Page 69 of Wishes and Research

Snickering, Daddy shook his head as we finally pulled back up in front of his house. “Come walk with me.”

That seemed to mean he had questions too, but Daddy looked like he was going to be very Daddy and quiz me, not inspect me.

I’d have rather had inspections.

“Alright.” I didn’t worry about sighing because Daddy did it all the time.

He pinched his lips together and pretended to look frustrated, but he was having too hard a time not smiling. “So excited to walk with your mate.”

Now it was my turn to try to look frustrated at him. “That was not an I want to be romantic with my mate request to walk. That was an I have questions and you’re going to start answering them request.”

Honestly, I was surprised we’d gotten this far with him being patient.

Daddy had chattered about his family and his job and just everything in general. I even knew that his brother who had moved to Raleigh had pissed off everyone else for moving so far away, and I knew his mother was highly upset that she’d agreed to go on a trip right before Fraser had met me.

Daddy had already started preparing me for the chaos that would descend when she got back from their vacation. The best part was that she was blaming his father and had decided it was somehow his fault. Daddy wasn’t worried, though, since it seemed to be just how they operated.

It wasn’t a surprise given the rest of the town.

“You’re so smart.” Daddy leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I’m glad you understand. Let’s go wander a bit. Some of the trails intersect by the back of my place, so we don’t have to worry about rushing.”

Great.

“Thank you, Daddy.” My sigh had his eyes twinkling and I decided I could ask about that since it was question and answer time. “Do your eyes do that on their own?”

“Do what?” His head cocked. “I don’t understand.”

Oh.

Well, that was unexpected.

“Um, they sparkle? I don’t have a better word for it, but now that I’m not trying to pretend it’s normal, I can say that it’s not normal for a human.” Being able to point out the weird things and ask questions was really much nicer.

“Hmm.” Daddy’s brows pulled together. “Let me think about that, but I’ve never had a random human ask me why my eyes sparkle.”

Interesting.

He climbed out of the Jeep and was still looking thoughtful as he came around and helped me out. I got another kiss, but he was still thinking more about my question than he was anything else. “I’m going to have to ask around. I’m not sure I’ve heard anything about that.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t sure there was anything else to say about it, so I just took his hand and let him lead me around the side of the house. “Do you use these trails a lot?”

Blinking, Fraser looked around like he was just seeing where we were. “Not as much as I should. I think I get caught up in work and those kinds of responsibilities and I forget how relaxing it is.”

He tugged on my hand to bring me closer before kissing my head. “How about we make time to walk out here a few evenings a week?”

Oh, date time.

“That sounds like a good plan.” The overgrown garden around the house needed a bit of attention, but the path through it took us back to a trail that looked like the one we’d taken the other day. “I’d like to get to know the area more so I don’t get turned around so easily.”

For some reason that made him laugh. “You aren’t to blame for that, cutie. Someone fucked up a spell and made the roads and some of the paths in the area fucking nuts. They fixed the roads but no one thought to check on the trails.”

That explained a lot.

My sigh made him try to control his snickers, but it wasn’t easy. “I’m sorry. We have some of the main trails spelled to keep tourists safe and no one realized what had happened.”

Rolling my eyes, I did my best to give him a stern glare. “You need more checks and balances in your magic systems.”

That seemed obvious but Fraser’s head cocked. “I’m not sure anyone has ever suggested that. Probably because it’s one of those don’t offend the mages types of things?”

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