Trusting the Tiger: BBW Tiger Shifter Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

people. She could almost believe they were completely alone in the forest.
    “It’s just … beautiful,” she repeated, knowing the word didn’t go nearly far enough to describe the place.
    Jack ducked his head, although the proud grin still stretched across his face. “I found this spot before I bought Silver Forest. I think it’s what finally convinced me to buy the land. The rest of the forest is great, but this…” He looked down again, as though he was embarrassed. “It’s something special. I wanted to share it with you.”
    Toni’s eyes widened. Share it with her?
    She’d tried to tell herself that Jack was just being friendly by inviting her out today. She’d even wondered if he just felt sorry for her, being left on her own in the campground. But there was no pity in Jack’s eyes as he glanced up at her.
    No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, the more she thought about it, this whole thing seemed more like … a date .
    Now there was a word so rusty it creaked. It wasn’t that Toni had given up on romance in the past few years, but the few times she had met up with online-dating matches probably couldn’t rightly be labelled ‘dates’. ‘Disasters’, yes, but…
    A soft breeze floated along the riverbank, ruffling Jack’s hair. He was busily unpacking his backpack, and Toni let her gaze fall to his face. The strong, square jaw, softened by the gentle curve of his mouth. She wondered whether his lips were as soft as they looked.
    “What do you think?” Jack asked.
    Toni had been so focused on Jack himself that she hadn’t noticed what he was unpacking. She had assumed they’d be eating sandwiches, but lined up on the riverbank were piles of expensive-looking boxes of food, utensils, and – a half-sized bottle of champagne?
    Toni gulped.
    This was definitely a date.
    She walked slowly over to Jack, trying not to show how amazed she was – by the location, the food, and the … date.
    Unfortunately she was aware she was blushing far too much to make that believable.
    “I didn’t realize this was that sort of picnic,” she said, pointing at the champagne. Jack’s face fell. “I didn’t – I mean – I’m not complaining. You know. If it is, um, that sort of picnic.”
    She blushed. More. In fact she was beginning to think that if Jack had packed marshmallows and crackers, he could have cooked s’mores on her cheeks.
    Jack was looking down at the feast spread in front of him as though he had suddenly realized he had got things horribly wrong. “Toni, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. This is too much, you’re right, we should go back—”
    Toni sat down in front of him. The smooth river stones shifted under her, making a comfortable hollow for her to settle into. She looked across at Jack, aware her face was still burning. “No, this is fine. It’s more than fine. Really.”
    She was surprised by how true that was. She felt confident that Karen and the other competent adults she had left Lexi and Felix with would look after the kids. And she had, after all, been looking forward to a little innocent flirtation.
    Though maybe the champagne meant the flirtation wasn’t going to be that innocent…
    She noticed, absently, that Jack’s eyes had taken on the same golden cast she thought she had seen the day before when he was walking through the clearing. Did he always have a gold ring around his pupils, or was it only when the sun caught his eyes?
    Toni realized she had been staring into Jack’s eyes long enough that, now that she had noticed what she was doing, it became awkward. She looked away and her own eyes fell upon the unopened packages in front of Jack.
    “What have we got here?” she asked, then cleared her throat. Her voice had gone all rough, and her mouth was suddenly dry. She licked her lips and glanced up to see Jack still watching her, his eyes glowing gold.
    Jack stretched out his legs and leaned over, his previous moment