When I reluctantly pulled back from Teddy’s warm lips, I held his face in my hands, watching as the golden flecks of his inner wolf flared across his deep blue irises. His werewolf eyes locked onto mine, his gaze burning into my soul and heating my blood until my face reddened, and my heart lit on fire. In the span of a breath we were tethered, our mate bond sealed.
I am his… and he is mine. Teddy will protect me with his life, and I will do the same.
After my family leaves, with many hugs, congratulations, and a few pats on the back that cause Teddy to grimace in pain, we’re finally alone. He takes my hand and leads me to the sagging brown sofa, where I nestle against his chest, thankful for my great-aunt Dragonfly, who managed to play matchmaker from beyond the grave.
Faerie aunties truly are a force to be reckoned with.
Teddy plays with a lock of my hair. “While you were in the kitchen washing up the dishes with your mom and Cassia, Nash offered me some shifts at the restaurant for the rest of the season.”
I chuckle. “Cassia and Mom probably need the extra help, given all the new customers you’ve attracted to the café.”
“What new customers?” he asks.
“Did you forget all those women giggling and batting their eyelashes at you?”
Teddy smirks. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”
“Not at all. I merely want to fly into a murderous rage every time one of them flirts with you.”
We both laugh, and then Teddy cups my cheek with his injured hand. “You, and only you, are my mate, my hope, and my future. Don’t you realize there willneverbe anyone else but you?”
My heart drums harder than the surf pounding the shore during a tempest; how do I even respond to such a romantic declaration, except to sayyes, yes, a thousand times yes. As it turns out, Teddy doesn’t expect me to say anything at all. He brushes his lips against mine, and then he kisses me, slowly and tenderly, until we’re both breathless.
Each day Teddyheals a bit more; by the end of the week his pain is mostly gone, and he no longer needs my help changing his dressings. Even though I’m happy to have him stay in the cottage a little longer, Teddy insists on returning to his flat, probably because he wants to prove to my father he’s a man of his word—which makes me swoon for him even more.
By the end of the second week following his fight with Rafe, Teddy is back at work, splitting his time between shifts at the café and working as my kitchen helper at the bakery. The plate glass window has been replaced, and we’re ramping up to reopen this weekend. I’m teaching Teddy how to check my pastries and cookies for doneness, pulling them from the oven before they burn. His favorite job is taste-testing everything Ibake; so far he hasn’t found a dessert yet he doesn’t love.
But there’s one topic we both avoid. I can tell Teddy is still uneasy about Rafe; sometimes his sea-blue eyes narrow and lose their focus, as if he’s trying to sense his whereabouts. Even Jake, with all his resources, has no idea where Rafe has gone. Meanwhile, I refuse to let my own concerns spoil what Teddy and I are building together. I’m finally in love with the right man, and I won’t let a creep like Rafaellus MacTire come between us.
Chapter 35
A Grand Re-Opening
SOPHIE
Saturday, July 28
The morning of the bakery’s grand re-opening is cloudy and cool, a welcome relief from the oppressive heat of the past few days. I’ve been baking since two, so nervous I couldn’t sleep more than a few hours. I hear the purr of Teddy’s old Caddy pulling into the driveway and fling open the back door to greet him.
“You look as luscious as a vanilla-custard half puff pastry,” growls Teddy, giving my ear a playful nip. “Or is it a full puff pastry?” Shrugging, he plants kisses all along my jawline. “You look scrumptious either way.”
I flutter my hands and sigh dramatically. “Be still my beating heart! All this talk of sweetmeats has me swooning.”
Teddy pulls off my headwrap, entangling his hands in my hair. “If you really want to swoon darling, allow me…” he whispers.
“Teddy… er…” I start to say, but then he claims my lips, and I’m lost.
My fiancé’s kisses turn my knees to three-berry jelly; I have cling to his neck to keep from toppling over onto my kitchen floor. When he eventually stops kissing me senseless, his sensitive nose is raised in the air. “Do you smell something burning?”
“Oh no!” I yelp. “My cookie bars!” I pull open the oven door just as the smoke detector starts blaring. Two full pans of my glorious Riddler’s Magic Bars are scorched beyond saving. I should be upset about two hours of ruined work, especially since I have no kitchen magic thanks to my clipped wings, but after my sad and lonely grand opening two weeks ago, I’m not going to let a few burned cookies get me down.
“I’m sorry, Sophie,” says Teddy after he silences the smoke detector. “I guess I’m not very good for your productivity.”
I give him a wry smile. “How about a new rule: no more kissing when there’s something in the oven. Deal?”
He grins. “Deal.”
When the doors open at seven, Teddy and I are wearing black aprons with Rhyme ’N Riddle stitched in green across the breast pocket. I snap photos of my gallant werewolf as he helps customers, his brilliant smile earning grins from even the crankiest faeries. The pink scar above Teddy’s eye gives him a slightly rakish look; when Doc Demetrius suggested plastic surgery, I shook my head and told Teddy I loved his pirate-captain good looks, which earned a shy smile in Doc’s office and heart-stoppingkisses later.
