Trusting the Tiger: BBW Tiger Shifter Paranormal Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

that sweeping Toni off her feet right now would more be more likely to scare her than comfort her. He made up his mind. 
    “Look,” he began, stumbling over his words. “I’m really sorry about all this. This is meant to be your weekend getaway, and instead … well, it doesn’t seem like you’re having a great time. And you should be. Let me make it up to you.”
    “Well, you got me a drink,” Toni replied with a straight face. They both looked down to where her Coke lay spilled on the ground, next to Jack’s beer.
    “Right. And then I ran off and left you to be stalked by a weirdo from my past. So I owe you twice,” Jack offered.
    “Maybe three times, if you count organizing this BMX thing that has stolen Felix and Lexi’s sporty little hearts,” Toni added.
    “Two and a half,” Jack countered. “I provided the campground, but Karen’s one-hundred-percent to blame for the bikes.”
    “Deal.” A smile – a real one, this time – twitched at the corner of her mouth, and she held out one hand. “Shake on it?”
    They shook, both giving the action the mock seriousness it deserved.
    “First things first, let’s get you to that first-aid station,” Jack decided. “Your fingers – hang on, was it the other hand?”
    Toni stared at her fingers. “No, it was definitely this hand…” She flexed her fingers experimentally. “Wow, the marks have faded really fast.”
    “Does it still hurt?”
    “No, it’s … fine.” She frowned. “Weird.”
    Jack gently took her hand and examined it. Five minutes ago, her fingertips had been a painful-looking red, as though she had touched a hotplate, but now there was no sign anything had ever been wrong. Toni’s fingers were unharmed, soft, delicate, and as beautiful as the rest of her.
    With his shifter senses, Jack felt Toni’s heartbeat quicken. Her fingers started to curl around his own, and then she pulled back self-consciously.
    Jack’s own body was responding to her excitement. He coughed, willing himself to calm down. Then inspiration struck.
    “I’ve got it. With your niece and nephew up to their eyeballs in dirt bikes, your plans for the weekend are probably shot, right?” He took in her glum nod. “Then let me make it up to you. How do you feel about joining me on a picnic tomorrow?”
    Toni looked up at him, and the tentative hope in her eyes made his heart swell in his chest.
    “I’d … I’d like that,” she said, the words tripping over each other. “I’d really like that.”
    The sun had crept toward the horizon as they talked, so Jack offered to help herd the twins back to the cabins once the bikes were packed away for the day. Lexi and Felix – he made a mental note to ask Toni about the names – hardly touched the ground the whole way back to the camping ground. They clambered up trees and jumped across rock piles. He couldn’t help but think that Toni would hardly have had a relaxing weekend if she had to look after the two of them the whole time. He left them madly waving to him from the cabin door, and turned to start the long walk through the trees to his own home.
    There was no sign of de Jager, but then he had stalked off in the opposite direction to the cabins. If he was staying in the campground, he must have his own tent somewhere off the beaten track. He hadn’t been lying when he told Toni he doubted de Jager was up to anything, but even so, knowing how much the man had unnerved her, he pulled out his phone and rang the head ranger to let him know bad news was skulking around.
     

CHAPTER THREE
    TONI
     
     
    “You two are filthy ,” Toni grumbled as Lexi and Felix stripped off their sweaters to reveal sub-strata of dirt. “Right, grab your shower kits, and let’s get to the showers before everyone else descends on them.”
    “Not gonna!” crowed Lexi. Before Toni could so much as tssk the small girl began to shrink and twist inside her clothes. Her sleek brown hair shrank down and then seemed to stream across