Because of Her (BOT Spin-Off)

Chapter 6

"That's the last one," Marilyn said, setting the box down.

"We own a lot of stuff," Mike said, glancing at all of the five boxes.

Marilyn giggled. "This apartment is beautiful. Look at our view. There's even a little balcony."

"This is even better," Mike said, removing the couch cushions to find the string to pull it out into a bed.

"That's mine," she claimed.

"No, you take the bedroom," he said, stretching out on the mattress so she didn't have room to sit.

"I'm serious, Mike. Get up," she said, trying to push him off. He didn't budge and she tried to pull at his legs instead.

"Marilyn, stop," he chuckled. "You can have this bed when I am downstairs working, okay? Look, you can lay down and watch TV," he said, finally sitting up so she could join him.

"But you pay for it," she frowned. "I guess I will just have to get a job then."

"No," he whined. "I'll miss you too much."

Marilyn stilled, feeling a blush creep up her neck and onto her cheeks. "Really?" she asked softly.

"Truly," he confirmed, just as soft. "Although, you probably do want to do something, and we are in walking distance to so many stores. You could use my car, too. "

Marilyn nodded, hiding her giddy smile. She and Mike had become really good friends over the past month. She loved getting to know him, and she was beginning to want more. She wanted to be his mate. She trusted him with her whole heart.

"Maybe just part time," she added. "I can put the money aside for something we want to do together."

Mike furrowed his brows, "Like a vacation? "

"Or a house," she said.

"A house." He fell back dramatically, the mattress bouncing her a bit. She stifled her laugh. "We get a fancy apartment in a prime location and you already want a house," he teased.

"One with a huge porch and lots of land for our wolves," she smiled.

He liked that she was envisioning a future with him. He felt blissful, light even. "Alright, deal."

He stood up, offering her his hand as he helped her up.

"I know you don't want to see a single speck of dust before we unpack."

"I am not that bad," he frowned, and she lifted the corners of his mouth up with her fingers. He swatted her away.

"Whatever you say," she said, tossing him a rag.

----

Mike broke down the cardboard box of the supplies he was putting away, dropping the box onto the stack in the back.

"That about does it for me," Danny said, with his clipboard. He was doing inventory of all the new items. "Before you are done, please take these invoices and pull their items. Most of them will be picked up tomorrow since it's the first of the month."

"Got it," Mike confirmed, taking the stack of orders.

"Have the little lady help you," he said. "I haven't seen her today."

Mike smiled at the thought of Marilyn. "She wanted a job of her own."

"Well, I told her she could work here," Danny said, pulling his keys off his belt. "Although, I'm sure she's tired of seeing you all the time."

Mike chuckled at the teasing. It felt normal, it felt like family. He took the keys.

"Go home. I'll lock up everything."

"Thanks, Mike. I'll be sure to bring you some of Sheila's famous cookies in the morning. She's been sending me pictures of them all day."

Marilyn came in as soon as Danny left, and Mike locked the doors behind her, pulling down the blinds on the door.

"Someone looks happy," Mike said, happy to see her.

"I got a job," she grinned. "Can you believe it?"

"Congratulations," he said sincerely. "That's so awesome."

"There's an association down the street that does after school care for elementary kids. They said I could help out a few times during the week. It would only be for a few hours."

Her excitement was endearing. He was excited for her.

"Also, I got dinner," she said, holding up the bag.

"That smells amazing," he said, taking it from her to look inside.

"Fried chicken," she smiled, absolutely radiant. "Soon, I can buy it with my own money. Isn't that cool?"

"So cool," he said. "I still have a few things to do here. Why don't you go on up?"

"Nonsense," Marilyn shook her head. "The sooner you're done here the sooner we can celebrate. I want to eat chicken and watch that show we found, what was it called?"

She picked up the first invoice, already heading down the aisle to start pulling stuff.

"It was a game show. We watched several of them. I can't remember," he said honestly.

"The host asked a question that other people had already answered."

"Family something."

Marilyn was good at the task. She liked tracking down the items while Mike packaged them up. Some would be shipped, others would be picked up.

"My wolf is dying to be let out," Marilyn admitted. She yawned, picking up the last order from the stack.

"We should go out this weekend. Get some fresh out. It's supposed to be warm."

"Even if it was below freezing, my wolf wouldn't care," she shook her head. "It's a date."

"A date," Mike repeated. "As in-"

"I feel like we've had lots of dates," Marilyn admitted, taking a seat as Mike wrapped up his task. "But this should be our first official one."

"Okay," he nodded, feeling excited. He couldn't resist looking at her another time. She was so pretty. She had completely transformed, and he hoped some of it was because of him. He knew he was better because of her.