Chapter 46: Simon

“You look like you are concentrating on something hard.” She said to me.

“Oh, yeah.” I cleared my throat and took another sip of coffee. “I was just thinking that I owe you again.” Where did that come from?

“How so?”

“You let me stay over. You didn’t have to, but you did.”

“That’s nothing.” She said and waved her hand as if to brush my remark to the side.

“No seriously, you didn’t have to let me stay but you did. You barely know me, and you let me sleep in your bed.”

“Oh god, that’s nothing. Any decent person would have done that.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I’m happy you stayed. It was nice.” Did she blush? “Even though you take up the entire bed.” She giggled.

“What can I say, I like to cuddle.”

“Clearly.” She looked at me and smiled.

“Please let me make it up to you?”

“Please don’t get me another gift basket. I don’t think I have enough room in the cabin.”

“You know just for that; I’m going to get you an even bigger basket!” I said as I tried to contain my laughter.

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me?” I smiled. I have never had this much fun with a girl. The only times I would hang out with the opposite sex was when we were having sex. I never had conversations with them, the only conversations I would have with a female was with the mated ones who worked around the packhouse or were mated to my best friend. “Ok, fine. I won’t get you a gift basket, but you have to come over and have dinner at the packhouse.”

“Dinner at the packhouse? Are you sure that’s ok?” She looked at me quizzically.

“I’m the Alpha. I can invite whomever I want to dinner.”

A small smile spread across her face. “Sure, I would love to have dinner with you.”

My heart skipped a beat. She said yes! Remus howled inside my head. That was something I was going to have to get used to. He has never been so loud before. And now I could hear him clearly. “Great. Do you have any requests?” I asked her, as I tried to shut out Remus.

“You’re going to cook?”

“Hell no! I can’t cook for shit. My cook, Stella, will. She’s an amazing chef.”

She laughed at me. “Ask her to cook her favorite meal.”

“You don’t have anything you’d like to eat?”

“I like anything really. I just know that if you ask a cook their favorite meal, it always tastes better than a request.” Violet continued to read over the page in front of her.

“That’s a really good observation. Done. I’ll ask Stella to cook her favorite meal. I think she will be thrilled.”

“I’m excited to meet her.”

I didn’t think about her meeting anyone else. It didn’t even come to mind. I just wanted her over to her new home. Maybe if I could make the time enjoyable, she would stay over and never leave. Baby steps Simon don’t freak her out. She was at least coming over for dinner.

“I’m sure she will be excited to see you as well.” I said as I looked back over the lake. It was serene, peaceful and I had Violet now. My mate. This was nice having her sitting next to me while we drank coffee. Like this was something normal that we did every day. I could see us getting old together and watching the sun rise drinking coffee and talking.

“Will it just be us?” She asked, as she still looked at her book.

“Us?”

“Will it only be us at dinner?” She put her hand over the page to keep her place and looked at me.

“Would you like it to be only us?” My heart stuttered in my chest.

“That would be nice.” She said as she looked away. She tried to hide the color that was rushed to her face.

“Great. It’s a date.”

“Yes, a date.” She took a drink from her mug. I could feel that she wanted this too. What I would give to hear what she was thinking about. To know her true feelings that she didn’t think she needed to hide. If she were a wolf, we would have already mated and been living together. With her being a witch, it was a little different. I needed to be careful not to scare her off. But it didn’t seem like she would be easy to scare off.

“Tell me, what are you thinking about.”

“I can’t tell you.” She shook her head, still lost in thought. “It’s too embarrassing.”

“Oh, come on. I feel like we are past that point.” I goaded her a little bit.

“No. Really it’s too embarrassing.” She shook her head.

“I promise I won’t laugh.”

She looked up to the sky and let out a sigh. “If this were a real date, this would be the first date I’ve ever been on.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye and waited for my reaction.

“You’re in luck. This is a real date and I’m glad I can be your first. I gotta set that bar high.”

The embarrassment left her face, and a smile replaced it. I never wanted to see her upset. I would do anything to keep that smile on her face. “What time should I be there?”

“How does six sound?”

“Perfect.”

My heart pounded in my chest. She was aware that this was a date, and she was going to be over. I had so much to do. I needed to make sure the place was clean and that my room looked presentable, in case she came up. I downed the last bit of my coffee and looked at the empty mug.

“Did you want more?” She asked.

“I better not. I need to get back.” I stood reluctantly.

“Of course. You are a mighty Alpha and have Alpha duties to attend to.”

I let out a laugh. “More like I have to make sure the place is clean before you get there. I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

“You don’t have to do anything for me.”

“You deserve a clean house.” Little did she know that I meant that more permanently than just for our date.

“Ok, but don’t get crazy like you did with the basket.” She pointed her thumb in the direction of the basket.

“Ha ha ha.” I said sarcastically. “Not funny. Am I ever going to live that down?”

“Nope.” She chuckled and stood. She grabbed her mug, blanket and tried to grab the book as well.

“Let me get that for you.” I grabbed the book in my free hand. It was heavier than I was expecting. The cover was a different texture than that of a normal book. “What is this made out of?” I said and looked down at the cover.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure.” Violet said as she walked through the door back into her cabin. “I know some older books are bound in human skin, maybe that?” She shrugged.

I held the book between two fingers and offered it to her. “Oh great. I have been touching a human skin bound book.”

She laughed. “Don’t be a baby. Usually, it’s witches who have died to keep their magic around. We don’t want it to die along with them.”

“So, I’ve been touching an old witch skin bound book, not much better.” I made a face and handed it to her.

She took the book in her hands and looked at it. She sat it down onto the small dining room table that she had and looked at me.

“Well, I think I need to get going. A lot to do!” I went over to the couch and grabbed my pants that laid across the arm rest. I started to put them on, and I saw her watching me. “Be careful, you’re drooling.” I pulled up my pants and fastened the belt.

“Shut up.” She turned away and blushed for the hundredth. She took another look in my direction.