He’d be completely hopeless. He’d walked past makeup aisles in stores and glanced down them, totally bewildered at how many options there were, wondering how the hell women knew what to get. He’d have a ninety-nine percent chance of getting the wrong thing.
Maybe a bath… thing? One of those things you put in the bath and it smelled good. Or a perfume. Surely it’d be hard to go wrong with that. His sense of smell was excellent.
And this was only the beginning. As time went on, if he did listen to her, he’d learn what she liked.
Grey thought about years in the future, being able to bring home her absolute favorite perfume. Or some piece of jewelry that she’d eyed in the store but turned away from because it was too expensive.
Years in the future.
This was his mate, sleeping next to him. He was distracting himself with little things because this seemed too enormous to be real, that he could have stumbled across his mate so accidentally, now, tonight.
If he’d refused John’s invitation, he’d never have met Alethia. Had it been some kind of fate that led him to accept? He’d never know, but he was more grateful than he could say.
Years . They were going to have years.
Grey watched Alethia breathing softly in sleep, and smiled.
***
Ali woke up to her phone buzzing.
Normally, she was groggy and disoriented when she woke up, and if she was somewhere unfamiliar, it took her a while to sort herself out and remember what she was doing there. But not this morning.
She smiled at Grey’s long body. He was blinking awake as she leaned over to grab her purse from where she’d dropped it by the bed last night.
She looked at the phone. It was Molly. “Hello?”
“Where are you, Ali? You said you’d help me get ready for the club this morning!”
Molly had a book club, but it did more eating and drinking than reading. Ali didn’t have any interest in joining, but she was drafted to help clean and make snacks for it whenever it was at their place.
Yesterday, Ali vaguely remembered, Molly had said, I’m hosting book club this week. Ali had said, Mmm .
Ali would much rather stay in bed with Grey than go help Molly frantically try and clean the whole house while simultaneously surfing Pinterest on her phone for the perfect hors d’oeuvre recipe.
She could hear it now: This says violets are edible! I could garnish it with violets! Do we have violets growing anywhere around here? Wait, where are you going, the counters need to be scrubbed!
But if she didn't help, Molly might just spontaneously combust.
“I’ll come home and help,” Ali sighed. “Give me a little while to get there.”
“Where are you? At some guy’s place? Tell him to get his butt out of bed and drive you home! ” Molly shouted, clearly hoping to be heard by some guy on the other end of the line.
“See you soon!” Ali hung up.
She turned to Grey. “My sister-in-law wants you to get your butt out of bed and drive me home.”
“I heard.” He stretched. “I’d rather stay here with you.”
Ali couldn’t help the smile spreading over her face. “Me too. But I really need to go home and help her out with this, or she’ll explode from anxiety, probably. And I have work later. Maybe we could see each other again?”
Every day for the next week? Or longer? But that wasn’t something you could say after one date, no matter how amazing the date had been.
“Tonight?” He was smiling back at her. It was a warm smile, with just a hint of smolder in it. She was struck again by how much it changed his face when he really smiled.
“Tonight sounds wonderful. I work until seven, but after that…”
“Great.” He stretched. “I can drive you home like your sister-in-law wants. Even though looking at you in my bed like this makes me want to keep you here all day.”
Ali groaned. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” His smile grew.
“It’s too tempting.”
“Let me make you breakfast, at least.”
That ,
Maybe a bath… thing? One of those things you put in the bath and it smelled good. Or a perfume. Surely it’d be hard to go wrong with that. His sense of smell was excellent.
And this was only the beginning. As time went on, if he did listen to her, he’d learn what she liked.
Grey thought about years in the future, being able to bring home her absolute favorite perfume. Or some piece of jewelry that she’d eyed in the store but turned away from because it was too expensive.
Years in the future.
This was his mate, sleeping next to him. He was distracting himself with little things because this seemed too enormous to be real, that he could have stumbled across his mate so accidentally, now, tonight.
If he’d refused John’s invitation, he’d never have met Alethia. Had it been some kind of fate that led him to accept? He’d never know, but he was more grateful than he could say.
Years . They were going to have years.
Grey watched Alethia breathing softly in sleep, and smiled.
***
Ali woke up to her phone buzzing.
Normally, she was groggy and disoriented when she woke up, and if she was somewhere unfamiliar, it took her a while to sort herself out and remember what she was doing there. But not this morning.
She smiled at Grey’s long body. He was blinking awake as she leaned over to grab her purse from where she’d dropped it by the bed last night.
She looked at the phone. It was Molly. “Hello?”
“Where are you, Ali? You said you’d help me get ready for the club this morning!”
Molly had a book club, but it did more eating and drinking than reading. Ali didn’t have any interest in joining, but she was drafted to help clean and make snacks for it whenever it was at their place.
Yesterday, Ali vaguely remembered, Molly had said, I’m hosting book club this week. Ali had said, Mmm .
Ali would much rather stay in bed with Grey than go help Molly frantically try and clean the whole house while simultaneously surfing Pinterest on her phone for the perfect hors d’oeuvre recipe.
She could hear it now: This says violets are edible! I could garnish it with violets! Do we have violets growing anywhere around here? Wait, where are you going, the counters need to be scrubbed!
But if she didn't help, Molly might just spontaneously combust.
“I’ll come home and help,” Ali sighed. “Give me a little while to get there.”
“Where are you? At some guy’s place? Tell him to get his butt out of bed and drive you home! ” Molly shouted, clearly hoping to be heard by some guy on the other end of the line.
“See you soon!” Ali hung up.
She turned to Grey. “My sister-in-law wants you to get your butt out of bed and drive me home.”
“I heard.” He stretched. “I’d rather stay here with you.”
Ali couldn’t help the smile spreading over her face. “Me too. But I really need to go home and help her out with this, or she’ll explode from anxiety, probably. And I have work later. Maybe we could see each other again?”
Every day for the next week? Or longer? But that wasn’t something you could say after one date, no matter how amazing the date had been.
“Tonight?” He was smiling back at her. It was a warm smile, with just a hint of smolder in it. She was struck again by how much it changed his face when he really smiled.
“Tonight sounds wonderful. I work until seven, but after that…”
“Great.” He stretched. “I can drive you home like your sister-in-law wants. Even though looking at you in my bed like this makes me want to keep you here all day.”
Ali groaned. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” His smile grew.
“It’s too tempting.”
“Let me make you breakfast, at least.”
That ,
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