“And you spent the day with her, obviously. Since you haven’t brought her home, you must not have claimed her yet, which is good. You know my rule about letting mortal mates have the chance to decide whether or not they want to be claimed. But I’m going to assume you’re well on your way to convincing her since your brothers did the same with their mates.”
Thinking it would at least put him in Roxie’s good graces, Skylar decided to tell her how he actually spent his time with Braelyn. “I’m working on it, yes, but not the way you think. I managed to get only one kiss out of her.”
“Then what exactly did you do with the rest of your time?”
“Clothes shopping,” he mumbled.
A smile tugged at Roxie’s mouth. “What was that? I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just say you went clothes shopping with your soon-to-be mate?”
“I know you heard me perfectly fine. And for your information, she considers it something she has to do to keep on top of her career.”
“Okay, now you have me interested. What exactly does she do that requires her to shop for her job?”
Skylar felt pretty certain Roxie would recognize Braelyn’s name. “I guess you could call her a famous fashion model. She’s Braelyn Whitmore.”
“Oh my god, your mate is Braelyn Whitmore,” Roxie shouted. “The Braelyn Whitmore, the Victoria’s Secret model?”
He winced. “Yes.”
Considering how loud Roxie had shouted, Skylar didn’t think it would be very long before everyone else present in the mansion came to investigate. Sure enough, the sound of more than one set of footsteps sounded in the hall that led to the kitchen. He groaned when every single person he lived with, accompanied by Beowulf, filed into the foyer.
Beowulf went to his mate’s side. “What’s the shouting about, Rox?”
“Skylar found his mate, and she’s Braelyn Whitmore.”
Roxie’s mate shook his head. “The name doesn’t mean much to me. Should it?”
Ansley, who was mated to Roan, spoke up. “She’s best known as a Victoria’s Secret model. She was also one of the models in their fashion show on TV the other night.”
Roan put his arm around his mate’s waist. “Ah, yes. I remember watching that, and picking out a number of bras and panties I thought would look incredibly sexy on you.”
Even though Roan was his true brother, and mated, the thought of him seeing his mate so scantily clad had Skylar’s hackles rising. It wasn’t as if he had to worry about Roan making moves on Braelyn, but the mating urge wasn’t letting him think too clearly. A low growl rumbled out of his chest before he could silence it.
Jager, his other true brother, loudly cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I think Skylar isn’t exactly in the mood to hear how many of us watched that particular show at the moment. If you know what I mean?”
The conversation, which had centered on his mate being famous and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, came to abrupt end. Skylar met Jager’s gaze and nodded in thanks.
Saskia, who was his sister-in-arms and the leader of the Protectors, said, “Jager’s right. I don’t think we need to torture Skylar like that.” She turned in his direction. “Though I am going to say I’m thrilled to hear another one of us has found their mate. At this rate, all of us will be matched up very soon.”
Kye, who stood at the back of the group, said, “Hey, I’m in no hurry. I’m quite happy just letting it happen when it happens.”
Deciding to make a break for it before things started to get out of hand, Skylar backed up the stairs. Seeing Roxie open her mouth to say something, he quickly said, “We can continue this conversation another time. I have a date with Braelyn this evening, and I don’t want to be late.”
Turning, not waiting for any of them to respond, he moved at preternatural speed the rest of the way up the stairs. It wasn’t until he was safely locked behind his bedroom door that he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d survived that close call. All he had to do was sneak out of the house before he became cornered again.
Braelyn managed to get all the shopping bags from her trunk into her parents’ modest two-story house in one trip. Her mom must have seen her pull into the driveway, because she opened the front door as soon as Braelyn stepped onto the porch.
“My, that’s quite a load,” her mother said after she shut the door behind her.
“You know me, shopping is one of my guilty pleasures.”
“At least you can afford to indulge.”
She headed up the stairs to what had been her bedroom while she’d been growing up. Her mom followed on her heels. Braelyn dumped the bags on the bed and looked through them for something in particular. Once she found the new dress she’d bought, she took it from the bag and shook it out. It was a black, sleeveless cocktail mini dress that had beading along the bust. The form-fitting garment only reached her mid-thigh and had had Skylar’s eyes almost popping out of his head when she’d come out of the change room to ask his opinion on it.
“That’s a lovely dress,” her mom said. “Are you planning on wearing it to have dinner with your father and me? I think you might be a tad overdressed if you are.”
Braelyn inwardly winced. She’d totally forgotten about her parents expecting her to eat with them. She’d only arrived back in San Francisco the evening before. “Um, I kind of have a date for dinner,” she said as she turned to face her mother. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“You’re back only one day, and you already have a date,” her mom said with a chuckle. “No, I don’t mind. So who is he?”
“His name is Skylar, and he’s from around here.”
“And how did you meet him?”
She smiled. “It’s kind of a funny story. He saw me crossing the street and followed me into a store—a lingerie store. Once he realized where we were, he got a little bit uncomfortable, especially when I started asking him which bras and panties he liked.”
Her mother shook her head. “You and your tests. Obviously, he passed or you wouldn’t be seeing him this evening.”
“He more than passed. Even though I dragged him to quite a few stores, not once did Skylar try to find a way to get out of it. I actually enjoyed having him with me.”
“Seeing the number of shopping bags here,” her mom waved her hand toward the bed, “you must have taken him on quite a shopping spree. You’re going to introduce him to your father and me before you leave, right?”
“I suppose so, though you know I’m no longer a teenager and can go out without my parents having to check out my date first.”
“I know. I’m just being nosy. And I know you have good taste in men.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll be sure to do the quick introductions and then usher Skylar out the door. That should satisfy your curiosity.”
“Oh, and talking about curiosity, something came for you while you were out.” Her mom left the bedroom and returned a minute later carrying a courier envelope.
Braelyn looked at who sent it and smiled. “It’s from my modeling agency.” She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a stack of smaller regular envelopes. “These must be fan letters. My agent had said she’d forward any that arrived while I was out here. She doesn’t like to be burdened with taking care of them and gets her models to deal with their own fan mail however we see fit.”
“I see. So I can expect more of these to arrive?”
“More than likely. I tend to see a bit of an influx after doing the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. And most of them seem to come from teenage males.”
Her mom laughed. “I guess I’ll leave you to your fan mail and let you get ready for your date. I’ll be downstairs getting dinner organized if you need me.”