Chapter 45
I woke up to the intoxicating scent of freshly brewed coffee, it was incredibly comforting, I stretched and realised Daniel wasn’t beside me. I slipped out of the bed, into the bathroom and locked the door. After using the toilet and brushing my teeth, I snuck back into the bedroom and between the sheets. After a few minutes, Daniel opened the bedroom door his hands carried a large wooden tray with legs. He gave me the biggest smile as he walked over to me and placed the tray on the bed over my lap.
“It’s not much, my culinary skills are seriously lacking, but I’ve wanted to share breakfast in bed with you for months. So, before Ben and Maria get here, I thought we could share some toast and have a cup of coffee, maybe even fit in a run after?” He looked so adorable, unsure and nervous that I wouldn’t like it. I returned his smile and pulled him towards me so I could kiss him.
“I love it, it’s perfect!” I whispered against his lips as we both pulled back. He had several preserves and even added a tiny vase with a flower. I picked up the coffee as he ran around the bed, he climbed in next to me and he shuffled over so his body was pressed against mine. I giggled at his antics, as I took a sip I realised, he had made me a soya caramel latte, my favourite. “This is so sweet, thank you.” I was genuinely touched by his consideration.
“Anything for my queen.” He murmured, his lips on my shoulder, I put the cup down, quietly confident we wouldn’t be eating anytime soon. He ran his nose up my shoulder, inhaling my scent. “You smell so delicious.” He groaned, I shot him a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “No, food and coffee first, I remember something about if you didn’t have a run first thing, you’d better have coffee or grumpy Charlie comes out?” He said with a smug look.
“You remember that?” I asked incredulously, I had mentioned it on one of our dream dates, but I never thought he would remember. “Well, that is true, usually, but I woke up feeling extremely well-rested and energetic this morning. Not that I will ever turn down coffee!” I added hastily, as I picked my cup back up and laughed at the faces he pulled. “When did you get soya milk?” I asked, knowing he wasn’t a fan.
“I asked one of the household staff to get some yesterday after you agreed to spend the weekend.” He said sheepishly, I giggled at him and pecked his lips with mine.
“Thank you, you didn’t have to, but I appreciate it,” I whispered. “Speaking of the household staff, when do they come? I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You won’t be, and not until after nine, don’t worry about them, they won’t come up here unless I ask them to.” I nodded slowly, spreading some blueberry jam on my toast. He playfully took a bite before I could even bring it to my lips, making me laugh at his childish teasing. I finally took my first bite, and it was amazing.
“What time are Maria and Ben getting here?” I asked curious about how much time we would have for a run.
“Not until ten, we decided Appletree would survive without one of us in the building for a morning, but Ben will be going in this afternoon to take care of anything urgent.” He explained.
“Aren’t you worried about the staff listening in on our conversation with Ben and Maria?” I asked suddenly aware that I had no idea how any of it worked. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.
“I honestly hadn’t considered it. They’ve worked for my family for generations, I never thought about censoring myself around them. Besides, we were always able to use the mind-link for sensitive information. Maybe we should go somewhere else.” He pondered out loud.
“Would they be able to hear us if they were downstairs and we used one of the rooms up here?” I asked I had surmised Lycans had more advanced senses than humans from some of Daniel’s behaviour, but I had no idea how much.
“It’s a possibility.” He muttered, deep in thought.
“You’d be surprised how much info someone who isn’t considered high on the totem pole can gather.” I offered. “Look at my assistant, Kendra. When I was looking at resumes for my team, she was able to eliminate more than half of the list Ms Michaels sent me.” He looked at me, with a furrowed brow. “She knew who had talent, who didn’t, who wouldn’t leave their position out of loyalty, who wasn’t being appreciated, who was lazy. Who wanted to advance but couldn’t, all sorts of information and she was only Mr Pratt’s second assistant for a few months.” I informed him. A worried look crept over his face. Maybe the rank system wasn’t as fool proof as Daniel had believed. He had started to look stressed, and I felt guilty for being the cause but also a little surprised it had never occurred to him before. We sipped our coffee in silence, his mind was obviously running down the problem, and I didn’t want to disturb him. Once our coffee and toast were long gone, I had to do something because he was still lost in thought. “Are you okay?” I asked, a little worried about him.
“Hmm? Yes sorry, I’m distracted, and I was talking to Ben, we are going to go to their home instead, none of the pack knows you’ve met Maria, so it’ll be under the guise of introducing you. There’s just one problem.” He said still frowning. “My parents will be there too. They will have to be, I can’t very well introduce you to my sister-in-law and not them, although as the Beta couple technically they now outrank my parents, but it wouldn’t look good. Do you think you can handle that?” He asked me softly, I didn’t see how I had a choice, I was going to have to meet them sooner or later. And I was sure they would need to be informed about what was going on. I took a deep breath.
“Okay, I guess I’m meeting your family,” I said suddenly worried. I hadn’t factored meeting the parents into our weekend plans, and I didn’t really bring anything appropriate to wear. I had mostly brought casual clothes, suitable for taking a walk around the estate grounds, I assumed we would be spending the weekend mostly in bed. I got out from under the covers and started rifling through my clothes for anything that could be suitable. I found the beautiful soft sweater Daniel had bought me and a decent pair of jeans. I held them up and asked him a question I wasn’t prepared for the answer to. “Would this be alright to meet your parents?” I was nervous and it was showing, I had no idea what was suitable for the situation. He smiled softly at me.
“That’s going to be fine, you shouldn’t worry. When Maria met my parents, she was in a bikini top and booty shorts. She was also only just eighteen and Ben had almost taken a door off its hinges after getting a whiff of her scent. So don’t worry. Okay?” I suddenly felt dread fill all of me.
“But she was a Lycan, and I’m not. What if your parents don’t like me? And don’t want you to be with me?” I asked, the stress evident in my voice. He hurried out of the bed and wrapped me in his arms.
“Hey, it's alright. They will see how happy you make me, that’s all that matters. We will deal with everything else as it comes, okay?” I buried my head in his chest. All my worst fears were being realised as we stood in the quiet bedroom. “Do you want to go for a run?” He asked as he held me. “Clear your head a bit?”
“I don’t know. Ordinarily, I’d say yes, but I don’t have a lot of my things here, so I feel unprepared to meet your parents. I don’t even know how long I’ve got to get ready!” My anxiety came out as word vomit again. All the things that had been bouncing around in my mind came flying out of my mouth to make room for more questions.
“Okay, it’s alright.” He soothed me, rubbing my back and holding me tighter. “It’s only a little after seven, we are all meeting at Ben and Maria's for ten, and my parents are never on time, so we won’t have to leave here until then and we would still beat them there by thirty minutes easily. So, let’s go for a quick run and I will have you back here and in the shower by eight-twenty.” He offered.
“Eight, non-negotiable,” I countered.
“Deal!” He grinned happily.
“I can't!” I realised as I turned back to the dresser. “I didn’t bring a sports bra!” He laughed at the horrified look on my face, he tried to suppress it but ended up doubled over belly laughing.
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