Page 34 of My Pucking Mate

“Yes, let’s go up and let me surprise you. Then we can return to our conversation, and you can keep asking me anything you’d like.”

Again, I just nod and allow him to lead me inside.

As we walk through the door, we stand in the entry for a moment while he discards his wallet onto the side table and adds his keys to a hook with an R above it. I giggle when I notice they all have their own key and someone has put them on the wall in order to say, B E A R D S. “That was Benny,” Roman says with a huff of a laugh.

As we enter their living space, I still can’t fully comprehend the enormity of it. Everything is high ceilings, a full wall of windows, an open floor plan, and the works, and it's totally man-cave-esque. I didn't even notice how beautiful it was in here. Last time I was here, I was whisked in while in terrible pain. Then on my way out, we had the incident with India. I never really got to just look around.

The living room is to my right and it's kind of set up like a pit. You have to take two steps down to get into the space, then the entire left edge of the recessed room is a giant black suede couch. There are ottomans throughout the room, in case someone wants to kick their feet up or use it as a table. The only other thing in the room is the largest television I've ever seen. Can it even be considered a TV at that size? It looks like a movie theater screen. I wonder how they can even see what they're watching with all the windows. Seriously, the entire far wall ahead of me is nothing but a giant window overlooking the small city below.

To the left of the living room is a massive, white marble kitchen island with barstools wrapped around it, making it look like some kind of gateway to a kitchen straight out of a dream kitchen magazine. I can't see much of it from here, but there are cabinets and doors all over.

Further to the left is a hallway, a sleek open staircase, and the stairs we used to get to the rooftop.

Benny reaches us first, bringing me back to the moment. He's smiling and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Hey, Leera! Welcome back! We’ll make ourselves scarce, but just holler if you need us to gang up on the old grump, yeah?” He takes off just in time to avoid what would have been a smack to the back of his head from Roman, making me giggle again.

The twins pass us next heading out the door, saluting Roman as they go. “They’re on security detail tonight to ensure there are no uninvited guests.”

I turn to Roman raising my eyebrow and asking, “Why are they on security duty? Don't you have actual security guards or something?”

“Of course we do, but she's gotten past them before, and I want to be certain it's not a problem.”

Slate is perched on the barstool at the end of the island, focused on a tablet in his hands, but he lifts an arm up in an awkward, backward wave.

Andrei is sitting on one of the ottomans in the living room, feigning casual indifference, but there’s a strange look on his face, and his body language is tense. I feel a different kind of tug towards him that I still don't understand. Seeming to notice it as well, he looks in our direction, and we make eye contact for only a moment before he quickly bolts from the room, leaving me feeling like I did something wrong.Werewolves are weird.

Roman is still leading me through their home while my thoughts wander to all I’ve learned today. We reach the door to the roof, and my excitement returns.

“You seemed to really enjoy it up here the other night, so I added a few things,” he tells me almost sheepishly. I’ve never seen such a giant, gorgeous man look bashful, but I kind of love it.

I’m probably smiling like an idiot while he practically drags me up the stairs. He stops on the top steps and spins around so fast that it causes me to fumble for the handrails. “Will you . . . will you close your eyes?” he asks. I smile and nod, closing my eyes and leaving the smile on my face.

In the darkness, I hear him open the door. He grabs my hand and slowly pulls me onto the roof, taking one, two, three, four steps towards the center, I think.

He comes to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. The intimate gesture startles me at first. Once I feel the tingles of our contact, I relax into him, and it releases a whole bunch of butterflies in my belly.

He leans in a bit, resting his chin on top of my head, and all the butterflies lose their minds.

“Open your eyes,” he whispers with his smooth yet gravelly voice, causing a wave of goosebumps to rush down my arms.

I slowly follow his instructions, not at all prepared for the sight before me.

I gasp in shock, both hands flying up to cover my mouth while my body whips around to face him.

“You did all this for me?” I ask with tears in my eyes.

“I did. The guys helped, but yes, it’s for you.”

I turn back around to take in every single detail and commit it to memory.

The rooftop has been transformed into a magical escape from reality. There are twinkle lights strung all over the place. There’s a giant white screen by the outdoor furniture for watching movies. There’s a pizza buffet and a coffee bar.

Their townhouse is in the perfect neighborhood, on top of a hill, just outside of town. There are other houses, but they each have their own giant lot. If I threw a rock, I don't think I could hit another house. Overlooking one side of the roof are little lights scattered against the dark expanse of land, showing the small city below. Off the other side of the roof is all wooded acreage.I bet the men let their wolves loose in there.

“Roman . . . this . . . it’s too much.” I say, shaking my head, still in awe of all of the thought he put into this.

This is crazy.

“Nonsense. I found it on the Pinterest,” he says as he drops a tiny kiss onto my forehead, and I melt into a puddle at his feet. “Do you like it? Did I do it wrong?”

---