Page 27 of Wrong Turn, Right Bear
“I have it. Romey and Molly.”
While we’d spent little time together, I’d noted how frazzled he was and how his website was a mess. When I’d booked, it was hard to find the right page, it was complicated and the system was slow. It needed an upgrade and had to be streamlined.
I ran my hand over my flat tummy. What if I used my skills and helped Ash behind the sceneswith his business so he could spend more time doing what he loved: being in the woods and showing tourists the beauty of his home.
It was the middle of the night but I couldn’t sit on my decision until dawn so I called, hoping he’d wake and that he wouldn’t be annoyed.
“What’s wrong?”
Oops. Being mated was so new, I hadn’t thought my middle of the night call might worry him.
“I’m fine. The baby’s fine. But I had an idea.” I ran it by him. “What do you think?”
“My wish is to wake up every morning with you beside me. But will you be happy being out of the rat race and living in a small town where you can buy an Americano and cappuccino but not a mocha something oat something latte with something else?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate. Maybe it was the mating instinct which had me gravitating toward the simpler things. And being with the love of my life.
“When can you come?”
“I have to sell my place and give notice.” The latter would be easy, the former? Who knew but it was a seller’s market and my apartment was only five years old. As I spent little time here, it was in good condition.
My boss and colleagues weren’t as taken aback as I’d assumed they’d be.
“You’re not the same guy who went on vacation.What happened while you were there? Meet a mountain man and fall in love?” Vincent sat on the other side of my desk as I emptied the drawers.
“Not quite but you’re close.”
Leaving my job was straightforward, but selling the apartment took longer. I hired a company to pack up the place, had it cleaned professionally and the agent I bought it from, sold it.
Ash insisted the money was mine, my nest egg. But I wanted to use part of it to hire more staff and expand the business.
When my mate picked me up at the airport, I shivered, despite wearing my thickest coat. But he enveloped me in his arms and his inner shifter heater warmed me.
“How do you do that? Run hotter than humans?”
“It’s my bear. He rides a bicycle that powers a generator that keeps me warm and toasty."
I was learning something new every day.
Ash grinned. “I’m kidding.”
“Oh you!” I folded my arms, annoyed that I’d fallen into such an obvious trap.
“It’s just a shifter quality or quirk if you prefer.”
He bundled me into the car and turned on the heat. “But you have an inbuilt heater.” He patted the slight curve of my belly. “Because you’re pregnant.And as the baby might be a shifter, you might be hotter still.”
“Isn’t that your line? I’m hot.”
He burst out laughing. “We can be hot stuff together.”
But he’d brought up something we’d discussed and I wasn’t 100% comfortable with. Not yet. The possibility of a shifter baby was an unknown. I couldn’t get on the internet and read up on what was the likelihood of the baby being a shifter. There were no online dad groups. I had no friends I could share it with. Ash was a darling and so supportive but he could only imagine the thoughts running through my head.
“You’re thinking hard.” He pulled into his, no, our driveway, and we walked arm and arm to the front door. He picked me up, saying it was a human tradition to carry the omega over the threshold. I’d been in the house before, we’d mated here and our child was conceived here. But it was a sweet gesture and I draped my arms around his neck.
“What does thinking hard mean and how do you know?”
He placed me on the sofa and went to make hot chocolate. “You get 11’s.”
