“Oh! It is!” she gushed, her eyes on the picture. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome.” Rune waited until she moved away to turn his golden eyes to mine. “Would you like to have lunch, beautiful?”
I snorted, eyeing the sweat on his brow. “How long have you been here watching me?”
He flicked his black hair off his face, an unrepentant grin creasing his features. “Do you really want to know?”
“Mmm. Maybe?”
“Well, Princess, I’ve been here long enough to see that you lied to me.”
“In what way?” I glared with indignation.
He stated simply, “You want children.”
“I already said I did.”
“But you want children now.”
I scrunched my nose and shook my head. “Not right now. Forever is a long time, remember?”
His brows lifted as he motioned for us to move away from an oncoming crowd. We walked toward a private train station, Sparkle World’s own trains to float above the amusement park and show you the place from a bird’s eye view. He stated quietly, sincerely, “Do you truly feel that way, Megan?”
“I do.” My answer was simple and truthful. “Just because I like what I’m doing here, and I adore kids, it doesn’t mean I want to be a mom in the next five hundred years. Having a job and being a mom are two completely different things.”
“Let’s just say if you ever change your mind, I want you to be honest with me. I can always reevaluate my life to see if I believe it’s the right time for me to have a child. Since I’ve never had a mate before, children were never even in the equation. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
My tone was droll. “You don’t want me to run away if I decide to have a kid and assume you don’t want one based on something you said long ago.” My eyes flicked to his. “I think I’ve got it, stud.”
His head tipped back as he laughed. “Did I just make a complete ass out of myself?”
“Not too bad. I got the emotion behind it, so you’re good.” I smirked.
He nodded, his gaze drifting to mine. “On another topic, I wasn’t sure how you would do here. But you are completely magical—no pun intended—with the customers. Every single person who spoke with you left with a smile on their face.”
My heart swelled with pure joy at helping others, even just a little bit. “Really?”
“I wouldn’t lie about that.”
I sighed, my tone wistful. “It’s been awesome so far, Rune. I can’t even explain it.”
“I saw it on your face. You don’t need to.” He gestured to a train that landed on the station. “Want to go for a ride before we have a quick lunch?”
I evaluated the sparkly machine. “Why not? It could be fun.”
We stepped inside the train, and the door closed behind us. Rune fiddled with the panel until he set the destination he wanted. The train lifted far up into the air, and my shifter was suddenly behind me, his hands running around my stomach.
Against my ear, he whispered, “You look stunning.”
I blushed and pivoted inside his arms to face him. I titled my head back to stare into his magnificent eyes. “You’re always worried about me, but can I tell you something withoutyoufreaking out?”
His brows rose high on his head. “It takes a lot to scare me.”
My head teetered back and forth, as a shaky exhale escaped my lips. “I may like you a bit.”
“And?”
“Okay, so I might love you.” My lips pinched into a thin line and my eyes roamed over his, trying to gauge his reaction. He was giving nothing away with his features. I prodded, “Nothing? Not even a,thank you, but I don’t quite feel that way about you yet?”
