With any luck, it would all be worked out by the time Tim and Jill returned from their honeymoon world tour. The older couple decided to spend the next three months globetrotting and Maya thought it was the most romantic sounding thing ever.
Besides, she would get through this. Especially since she wasn’t alone anymore. Tonic had already worked miracles by getting the utilities paid up to date so that she could still work and manage the place. Maya was not going to slack off now.
“Flowers by Jill, how can I help you?” she answered the ringing telephone cheerfully.
Tonic might be willing to lend her the cash, but she would not become reliant on it. Business was usually good and she knew she could make it pay. Certainly would make it pay, just so she could give him back the money he was lending her.
Truly grateful for every order that came in, big and small, Maya laughed at the customer’s corny joke and wrote down everything the older sounding man wanted in the card to send to his wife at her office building.
Red roses to ring in another New Year, my love! Loving you till the end of time, your chubby hubby, Bill.
Super romantic and silly, she laughed and jotted down the address. When Maya looked up, she was surprised to find Nita still there and raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“Does he know?”
“Does who know what?”
“Does Tonic know that he’s your mate?”
“It hasn’t come up,” Maya said, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Don’t you think you should tell him?”
“NO!” she answered vehemently shaking her head.
“Why not?”
“Because Nita. He doesn’t feel the same.”
“Oh,” her friend puffed out a breath and her eyes welled with tears, “you can hear his Bear, can’t you?”
“Actually, it’s strange. I can’t really hear him as much as I can others. He’s closed himself off somehow, like he’s so afraid he’ll lose control if he lets up even a little bit. Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know. It’s these pregnancy hormones. I cry at paper towel commercials for heaven’s sake.”
“Oh, boy,” she sighed and walked over to Nita, embracing her casually while the pregnant woman sniffled, “Anyway, that was why he asked me to do this, because I can help him soothe his beast. I guess he wants that available to him regularly,” she shrugged.
“Oh, Maya,” her friend looked at her with pity, and Maya hated that.
She didn’t want sympathy or pity from anyone least of all her best friend in the world. Taking in a deep breath she presented a wide smile to Nita and gave the expectant mother a big hug.
“You have always been here for me and I love you, Nita, but this is something I have decided for myself. I gave my word and like I said, there is never going to be anyone else for me. He is my mate.”
“But are you sure?”
“Tonic is already at the bank making arrangements to keep Flowers By Jill afloat and out of their hands. I am all packed and he’s moving me in after work tonight. Bolder is staying at the Den for the time being, so we have a little bit of privacy,” she explained.
“Oh! So you didn’t have sexy fun sticky times yet?”
“Sticky?”
“Yeah, you know, sticky,” she grinned and Maya shuddered in horror.
“Nita, that is seriously TMI.”
“What? I can’t be the only one who thinks chocolate and caramel sauces make a mess FYI,” she shrugged, “and those Nanouk boys, let me tell you they are big! It takes a whole lot of chocolate sauce,” Nita grinned and licked her lips.
“I’m gonna be sick if you don’t stop that,” Maya rolled her eyes.
“What? When was the last time you played hide the banana? You know, Shifters have incredible sex drives, and if Tonic is like his brother, you are gonna want to start taking vitamins and maybe some yoga-”
“Please stop talking now,” Maya groaned and made fake gagging noises while Nita went on to describe some more of her nocturnal activities.
Not that Maya really minded. They did share everything with each other, but it was just that hearing it out loud made her nerves stand on edge. Truth be told, she was more than anxious about it.
Maya might not be a full Bear Shifter, but she knew about mating. It involved two things, sex and biting.
Shifter sex was typically passionate and a little raunchy, but sex between mates was something altogether different. And then there was sex between fated mates. That, well, that was the stuff of legends.
Maya bit her lip and exhaled softly. Would she reveal her secret to Tonic when they did in fact have sex? She was almost positive that he was her fated mate, but did he feel the same way? That was the million dollar question.
“Maya, what if you fall in love with him?” Nita voiced her biggest fear, and Maya laughed and shook her head.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if he doesn’t know that you’re his fated mate, maybe he won’t know if he’s in love with you? Maybe he won’t ever know?”
Maya’s stomach dropped at the thought, but she smiled and shook her head. She was not going to make an issue out of nothing.
“Nita, I am not about to borrow trouble.”
“How will you deal? I mean, I know you Maya, when you’re in, you’re all in, I just don’t want you to be hurt. If you think there is a chance he’ll break your heart, maybe you should just say no.”
“It’s too late,” she confessed and locked eyes with the one person in the world who probably knew her better than she did herself.
“Oh, shit, you love the idiot already, don’t you?”
“That’s not a nice thing to say about your brother-in-law,” she mock-scolded.
“Well, then you better get with those vitamins and start stretching, girlfriend, if you’re gonna sex him into loving you,” Nita whistled.
“Ohmygawd, you did not just say that!” Maya growled and tossed some of the floral glitter in the jar next to her at her buddy.
It didn’t stop her BFF though. Nita stood up and started dancing and singing the worst rendition of I Wanna Sex You Up that Maya had ever heard. Not that there was a good one.
“Please, stop, I will give you a dozen white carnations! Please, I know they are your favorites. Dear Lord, just stop singing!”
“Yay! Deal! Put a pink ribbon on them, please,” Nita giggled happily.
Maya went to get her flowers and shook her head. She loved the woman, but her bestie was one heck of a bad singer. That of course led Maya to thinking about the song Nita had been belting out, which in turn made her think about the elephant in the room.
SEX. Not just any sex of course, but mating sex. With Tonic. Oh, the possibilities! Her stomach clenched, heat pooled between her thighs, and her heart began to pound just thinking about it.
She was no virgin, but she was no Mata Hari either. What if she didn’t know how to please him? Or worse, what if she failed to arouse him? Her cheeks flamed at the thought and Nita looked at her curiously.
“So, you are going through with it?” Nita asked while Maya handed her the bouquet, “Thank you,” she sniffed.
“Yes. I am.”
“Well, I guess I will wish you luck, my friend, and remember, twist and stretch, and one and two,” Nita winked and giggled before pulling Maya into a tight bear hug.