“What does it look like?” I waved at the 3D printer. “Taking advantage of a little time to make progress on the Santa order. What do you think?”
“I think we agreed we aren’t going to work seven-day weeks anymore.” He sat on the chair beside mine and leaned back. “Especially when we have our mate staying over.”
“She was still in her room when I came out. I figured she’d be asleep for a while yet.” I set the machine into shutdown sequence. “If she’s up, we’d better get back in there.” I didn’t want to miss a minute with her.
“Chill. She’s not. But you know what Mrs. Claus says about overworking. The elves would go twenty-four seven if someone didn’t make them rest. It’s a great way to burn out.”
“I’m no elf.”
“Sometimes I wonder. Comet, if we’re going to have a life with our mate, we’re going to have to make sure we keep things balanced.”
“I will. Once we—”
“Starting now.” He gave me that direct gaze that always made me feel like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. In this case, I was. “Come in and have breakfast. She’ll probably want to leave not long after we eat so she can get back to the city.”
“I hate that.”
“Me too, but if all goes well, soon she will stay. I hope she slept well.”
Following him toward the door, I flipped off the light and closed the door behind me. “Actually, she didn’t. At least not at first. I was watching TV when she came down to get something to drink.”
“Shoot, do you think there was too much salt in dinner?”
I shrugged, strolling toward the house. “I don’t think so. I actually got the feeling she couldn’t sleep and was just using the water as an excuse.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. I hope she got right back to sleep after that.” He continued on, reaching for the back door, but I caught his arm.
“She ended up sitting with me for a while.” The memory would always be one of my favorites. “Watching stuff on TV and hanging out. It was nice.”
“Really?” He grinned. “And did spending that one-on-one time with our mate help with your doubts?”
“It did. Aideen is our mate. I just hope she agrees with that.”
“Me too.” We went into the kitchen together to find our mate kissing Blitz. What perfect timing.
Chapter Thirteen
Aideen
I bounded down the stairs, excited to see them. In the kitchen was Blitz, dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt that was tight on his rigid pecs and biceps. Gray sweatpants hung low on his hips and as he turned, before seeing me, I was gifted a glance at his ass. I almost drooled. All three of them were right out of a fitness magazine. If they had social media, they’d make a killing.
A streak of jealousy shot through me thinking about other women ogling my men.
My men?
I had to rein myself in. We’d had two dates. Two. I was getting ahead of myself again.
“Like what you see, female?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. I would have to get used to the female thing, but I’d heard James call Maria that. To shifters, it was like calling me woman. There wasn’t anything offensive about it to them. Intention was everything with words of endearment.
“Yes.” I waited to get his reaction. “I love pancakes and coffee.”
He chuckled to the point where his shoulders shook. “The struggle is real. I’ll always come second to coffee.”
“That’s not true.”
He unplugged the griddle where he was making a breakfast right off a diner menu. I froze in place as he stalked over to me and put his hands on the counter, on either side of me. Up close, Blitz was more handsome than ever. Perfect caramel skin. His scent overpowered me, putting me in a haze that no amount of champagne could ever compete with.
“What’s not true, Aideen? Don’t you like coffee?” His voice shot straight through my body and loosened my inhibitions. Iwanted more of him. More of all of them. The funny thing, not one inch of his skin was touching mine but I felt him all over me. Weaning into my skin. Drowning all my hesitations.
