“This is absolutely fabulous,” Preston said. “You have excellent taste.”
She smiled. “Thank you. Now, should we get this young man ready for his date?”
“How does everyone know about this?” I said.
“They don’t,” she said. “It’s just between you and me and Dain, and also Cael. And the household manager, since Dain had to book the dining hall. Do you have any specific foods you don’t like? Cael wasn’t able to find any allergies for either one of you, just a sweet tooth.”
“How was he able to find anything?”
“Oh, he has his ways.” The lady raised her eyebrows suggestively and laughed.
Of course he did.
Preston continued going through the racks of clothes, pulling things off and tossing them on the bed.
“These are ones I’ll keep,” he said. “We have very different styles, you and I, so I don’t imagine there’ll be a lot of overlap. I’ll make a pile for you to try on as well.”
“Goody,” I said.
Preston tended to wear jeans that were just a little snug, whereas I preferred to be able to breathe.
Before I knew it, the two of them had me dressed in the slacks and sweater that Preston picked out. Then suddenly we were in the monstrous bathroom. I was sitting on a stool looking at the mirror while Preston ran his fingers through my hair, putting some sort of gel and spritzing me with cologne.
“Now the scent isn’t overwhelming. Obviously, you want your natural scent to come through. This is designed for shifters. Isn’t that fascinating?” she said.
“Indeed. Oh my gosh. I’ve seen this before.” Preston’s eyes got so wide they practically popped out of his head. “I’m never leaving this place. This stuff costs like $1,000 a bottle.”
“It does. Cael has expensive tastes.”
Just great. Another thing I would never be able to repay him for.
“I’m fine just being me,” I said. Except… Dain had met me first when I was very much not myself. Was he expecting someone more fancy than me?
“Youarejust you. You’ll just have some nicer clothes now. They don’t change who you are, sweetie. Now I also put some omega vitamins in your bag, because I understand you’re expecting. Tomorrow, we’ll want you to meet with the physician.”
“There’s a physician?”
“Of course. Cael has one on retainer. They come right out to the mansion.”
Of course he did. I truly was living in another world.
Then before I knew it, I was dressed and being escorted down to the dining hall toward Dain.
How was this my life now?
Chapter 11
Dain
I had a lot to focus on in regards to having dinner with my mate. First things first, I needed to get ready. Not just clothes, shower, all that—that was easy. No, I needed to make an impression.
I had a lot of ground to make up for since my mate spent the last five months thinking I’d abandoned him.
Thankfully, I knew the manor like the back of my hand. And in all my years here, I had built up a fantastic relationship with the entire household staff. Every single one of them would loveto see me settled down and mated. Which meant they would bend over backward to make the evening perfect. And I needed perfection.
I contacted the household manager, first making sure to book the perfect dining room. From there, I went to the chef. I didn’t know a lot about my mate’s favorite things, but I could make educated guesses based on the conversation I’d had with him at the ball. The next challenge was figuring out the perfect dessert.
In the end I opted to have the chef prepare a variety of items, including a batch of sugar cookies we could frost together.
