Estrella glared at her, sitting upright. "You don't understand." She got to her feet and raised her voice just a little when Ryder began to protest. "No, listen to me. I'm going into heat in less than a week. I have to find a baby daddy--"

"You're yelling," a husky voice murmured in her ear. Vic, behind her. "Use your inside voice, Estrella."

"I'm not," she began, then realized how quiet it was in the restaurant. Gone was the clink of forks and the low murmur of conversation. Okay, so maybe she'd been talking about being in heat a leeeetle bit too loud. Just a hair. She shook her head, her shoulder-length hair slapping the face of her alpha. "Vic, you're so cruel."

"And you're drunk. Hitting the sauce while you still can?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I was just blown away by the amazing selection of dates tonight." When Ryder frowned, Estrella bared her teeth at her and was pleased to see the blonde stumble backward a step.

"And now you're just being mean," Vic said with amusement. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

Warm hands grabbed her around the waist. He felt so delicious against her that she sighed and closed her eyes, draping her arms around his neck. "Carry me?"

A low rumble of a chuckle, and then an arm went behind her knees and Estrella was lifted into the air, and Vic carried her out of the restaurant. He didn't even have to strain to carry her gargantuan form.

"See, that's what I need," she sighed.

"What's that?" he asked as they headed out the front door of the restaurant and into the parking lot. As soon as they left the building, cold, crisp air slammed into them. It carried the scent of winter underneath the usual city smells.

Winter would be good, since the heat made her feel so flushed all the time.

"What do you need, Estrella?" Vic repeated when she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

"Someone strong. A real guy. Not any of those losers in the speed dating." She inhaled and was surprised at how good Vic smelled. It had to be the heat that was causing her to want to bury her face against him and lick at the cords of his thick, brawny neck, right? Or the heat that made her want to rip off his shirt with her claws and trace the lines of those tattoos with her fingers? Run her hands over his flat stomach...

A hot pulse of need flashed through her, and the scent of her own desire rolled through her nostrils a moment before Vic stiffened.

"Estrella," he warned.

"It's the heat," she told him. "Just ignore it. I'm going to." She put her face against his shoulder. "See, this is me, ignoring the heat."

He grunted, though it sounded less amused this time.

One of the strands of his hair fascinated her. It kept touching his ear when he walked, and she wondered how soft it would be. Then she touched it, and of course it was gorgeously soft. She decided her baby should have soft hair, too. "You find anyone at the speed mating, Vic?"

"You were the only one there worth noticing," he commented in that same gruff voice.

Estrella sighed miserably. "There were two guys who were interested until they heard the baby part. Everyone wants the heat but nobody wants the ramifications."

"It's good that you're finding out now, 'Strella. Better now than after the baby is conceived."

Her eyes began to water with sudden, weepy, ridiculous, drunken tears. "I need someone who’s going to be at my side the entire time. Someone responsible who wants me just as much as they want a baby."

"I know, sugar. I know."

She reached out and smacked him on the arm just as he put her down. "I'm not your sugar, Vic Barlow."

He chuckled and pulled out his car keys, ignoring her turn of mood. "You're also not crying anymore, which is all I wanted. Now get in. I’m driving."

Evil, evil man.

The cold front that had rolled through North Texas hadn't brought more than gusty winds and a light, gloomy drizzle, but Estrella appreciated it all the same. With the temperatures firmly in the upper thirties, she wouldn't be breaking into a heat-induced sweat every time she went outside. She thought she'd get hot flashes when she went through menopause; apparently she got them when her hormones were ramping up to eleven, too.

Since it was a nice day out -- well, for her -- Estrella walked to Vic's garage. It was only a few blocks away from the gym she worked at, and in Texas, that was practically neighbors. She took her jacket so her boss wouldn't ask questions, and then ditched it into her car as soon as she hit the parking lot.

As she walked, Estrella inhaled the scents of the city. She loved the sharp, crisp bite of the winter breeze. The only trees she could smell were junipers; everything else was bare and brown. The sky overhead was gray, which suited her mood quite well.

The hunt for the father of her child was not going so well.

Estrella shouldn't have been surprised. Hell, it was close to impossible to find a date under normal circumstances. Finding the perfect guy who also wanted to be a parent in the space of under a week? Impossible. Still, she wouldn't stop hoping. Something was going to have to come out of this heat, after all. Waiting wasn't an option. Already her ovaries felt like they'd climb out of her body at the sight of the next sexy guy who walked past.

Maybe a human? Vic would kill her. Totally and completely kill her. If she'd ever felt like an outcast because of her liger ancestry, it'd be nothing to how she'd be treated if she were a liger knocked up by a human. She sighed, feeling defeated, and kicked a nearby can instead of picking it up and tossing it in the garbage. As much as she’d felt like an outcast growing up because of her dual halves? There was no way she’d subject any child of hers to anything remotely close to that.

Like it or not, she had no ideas. That was why she was going to confront Vic and ask -- no, beg -- for his help. Her face flushed uncomfortably hot at the thought. Vic, could you help me with my heat?

Why did that make her flutter low in her stomach? Stupid heat made everything attractive, apparently, even her formidable, scowling, often-scary alpha.

Vic's Garage was busy, all the bay doors open and cars on the lifts as men moved under them. The scents of motor oil and rubber tires filled her nostrils, along with the scent of other tiger-shifters. Vic hired family first, and several of the Barlow clan worked here. The scents of so many tiger males made a low, rumbling purr start in her belly, and she had to pinch her arm to make her purring stop.

As she walked up to the garage, men stopped and stared at her. It was disconcerting, especially since the looks they were giving her weren't the typical looks that she expected a female in heat would get. She knew she was at her sexiest, so why were they all staring at her with a mixture of wariness and unease?

It was because she was a liger. It was stamped into every ounce of her being -- different. Tiger women were normally tall and strong, but Estrella was taller and stronger than everyone else. Hell, she was taller than most of the tiger men. What, did they think she'd hold them down and take advantage of them? Sully their innocence? An amused smile curved her mouth. Judging from the wariness on their faces, maybe they thought that after all. Ignoring the men, she headed into the waiting area of Vic's Garage, closing her eyes for the blast of heat that would keep the room a comfortable temperature for the human and not-going-into-heat customers.

She'd prepared for the heat wave of seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit inside, but she hadn't been prepared for the barrage of tiger scents as she opened the door. She was familiar with most of the clan; these smelled different.