Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
We went to the kitchen table. After we sat, Tate said, “Okay, just an update. The cops did get some photos of your car, and they towed it off yesterday. Miles got the name of the garage. They were going to hold it until the owner claimed it. We went ahead and got that taken care of. The repairs on it are starting today. Steff and I gave the cops everything we have on Luis, and we let them know we are pretty much one-hundred percent sure he’s the perpetrator.”
It was a very funny feeling, having someone look out for me. It had been so long since anyone had done something like this for me. It was nice. Comforting. Warm. But it also made me feel like I was taking advantage of him. I wasn’t even sure how to respond.
“Thank you, Tate. I really appreciate all this.”
He just stared at me. It wasn’t an angry or irritated stare, it was more like he was searching for something. Looking deep inside me, literally trying to read what was going on in my head. Heat rose in my cheeks when he finally leaned back, breaking the moment.
“Okay, I’m taking you out for breakfast. Go ahead and get dressed,” he said, startling me.
I shook my head. “I’m not really in the mood for all that. I’d rather stay in today. I’m sorry.”
He smiled. “No problem, I get it.”
He stood and walked to the kitchen, then started pulling out some pans. He grabbed eggs and a pack of bacon from the fridge. It took a few seconds before I could process what I was seeing. I finally broke the paralysis that had taken hold once he stood.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Without looking up from the stove, he said, “I’m making us breakfast. I’m starving. Plus, we need to talk.” He glanced at me. “There’s a lot to go over, and we need to go ahead and get it all out in the open. I don’t really want to drag all this out until the baby is born. No reason not to do it over a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon. Crispy or floppy?”
“Huh?” I asked dumbly.
He raised his eyebrows. “Your bacon? Crispy or floppy?”
“Oh. Uh… crispy. Maybe a step or two away from being burnt,” I said with a smile.
He pointed at me with a spatula. “I knew there was a reason I liked you. Consider it done.”
Twenty minutes later, he put a plate in front of me with perfectly cooked bacon, scrambled eggs, and buttered toast. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the food was in front of me. I took a bite of bacon and eggs and had just stuffed a piece of toast into my mouth when Tate started talking.
“When is your next doctor’s appointment?”
My eyes jolted up to meet him. My mouth was stuffed with food, in the most embarrassing, least ladylike way I could have imagined. Already, this little breakfast meeting was going poorly on my end. “What?” I mumbled through a full mouth.
“Your next appointment. I want to be involved with everything from here on out. I want to go with you to the next one. Plus, since I’m going to be around a lot more, we should get to know each other a little better. Right?”
Finally getting the mouthful of food swallowed, I shot him a surprised look. This was not how I’d thought this would go.
Before I could answer, he said, “I mean, we’re going to be raising a kid together. Shouldn’t we know each other a little better?”
“Well, sure. Can we maybe start with the background stuff? You know, the things people usually find out
before having hot, sweaty sex.”
He actually blushed a little at that, which helped me feel a tiny bit better about the whole conversation. I could keep him off kilter, too, it seemed.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
I shrugged. “What was your childhood like?”
He glanced down at his plate and ate an entire piece of bacon before answering. “Well, I guess my childhood was pretty normal. Things didn’t get weird until I was older. My family pretty much disowned me and kicked me out when I was eighteen.”
That should have been one of the craziest things I’d ever heard, but my own life was similar. When Sam and I got pregnant with Mariah, my parents demanded I have an abortion or put her up for adoption. They’d absolutely refused to even entertain the thought that I would marry him. When I did, and I kept the baby, they’d cut me off. I hadn’t seen or spoken to either of them since I was pregnant with Mariah. I couldn’t imagine
anything my girls could do that would make me want to cut them out of my life. To send them into the world without someone to lean on or confide in sounded heartless and brutal. It
was heartless and brutal. It was even worse when it was done by someone you loved and trusted. Tate and I had more in common than I thought.
“What made them do that?”
Tate shrugged and stirred his eggs around his plate. “I… I didn’t want to follow the path they’d laid out for me. I’d met a girl that they thought I should marry. I didn’t love her, though. I was just with her because everyone wanted me to be with her. When I broke up with her, my family tried to force me to get back with her. When that didn’t work…” Tate made a slicing gesture with his fork, “…cut off. Never to return.”
“I’m so sorry.” I proceeded to tell him my story. His eyes widened with surprise when he realized we had very similar experiences.
We talked for hours, long after our food was done. We talked as we did the dishes, as I brewed coffee, while we sat on the couch. It was companionable, easy, and enjoyable. It had been a long time since I’d been able to converse this easily with a man. Luis had talked, but the conversations had always been very one-sided and narcissistic. This was a give and take, and it was fun. I hadn’t had this sort of connection with someone since Sam.
After a while, Tate sighed. “You know, I’d decided a long time ago that I would never have kids. I’d never even considered it. Still, as soon as I realized you were pregnant with my kid, I couldn’t walk away. There was no way I could abandon my child the way my family abandoned me. So, how do you want to do this?”
It wasn’t an easy question, especially since I didn’t really know how this was going to work.