Page 63 of Plus-Size Mate

“Is…is she the one you—” Winter cut herself off, unable to finish the question.

“Carly is the pack floozy,” Eddie explained, and Winter heard the way he ground his teeth angrily. “She made me believe there was something between us and I fell for it hook, line and sinker, because I was desperate to believe I'd actually found my mate.”

Bile rose in the back of Winter's throat. She had seen Carly around, walking about in her short dresses, flipping her hair, batting her eyelashes as if she thought she was the most desired woman in town. She'd even served her at the Green Cauldron a couple of times for potions better off not mentioned.

Had one of those potions been required after a night with Eddie?

Oh, gods, I think I'm going to be sick,Winter thought, trying to pull away.

“Don't you hear what I'm saying, baby?” Eddie asked, and the affection and concern in his tone made Winter blink in surprise. “It's you. I'm absolutely sure it's you. Me and you. You are my fated mate. I've known it, deep down, since the moment we met.”

Winter closed her eyes, remembering how standoffish she had been that first time in the shop when Eddie had come to deliver Jack's message.

She couldn't help but smile a little. “What's so funny?” Eddie demanded, clearly taken aback.

“Nothing, it's nothing.”

She shook her head, avoiding Eddie's gaze.

He gripped hold of her chin and forced her face up to look at him. His voice was little more than a snarl as he said, “Tell me.”

“It's just, well, I wasn't very friendly when we first met,” she said, her cheeks growing hot. Her insides started to ease, the warmth of Eddie's body growing too much to resist.

“Tell me about it. You were a standoffish bitch to say the least,” Eddie scoffed, and Winter feigned offense, opening her mouth wide.

“And you were a royal pain in the ass!” she exclaimed. “The way you stuck up your nose in my shop and acted like you were too good for the place—”

“That's because the place stinks!” Eddie protested. “You try having a nose ten times stronger than a dog’s inside a place like that.”

Winter laughed then, instinctively wrapping her arms around Eddie’s neck to pull him in close.

“I'm sorry. I'm a jealous idiot.”

Eddie stroked her back, surprising her when he said, “You have every right to be. Carly is a flirtatious little—”

Winter pulled back to look at him, cutting him off.

“You don't have feelings for her still, do you?”

Eddie visibly recoiled. “You don't have any need to worry about that. She's history.”

At that, Winter grinned. “So my advice to your friend worked, then?”

“It most certainly did,” Eddie said, smiling back just seconds before he kissed her passionately, forcing her back into one of the alcoves of the walled garden.

When she felt his fingers hooking up the skirt of her dress, she exclaimed against his lips, “Eddie, what are you doing?”

“I thought I could wait until after the party to do this, but now I've come to realize I can't. I need you, Winter. I need to show you how much I love you.”

His words made her gasp almost as much as the shock of feeling his hand slip between her thighs.

Her gasp was followed by one from Eddie's lips and he pulled back his face to look down at her with shock written on his expression. “No panties? Were you expecting something?”

Winter shrugged, biting her lip impishly. “Thisisa party to celebrate our mating. I thought I'd make things easier for you—that is, if you're sure.”

“Sure of what?” Eddie asked, cocking his head, already teasing her with the very tip of his finger.

“If you're sure we are fated,” Winter said, her heart hammering in her chest. Already her desire for him was growing uncontrollable.

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