Chapter Three

We lay together in my bed, legs intertwined. I laid draped over Tony's body while he rubbed my back. I stopped myself from purring, because I didn't want the noise to get too annoying.

“What made you stop?” Tony asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked and lifted my head to look at him. I wanted to memorize the look and feel of him, his strong jaw line, slight tan, piercing blue eyes.

“You stopped purring.”

I chuckled. “I didn't want to overwhelm you with it. This has got to be a lot to take in. I'm surprised you're not running scared. Besides, I’ve been told the purring can get annoying after a while.”

“Never,” he said. He sat up and cupped my face in his hands. “I have no desire to run away from you.” He kissed my lips.

“Are you hungry? I can make us some lunch.” I checked the clock on the night stand. “Wow. I can't believe it's still before noon. Feels like it's been a pretty full day already.”

Tony laughed and hugged me. “Yeah, I'll say so. I had my world turned upside down. Tell me about your photography business. How long have you been doing it? How's it going? You obviously do great work from what I’ve seen.”

I let out a sigh. “I've been taking pictures forever. It feels like it anyway. But I just started the business. January second was my first day being open. So far, it's been okay. I've got clients that come in, get sessions done. No complaints, but I haven't really had any repeat customers. I want to do something big and really make my mark on the town. So many businesses around here are cornerstones. They're so ingrained in Vale Valley, that you can't imagine Vale Valley without them. I want to be like that.” I shrugged and smiled shyly. “Probably seems a little silly to a world traveler like you, but this is my home. I kind of want to give back to it. Does that make sense?”

Tony kissed my nose. “That makes perfect sense. Since Vale Valley is all about love and finding a home, this is the perfect time of year for you to do something significant.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Valentine's!” he said. “It's in two weeks. Why don't you hold a day long special where couples can come in, get their pictures done, and they'll be ready on Valentine's Day. You can give them a certain number of edited photos and a frame or something. And—”

“I don't know,” I said. “I don't have a lot of time to get ready for that.”

“Sure, we do. We’ve got all the time in the world right now. Let's hash out the details. We can make some flyers and put them up around town. How much time would you need for editing?”

Tony was talking a mile a minute, and I could hardly keep up. “Umm, I don't know. Three, maybe four days. Another day for printing. But I wouldn’t be able to have anything scheduled during that time, and I’d have to work around the clock.”

Tony nodded. “It’ll be a lot of work, but it could really pay off. I’ll be here to help. C’mon.” He patted me on the ass. “Let's get going. We've got work to do.”

I grinned as I finally caught up with Tony’s line of thinking. He was right. This could totally work.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? You’re sort of on vacation right now, and I don’t want to make you work…”

He squeezed my hand. “Of course, I’m sure. I want to help. This is going to be great.”

I sat down at my laptop, and Tony pulled up a chair. We designed the flyers quickly and printed off several copies of them. More than I thought we’d need, but Tony had insisted.

Tony grabbed my hand as soon as they were off the printer and we bolted out the door. We walked from business to business. Each one gave us permission to hang the flyers. We answered questions for anyone who was interested. We had a few couples sign up right then.

Tony became my greatest promoter, telling everyone how wonderful it was going to be and what an amazing photographer I was. If he ever needed extra money for his travels, he could definitely go in to marketing.

We went all the way to the Dozing Dragon. As we approached, Tony began to slow. I stopped walking and turned to face him.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just…”

“What?” I said. “You can tell me.”

“This is where the dragon lives, right?”

I chuckled. “One of them, yeah.”

“Do you think we’ll see him?”

I laughed out loud. “Seb might be working. But he’ll be in his human form.”

“Oh,” Tony said.

I sensed his disappointment. “Maybe the next time they do a night run with all the shifters, you can see him. He's been staying pretty close to home lately, though, because his mate is pregnant.”

“Oh, that's exciting. Maybe they'll want to do a photo shoot.”

“Possibly. It won’t hurt to ask.” My willingness to ask surprised me and I grinned. Tony’s faith in my work and excitement at this project was contagious.

We spoke to Will, Seb’s mate, since Seb wasn’t there. He was excited about the Valentine session and promised to get back to us on a time slot that he and Seb would do. Once we hung up the flyer at the Dozing Dragon, we made our way back through the town.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I've got some food at home, or we can swing into Sweet Bites and get something there.”

“Let's eat out.” Tony said, squeezing my hand. “It’s about time I take you on a proper date.”

“You don’t have to do that. You've done a lot of work for me today and I appreciate it. You should let me treat you.”

“No. No. No. I’m buying. Let me spoil you.”

I wanted to argue, but it seemed silly. “Well, I'm not going a say no to a free meal, but it's really not necessary.”

We entered Sweet Bites and found a booth. Both of us ordered our meals, then Tony excused himself. I sat there by myself for a minute.

“Eric?” A female voice called out and I turned to find Rosemary Vale, founder of the town and former mayor, standing before me, looking as gorgeous as ever. She was our oldest resident and a fierce werewolf shifter.

This past Christmas, she’d joined the shifter run for the first time in a while. Chance Knight was the mayor of Vale Valley now, and Rosemary’s great-grandson’s mate. They would be a great couple to ask if they want to do a photo session…

“Hi Rosemary, how are you doing?”

“Just fine. I see that your business is really getting its feet off the ground. Ren hasn’t quit talking about the session you did the other day.”

I grinned. “Yeah, we had a lot of fun.”

“I can't believe he got Max to agree to get his picture taken.” Rosemary laughed.

“Me either.”

“What's this I see about you doing a photo session before Valentine's Day?”

“It was an idea my friend Tony had.” My heart rate increased as I mentioned his name, though, I didn't know why. “It was his brilliant idea to advertise the studio and drum up some business.”

Rosemary laid a hand over mine. “Well, I'm excited to see what you make of it. It'll be lovely to see you capture all the mated couples this town has. There's a lot of love here,” Rosemary said.

I smiled, but it didn't quite reach my eyes. “Yeah, there is.”

“Don't you worry,” she said with narrowed eyes. “Your mate is here, too.”

I shrugged, because I didn’t want to argue with her, that would be disrespectful, but I didn’t believe it.

“Tell me about this Tony of yours,” she said.

“Oh, he’s not—”

Just then Tony came back. He smiled at Rosemary and he held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Tony.”

“Tony this is Rosemary Vale, founder of the town.”

He shook her hand heartedly. “It's nice to meet you, ma’am. This is quite a town you’ve put together here.”

“Yes,” she said. “It is. Has Eric told you much about it?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, and he's given me quite the tour. It's amazing.”

“Yes, we're lucky to have it. It’s an especially great place to settle down with your soulmate and start a family.” Rosemary winked at me. “It was good to see you, Eric. Tell your dads I said hello.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“You too, Tony. I have a feeling you'll be sticking around for a while.”

“Oh,” I said “Tony's only staying about two weeks. He's got a trip to Egypt planned.”

Tony nodded, but didn't say anything else.

Rosemary winked again. “We'll see about that.” She waved goodbye as she left.

“So,” Tony said. “What’s there to do around here for a super amazing romantic getaway?”

“What?” I said. ‘Why? Who are you taking on a romantic getaway? Did you meet someone? You’ve spent the entire time here with me.”

Tony blinked at me. His mouth set in a thin line. He stared at me.

“Oh,” I said and sat back against the booth as it dawned on me. “Did you mean me?”

“Yes, goofball. I mean you.”

“Oh, well, you know me. I'm a homebody. I like to curl up on my couch and watch the world go by. That's my idea of romantic.”

Tony grinned. “Well, humor me for just one night, please? What do you think would be absolutely awesome to do?”

I had to think a moment. Since Tony was only here for a while, and who knew when he’d be back to visit, I wanted him to experience all that Vale Valley had to offer. “There's the Creatures of Comfort Aromatherapy and Health Center that does massages and all that stuff. That would be a good place to start. And the Vale Valley Restaurant and Inn has amazing food. I'm told watching the moon rise over the lake while the dolphins play in the water is a pretty exciting way to end the night.”

“Perfect. Tell me who to call so I can book it and what day works for you. We'll get it done.”

Excitement blossomed inside me. “All right,” I said. I was unsure of what to do with this newfound attention. I decided to let myself just run with it. I only had Tony here for a short amount of time and I didn't want to spend the majority of that time worrying about picking up the pieces of my heart after he left.