I climb out of bed and I don’t think that there is a single muscle in my body that doesn’t ache, but it’s a good thing. In the bathroom, I stand naked in front of the mirror. I’ve always been petite, but my body is leaner now. Do my boobs look bigger? I shake my head and walk into the shower.
Today I’m having lunch with Rowan, but that’s if Merick lets me out of the house. I wash and condition my hair, then scrub myself from head to toe. After rinsing off I grab a towel, and dry off. I go through my post-shower routine and then walk into Merick’s—I mean our—room. It still feels strange referring to it as such, but he’s made it clear this home is ours. Hearing him tell me he had it built and designed, every single detail with me in mind, still floors me. But looking around I see bits of myself that he’d known without even asking, like he truly knowns me, like he can read my thoughts and understand my wants without asking.
It’s all so humbling, words cannot express how close I feel toward him.
Back in the bathroom, I put on a little makeup, keeping the look natural. Spending a little extra time to blow dry my hair brown locks and quickly put my hair into a braid.
Feeling slightly chilled, I search for my thick black turtleneck. Matching it with my favorite dark jeggings and my gray UGGs, I look over my choice of outfit in the full-length mirror and am pleased with the outcome.
Downstairs, I grab my red stocking cap and stop in front of the mirror, careful to place it on, not wanting to mess up my hair too much in the process. I look pretty cute if I do say so myself.
Noticing the time on my phone I realize that Rowan should be here soon. Merick’s in his office, looking yummy sitting in front of his computer monitors, focusing on whatever it is on his screen. He looks up as I enter and offers me the sweetest smile. “You look so fucking beautiful. You take my breath away.”
My cheeks heat up and I bite my lip. He is always saying this kind of stuff to me.
Merick holds out his hand to me and I take it, letting him pull me down to his lap. “Are you looking forward to having lunch with Rowan today?”
“Yeah, I am. It will be really nice getting to know her better and meeting some more townspeople. They must think I’m a hermit, I’ve barely left the house since I got here.” I moan as Merick licks over the scarred flesh from his marking. “Stop it, or Ro is gonna walk in on us having sex.”
“Fuck, please don’t...gross.” Rowan comes walking in smiling. She’s dressed similar to me, but her sweater is baby blue, and super-tight, showing off the breasts I wish I had. Instead of UGGs, she’s wearing fashionable winter boots, with black faux fur around the top. “Can you please release your mate? We’re meeting Amelia and she gets really pissy if I’m late.”
I kiss Merick and then jump up and out of his reach. I’m learning that he doesn’t care who is around. If he wants to kiss me borderline indecently he’s gonna do it. He stands up, and god he’s tall. I feel like a shrimp between these two. “Ro, take care of my mate. Call me if you need me.”
Rowan loops her arm through mine. “Yeah, yeah. You know she’s in good hands.”
I grab my coat and purse off the rack and head out with Ro to her black SUV. The town of Stone Ridge is picturesque. It almost doesn’t seem real. We have casual chitchat as we pull into the parking lot of Celestial Cafe.
I look at Rowan and raise my brow. She laughs softly, “It’s almost like you read my mind.” I was craving their strawberry lemonade. Merick had bought me one the other day and it was delicious.
We climb out and head inside the little restaurant. It’s decorated in soft blues and tans. Each table has little vases with flowers on it. A beautiful redhead waves us over from her spot in front of the window.
She stands as we approach. “You’re Taryn, I’m Amelia.” Surprisingly she reaches out and pulls me in for a hug before she and Rowan share a hug.
Once we’re all seated our waitress grabs us waters. The two women talk animatedly with each other while I look over the menu. I freeze because my ears start buzzing. Hmm...maybe I’m getting sick. I shake it off and then lookup.
Rowan is staring at me, “you okay?” I don’t like the way she’s looking me over, but I nod anyway. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, seriously. My ears started ringing that’s all. Tell me, what’s good here.” They each throw out their suggestions as I attempt to shake off the humming noise in my ears. It's weird really like a low continuous ‘hmmmmm’.
After we order I turn to Amelia choosing to push past the annoying hum and wrap myself up in conversation as a distraction. “What do you do?
“I’m a midwife.” My stomach does a somersault simply thinking about babies, but it does it in a good way.
“That’s wonderful. Did you grow up here too?”
She smiles and her emerald green eyes sparkle. “I did. My family and Merick’s are some of the original settlers.”
“Wow, that’s incredible. My dad said our ancestors came from here too.”
I excuse myself and head down the hallway to go to the bathroom. When I finish I wash my hands, and that’s when I hear a faint whisper causing me to slowly scan over the small space. “Hello?” I call out, but the other stall is empty. “I need to get my ears
