Leo slowly peeked his eyes open. When he saw what was in his hands, he gasped. "Maverick, you—what the hell?"
His last phrase came out as a high-pitched squeak. I laughed.
"Do you not like it?" I asked.
Leo was shocked as he held the box containing the brand new, expensive camera closer to his chest. "That's not it, I... I love it, but you can't really be giving this to me."
I crossed my arms, grinning. "And why not?"
"Because this is way too expensive!" Leo blurted out. "I know how much these things cost. This is like, four months rent!"
"It's my gift to you," I said. "I had the rest of your things retrieved from that horrible man, but my helper couldn't find the camera, which is why I bought you this one. I can have your items taken to your apartment, or brought here. Whichever you prefer."
Leo gawked at me. "Are you pranking me, Maverick?"
"Pranking?" I chuckled. "Of course not."
"Because no alpha, no man—hell,nobodygoes to this much effort to help someone they barely know. Unless..."
Leo bit his lip, cutting himself off. I was desperate to know the rest of his sentence. What was he thinking?
"Unless what?" I asked, taking a step closer to him.
Leo swallowed visibly. "Unless... I don't know." He laughed in embarrassment, his cheeks flushing. "Unless you like me or something, but that's—" He stopped short and rapidly shook his head. "Nevermind, I'm being stupid."
Gods, my mate had no idea how hard he was pulling on my heart.
"Isn't it enough that I want to please you, Leo?" I murmured.
"But why?" He laughed again, that confused, almost self-deprecating laugh. He looked down at the camera box in his hands. "I don't get it. I'm not special in any way, and here you are, doing the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."
I couldn't hold myself back from physically consoling him any longer. I stroked his cheek. His soft peach-fuzz hairs tickled my skin.
"Leo, there's something I have to tell you," I admitted.
Leo froze under my touch, like he was expecting bad news. I needed to tell him the truth before he assumed the worst.
"It's nothing bad," I said gently, trying to reassure him. "You simply might not believe what I'm about to say."
Leo shook his head while holding my gaze. "Tell me."
"You're my fated mate, Leo."
He stared at me for a moment. Then he put the camera box carefully in his bag before shuffling around and taking a book out of it. He held it up. "Likethis?"
The novel appeared to be a shifter romance by an author I didn't recognize. It was probably written by a human, but then again, who knew? Maybe there was a shifter author out there somewhere writing romance books.
"Did you just seefated mateson the back cover of this book and use it as a pick-up line?" Leo asked with a laugh.
I grinned. "No. I assure you, what I'm talking about is real, not fantasy."
Leo's smile faded into a confused look. "Wait, now you lost me."
"To illustrate my point, there's something I need to show you." I took Leo gently by the hand. "As long as you promise not to run away screaming in fear."
Leo snorted. "I promise I won't do that."
I don't think Leo knew quite what he was getting himself into, but he'd given me the permission I needed. I stepped back to give myself room.
