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He loved her dearly, but her main goal had been to harass an official date out of him so she could do whatever she thought was going to be necessary for their ceremony.
“Fletcher.” It was no longer a question.
He shut his laptop, took his coffee, and sat back, waiting for her to come and stand in his sight. “Yes, Mother.”
She lined up perfectly in front of him. He smirked.
“What’s so funny?” she snapped, throwing her hands on her hips.
Fletcher raised his hands. “Nothing. How can I help you?”
She blew out a breath and sat in the armchair across from him.
“You, stop with your sass.” She looked around. “Where’s Madison?”
“She just left for work.”
His mother looked a little deflated. “I’m sorry I missed her. I was trying to make it here earlier, but that just didn’t happen.”
“Mom, it’s fine …” Fletcher tried to cut her off, but it wasn’t going to work.
“No, Fletcher, it is not. That is exactly why I’m here. You keep putting off this mating ceremony, and I was wanting to nail down a date today. Tell me at least you discussed it before you let her leave.”
Fletcher laughed at that.
Let her leave. Yeah, like he had a choice in the matter when it came to what Madison wanted to do.
He smiled, however, knowing it was one of the many things he enjoyed about her.
“If you must know, you missed MadisonbecauseI brought up the mating ceremony. She doesn’t want to discuss it right now.”
He could see his mom holding her tongue. “Just ask her.” When she spoke, he could tell that her teeth were clenched. “Have you even told her that you’re her mate yet?”
He didn’t have a great excuse for this one. According to his mother, that was. “No. Not yet.”
“And why not?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her bosom.
He was tired of having the same argument in his head as he was having with his mother.
“It’s not like I haven’t tried,” he snapped as he stood and headed to the bar. It was feeling like it may be one of those days. And Fletcher hadn’t wanted a day like this … a day with sharp edges and fast, hard stops.
“When I start to tell her anything about us, she either thinks it’s a joke or freaks out and changes the subject or finds something to suddenly do. I don’t want to put too much on her right now. She’s still getting used to everything and, honestly?” he turned to face his mother, “I’m still trying to figure out who’s sending those damn letters.”
Her eyes softened for a minute. She placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to face her.
“Listen. I know it’s hard, and you’re trying to juggle a lot of things all at once. It’s not easy being king on any level, no matter what they say. If someone says it’s easy, then they’re doing it wrong.”
“Mom, I know you’re trying to help, but …”
“Just hear me out,” she interrupted with her stern voice.
Fletcher fell silent, and her calm demeanor returned.
“I know you don’t want to scare her off, but it’s more important that you’re honest in all things. That’s how she will learn to trust you more. If you know she’s holding back, then she probably senses that you are as well. She doesn’t need to be a shifter to sense that. Just a woman.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Besides, maybe she isn’t as timid as you think. Also, it’s a contract, so she isn’t going anywhere anyway.”
