like an idiot. His mate was a sophisticated girl from the city, a fashion designer no less. He changed from a graphic T-shirt to a button-down shirt to a suit jacket and back to the graphic T-shirt. They were just going out for coffee, nothing too special. He just needed to be himself. She was his mate, after all, and she wouldn't judge him for his clothes, would she?
He was wearing a shirt that had been designed by one of the students in his graphic design class. He'd thought about making designs of his own but didn't feel ready.
He hoped she would be impressed. They were both artists. As weird as it had been for him to discover his talent for drawing—being a farm boy from rural Colorado—he'd never expected to have any kind of artistic aspiration. Most of the boys he'd gone to high school with were content with hobbies like hunting and fishing.
It wasn't that Gunner didn't enjoy those things. He loved to spend the day by the lake with his fishing pole. And there was nothing like the taste of a fresh trout straight out of a mountain stream. But he'd always felt a deep longing in his chest that he hadn't been able to place until his brother Austin had suggested he go to community college with Montana.
He'd signed up for some random classes that his counselor had suggested. He'd never expected to enjoy the art class so much, but after the first week, he'd known there was something there. He had been going for three semesters now. Montana was almost ready to graduate and go on to a university. So driving her into town would no longer be his excuse.
The truth was that he loved it for its own sake, and he hoped that would be interesting enough for the sophisticated woman he'd been matched with. He pulled on a pair of sneakers and hurried downstairs. He grabbed his sketchpad on the way out the door, drove into town, and stopped at the florist to pick up a bouquet of flowers.
He gulped as he got back into the car and started off over the mountain into Blackville. He hoped that bringing flowers didn't seem too old-fashioned. He had no idea how men in New York would act, but Fashion Girl was a shifter. She would understand his enthusiasm, or at least he hoped.
Were shifters in the city as committed to their mates as good old country boys like him? He had no idea. He'd never been to New York. He'd been to Denver a few times. He'd gone to museums and the zoo and had even eaten in a fancy restaurant during the stock show. His family went every year. It was a huge event for ranchers, and ever since Austin had taken over the ranch, he'd been more and more determined to prove that their form of regenerative agriculture produced the best beef.
Even though Gunner had rebelled against his family and had wanted to find his own way in life, now that he'd found his artistic aspiration, he believed more than ever in his brother's dream of restoring the land.
He thought, all the way to Blackville, of subjects to discuss with Fashion Girl, and he hoped she wouldn't find him boring. He told himself not to bring up trout fishing even once. She might think he was a backwoods redneck.
He pulled up in front of the café five minutes early and tried to calm down. He did the breathing exercises he'd learned in the yoga class he'd taken at the community college. He never would have thought he'd take a yoga class in a million years, but the whole point of going to community college was to explore. So he'd been open to just about anything, and he certainly hadn't minded being in a room full of girls in spandex.
But now the thought of it made him feel a little guilty. He was about to meet his fated mate, the love of his life, the future mother of his children. Am I even ready for all this?
His inner wolf howled at the thought of her, her pretty face, the freckles across her nose, and her big blue eyes. He took a deep breath, grabbed the bouquet of flowers, and approached the door of the café, his heart slamming.
The minute he walked in the room, the scent of coffee and pastries, sugar, and cinnamon filled his nose. But an even more alluring scent wafted into