Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(72)

“Your order, miss.” Ward smiled at her devilishly.

“Hey, you’re not room service.” She put her hand on her hip. “I can’t accept alcohol from strange men, sir.”

He winked at her. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

She pulled him inside and kissed him. “What are you doing here?”

“You wouldn’t come to me, so I thought I’d come to you.” He set the wine down. “I have something important to talk with you about.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“I love you.”

Joan blinked at him. “You what?”

“I love you. You’re my mate and I want you to consider staying here on the island with me.”

Joan laughed. “Are you serious? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m very serious. I think you have strong feelings for me and that’s freaking you out. But it shouldn’t. It’s natural. You’re my mate.”

Joan shook her head. “You’re crazy. I’ve had a very long day and all I want to do is relax. Please leave if you’re going to keep talking this way.”

“You’re having a long day because you’re struggling with your feelings for me. Stop fighting and give in to them. Your life will get so much better.”

She was starting to get angry. “What are you talking about? Seriously, we just met.”

“Yes, but this isn’t just some one-night stand. We belong together. I bet you’re wondering how in the world this would work. You want to be a reporter and I want to stay here on the island.”

Joan crossed her arms. “That’s one of the issues. If I even like you after this crazy little stunt, it would be something to worry about.”

“Well, tonight is your lucky night, then. I have a solution to that little problem. You can stay here on the island and be a reporter.”

Joan laughed. “Great, and how do you propose for that to happen? I don’t remember there being any international news outlets here on the island.”

“Safari Town is huge. It’s a real town, and we don’t have a newspaper. Seems like a huge oversight, doesn’t it?”

Joan’s eyes opened wide. “You don’t have a newspaper? Impossible.”

Ward pulled her into his arms. “No, we don’t. Wouldn’t it be nice to be in control of your own paper? I know you want to be a travel reporter, but how do you feel about being a newspaper editor? The very first for our humble little island.”

She was torn. It sounded so nice, but it wasn’t exactly what she wanted. She had worked on a paper in high school and college. Once she’d gotten her degree, she wanted to write for magazines, be a travel writer. That had been her post-high-school goal. So far, she was having a great time doing travel work. But she also had other life plans. She wanted to get married and start a family. She’d always wondered how she would make those two things work together. Since she was still young, she’d figured when she was older she could figure it out. Now, she was older and there was a wonderful man standing in front of her.

A man she loved. A man who was saying she was his mate. Could it really be so easy? Say what she was feeling in her heart and accept Ward’s offer? It seemed way too easy.

“I don’t know,” she said. “This is all very sudden. I should take a night to think about it.”

He took her in his arms and gazed into her eyes. “You know how you feel. Why wait another day? Let’s get started on our life right now.”

She tried to pull away from him. “It’s too sudden. This isn’t what I planned. I can’t just throw away everything I’ve worked for.”

“This isn’t exactly what you wanted, but it could be even better. If you hate it, we can work something else out. Maybe you can freelance for a travel magazine and when you’re gone, I can watch the kids. Whatever comes, we can figure it out. Just say that you want to figure it out with me.”

Joan looked up at Ward. “I do love you too.”

“And?”

“And I want to try,” she said finally. “Like you said, if I hate it, we’ll figure something else out.”

Ward kissed her. “Good.”

Joan kissed Ward and held him close. She didn’t know what was going to happen in the future, but she knew that she wanted Ward by her side no matter what came. He was a good man and he was her mate. They could figure anything out together. With love, they would overcome it all.



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If you enjoyed this boxset, check out my other complete series:

Mail-Order Mates

Taken by the Shifters

The Witch and the Wolf

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