Chapter Nine
Joe eased his motorcycle to a stop behind Nikki’s car. The car was so old and beat up it was practically a death trap. It was also leaking oil like a sieve. He had three days to do something about that.
His gut clenched when he moved his attention from his mate’s car to the house. It was dark except for a meager string of Christmas lights along the front of the house and around the front door.
His keen shifter sight could also see a shiny garland wreath hanging on the front door. Somehow he had imagined that Nikki’s house would have been more Christmas festive for Sarah. Something else he had three days to change.
Getting off his bike, he watched as Nikki and Sarah climbed out of the car and headed for the entrance. Nikki looked back at him to make sure he was following them as she unlocked the front door. The moment she walked through it, pulling Sarah along behind her, she flicked on a light, allowing him to see inside the home before entering it himself.
The inside was the sort of festive he had expected to see on the outside. Stepping through the doorway, he scoped the place out. Crayon colored drawings of elves and what he thought might be polar bears were taped on the walls. There were two knit stockings hanging from a fireplace and nutcrackers along the mantle.
There was just one thing missing. A Christmas tree.
After closing the door behind him, Joe took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack on the wall next to the front door. Sarah had already shed her coat and was bouncing around the living room, gibbering to Joe about her favorite things.
“Look, Joe, we have nutcrackers! Nikki says you can actually crack real nuts with them.”
Holding in a snort, he shot an amused look over to his mate, who was turning an adorable shade of pink. The sight made him wish he could feel the heat of her skin against his own. Nikki shrugged, trying to play it off, but also moved forward to pick Sarah up and put her on her hip. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed, you little bugger.”
Sarah stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable little pout. “I don’t wanna.”
Nikki shook her head. “I know you don’t want to, but it’s way past your bed time. Now say goodnight to Joe.”
Sarah gave him a sad wave. “Night, Joe.” Then the little girl perked up as she asked, “See you tomorrow?”
He didn’t give his mate the chance to say no. “Yeah, sweetling, see you tomorrow. Good night and sweet dreams.”
Nikki raised an eyebrow in his direction then nodded toward the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
Sitting on the couch, he scanned the house again. It was in good shape, so at least he didn’t have to worry about the house like he did her car. Turning his attention back to the bare spot by the living room window, he pictured a Christmas tree there. He didn’t know why they didn’t have one, but he was sure as hell going to fix that tomorrow. Sarah deserved a tree. Not to mention it would be fun watching the little girl decorate it.
A feminine throat cleared, bringing his attention back to reality. Turning his head toward the sound, he found Nikki propped against a wall, watching him. “Penny for your thoughts?” she asked him sweetly.
Joe cocked his head as he took in her tantalizing form. “My thoughts are worth a hell of a lot more than a penny, sweetheart.”
She snorted. “Oh yeah? What kind of thoughts are you having, then, that are worth so much?”
Holding his hand out toward her, he silently implored for her to come to him. After a few silent seconds waiting, she sighed in resignation and walked forward to take his hand. Joe pulled her down on the couch beside him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Nikki gave him a skeptical look. “That sounds more like a line than a well paid for thought.”
Shrugging, he told her exactly how he felt. “You can think whatever you want about it. Only thing that matters is that it’s the truth.”
Joe watched as Nikki blushed again, only this time, he gave into his urge to touch the warm skin of her face. Lifting his hand, he ran his pointer finger over her flushed cheek, relishing the feel of her velvet softness. It made him wonder how she would feel in other places.
Nikki trembled under his touch and Joe could tell she was just as nervous as she was turned on. Funny enough, so was he. In fact, he hadn’t been this nervous about anything since the first time he’d seen a battlefield in the military. But here was his mate, tying him up in knots. She was a war all in herself, and it was a war he was determined to win. It mattered. She mattered. There was too much riding on the final outcome for him to rush through it like some horny teenager.
“Why are you so dead set on not having a mate? It is just me or any man?” He hadn’t meant to ask the question, but it was out there regardless. It wasn’t about his ego or about fishing for compliments. He knew what he looked like and he knew how women responded to him. So did she. This was about whatever baggage that wouldn’t let her be happy.
She shrugged, a nonchalant gesture that did nothing to dispel the tension between them. “We just lost our parents six months ago. It’s still fresh and raw. Too many things have changed in Sarah’s life for me to go bringing someone else into it.”
“Seems to me,” he pointed out, “that having a mate, someone else stable and constant in her life, would be good for her.”
“And are you? Stable and constant? Or are you that jealous and possessive shifter who will resent any time taken from you to care for a kid that’s not even your own?”
Joe knew what she was talking about. By and large, shifter mates were healthy, happy, and loving pairs who always had room for their cubs. His parents had been. But he’d seen others—couples that were almost obsessed with one another to the point that their own children became an afterthought. Had her parents been like that? Was that why she was so adamantly opposed to the idea of being mated?
He didn’t poke at that wound. It wasn’t the time and from her crossed arms, it was clear she wasn’t in the mood. So he said, “Sarah’s a great kid. She’s funny and sweet. And her heart’s bigger than this whole damn house. Anyone would be lucky to get to be a part of her little world.”
Their gazes met and without warning, her face crumpled and she started to cry. “Damn you,” she muttered.
Maybe it was because she was his mate—maybe it was because there was still a little kid inside of him that knew exactly where she was and how hard it was to let go—but Joe didn’t respond to her the way he normally did to crying women. There was no running. Instead, he just grabbed her and held her close, letting her sob against his shoulder while he stroked her back and muttered nonsense into the sweet-smelling silk of her hair.
His mate might be crying, but inside Joe felt like something good had finally started to snap in place for them.