Like the click I felt with Case. Only I guess I get to keep the dress.
If she could find the right one in the first place—
Oh.
She stopped moving the hangers around when she saw it.
It was a dark wine red velvet that brought out the warm undertones of her skin and would, she knew instinctively, highlight the blush that would rise as she leaned in for their official, deal-sealing kiss. It was outrageously, shamelessly form-hugging, a gown made to draw attention to the bust and hips. Lydia had never worn anything so blatantly sexy in her life, not even lingerie, but ... she liked it. And she didhavethe bust and the hips or it, even if she’d never imagined showing them off like this.
Of course, it didn’t look anything like a wedding dress. It was the kind of sixties-style glamor gown that Marilyn Monroe should have worn to a slightly sultry Christmas party.
It wasred, for God’s sake, even if it was rich and dark instead of stoplight bright. It didn’t make you think, “Oh, what a lovely bride,” it made you think, “Va-va-voom.”
But was that so bad? It wasn’t like it was going to be a church wedding. The dress would raise a few eyebrows in city hall, but it wouldn’t get her kicked out. And if she bought it, it would be the most gorgeous thing she owned, hands-down.
She waved at Case from across the room and held the dress up to her body to let him get a look at it.
She got the only answer she needed when the heat in his gaze could’ve spiked the temperature in the whole store. Either she was going to fit into this, or she was going to die trying.
11
That long-distance hint at what Lydia would look like in that tight red dress had already taken a couple years off Case’s life, and he was fine with losing them.
“You’re not going to wear it out?” he said hopefully, as he insisted on paying for the world’s greatest wedding dress and the middle-of-the-road jacket and tie combo he’d found for himself. (They were a few steps up from what a kid would wear to his senior prom, though, which made them better than most of the store’s other options, and they didn’t look like you could bring in the harvest in them, which made them better than what he already had on.)
Lydia shook her head, and Case resigned himself to the sight of the dress to end all dresses being swathed in tissue paper and stuffed in a bag.
“You had a couple more stops you wanted to make, right?” she said. “I’ll change into it in the bathroom at the courthouse. No one wants to run errands in form-fitting velvet.”
That was probably true. And society as a whole might not survive too many hours of Lydia Vasquez in that dress.
He convinced Lydia to let him take their bag, and they headed back out onto the street. Mountainview’s downtown was small enough that they could walk everywhere else, especially now that the weather had cleared up. It was a bright, beautiful day, sunny but not too hot. Perfect for a wedding, in Case’s obviously unbiased decision. Perfect day to become a werewolf too. He was pretty damn happy with all the decisions he was making today.
His wolf nosed at him, and Case carefully checked in with it. He still wasn’t sure he’d always be able to do this withoutsuddenly either hallucinating or blacking out, which made him wary of doing it this close to the road.
What’s up, buddy?
Lydia’s voice cut through the silence before he could get an answer. “Oh, sorry—wait out here for a second? I forgot something inside.”
It was a transparent lie, and her voice was so bright and stilted that she obviously knew it, which left Case curious and a little amused, but he said sure. If it was his business, she would tell him when she wanted to. She gave him a quick smile and slipped back inside, and he turned his attention back to his wolf.
What’s up, buddy?he said again.
Is getting married like getting mated?
I think so. Either way, we’re doing both.
This prospect seemed to encourage it. It came within a millisecond of wagging its tail; Case could tell it thought he hadn’t noticed that, but he had.
She could be our mate,it said happily.
There’s no “could” about it, I don’t think. Shewillbe, in a couple of hours.
But she could be ourtruemate.
Case frowned.Is there a difference between a mate and a true mate?
It flicked its ears back, irritated at him for not knowing this, like it didn’t remember that he hadn’t had any access to it and its store of knowledge until a few hours ago.
