“I’d love to see it, along with a few other things,” she said in a husky voice.
She ran her gaze suggestively over Leif’s body and landed on the still prominent bulge in the front of his pants. Before she could protest, he scooped her up in his arms and ran with her toward the mansion.
Chapter Eight
Using the tips of his fingers, Leif traced circles against Jaden’s shoulder as she lay snuggled into his side. They had made love in the shower and then in his bed, twice.
They’d also fallen asleep for a few hours, which was not surprising since they were expending a lot of energy making love. Soon he would have to get up and find them some food. They had probably burned a ton of calories.
But he wasn’t ready to leave the bed yet. Leif was quite content to just quietly hold Jaden in his arms—something else that was entirely new for him. He wasn’t what you would call a cuddler. Usually after he slept with a woman, he made sure he satiated her to the point where she would fall asleep. That way, he could easily slip out of her bed without any fuss or muss.
With Jaden, he’d satiated her enough that she fell asleep, but he wanted to keep her close. This feeling had to be part of the reason why she had been destined to be his mate.
After only a few short days of knowing her, he felt strongly for her. His hunger for her seemed to be unending. It was still in the early days, but he had a feeling he would not get bored with Jaden. The more he made love to her the more he craved her touch.
Jaden stirred beside him and lifted her head so she could look at his clock on the bedside table. Her eyes squinted. “What time is it? Without my glasses on I can’t see it that well.”
He turned his head and took a quick look. “It’s a little after six.”
She dropped her head back down onto his chest. “You do realize we’ve spent almost the entire day in bed.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Won’t your family say anything? They have to know what we’re doing up here.”
“They do. That’s why no one has come pounding on the door. With three other couples in the house, everyone knows when a bedroom door is shut not to disturb the people inside.”
Jaden stretched. “I think I could lay here with you for the rest of the night, but I should get up. For one thing I’m hungry, and for another, I should be heading home soon.”
Leif clutched her tighter. “Why? I can feed you, and you can even stay here in bed.
I’ll make us something and bring it up. Plus, I want you to stay the night.”
She propped herself up on her bent arm and stared down at him with an expression on her face that said she was surprised by his offer. “Really? You want me to stay the night?”
“Yes, really. Why do you find it surprising?”
“Well, you spent the night with me last night, and we’ve been together ever since. I thought men liked to have their space.”
He smiled. “At one time, that may have been true for me, but not anymore.”
Jaden seemed to mull it over for a few seconds. “I don’t know, Leif. It’s very tempting, but I have to go to work tomorrow morning.” She leaned down and kissed his lips. “If I stayed here tonight, I’d end up not getting much sleep and I wouldn’t be able to wake up to go into work.”
“I promise I won’t keep you awake all night. We’ll get up early enough for me to drive you back to your place so you can change into your uniform, then I’ll take you to work.”
She took her bottom lip between her teeth. It made Leif want to suck on it. “I’m really not sure. It would be an awful lot to ask of you.”
“I don’t mind. Soon you’ll be living here anyway.”
“What did you just say?”
Leif gave himself a mental kick. He hadn’t exactly expected to broach the subject of Jaden moving in with him in quite this way. Since he had it out in the open, he decided to run with it anyway.
“I want you to move in with me, Jaden.”
“You mean move into the mansion and share your bedroom with you?” At his nod, she sat up. “Don’t you think you’re rushing things a tiny bit? I didn’t want to bring this up, but now I have to. The first time you came to my place you ended up running out of there saying you couldn’t do it. Now you want me to move in with you. I may not have that much experience when it comes to relationships, but I know just great sex won’t make it last. And if we jump into it too quickly it may not work out.” When he opened his mouth to interrupt, she said, “Wait, let me finish. If we did break up, you’d be okay. I, on the other hand, would have to go in search of another place to live. On my wages, I’m pretty limited as to where I can go.”
He sat up and took Jaden’s face in his hands. “It will work out.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just know,” he reassured her.
This would have been a great time for him to tell her what he was and about her being his mate, but his tongue seemed to become stuck to the roof of his mouth, refusing to form the words. They were getting along so well right now, and he didn’t want anything to mar it.
“Can I at least think about it?”
“Yes, and while you’re doing that, I want you to think about quitting your job.”
Jaden’s eyes widened. “My job? You want me to quit my job?”
“Once you move in with me, you won’t need to work. I have enough money to look after us both financially.”
“Then what will I do? I’m used to taking care of myself.”
He cupped the back of her head and brushed his lips across hers before he put their foreheads together. “It’s time you let someone else take care of you. I want to be that person. Say you’ll stay with me tonight.” Leif then kissed the side of her neck, nibbling his way down to the top of her shoulder. “Just say yes.”
Jaden put her arms around his waist and leaned into him. “All right, I’ll stay. But I’m going to work tomorrow. I’ll use that time to think about everything else.” She shivered.
“With you kissing me like this, I don’t think I can tell you no anyway.”
He covered her breast with his hand and squeezed. “I do have my ways.”
“Yes, you do, but if you don’t feed me soon, you won’t be getting much further than this.”
Leif let her go, jumped out of bed, and quickly reached for his discarded jeans.
“Then I’d better do something about that right now.”
He gave her one more quick kiss then left to go find some food his mate would like.
* * *
As promised, Leif did nothing but sleep next to Jaden during the night. Falling asleep at night with her in his arms, and waking up with her still there, was more than nice. He looked forward to many more of those.
He’d set his alarm so he could get Jaden back to her place in time to change before she had to start work. Leif now sat on her bed, watching her pull on the slacks and blouse that were the grocery store’s employee uniform. They really did nothing for her. The uniform did a great job of hiding the curves he knew where just under her clothes. And when Jaden pulled back her hair into a tight ponytail, he easily saw how other men could overlook her. But as far as he was concerned, it was their loss and his gain.
Jaden put her glasses back on once she finished with her hair. “I’m ready.”
He stood. “What time do you get off work?”
“At four.”
“All right. I’ll be outside in the parking lot waiting for you then.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “And let me guess, you’re going to take me back to your place afterwards.”
“Of course.” He gave her bed a quick glance. “No offense, but I don’t really fit all that well in your double bed. My feet hang way over the edge.”
“Yeah, I guess my bed wasn’t made for a man of your size. I’ll take pity on you and won’t force you to endure that again.”
“Which I’m grateful for. Let’s go.”
On
ce they arrived at the grocery store, Leif pulled into an empty spot close to the front entrance. Before Jaden could get out, he leaned across his seat and gave her a kiss goodbye. “I’ll be right around here waiting for you when you get off.”
“And I’ll look for you.” She gave him another quick kiss, then said, “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too.”
Jaden opened the car door and got out. Leif watched her walk inside the store. Once she was out of sight, he started the car and drove around to the side of the building. He parked it before he headed for the side entrance. Since he wasn’t ready to tell Jaden what being mated to him entailed, and he didn’t want either of them to have to go through the anxiety of being separated, there wasn’t much else he could do but hang out at the store.
As long as he was inside, they would be fine. He just had to make sure Jaden didn’t see him, which meant he’d be playing hide-and-seek with her for her entire shift.
Catching sight of Jaden heading toward her cash register, he ducked down an aisle.
This wouldn’t be much fun, but it was better than the alternative. It was going to be a long damn day.
* * *
Jaden spent the hours until her break dealing with customers and thinking about Leif.
She also couldn’t stop thinking about his offer for her to quit her job and move in with him. It wasn’t as if she loved her job, but to accept what he was offering would be a huge leap of faith. As she told Leif the day before, if things didn’t work out between them, she’d stand to lose a lot more than he would. She just had to decide whether she was willing to make that leap or not.
She also had to decide whether she’d be able to handle everything that did come with Leif. She wouldn’t be just moving in with Leif, she would be moving in with his entire family as well. Her feelings about it all were torn. Living alone, she liked her privacy, but on the other hand, being part of a big family was something she’d always wanted. There were times when being alone was overrated. Not having anyone around to help celebrate her birthday, Christmas or the other holidays really sucked. If she moved in with Leif, she wouldn’t have to face another one by herself.
And there was the fact that she was falling for Leif in a big way. She could easily see it not taking much for her to fall completely in love with him. He must obviously feel something for her or he wouldn’t have asked her to move into the mansion with him.
When he touched her, he made her feel as if she was precious to him, and that he never wanted to let her go.
Jaden could easily see this driving her crazy. What she needed was some advice from someone neutral. Knowing exactly who she could talk to about all this, she caught Vicky’s eye and pointed to her wrist to indicate it was time for their break. There weren’t too many customers around, and luckily none of the other girls had called in sick so they didn’t have to cut their break short.
Vicky met up with her as Jaden made her way toward the staff break room. “How did your weekend off go?”
“Good.” Jaden pushed opened the break room’s door. They had it to themselves for now. She turned to face her friend. “I really need some advice.”
“Okay. Lay it on me.”
“I need some man advice.”
Vicky grabbed her hand and led her over to one of the chairs. “Sit. I’m all ears.”
“All right. I’ll get straight to the point. I met a man, and we ended up spending over twenty-four hours together this weekend. He slept over at my place the first night and I stayed over at his last night. Now here is where I need your advice. He wants me to move in with him.”
“First of all, do I know this man?”
Jaden figured she might as well tell Vicky who Leif was. Her friend would eventually see them together anyway. “It’s the guy who kissed me at my cash register the other day. His name is Leif.”
“I told you. Didn’t I tell you? I knew you would see him again.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you told me.”
“As for you moving in with him, how do you really feel about him?”
Jaden blew out a breath. “I like him, a lot. He makes me feel comfortable, and I enjoy being with him. There aren’t any of those awkward silences. We just seemed to click from the very start.”
“Since you’ve spent so much time together, you have to have slept with him. How is he in the sack?”
A blush spread over her face. “Let’s just say I would never have any complaints in that department.”
“So the man is a god in bed as well as looks like one. I’d say go for it.”
“Well, there is one other thing I haven’t told you about. He also wants me to quit my job. Leif is what you would call pretty well-to-do. He says he has more than enough money to look after the both of us.”
“The guy is rich too? Man, do you know how many times I’ve wished for a rich guy to come into the store, sweep me off my feet, and carry me away from all this? You’d be an idiot to tell him no.”
“I wouldn’t just be moving in with him. He lives in a mansion in Marin County with his big family. He has five brothers and a sister. The spouses of his sister and two of his brothers also live there.”
“If it was me, he could live with fifty people and I’d still move in with him. If you like Leif that much, don’t let him slip through your fingers. You’ll find a way to make things work.”
“I don’t want to lose him, but don’t you think this is all a bit rushed?”
“Look, if you feel that way, why don’t you give it a trial run? Tell Leif you want to try it for a week before you give up your place and quit here. If it doesn’t work out, you won’t be left in the lurch. And if it does work, what’s a week?”
She nodded. “I think you just gave me the answer to my problem. A trial run is a perfect idea.”
Vicky patted her hand. “See, I’m good for something sometimes.”
Jaden laughed. “It would seem so. I guess we should head back.” When they stood, she said, “Thanks, Vicky. I really needed someone to talk to about this.”
“I’m always here for you.”
Now Jaden couldn’t wait until the end of her shift so she could tell Leif about her decision. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but she didn’t think he would object to a trial run.
Stepping back out into the store, Jaden thought she caught a glimpse of Leif just out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to look at that spot, no one was there.
Obviously, she was thinking about him so much she was now seeing him when he really wasn’t there.
Chapter Nine
That had been a close one. Leif had watched Jaden go to the break room with another cashier and had decided to hang close by it until she left. He’d already walked around the store so much that he now knew where to find everything in it. So far, he’d been able to keep under the other employees’ radars. He didn’t need one of them noticing he’d been here for hours and have him kicked out for loitering.
To be honest, he didn’t know how many more times he could do this. If he had to do this all week, he could see himself losing his mind from boredom. You could only look at food for so long before your eyes started to cross. Plus, it was making him hungry. At least the store had a coffee shop. He’d managed to grab a cup of coffee and a muffin close to lunch time, before Jaden had gone there to buy her lunch.
It wasn’t all completely bad, though. Spying on Jaden all day allowed him to see what she was like when not around him. Able to see for greater distances than a mortal, he hadn’t had to get very close to watch her. There were times when he swore she turned to look his way, but he wasn’t worried that she would catch him. Her glasses only improved her eyesight so much.
Her nearsightedness was something Leif hoped would go away once Jaden was turned into a werewolf. Not that he minded that she wore glasses. She looked cute when he accidently knocked them askew while kissing her. He just wanted her to have all the abilities a normal werewolf would have. Since
neither Roxie nor the other morals she’d turned into werewolves had worn glasses before the spell had been used, he wasn’t sure what would happen to Jaden’s eyesight.
But he was getting ahead of himself. Jaden first had to accept him for what he was, along with their being mates, before he made any mention of the spell. He hoped she would allow Roxie to turn her, but there was always that chance that she would refuse. It might be selfish of him, but he didn’t want to settle for one human lifetime with her. He wanted to live out the rest of his days with Jaden at his side.
Leif walked down the aisle and headed for the opposite end of the store from where Jaden worked. He ignored the mortals around him, feeling as if he’d just been pole-axed.
He loved Jaden. For a man who had never thought he was capable of having that kind of emotion for a woman, it was a huge revelation. But it was true. His feelings for her had solidified into love.
A smile spread across his face. Now he understood what his mated siblings had meant about him not being able to escape it when it became his turn to find his mate.
He’d been a fool to try. Even now, he couldn’t picture his life without Jaden in it. Christ, he was even having a hard time remembering what it had been like before her. She completed him. He’d thought he was good the way he’d been, but now that he could admit his true feelings for her, he knew how wrong that had been.
He’d have to tell Jaden tonight what he was. And then he’d convince her to move in with him and quit her job. There was no point in putting it off. He’d also bare his soul to her. Chuckling to himself, he shook his head. For a man that once thought doing that would doom him to hell, he couldn’t wait for the opportunity to do it.
* * *
At five minutes after four, Jaden walked out to the parking lot. She gave it a quick scan and found Leif’s Cadillac parked almost in the same spot he’d used when he had dropped her off. Smiling, she made her way over to it and got inside.
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