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Even though I wanted to complain about them at first, I loved them.
I really, really did.
It was nice having something beautiful to look at, but it was nicer to see his thoughts about me on paper. I caught him writing the notes on a few occasions, so I didn’t have any question about whether or not it was him.
He didn’t tell me anything else about him and his brothers’ work, but when I asked about them, he said there was a vampire clan forming in Scale Ridge for the first time ever. Zander and Sebastian were dealing with it, and I knew Rafael wanted to help, even though he was being stalked by a dragon shifter and clearly couldn’t risk leaving.
The weeks passed quickly.Thanksgiving came and went, with Miley joining me, Rafael, and his family for a homemade dinner. Before I knew it, two months had gone by. He was still wearing sports coats and expensive pants every day too, and it still weirded me out. I had always said I wouldn’t marry a rich man, and there I was… more than married to a rich man.
And enjoying it, too.
I still wished he’d let his hair grow out a bit and start wearing joggers again, but I didn’t say that aloud. I wouldn’t have changed my clothes for him, so I wouldn’t ask him to change his for me. I was getting used to the suits, slowly.
It wasn’t like they made him less attractive. It was just a different vibe.
The time came to fly out to our mating celebration, so I left Sophie and the other two shops with enough candy to get through two weeks, even though we were only going to be gone for five days. We packed quickly after that, and headed to the airport.
Rafael had bought first-class tickets for both of us and my best friends (apparently private jets were bad for the environment, on top of being a waste of money), so even though the party was halfway across the country, we’d survive it just fine.
Brynn was practically bursting with excitement, and Miles was trying to act like she wasn’t thrilled.
The flight went by quickly.
The drive to the beachfront resort wasn’t bad, either.
And soon enough, all of us were making our way to our rooms after checking in. Their rooms were down the hall from ours, and across from each other, so I hoped it would be fun for them.
We hada few hours to kill before the party started that night with a masquerade ball of all things, so we all dropped our stuff in our ridiculously large rooms before changing and heading out to the beach.
“I’d rather fuck you in this bikini than let you out to socialize with people we both know,” Rafael murmured into my ear as the elevator lowered.
I laughed, and when I pushed him away half-heartedly, he just grinned and pulled me closer. My simple white bikini was nothing fancy, but I liked it.
My family beat us there by a few hours, and had already claimed a few chairs out on the sand. My stomach clenched at the knowledge that I was about to introduce them to my mate, but Rafael wrapped an arm around my waist, squeezing lightly to comfort me.
It only helped a little, but a little was better than nothing.
We reached the beach far too quickly, and I immediately saw my mom off to our left, standing up and waving at us.
“Good luck with your family!” Brynn said cheerfully, before grabbing Miley’s arm and trying to tow her to our right.
“Do you want us to help with your family?” Miles asked, digging her heels into the sand to buy time. “I can toe-off with your brother, if you need me to.”
I tried to force a smile, but it came out a grimace. “I’ll be fine. Thanks, though. Have fun.”
She nodded, flashed Rafael a look of warning, and then let Brynn pull her down the beach.
“What’s the story with your brother?” Rafael asked me, squeezing my hip lightly.
“One you don’t need to worry about.” I brushed hair out of my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he resisted the urge as we made our way toward my family. I waved back at my mom, so she knew we saw her.
Though she stopped waving, she remained standing, with her arms folded across her chest.
She had on a modest one-piece swimsuit that fit her well, hiding the scars from the last handful of surgeries she’d had done. Despite the distance between us, I could tell her chest was much bigger than the last time I’d seen her—and I knew her well enough to know that if she’d had her boobs done, she’d had her butt done too.
“Her name is Linda, your dad is Doug, and your brother is Max?”
