“This one is a Loro Piana,” Ethan said mildly. “But normally I wouldn’t wear a suit while hiking, you’re right.” He paused. “I’d wear boat shoes and a sweater tied around my shoulders instead.”
And nothing else, apparently,her mind supplied unhelpfully. The mental image of that particular clothing combination should’ve been a complete turn-off, and yet…
“Augh!” She thrust the backpack at him. “Here. Take this. As punishment.”
The faintest hint of a smile crept in at the corners of Ethan’s mouth as he took the bag, though he was doing a good job of suppressing it. “If you insist.”
“I do.”
She wrapped herself tighter in the jacket, before a thought occurred to her. “But hang on – aren’t you cold? I’m wearing, like, four layers, and you’re only wearing one.”
Ethan shrugged. “Shifters run hot. The jacket is just for show, really, so people don’t get suspicious. I’m fine.”
As if demonstrating just how fine he was, Ethan took off his tie and shoved it in the bag, before he then undid the top three buttons of his shirt, showing off just the faintest promise of collarbones and rock-hard pecs.
Chloe tried very hard not to gape at the wanton display, and failed utterly.
“Well, then,” Ethan said breezily, reaching for the backpack. “Shall we head off?”
Steeling herself, Chloe replied, “Just as soon as you tell me why the word ‘mate’ had you so freaked out earlier.”
At Ethan’s stunned look, she smiled and added, “Or did you hope that I forgot?”
Chapter 11
Ethan hadn’t hoped that Chloe had forgotten about Kira’s little mate-related slip-up. He really hadn’t. Hewantedher to know everything.
He just didn’t know how totellher. He’d barely even gotten the whole ‘mates’ talk from his parents when he was growing up – it had mostly been couched in terms of forging business alliances, and forsaking your mate for a more suitable match if their presence didn’t further the company’s interests.
He sure as hell had never been told what to do if your mate was a human who worked as a veterinarian in a small mountain town a million miles away, and who was also the most beautiful, spirited person who had ever existed.
His father would laugh at the very idea of explaining to a human that they were your mate… but, Ethan realized, he didn’t care. If he had to choose between the company and Chloe, he would choose Chloe. He knew that for certain, now. How could he leave her behind and go back to dedicating his life to the business, knowing that he’d given up on his mate?
He couldn’t.
Chloe deserved to know, and he wanted her to know… and really, was there ever going to be a better time for it than this?
Just the two of them, up here on the mountain amongst the gently swaying grasses and delicate flowers, Chloe’s stern glare somewhat tempered by her adorably windswept hair and the excited pink flush of her cheeks.
Do it, you coward,his pegasus hissed in a surprising display of determination – and, rather than argue with it or bring up any of its many, many displays of ghost-related cowardice, Ethan set his jaw.
“Chloe,” he began, and something in his tone must have alerted her to how serious he was being, because she watched him closely, giving him her full attention.
“You already know about shifters,” he continued. “You know that we can change into other forms, and that there are different kinds of shifters. You know that different shifters have different powers. But there’s one more thing you need to know.”
He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
Chloe watched him, her expression intent.
Encouraged, he reached his hands forward, not touching Chloe, but sending out a clear invitation. Chloe took them without hesitation, her gloved fingers interlacing with his own.
In that moment he wished for nothing more than to touch her bare skin, to feel the mate bond in all its strength – but he knew it was there, and it drove him onward.
“Shifters have this thing called ‘mate bonds’,” he said. “It means that the two of them were made for each other. That they’re meant to be together.”
“Made for each other?” Chloe echoed… and for some reason, she looked strangely disappointed.
Ethan’s heart sank. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go at all.
