Urquia

Chapter 12: The not date part 2

*Nathan's POV*

I finish my alpha duties on time. I shower and get ready, wearing nothing too fancy: a black tank top, a long-sleeve shirt, and a long, gray flannel shirt. I pull the sleeves up to my forearms. I put on some jeans and black combat boots.

-'Let's go get our mate,' I say to Shadow, and he barks approvingly.

I go to the best Mexican restaurant in town, according to my sister. I don't know for sure, because I don't go out much, if at all.

Not knowing what tacos to order, I get four of each kind. They seem small, so I'm not sure if it will be enough for us, but I also get us quesadillas and iced tea just in case. I hop in the car and drive to where her sister said to meet.

I take three bags of food and start walking to the warehouses. I catch my mate's scent and follow it. I know my men are near and mind-link them to give us more space. I see her checking her phone and biting her lips.

She looks so sexy in her gray sweatpants and a black, loose crop-top hoodie.

When she senses me, she looks up, and her face lights up as she smiles at me. Breathtaking. I compose myself and smile back.

-"Hey, beautiful."

When I reach her, she looks at my hands and chuckles.

-"How did you know I'm that hungry?"

She extends her hand to help me, and as I give her a bag, my hand touches hers, and the wonderful sparks I feel make my wolf howl. She must be feeling something because her eyes widen and her heartbeat quickens as she blushes.

-"I didn't know what you'd like, and they seemed small to me, so I got us four of each flavor they had. It's the first time I'm eating Mexican food, so I don't know what I like either," I admit shyly.

She looks at me with a smile.

-"Why? Are you picky with food?" she asks while leading me to her warehouse. It's bigger than I thought. We enter a reception area... well, no, more like a normal living room area.

There's a sofa, a crib in a corner, toys, paintings on the wall, and a TV. It even has a full kitchen and a dining table. It has three doors: two normal-looking ones and one double door. She takes the rest of the bags to the open kitchen, and I follow her, looking around. I feel too big for this place, like an elephant in a room. I start taking out all the food, and she brings plates, napkins, and glasses, but no cutlery. I look at her, questioning.

-"What?" she asks, looking at the table just to realize. She sits next to me, but facing me.

-"Oh, you don't eat tacos with a fork and knife. You eat it like this." She offers me a hand, and I hold her without thinking.

She chuckles and turns my hand over with her tiny fingers, and I gulp. She puts a napkin on my palm, then fills the taco bread with toppings and puts it in my hand. Then she closes my two fingers around it and lets go. I'm so mesmerized by her soft hands still touching mine that I don't even know what's going on. I look at her again when she lets my hand go, and she takes a taco and pinches it like she made me do. She gestures for me to copy her, and I do.

When I take the first bite, it tastes so good my eyes widen. She chuckles as she eats.

-"This is so good," I practically moan, and she smiles even more.

-"These are called tacos al pastor," she says.

-"You like spicy?" she asks while taking another one and puts it in my hand.

I nod like a little kid and take a bite. At first, it tastes like normal chicken, but then it starts to get hotter and hotter. My face starts to get red and sweaty, and I start to fan myself, and she laughs.

-"Oh, you...(cough) think it's funny? (cough, cough)"

She chuckles while giving me my iced tea. I drink it like it's water in the desert.

-"These are called tinga de pollo."

She keeps giving me things to try and saying their names. She's all excited telling me the ingredients. When my iced tea is over, she offers me hers.

Then she says, -"Do you drink beer? I can make you a michelada."

-"What's that?" I ask. She gets up and starts pulling some beers, lemons, and tomatoes from the fridge and starts making some weird margarita. She brings it to the table where I've almost eaten all the food by myself and puts it in front of me. It's pretty good. I love everything.

-"Wow, it's really good. Where did you learn how to make these?"

-"My dad is a missionary. We've traveled a lot, and I kind of have a lot of mixed cultures. I love to make all kinds of food, and I worked as a bartender to pay for the 'around the world tour' I did when I was 18.

I'm from Venezuela, but I've lived in six or seven countries. Of course, my parents have been to more countries than me," she says, getting serious all of a sudden. I wait for her to continue. She sips her beer and sighs.

-"I stopped traveling when I got married and had children," she says, staring at me blankly, waiting for my reaction.

-"I guessed that by the crib and the toys," I say with a smile. She looks a bit relieved and continues to say,

-"I'm separated," she says, looking at her glass. -"I can't really get a divorce... it's complicated," she says, drinking a bit more.

I drink too, and there's a moment of silence between us.

-"Well? Do you still have feelings for him? Do you love him?" My heart is beating fast, anticipating her answer. Please say no. SAY NO.

She narrows her eyes, and with gritted teeth, she says, -"I can never love a man like him."

My wolf howls with joy, and I smile, relieved, although I don't miss the hostility in her voice when she said that.

-"That means I have a chance at winning your heart?" She gasps a bit in surprise and smiles right away.

-"You... you want to?" she asks, amused.

-"Of course I do. The moment I saw you at the airport, my heart knew right then I needed to have you." I look straight into her eyes and say,

-"If you let me, I will do anything to make you mine, Samantha, and be yours for the rest of our lives," I say clearly.

She stops breathing for a few seconds. Her heart starts beating fast, and she's blushing. Then she looks down at her hands and says,

-"Then you have to know my name is not Samantha; it's Andrea. Andy, if you want."

She looks at me, guilty and cute with her shy pout. I start laughing.

-"I know. Your mom said your name at the airport. I was waiting for you to trust me enough to tell me yourself."

She scratches the back of her head, blushing.

-"Yeah, I never give my true name unless it's really necessary," she sighs.

-"You've got to know my life is complicated. I don't trust easily, and I have other issues I'm dealing with. Also, my kids are my priority; they come first before anyone else," she says with a stern look. It's like she's trying to convince me to back off.

-"I would be a bit disappointed if they weren't," I say with a grin. -"Don't worry, love, I'm up for the challenge. Just give me a real chance to show you I'm worthy of your love."

She looks dumbfounded. I take her hands in mine and kiss her knuckles.

-"I'm great with kids," I say, and she laughs.

For the first time, she has her walls down, and I can read her clearly. Her eyes hold so many emotions; I can see them all: fear, excitement, doubts, happiness, lust.

She clears her throat and looks around.

-"Let me think about it," she mutters more to herself than to me.

She gets up, and as I get up to throw the garbage away, she stops me. I look at her in confusion.

-"What are you doing?" she asks as she takes the garbage from my hands and puts it back in the plastic bag.

-"Follow me," she says after we wash our hands, and she opens the double doors on the left.

My jaw falls open when I enter through some big plants, revealing what looks like a huge, forest-like greenhouse. It's just one part of the warehouse, but it's filled with every type of plant imaginable—from aromatic herbs on the left to vegetables and fruits on the right.

All types of flowers are hanging from a huge structure on the ceiling. There are small paths between the plants and small trees for better access. They have an irrigation system of some sort, made all from plastic bottles. Some of them have blue lights over them. This part of the warehouse has a crystal roof, so the sun can come through. It's beautiful and well-designed. My eyes roam as I follow her a bit further through a second set of double glass doors. The second area has a huge smoke extractor on the ceiling and three long work tables, forming a U. There's an industrial oven on the left and another room, I guess, on the right. The tables have molds and drawers and different utensils and tools. One of the tables looks like a chemistry lab. I'm looking at everything in amazement, and I don't realize she's gone. I look for her and sniff. I'm going to the third area when she pops out of nowhere, scaring the s**t out of me.

-"I was, you know, recycling, reusing, and putting the leftovers in the compost bin," she shrugs.

-"What is all this?" I say, trying to hide and recover from the minor heart attack this Catwoman gave me. I don't think she notices. If she does, she doesn't show it.

-"Well, my sister and I make zero-waste, eco-friendly products, such as soaps, shampoos, and beauty and skincare products. We supply to beauty salons and small shops around the states. We also recycle all we can. We pay homeless people or just people in need to help us recycle. That way, we help them get back on their feet. We also have two more companies, but that's for another day."

She starts looking for something in a closet I didn't notice before.

-"I don't know if this will fit because, well, you're kind of... big," she says, her eyes raking over me as she blushes and hands me a jumpsuit. I smirk proudly. "I am big."

-"You can change over there," she says while turning me quickly into the recycling room. I chuckle and go change.

Yep, the jumpsuit is definitely small. It barely fits my legs. It only goes up to my waist, and it reaches just above my ankles. I take my long-sleeve shirt off, and I get out of the smelly room. She is already dressed. She looks at me and shakes her head, chuckling.

-"Yeah, Hercules? You can't take your shirt off. We'll use some toxic stuff, and I don't want to screw up those beautiful tattoos," she says, looking at my arms, wanting to touch them.

-'Mate wants us,' Shadow says. I look into her lustful eyes.

-'Yep, she does.'