Page 42 of The Bear's Chosen Mate
She dropped her head on his chest and listened to his heart pound.“Great date,” she finally got out.
His laughter rumbled up from his chest until the two of them were shaking.
He tucked his fingers under her chin and lifted until he was smiling down at her.“The best.”
17
The next week passed in a blur.James was kept hopping getting ready for the gala.
Added to that, booking upcoming summer promotional tours had become increasingly difficult.Invitations were coming in that had to be answered.What he wanted to do was accept for himself and Kaylee.
Instead he sent them off as him with a plus one and hoped like hell they would find a way to make this work.
Truth was, he wanted her by his side.Always.
Not only in the apartment, where they’d fallen into a routine of waking in each other’s arms, fooling around, then making breakfast together, both of them grinning from ear to ear.
Not only when she joined him as they went for walks in their human forms and runs in their animal forms.
Not only when they spent time with Alex and Cooper, his brothers watching carefully as if wanting to protect their baby sibling from being hurt.
Kaylee cared about him.Heknewthat.He knew that to the core of his being.
But they weren’t mates.That box of potential inside him remained firmly wrapped, no matter how clearly he could sense it was real.
Which meant she was worried about everything she’d need to do as his mate, and it didn’t seem he could do anything to reassure her on that count.
“I don’t want to mess up anything for Borealis Gems,” she repeated for the umpteenth time.“If I go up on a stage with you, who knows what might happen?I might have a panic attack.I might faint dead away—wouldn’t that look good on national television?”
He squeezed her tightly.“What if youdon’tpanic because I’m there beside you?Or what if you don’t go up on the stage with me in the first place?You could be somewhere near the side and wave.”
“Yeah, right.Perfect idea.I can see Meghan doing that with Prince Harry.Standing somewhere away from the crowd and waving when they call her name.Or sitting in the car and sticking an arm out instead of being by his side.”
James had to grin.
She glared.“What’s that expression for?We’re talking about something serious here.”
He couldn’t help himself.“I like being compared to Prince Harry.And I think you and Meghan have a lot in common.”
Her lips twitched.“You’re such a pain,” she complained softly, sliding into his arms and patting his chest.
“But I’m your pain, yes?”
Her lips twisted into a smile.“Yes.”
Still, they hadn’t come to any great solutions because while he honestly didn’t mind keeping her out of the spotlight, it was clear that she needed to be there.
If he was choosing her to be his mate—and he was—he was choosing for her to be by his side.
Which meant…
A thought flickered across his brain too quickly for it to register.
Maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way.He struggled to figure out what was teasing in the back of his mind, but the next thing he knew it was the day of the gala, and his brave, sweet, beautiful Kaylee was sitting opposite him at the breakfast table as if she were preparing to face a firing squad.
He opened his mouth.
She held up a hand.“Not one word.I said I would be there for you, and I meant it.”
