Page 113 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

“Aw, man. How did you do that?” Michael asked.

“I have my ways,” Roland said.

“Seriously? You’re into guys? He’s young enough to be your kid,” Lauren said.

I turned a glare toward her. “Who I am spending my life with is nobody’s business but my own. Asher is not young enough to be my child, and you are now warned, Lauren.” I looked to the other two, who were no longer smiling, before I refocused on Lauren. “I never showed interest. In fact, I turned you down at every opportunity you presented. Dr. White is still very much in charge of your expedition and in control of who does and doesn’t continue with the dig. You’ve shown me that you are not to be trusted, and you are not accepting of boundaries.” I once more looked at the other two. “I was the lead on this dig. I’m no longer it as I will be returning home with Asher. Think long and hard and be ready to explain your actions to Dr. White when he is ready for you to return to the site with Dr. Eris. You all need this experience for your degrees. Maybe use your time off to think about that.”

I shook my head, and when I stepped back, Asher came with me. I quietly closed the door, flipping the lock once I had. I took a deep breath before looking down at Asher. He gave me a lopsided smile before he moved out from under my arm and left the doorway. I followed, and when he sat on the couch, he pulled his legs up with him and tucked them under. He very much had the unapproachable look to him at the moment.

“I’m not upset with you for anything,” I said.

“I shouldn’t have come over. I heard voices, and when she said the word ‘girlfriend,’ I heard the bitterness in her voice, and I used magic to put me over behind you. I shouldn’t have. I apologize.”

I sat beside him and held out my hand, hoping he’d take it. When he placed his in mine, I immediately closed my larger hand around his and gave it a gentle squeeze before bringing it to my mouth and kissing the back.

“You did nothing wrong, and there is no need for you to apologize for anything. You are indeed my partner. There will never be another for me, nor for you. We haven’t claimed each other yet, but that will change later on. I’m going to message Dr. White at the museum. I will let him know of my notes about them and what their actions are saying. They are students who are working on degrees. I was never going to finish this dig with them, but we had hoped to get further than we did. Weather can be unpredictable.”

“What are you going to say? Will you have issues because of me? They mentioned I’m young enough to be your kid.”

I snorted. “True, you are. But they all believe I’m forty-two. That’s not exactly old enough to be a twenty-eight-year-old’s father. You would have had to have been born when I was fourteen. That’s a little young for most people. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but you and I both know that’s not the case for us.”

Asher nodded.

“There will be a third lead on this dig before they are finished, so me leaving has nothing to do with you. I simply decided to pull out a little earlier than planned, but I had all but made that decision before I met you.”

There was another knock on the door, and I sighed as I looked toward it.

“That’s probably the food. It’s been close to thirty minutes, according to the clock on the wall,” Asher said. I nodded and went to open the door again. When I did, sure enough, there was a cart with several silver domes on top of plates. This time, there were also items on the second shelf of the cart, and I stepped back to let the delivery attendant in. He pushed the cart into the suite and stopped beside the table. Immediately, I noticed that Asher wasn’t in the room.

“If you would sign here.”

I nodded, signed the ticket again, and handed it and the pen back to the attendant.

He glanced and nodded. “Thank you. If you would leave the cart in the hallway when you are finished, please.”

“Will do. Thank you,” I told him. I walked him out of the suite again, closing and locking the door behind him. When I came back into the room, Asher was standing in the doorway that led to the bedroom.

“I didn’t know if I should be seen or not.”

My heart broke. “Sweetheart, they know I’m not going to eat all of this food. They know at least one other person is in here with me.”

Asher shrugged. “But it could have been a girl. Or a few other people. I heard you when you ordered. You ordered enough for three or four people.”

I sighed but nodded. It seemed we were going to have to have a long conversation before we took things further. I was not ever going to hide my mate. Never. And as soon as I could, I would be checking out of the hotel, and I’d have my father get us from here to somewhere. Most likely France. I could claim my mate in my house in France. Father would have time to help with things we would need for Asher’s fertile period.

“All right. Let’s eat,” I told him. I held out my arm, hoping he’d come to me. When he did, I was thankful that he wasn’t too upset with me.

I held out a chair for him, then went to the cart and pulled off the domes. Fish and chips. Lucky guess because although I could smell the food, they were all combined at the moment, and I had no idea which was what until I removed the covers. I placed it in front of Asher, wondering if he’d love fish and chips as much as I did.

“What is it?” he asked, leaning down and taking a deep breath.

“Fish and chips. Did you want malt for it?” I asked, holding up the bottle.

“I’m not sure. Maybe?”

I grabbed the ale that was on the second shelf and opened it for him with the opener. “Now, usually these are on tap, but since we aren’t in an actual pub, we get the bottled version.”

Asher took the bottle, and after giving it a smell, he wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Would you be terribly upset if I opted for tea?”