Page 34 of Shifters Unifying
“Sit. Eat,” she said to him. “No need for you to starve while we’re sorting out or differences.” Her gaze hardened, and he shrank back down into his seat. Then she flashed her Southern belle smile. “You must call me Sophia.
“Ms. Sophia, it is, then, ma’am,” he said, more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Are you from across the pond?” she asked.
“No, but me da and ma immigrated not that long ago, and their brogue stuck.” What he didn’t say was that “not that long ago” for a shifter might be one hundred or two hundred years, but he started eating.
“Are you seeing anyone?” she asked Jasper.
Jasper’s eyes widened, and the edges of his mouth twitched.
“Mom!” Rubbing my temples didn’t help the headache creeping into them.
“It’s a reasonable question… You have cousins.”
“He’s dating a friend of mine,” I snapped.
My mother nodded evenly. “Ah, yes, I see. Off the market, then. Good to know.”
“I told you that this earlier.”
“Did you? I lose track of what you tell me. There’s so little.”
“That doesn’t even make sense, but you get a thousand bonus miles for your first class attempt at a guilt trip.” I shoved a big bite of Ceviche into my mouth to keep from saying anything else.
Unexpectedly, my mother chuckled, and her smile lit up her face. “That was a good one. Do you remember when you were a teenager, and we’d go ‘round and ‘round until your father would come in and demand to be taken for ice cream?”
The recollection stamped out my irritation, and I laid my hand on her forearm. “I have so much I want to tell you, but I have to make sure you’re ready for it.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Like what, sweetie?”
“Everything I’ve been up to…”
“Such as?”
Jasper stopped shoveling Ceviche and tortilla chips into his mouth long enough to tune into our conversation. His ears twitched as though his inner fox had gotten nervous.
“Training, networking, and meeting new people of the male variety,” I said. “Same ol’, same ol’.”
She sighed. “I see.”
He gave me a hard look. “Seriously?” he mouthed. “Tell her.”
“You had mentioned training. I thought maybe it was something more life-changing than that. You do have all the hallmarks of someone grabbling with big news… or maybe a drug problem.”
“I do not have a drug problem, Mom.”
“You know I have to ask.”
I rolled my eyes and shrugged. “Sure.”
Jasper nodded. “She does have to ask, lass. Ye never know.”
“Then…” She paused, probably for dramatic effect. “Are you pregnant?”
My mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. “Uh, no…” I croaked. “No, no, I’m not.”
Her gaze narrowed, and she leaned toward me. “Why are you hesitating? Are you certain you’re not pregnant?”
