Vincent found himself to be of no match when it came to the beast. He simply just had to let go of his insecurity and accept that they were one in the same. They both wanted the same woman and from what he could tell, she felt the same way, or at least he hoped. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take you out for dinner. I just got out of work and haven't ate yet. We can go to your favorite restaurant, if you say yes," he said in a hopeful tone.

"Oh," Catherine squeezed his hand gently as she saw those unique golden eyes of his stare right at her. It was difficult to say no to him and not that she wanted to. Since she first saw him, she never looked at another man the same way she looked at him. Catherine found herself completely infatuated by him since the first night they met at the bar. "Of course. I've been studying all afternoon and I'm starving. There's this diner I go to all the time. It's just a couple of blocks from my apartment. We can go there."

His eyes lit up more than usual and he knew just how close he was to revealing much more than he would like but there was no stopping the beast once he was close to the edge. "Yea?"

"Yes," Catherine smiled and nodded. "And not just because I'm hungry. But because it's with you," she said in a low voice as her cheeks turned pink and her heart started to race at her confession.

"It's a date," Vincent replied as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. "Hmm," he purred against the back of her hand as he smelled her sweet scent that enraptured the beast, who was quickly making his way to the surface. "You're very beautiful, Catherine. Very beautiful indeed," he repeated as his golden eyes gazed into her lively jade eyes.

Catherine blushed, turning a few shades brighter and putting to shame the red roses behind her but to him nothing and no one could ever compare to her beauty. "Thanks," she answered shyly.

"Wait here. I need to get something before we go," Vincent said before disappearing and not giving her any chance to respond.

Catherine stood there agape as she watched him talk to a florist. They walked through the entire store and he turned down flower after flower. It wasn't until they reached the rose section did he finally agree with the florist. One red rose stood out particularly. It was in it's early blooming stage and ready to open for the world to see. Vincent took the rose from the bunch and smelled it.

"She must be special," the florist said.

"Very," Vincent smiled. "It's our first date and I don't want to screw it up."

"The rose is a very nice touch. I'm sure she'll love it. Let's get you checked out and off to your date," the florist took the rose and led the way to the back of the store where she trimmed the stem and removed any thorns. The single rose was carefully wrapped with a wet paper towel on the bottom then in a clear plastic lining that held it all together.

Vincent paid for the rose which he thought was overpriced but it was worth it. He returned to her with the rose in hand and a huge smile on his face. "This is for you," he said while smiling and handed her the rose that he chose and thought was perfect but not as beautiful as she was. It was close but nothing could ever compare to her beauty.

"Thank you," she answered as she took the rose and smelled it. "It's beautiful, Vincent."

"Not as beautiful as you," he whispered in a low and husky tone that sent a chill down her spine and made her quiver from head to toe.

Catherine blushed and giggled uncontrollably. Her heart raced as it usually did when he was around. And she was thankful he couldn't hear just how fast but little did she know about the golden eyed beast lurking underneath the shadow of a man who tried his best to keep everything under control. "Thanks again," she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek causing more than they both anticipated.

Vincent could barely contain the beast from revealing itself in the middle of a busy street. His glowing eyes stared lustfully at her and a deep moaning sound, short of him roaring, escaped through his clenched jaw.

"Oh my," Catherine managed as he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against his hardened body. "Vincent, " she moaned his name as his lips came close to hers.

"Vince! Woohoo!" Hoots, hollers and whistling interrupted. "Go get your girl!"

Vincent sighed in frustration and hesitantly let her go. It was the last thing he wanted to do but knew he had to. The beast was strongly making his presence known. "Sorry," he whispered and tried his best keep the beast at bay before turning to his two friends, who were quite amused by the scene. "Hey guys. Thought you had other plans," Vincent said, unamused.

"We did but Chase wanted to leave since well...that's not important right now. Looks like your girl took you back. Hey, I'm Jax and this is Chase," Jax pointed next to Chase, who was standing beside him and had a huge grin on his face. "We're friends of Vince and now we know why he ditched us," Jax smiled as his eyes wandered to her face, down her petite body and back up to her eyes. "I would have done the same," he said in a flirtatious tone that annoyed Vincent and almost made the beast pounce on his newfound enemy.

"This is Catherine," Vincent said through gritted teeth as he watched his friends stare at her from head to toe then back up to her face. He felt a sudden pang of jealousy and the beast felt the same way about other men staring at his mate.

Catherine smiled shyly at the two new company. "Hi guys," she waved.

"Catherine," Jax said her name approvingly as he nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Catherine. Good to finally put a face to the woman who had this man all sad and broody the past couple of weeks. But I gotta say, I can't blame the fella," Chase said as he stared at a blushing Catherine, who didn't know how to respond to the information.

"Now we know why he was all down and not himself. I would be too if someone as pretty as you broke my heart," Jax added with a smirk as he looked from Vincent to Catherine and back to Vincent, who was close to losing control of the beast. "But it looks like you two are back together and happy. We'll leave you two to it. Come on Chase. Let's leave the lovely couple to their thing before we rudely interrupted. If he ever does you wrong again, we'll set him straight. Ain't that right, Chase?"

"Definitely. We'll knock some sense into him. Don't screw this up, kid," Chase patted Vincent on the shoulder.

"Later guys," Vincent said in a monotone voice that didn't mask his annoyance with them. Why couldn't have they stayed at the strip club like they planned?

"C'mon Vince, we're just teasing. Cheer up," Jax teased. "I'm glad you got your girl back but like Chase said, don't screw this one up. Bye Cat. It is okay if I call you, Cat?"

"Cat is fine," she smiled.

"You two enjoy the rest of your evening. G'night," Chase added.

Catherine looked at an embarrassed Vincent, who kept his eyes low and away from hers. "It was nice meeting the both of you. Bye guys," she waved as they started to walk away and back to the direction of the strip club.

Vincent and Catherine stood awkwardly in silence. He, with his hands in his jacket pocket and she, with her eyes away from his, avoiding questions that were lingering on the tip of her tongue. Was he really pining for her all those weeks he never showed up at the bar? Did he miss her as much as she did when she waited for him to show up at the bar but never did?

The confident beast had subsided and left an unsure man, who was ready to runaway and do what he should have done long ago. He should have never give in to the temptation but he was just as weak as the beast was when it came to Catherine. She had him wrapped around her fingers and was willing to do anything she asked of him but the beast was more than he could handle when she was around.

"I'm sorry about that," Vincent finally broke the silence and forced himself to look at her. He looked weary and dejected. "I understand if you don't want to go out for dinner."

Confused, Catherine quickly shook her head. "Of course I still want to go out with you. Why would you think that I wouldn't?"

Vincent shrugged his shoulders. All the confidence he had waned. "After what just happened," he shook his head and let his eyes wander away from hers. "I never told them you were my girlfriend or that I even had one."

"That doesn't mean that I don't want to go out with you, Vincent. I was having a nice time with you before your friends showed up and they made things a bit," Catherine paused as she searched for a word that would best describe what just happened with Jax and Chase. "Interesting, you can say. But there is something they said that I'm curious about."

Vincent finally stopped fighting the feeling that was pulling him to her. It was much stronger than the beast itself and neither could deny the fact that they were attracted to her but it was more than that. "What about?"

"I'm curious about what your friends said, about you being all broody and down. I know that you haven't been at the bar the past couple of weeks. I waited for you to come by again and hoped that you would," she quietly said and shyly looked up at him.

Vincent sighed and gave in to her jade eyes that was seeking answers. How could he keep staying from her when all he wanted was her. He felt it in every fiber of his being and it only strengthened the beast. "You know that I'm different and that I'm not like everyone else."

Catherine nodded her head in answer. Her hands reached up to his face and gently traced his scar. His eyes glowed for a moment before returning to its natural brown color.

"I can't help it when I'm around you. So I told myself to stay away. That it would be best but I missed you, a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah, I was feeling down about not being able to see you again. I wanted to but I couldn't risk it. I lose control and lose myself whenever you're near," he said lowly as if it made him weak to be around her but it was quite the opposite. He never felt more freer.

"You look very much in control now," Catherine replied.

"Barely," he breathed out. "I feel like I'm hanging on by a thread and just about ready to fray. But every time I'm with you it feels right. I can't explain it. I had to stay away but I didn't want to. The guys noticed and thought I was with someone and got dumped or something. I never corrected them. They thought I could use a pick me up. They brought me here but somehow I just knew you were here. I just felt it and knew you were close. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see you. I had to see you," he corrected himself as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I keep telling myself that I should walk away but I can't."

Catherine shook her head. "I don't want you to."

"I won't. Even if I tried, I can't," Vincent finally admitted to himself and her. His eyes glowed for a second and he knew that it was just a matter of time before the beast would make its presence known. "Why don't we get out of here?"

Catherine nodded. "Thought you'd never ask," she smiled and grabbed his hand.