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“Hear me out, babe. I’m suggesting a try-out. A weekend isn’t going to tell you everything you need to know. I’ll make sure if you decide to move back, that we work something out with your job, so don’t concern yourself with that. But I believe, and I think you do, too, that this is the right thing to do.”
“I … It’s still a lot to process, Marc. Two days ago, I thought shapeshifters were only a myth. I-I need more time to think…
“Time? It’s got to be more than that. Tell me what it is that is causing your hesitation,” he asked.
She pulled away from him and looked out at the lights below them in silence. He wanted to say something but knew that he had to give her the space to come around to this important decision by herself. He was anxious, but ultimately, it was her decision.
A decision that he wasn’t going to honor. She belonged to him and she carried his cub. His heir. Whether she liked it or not, she became family, part of the DaVaca clan and the clan stuck together.
Kelly slowly inhaled the night breeze. “Fated mates and werejaguar babies and everything that comes with it? Moving across the country from where I live now? It’s just a lot to ask and take in,” she finally said.
He moved to stand beside her and gently placed his hand on the small of her back. He didn’t look at her but instead stared out at the view as well. “I realize that, but I know that it’s right. Give me a chance to show that to you. Stay, please. Besides, you’ll be having my cub in ninety days. You’ll need to be surrounded by my people. You’ll need help and I don’t intend for you to go through it alone.”
He heard her small sigh, but his finely tuned sentences knew it for what it was. She was on the edge of accepting. “A trial period,” she said.
“A trial period,” he echoed. “But it has to feel like the real deal. I want you to understand wh
at it means to be part of this family, and what it means to be in a relationship with me. The two of us can know that it’s a test run, but I’d appreciate it if you don’t share this with the rest of the family. I want them to get to know you without any reservations. There is a lot to learn about us and where we came from. I think when you start to see that, you’ll understand that things aren’t so scary, and this is a place you will want to call your home.”
There was a span of silence again as she seemed to absorb this. “What are you suggesting?”
Marc smiled. “I will call the movers in the morning to pack the things that you want from your house. Everything that you want will be here within the week. I can call anyone you would like to tell them of our arrangement, or if you would prefer to call, you can do that as well. I’m thinking you might like to start with your parents?”
Kelly took out her phone and stared at it. Then she gave him a half smile as she dialed a number. “Mom?” she said when the other end was answered. “Can you get Dad on the line, too? I have something that I want to tell the two of you.”
Marc’s felt a swelling of pride in his chest.
This was going better than he ever expected. He could see that even though Kelly was still hesitant, there was a ripple of excitement underneath her demeanor as well. This might be one of the most exciting things that had ever happened to her, and he intended to show her the world.
He already began ticking off the list of things that he needed to do first thing in the morning. He was mentally delegating them out to Reid and the rest of the crew as she finished telling her surely shocked parents about her decision to make a temporary, but likely permanent, move to Las Vegas. He beamed with pleasure as he listened to her tell them that she had met someone special, and she was excited about what the future held for her. He would make sure that she would never regret her decision.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kelly sat in the midst of what seemed like a hundred boxes. Even though Marc had said that he would just ensure that the most critical items were moved right away from her house in New York, it seemed as if her entire household had been packed overnight. That was why she was grateful that he had assigned her a personal assistant, even though she felt slightly uncomfortable with the idea.
The woman, Jessie, was several years younger than Kelly and had been helping her move about the house as she started to unpack various things and put them away. Marc had told her that she could put anything anywhere that she wanted. Anything she didn’t like could be removed, and he would pack it away or sell it. Marc wanted her to feel completely at home, and she appreciated that more than she could even explain. The situation was still so surreal to her, but the nights spent in Marc’s arms were real enough to make her want to stay.
She knew that she had told Marc that the move was just a trial basis, but she sensed that he knew as well as she did that it was likely going to be permanent more quickly than she had originally intended. The whole idea of trying it out on a trial basis was just something to give her peace of mind that if something catastrophic did happen, she’d have an out. But everything that Marc had done for her so far had only demonstrated the depths of his feelings for her, while her own feelings for him were growing by the day.
She had stuck Jessie in her closet to hang up her meager collection of hanging clothes when Jessie suddenly emerged through the doorway.
“You should totally wear this dress tonight,” Jessie said as she held up a red little slinky number that Kelly had forgotten that she even owned.
“Oh no. I can’t wear that tonight.” Marc was throwing a huge party in Kelly’s honor, which also made her uncomfortable, but he had insisted, and she couldn’t say no. He said it was important for the entire clan to have an opportunity to meet their alpha’s new mate. She had agreed that she would play the part the way that it was meant to be. It also gave her an opportunity to start to get to know the people in the clan who were all part of Marc’s large extended family.
He mentioned there would also be several leaders of other shifter clans around Vegas attending, which made her nervous, too. Marc treated her like she was some special gem to be shown off. He made her feel like a princess.
“I bought that dress right after my divorce. I weighed a little bit less than,” she said to Jessie. That was the truth. What she didn’t confess to was the fact that she had never had the guts to actually put the dress on and wear it out anywhere. It was a dress that exuded a kind of confidence that she didn’t have after she got divorced. Besides, she felt her body starting to change. Her breasts swelled. She suspected that she’d gained ten pounds overnight.
“Just try it on. You might change your mind,” Jessie insisted.
She reluctantly took the dress hanger from Jessie’s hand and moved into the bathroom.
She slipped the dress on fully expecting that it wasn’t going to fit, especially given the small bump that had already started to form around her abdomen. She wondered if she was going to start feeling the baby kicking soon. The accelerated development was still something that she was trying to figure out.
Surprisingly, the dress fit her curves like a glove and accentuated her growing cleavage perfectly. She turned and looked in the mirror at different angles. Not all that long ago she would’ve taken the dress off, hung it back on the hanger, and stuck it in the back of her closet once again. But after having been around Marc for the last several days, she knew that he enjoyed and appreciated every single curve. He made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, and looking at herself in the mirror, she felt like she was starting to believe it.
She heard a low, appreciative whistle behind her, and she spun around. Marc leaned against the doorframe, and he whistled again as he slowly clapped his hands. “I don’t know where you’ve been hiding that dress, but I think I’m going to have to buy you a new one. The way you look right now makes me want to rip it off your body,” he said with a low growl.
