Page 53 of A Surprise Baby for the Wolf Shifter

“Are you following me or are you riding with me?” he asked.

I needed a show of faith, and he did too. “I’m riding with you.”

He smiled and held out his arm. “Allow me to lead the way.”

I fought the tug on my lips, but it was so hard. My lips won, pulling over my teeth in what had to be the biggest smile ever. But I also understood I had to manage my expectations. The last time I was at his place, things blew up, and in a major, earth-shattering way.

Regardless, I slid my hand along the crook of his arm and allowed him to escort me to his truck.

Once we made it to his truck, he opened the passenger’s side door and then helped me in. As he made his way to the driver’s side, I put on my seat belt, tucking it under my baby bump. And in the seconds before he turned over the ignition, he smiled. I saw the lighter side of him. The way things could be.

I blinked those thoughts from my mind and laid my head against the door. I was tired, but I didn’t want to sleep. The drive was peaceful and quiet. It was another glimpse of how things could be with us. Somehow, it felt right. As though, with him was where I belonged. Where I was meant to be.

About an hour later, we pulled into his driveway. Seconds after turning off the ignition, he was at my door, helping me out. He then led me to his door and inside his home. He took my hand and guided me to a door that sealed in a room I didn’t notice existed before.

It shared the hallway with the bathroom. I supposed I had always assumed it was a utility room and didn’t pay much attention to it. Or maybe my mind was preoccupied with other more important things than getting a thorough tour of his home. Regardless, I knew of it now, and I was curious to find out what lay behind it.

Weylan then released my hand and settled a nervous glance on me for a brief moment before resting his hand on the doorknob. “There wouldn’t happen to be any chance of me getting you to close your eyes first?”

“Really?” I asked though it came out sounding more like a question.

“Yeah. You’re right,” he said. “Okay, here goes…”

He opened the door to a bright, warm room.

I took one look and gasped.

He converted a room into a nursery.

“This is beautiful,” I said as I stepped forward. “But what if you never heard from me or stumbled across my lunch?”

He shrugged. “I had faith.”

I shook my head as I slowly walked the perimeter of the room, taking in everything we needed to care for a baby. Soft pastels filled the space in accent pillows and blankets. A white crib took up the far wall and a mobile dangled over the center. A white changing table station, filled with drawers and shelves covered with all the essentials took up the right wall. Then there was a dresser filled with baby clothes on the left wall, a white rocking chair in the far corner, and a round rug that sat in the center of the room in a soft green.

I covered my mouth with my hand. The room was beautiful, like the kind seen in the expensive house decorating magazines. It was everything I would have hoped for, and so much more.

“This is so perfect,” I said. “You did all of this by yourself?”

“I might have had a lot of help from the ladies that worked at the department store I got most of this from.” He came to stand beside me. “Do you really like it?”

I nodded and turned to face him. “I can’t believe you did all of this.”

“Do you see why I said you had to see this for yourself and how important it was you did so before filing the papers?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m so blown away. Pictures definitely wouldn’t have done it justice.”

“I can’t believe I was almost too late,” he said.

My eyebrows drew together, and I shook my head. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “The adoption papers.”

I nodded. “Right.”

“I never want to cut things that close ever again,” he said.

“You’re full of promises today, aren’t you?” I asked. I added a smile to let him know I was only slightly teasing him.

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