Earning Her Trust

Chapter 4

Andy

I felt my feet glide across the room, almost without my control. The petite girl in front of me had the power to absolutely control me, to destroy me, or, what I hoped would eventually happen, spend the rest of her life with me and make me the happiest man on earth. As I learned through Paul's experiences with his mate Bethany, I didn't want to scare her away by being too intense too quickly. She would feel the mate bond, but she wouldn't understand it. She couldn't know about my world yet, as she was human, but she would one day become part of it. It was best to slowly introduce her to life as a shifter, so as not to scare her away.

As she was the most important thing to me, I would do anything to ensure that she understood my life and that she wanted to be part of it. Once I had introduced her to Paul, I led her across the party that no longer held my interest. I had spotted two chairs across the way and I wanted to sit down and get to know her. Within a few seconds, she had easily become the most precious thing in the entire world to me. I glanced over my shoulder to see the slightly confused look on her adorable face. I knew that her instincts would tell her to trust me, but it was unusual for a human relationship to escalate as quickly as ours would. I would do everything I could to make sure that she felt comfortable with what we were doing, at all times. I knew it wasn't love yet, but it would be soon. We were made for each other; there was no need to rush anything, when I knew that I had eternity with her, should she decide to be mine.

We were in the middle of getting to know each other when suddenly her phone rang. She moved, as if to ignore it. Seeing a male's picture flash across the screen, with some inside joke as the name, made me so angry I couldn't speak. I choked out, "Your phone's ringing," hoping that she would take the hint and answer it.

Once she hung up, I had to know if she had a boyfriend or not. She seemed embarrassed when she denied ever having had a boyfriend, while I was absolutely elated that my mate was so innocent. While originally my plan was to let her make the first move, to make sure that she was comfortable with everything, I couldn't help but kiss her.

And God, the myths were completely true. I could spend all day kissing her. When she shifted until she was sitting in my lap, I broke away, knowing that I would not be able to stop myself from wanting more if I continued. I looked down at her, sure that my smile was absolutely all over my face. "You have no idea how happy I am that I have found you," I told her, stroking her beautiful face. If only she knew just how important she was.

Something moved over her shoulder, making me look. I was very alert, not willing to let anything happen to my girl. I recognized the guy from Lily's phone. My hand tightened on her waist in response to the angry glare on his face.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" he asked harshly, disdain dripping from every word. He motioned with his hand, as if expecting her to jump off my lap and straight into his arms. As if I would let something so ridiculous happen. Unless...unless she wanted that. Suddenly I felt very insecure. Was she going to tell me this was all a mistake? I would be broken hearted if that happened. But, if that were what made her happy....

Screw that. I could make her happy. Why couldn't she just see that I could make her happier than this jerk ever could? I looked down into her beautiful brown eyes, unsure of how I was going to prove my love for her. She looked a bit concerned, probably figuring out how to let me down gently.

"Um, Andy?" she said, a bit uncertainly.

"Yes?" I said, keeping my tone clipped and my face emotionless. Here it goes, I thought, she's going to reject me and I will spend the rest of my life alone, watching Lily live her life happily next to that asshole who was glaring at the two of us. Doesn't he know we are meant to be together? Can't she see it?