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“I spent a lot of time at hockey arenas as a kid,” he admitted with a one-shouldered shrug. “Plus, the big guy inside really likes it when we’re on the ice, so I like to throw him a bone every once in a while.”
“My inner princess would rather be snuggled up under a blanket, enjoying some of those fries we saw,” Espie countered, which made both of them laugh. “I’m sure they’ll figure out how to get along.”
“They’d better. I’m in this for the long haul.”
She bit her lip. Was this how it worked for other fated couples who had only just met? Did they just know that they were set for the rest of their lives together after only a date or two? Did it even matter what they wanted, since fated mates simply couldn’t remain apart?
Some couples tried and tried to make a relationship work, not realizing it was doomed from the start. Fated mates never had to deal with that issue. They found their soul mate for life in the other person; and somehow, the universe just knew which two people to pair up.
“Oh, are you now? The long haul?” Espie asked, holding tighter when she started to wobble. “You sure about that? We’ve only just met.”
“I’ve always known that when I found my fated mate, my real life, the one I’ve felt like I’m missing out on, can begin,” Luther admitted. He wouldn’t meet her gaze this time, and she sensed a shift in his vulnerability. “It’s not that I don’t value the life I have now and the people who are in it; but meeting you, Espie, is just the start of how things were always meant to be. I’m a loyal bear who mates for life. If you’ll have me, you’re stuck with me.”
They did another lap around the rink in silence, the echoes of other skaters and the slightly crackly music from the overhead speakers acting as their soundtrack.
What he was saying…it was exactly what Espie had always thought she wanted in a mate: loyalty and love. Now that she was hearing it, however, her brain was slowly switching gears to panic-mode. Was something wrong with her? Shouldn’t she jump at the chance to be with a man as dedicated as Luther?
Why didn’t she feel more certain about this?
“It’s a lot to take in all at once,” Luther said, as if he’d read her mind. She glanced up at him shyly, then flushed when he grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders. Instinctively, she tightened hers around his waist. “We don’t have to rush anything. Fated mates have their whole lives. Let’s just take it one step at a time. Today is our second date. Tonight is totally open. Tomorrow is whatever we choose. Don’t feel pressured to do something you aren’t prepared for.”
How did he get so wise? At thirty-two, he was definitely older than her. His words comforted her in a way she hadn’t expected, and using the stopping technique he had tried to teach her when they first started, she eased to a clumsy halt, the motion forcing him to dart in front of her. Hands pressed to his chest, Espie stretched up—it was hard to stand on one’s toes in skates—and yet she managed to gently brush her lips over his.
Luther seemed taken aback—for point-two-five seconds. Soon enough, he claimed her for his own, right in front of everyone in the middle of the rink. Their lips parted and tongues swept over one another in an intricate dance Espie had always struggled to engage in properly with guys in the past. Kissing him felt easy. Natural. Just like she had been doing it her whole life.
This time, Luther pulled away before things risked being taken too far, and Espie pressed her lips together, chest heaving and cheeks flushing.
“I take it you like my plan?” he asked, mouth twisting into a slightly cocky smirk that made her knees weak.
Espie nodded. All the pressure had been lifted from her shoulders with just a few words.
He truly was her fated mate.
“Yeah. I really, really do.”
