“And smooth with it.” She rested her head on the back of the seat, her eyes half-closed. “You can keep me company. If you don’t have anything else you need to do.”
“No, everything I need is right here.” He flashed her a cheesy smile.
“Oh, there, you crossed the line.” She held her hand straight out and sliced through the air. “There’s smooth and then there’s sickly sweet. Don’t cross that line,” she joked.
“I meant it,” he told her as he guided the truck down the mountain roads. At least Breeze had coped better over the bumpy trail. Although, Joey was fairly sure that was because she was too tired to notice. Or maybe she was too dazzled by his charms.
His bear guffawed and shook his head.
Nice to know I can always count on you for support, Joey told his other side.
Always. I just don’t like you to delude yourself, his bear answered.
At least where our mate is concerned, we are both of the same mind, Joey told his bear. And neither of us is deluded.
Absolutely true, his bear agreed.
Chapter Sixteen – Breeze
“I’ll carry Tristan to bed,” Joey offered as he came around the truck and opened the passenger door. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Perfect, since I don’t think I have the strength to lift him right now or the heart to wake him.” She dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Although, it’s a little early for bed.”
“Maybe let him sleep for a little while and then wake him,” Joey suggested. “But he looks as if he’s crashed and burned for the day.”
“He hasn’t been sleeping great since he moved here so maybe today has tired him out enough that he’ll catch up on his sleep.” She chewed the inside of her cheek as Joey unbuckled the seatbelt and lifted Tristan tenderly into his arms.
Should she let him sleep or wake him up? If she left him to sleep would he wake up in the early hours of the morning and not be able to get back to sleep? What if this disrupted his already sketchy sleep pattern?
“Are you okay?” Joey asked, catching her eye.
“Oh, yeah, just wishing this parenting thing came with a user manual.” She slid out of the truck, her poor aching muscles screaming out in complaint as her feet hit the ground. “I guess if I’d raised Tristan all his life, I would know stuff like this. We would’ve learned about it all together. As it is most of the time, I think I’m fumbling around in the dark.”
“Well, Tristan does not look as if he’s suffered at all,” Joey complimented her. “In fact, he is one of the happiest kids I’ve met.”
“This was a good day,” Breeze told him. “This was a day when normal life was suspended. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to trying to grapple with the future. While wearing a blindfold.”
“I don’t understand.” Joey stood patiently while she took her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the front door.
“My sister has gone off on her little adventure, which is why Tristan is here. Unfortunately, his parents both seemed to have forgotten how to use a phone and so we have no idea what their long-term plans are.” She unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding it open for Joey.
“And that means you can’t plan for the future?” Joey asked with complete understanding. He sure was empathetic.
“Exactly. I don’t know whether to enroll him in school here in Bear Creek or if they plan to come home and go back to being a family.” She pressed her lips together. She shouldn’t say this in front of Tristan. He might not be asleep, only faking being asleep.
“Do you want to show me Tristan’s room?” Joey asked as he adjusted his arms to support Tristan’s head.
“Yes, this way.” She beckoned to Joey and he followed her upstairs. Taking a right at the top, she walked to the first door on the right and opened it. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as he brushed past her and placed Tristan carefully down on the bed. All day they had been outside in the fresh air. But here in the confines of the house, it was difficult to ignore the raw animal magnetism Joey naturally exuded.
Even though finding out shifters were real was a shock, now when she looked at Joey it was hard to understand how she hadn’t instinctually known.
“Are you staring at me?” Joey asked.
She jerked awake as if she’d been in a deep sleep. “Sorry, I zoned out there.”
“In a good way, I hope.” He straightened up, sliding his arms out from under Tristan.
“I’ll undress him.” As Breeze stepped forward and began tugging off Tristan’s shoes, Joey backed out of the room.
“Shall I go and put some coffee on?” he asked quietly.
“That would be amazing,” she answered as she pulled off Tristan’s right shoe.
“Milk and sugar?” Joey asked, lingering in the bedroom doorway as if he didn’t want to leave her.
“Milk, no sugar.” She straightened up and wagged her finger at him. “Do not say I’m sweet enough,” she hissed.
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I would never dare.” He winked. “But since you mentioned it.”
Breeze shook her head at him but turned away to cover her smile as she finished undressing Tristan and slipped him under the bedcovers. Not brushing his teeth wouldn’t hurt for one night.
“Sweet dreams.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to his forehead. He didn’t stir, he was in a deep sleep and the world around him and all the worries it contained had slipped away.
Breeze stood for a moment, looking down at his peaceful face before she backed out of the room. Pausing in the doorway, she rested her hand on the door handle and watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. Her heart ached for him. She wished there was a way of making things right but the more she thought over her sister’s behavior, the more she wondered if there was a way to make it right.
She pulled the door nearly closed and turned around, heading down the hallway to the stairs. There she stopped, her foot hovering midair. Taking one more step would take her closer to the man she was beginning to think she was in love with. A man who said she was his mate and that they were meant to be together.
Was she ready for a whirlwind romance? Was she ready for the repercussions if it didn’t last?
Breeze squeezed her eyes tightly shut before blinking rapidly to get rid of her tears. This felt so right. She was willing to believe what Joey said about fated mates and he’d certainly proved that shifters were real.
But what about the small boy asleep in his room? Could she support him and have a relationship with Joey?
It just seemed too good to be true, and her mom used to say, if it looked too good to be true it usually was.
Breeze stepped onto the first stair and then took another step. She wanted to take a chance on love. She wanted to take a chance on Joey being her true mate. The ache in her heart told her they did have a connection.
Just because her sister’s whirlwind romance had ended in a marriage that often seemed fractured that did not mean that Breeze’s relationship with Joey would go the same way.
Maybe Joey had come into her life now so that he could be the stabilizing male influence that Tristan so desperately needed.
“Are you okay?” Joey asked as she walked into the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee and walnut cake, which Joey had fetched from the truck along with the other food, perked her up instantly.
“I’m fine,” she told him as she gratefully slid into a chair at the kitchen table. “Just tired.”
“Is that all?”
“Mostly.” She’d left herself open for more questions and so she decided to share her troubled thoughts. “I’m just second-guessing myself. Second-guessing us.”
“Our relationship?” he asked. Placing a mug of steaming coffee down in front of her, he then pulled out a chair and sat down. “The whole shifter thing?”
“Not the whole shifter thing, I mean I saw your bear so I know that is real. But the fated mates part, that is…troubling is too strong a word.” She shrugged. �
�I think I’m still scared.” The realization had hit her square in the chest. “I thought I’d gotten over it.”
“Scared this won’t last?” he asked.
“Yes, scared it’s not real. That it’s wishful thinking.” She sipped her coffee thoughtfully. “I don’t want to repeat my sister’s mistakes. If we have children, I never want them to feel like Tristan does now, as if he comes second.”
“That won’t ever happen, Breeze. I promise. It’s like you said, we have love in our hearts for many different people, many different relationships. Now, I can’t say that our children won’t ever have moments where they feel as if we don’t understand them, every child does, but they will always know they are loved.” He gave a small, nervous smile. “Does that mean you want to have children with me?”
She ran her hands through her hair and groaned. “We have known each other all of two days and you want me to answer a huge question like that?”
“I guess I do. Only because I think you know the truth of the answer deep in your heart.” He reached his hand across the table and covered her hand. “But there’s no pressure for you to answer.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, honestly, yes, I do see a future with you, I do see us having kids together and being happy together.” She rested her hand on the table. “But I don’t see an easy way of getting from here.” She moved her hand a few inches away. “To here.”
“It starts with a date and then a proposal and a ring and then a wedding,” he said simply. “As fast as you want.”
“So the whole world thinks I’m crazy and all the arguments I raised when my sister did the exact same thing just keep coming back to me.” She shook her head.
“You are not your sister, and this is different.” He held up his hand. “I know…” He looked her in the eye. “But you know this is different. You know it’s true in your heart.”
She nodded and looked down at his hand covering hers. “I want it to be true so much it hurts and that’s part of what scares me. That this is all wishful thinking and I don’t really feel these feelings for you…”
“You feel them,” he assured her. “Maybe if you talked to some of the wives of my friends. Non-shifter wives. Would that help? You’d be able to ask them all the questions you need answers to.”
“That would be great.” She nodded and then drained her coffee cup. “I need to finish my chores and get to bed. I have an early start tomorrow.”
“What do you need me to do?” Joey asked as he took his cup to the sink.
“Kiss me?” She placed her cup in the sink and took hold of his hand, entwining her fingers with his as his jaw dropped open. She placed her free hand under his chin and gently pushed his jaw up. “I didn’t expect that kind of response.”
“I didn’t expect that kind of request.”
“Don’t you want to kiss me?” Breeze asked, her thumb brushing against his lip.
“More than anything,” he replied. “I just thought you wanted to take it slow.”
“I do but there’s a difference between slow and not moving at all. I want to take a step forward with you, Joey. Then another and another. Whether this mate thing is real for me or not, I am attracted to you. I think I could fall in love with you whether there was a bond between us or not.” She dragged her eyes from his lips and locked eyes with him. “Can you feel it? In the part of you that is just human.”
“I can,” he replied, his voice filled with raw emotion.
“I can ask some of my friends to talk to you and explain the way they feel,” she teased.
“I don’t need anyone to explain the way I feel.” He cupped her face with his hand and rubbed his thumb over her cheek, making her flesh sing as he lowered his head and their lips met for the first time.
Warmth flooded her, and she leaned into him, needing to feel him close as their kiss deepened. Joey’s tongue slid along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, their tongues entwining. The warmth that began where their lips met spread out throughout her body, delicious and comforting, and exciting and dangerous all at once, it was as if his lips awoke a part of her that had been dormant her whole life. It was as if she was really seeing Joey for the first time, she was really feeling for the first time. Her heart ached for the man holding her in his arms. It ached with a deep need.
Maybe this was true love. Or maybe this was lust. She didn’t know, not with certainty, but she did know that she was scared.
Not scared that their relationship wouldn’t work. This was different.
As their lips parted and she stood gently swaying in his arms, she was scared of losing him. Of throwing away this one chance at pure happiness.
Chapter Seventeen – Joey
One kiss was all it took. His brain had been fried all day, as if the touch of Breeze’s lips last night had overloaded his circuitry.
Kelos chuckled as they put the tools away and locked the doors of the storeroom. “Tell me, is that how I looked when I first met Amber?”
Joey inhaled deeply and focused his eyes. His head was off on a cloud somewhere drifting across the sky while Breeze rested in his arms.
“Yeah.” Joey’s forehead creased as he tried to recall anything other than the touch of Breeze’s lips on his. “Yeah, you did.”
“You should take a few days off,” Kelos suggested. “Give yourself some time to adjust.”
“I’m okay,” he assured Kelos.
“Are you sure?” Kelos asked as they headed toward the office where Mac was waiting for them.
“Yes. I just need a good night’s sleep.” He ruffled his hair. “After taking Breeze home last night, I couldn’t sleep, I was buzzing. Like there was a swarm of bees all flapping their wings in my head. So I went for a run over the mountains and I just couldn’t stop.”
His bear took a deep breath and let it out as he slept in Joey’s head. The creature was exhausted, too, but happy. That happiness resonated through them both.
“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Kelos asked.
“Is it?” Joey asked. Fear was not an emotion he’d encountered when thinking about Breeze.
“How fast things can change.” He grinned. “I’ve lived a long, long time, and yet meeting my mate and falling in love happened so fast. My life changed forever in an instant.”
“Were you ever worried Amber might not see things the same way?” Joey asked, remembering his offer to Breeze.
“Of course. She had so much going on in her life, with her family…” Kelos put up his hand. “That does not mean Breeze will feel the same way.”
“She does have a lot going on with her nephew and not knowing what’s going to happen to him. But it’s more than that. She’s scared that we’ll be so caught up in each other that we might not love our children in the way they deserve.” Joey looked up, his focus fixed on the office. “I was going to ask Amber to talk to her, but maybe Martha might be better.”
They hurried to the office, both drawn by the pull of something inside.
“Hi, guys, I thought we would come and visit.” Martha cradled her baby in her arms.
“Oh, you are the cutest.” Kelos, one of the last dragon shifters to roam the earth, went all soft and mushy at the sight of the small child. “How are you, Martha?” Joey kissed her cheek and stroked the baby’s cheek.
“I’m amazing. I didn’t think it was possible to love a human being quite so much as I love this little one.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. Then she sniffed and looked at Joey. “I came to congratulate you. At last, you have the mate you always wanted.”
“I do. And I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?” Joey held out his arms and Martha handed him the baby.
“Name it.” She tucked the blanket around her child and held his little hand as Joey rocked him gently from side to side. “You’re a natural.”
“Not as natural as you, Martha.” He grinned as she blushed. “It’s true. You’re a beautiful mother.”
“Oh, were you trying
to make me cry?” Martha rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. “I honestly don’t always feel like a natural mother. Sometimes it feels as if I’m out of my depth.”
“Hey, I’m sorry.” Joey placed a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, this might work out for both of you.”
“Both of whom?” Martha asked.
“My mate is a midwife at Bear Bluff Hospital. I wanted to ask you to meet her and talk to her about what it’s like being the mate of a shifter. She’s worried about how fast things are going and about how I know we’re right for each other and she’s scared she’s just imagining that she feels the same way.” He paused for breath. “I offered to ask someone who isn’t a shifter to talk to her about how it is for them since I have no idea.”
“Sure, I can do that,” Martha agreed.
“At the same time, you could talk to her about your concerns. Which I’m certain are completely natural. Being a mom for the first time is going to be overwhelming.” He dropped a light kiss on the baby’s head and then handed him back to Martha. “What do you think?”
“I’d like that.” She sniffed loudly. “I just want to be the best mom and I think I’m failing miserably.”
“I have seen plenty of babies and plenty of moms over the time I’ve been alive, and I promise you, Martha, you are doing an incredible job,” Kelos told the new mom.
“It’s like the first time you pick up an axe and give it a swing,” Mac said, acting out his words. “You don’t expect to go and chop down a tree right away. Not unless you want to endanger your life and those around you.” He swung his imaginary axe again. “But gradually, you learn how the axe feels in your hands. You begin to understand how the angle of the blade hitting the trunk affects the way the tree will fall.”
“What Mac is trying to say,” Joey told Martha, “in his own unique way, is that we are not born experts in anything. We have to learn as we go. And you are doing a great job.”
“Thanks, guys,” Martha told them. “Even if your axe analogy is a little weird.”
“I was speaking from the heart,” Mac said, looking wounded.
Joey: Spring (Shifter Seasons Book 6) Page 12
