Page 47

A small, sad smile tugs on his lips. “Of course. I thought you figured it out by now. You’re my mate, whether you agree or not, and that means that I can deny you nothing. So if you’d like to talk… I’m all ears.”

He even reaches up, batting at the headband he hasn’t removed yet. My laugh comes out more like a sob as I reach up, grabbing the cat ears, tossing it away from us. I want to be serious, and I only hope he understands that as I turn in my seat so that I’m facing him directly.

“Here’s the truth. Forming this mate bond… it’s permanent, right?”

He nods. “Yes. If you accept me as your mate, there’s no going back. I’ll be a man again, but I’ll be your man. You won’t be able to get rid of me. Fate made you mine, Kate Bellamy, and if you let me, I want to keep you.”

That’s something I don’t want to do… and yet⁠—

“And that’s just it. I can’t do it with you because of exactly that.” It comes out as a whisper. “Because there’s a deadline. Because Fate or a curse or whatever decided that I have to sleep with you tonight or lose you for another year. That’s not…” I shake my head. “I don’t want my first time with you to happen because I’m scared of a clock.”

For once, Vincent doesn’t have an answer ready.

He looks at me for a long moment, then nods. “Okay.”

I blink. “Okay?”

“I already figured we wouldn’t. And you’re right. There’s no reason to rush.”

“But—”

“No.” He shifts closer, taking my hand. “I’ve been thinking about something you said. About being expected to just accept this because I told you we’re mates.”

My throat tightens.

Vincent rubs his thumb across my knuckles.

“I thought finding you was the hard part,” he admits. “I thought Fate chose you, so that was it. You were mine. I was yours. Problem solved.”

“That does sound like the arrogant man I caught eating my pie with his fingers last night,” I tell him.

“It does, doesn’t it?” His mouth twitches. “But Fate choosing you doesn’t mean you chose me. And I want you to, Kate.” He squeezes my hand. “So… yeah. We don’t do anything you don’t want to do. Midnight comes. I turn back into Mr. Whiskers. You take me home.”

My heart starts to ache again, just like it did earlier when we were sitting on the bench beneath the maple tree. “You’re already home.”

His deep brown eyes light up. “Exactly.”

A laugh escapes me, though my eyes suddenly burn.

“How’s this? You feed me. You complain when I knock shit off the counter. I’ll continue to sleep in your bed because I think we both know you’re never keeping me out of it now. And that way I’ll make sure you don’t forget about me and try to invite another male in while I’m… unavailable.” The green rolls over his eyes again. “Trust me. It will only take a cat bite to the cock once and you will become very unpopular on the Shadowvale dating circuit, pumpkin.”

I laugh in spite of the seriousness of this moment. “There isn’t anyone else, Vincent. Until today, the only man in my life was Mr. Whiskers. Now it’s you… you think I’ll be able to forget this Halloween?”

“I sure as fuck hope not. And then, next Halloween, I’ll be back. We can take up where we left off. And the next Halloween after that, and the one after that… until you understand that you’ll always be it for me, and that I’ll wait for you forever… that’s what we can do.”

“Vincent—”

“Thirty-nine years, pumpkin.” His expression becomes determined. “That’s what Susan wanted to teach me. Patience. I’ve already waited thirty-nine years for you. I can wait forever until you choose me because you want to, not because you think you have to. I’ll still be here with you. Just as Mr. Whiskers… and unless you get tired of me and boot me out the back door, I’ll be here.”

And that’s when I finally understand.

It isn’t only the idea of Fate forcing my hand that’s been bothering me. Or that I secretly believed he was doing all this because a little pussy meant he was free from his curse. I guess, in a way, I expected that he would disappear either way once Halloween was over. Either he would change back into a cat or he would get what he wanted from me, then move on.

But the man in front of me is promising to wait as long as it takes…

All along, even as I experienced that strange pull tugging me toward him, I kept thinking about how I’ve only known Vincent for one day. Twenty-four hours, and a handful of them were spent sleeping. He was the naked stranger, then the warlock who passed out candy before being my date at the Fall Festival.

But before all that, he was Mr. Whiskers.