chivalry here.
    Tony glanced at her as they reached the door. He reached out
to open it for her with a slight smile. Carly merely lifted her chin and led
the way into the restaurant. The maître d’ greeted Tony by name and assured
them a table would be ready momentarily.
    Tony took the opportunity to study Carly again. She was
extremely healthy. He could literally smell the good health surrounding her.
Her blonde hair was