that.” She leaps from her seat and hugs me and then hugs her husband. She looks at me over his shoulder. “This is wonderful news! Of course we accept your offer!”
I cannot join in their excitement because her father has not granted me permission. I stand and make my case once more. “Mr. Baker, I will take great care with Stella. She will never want for anything. I will do everything in my power to make her happy. Whatever she wants or needs, I vow she will have it.”
He pulls away from his wife, walks over to me, and gazes directly into my eyes. He doesn’t flinch at the power there, like most mortal men, and I am glad to see he’s a man of great strength too. “Boz, you have my permission to propose to Stella. We would be honored to welcome you to the family. And I look forward to our partnership in the future.”
Joy fills me so powerfully I have to fight not to levitate. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Baker. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to see Stella.”
Before I can go, her mother hugs me again. I pat her back gingerly, unused to affection. She looks up at me, her eyes shining with happiness. “Thank you, Boz. Just thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.” My heart beats proudly. I am a changed vampire, a better one, all because of my love for Stella.
Her mother releases me, and I make my way swiftly to the stairs. I catch her excited whisper to her husband. “We can send Mabel and Eliza to culinary school,” she says.
I smile to myself. Stella’s family is pleased with my plan. Now I simply need to inform my mate.
“Stella, my love,” I call.
Her bedroom door opens, and she walks to the top of the stairs. “I am not your love.”
It is a dagger to my heart. My knees actually go weak. I lock them and pull my shoulders back to display my manly form. “Stella, we must talk. Alone. It is important.”
She walks downstairs, her gaze locked on mine. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of my family. They deserve to know the truth.”
“I have already—” I turn, shocked to find her sisters hugging me.
“Thank you, Boz!” one of them exclaims.
“Mom just told us! You rock!” the other exclaims.
I pat their heads. “Which one is Mabel? And which one is Eliza?”
They giggle.
“I’m Eliza,” the girl with the cupcake T-shirt says. “You can tell because I have a scar right here.” She lifts her chin, exposing her delicate neck.
“Eliza! No!” Stella exclaims, putting herself between us.
She believes I am a monster. That I would destroy her sister because she offered me her neck. But I do not dine on children, and that goes double for my mate’s siblings.
“What is wrong with you?” Eliza asks Stella. “I was just telling him how to tell us apart.”
Her mother appears in the foyer. “What’s all this yelling?”
Eliza turns an affronted look on Stella. “Stella’s acting all possessive of Boz. I wasn’t flirting, I swear! I was just explaining how to tell Mabel and me apart.”
“Okay, girls.” Her mother gestures them toward her. “Let’s give Stella and Boz some privacy. He has something important to ask her.” She winks at me.
They leave.
Stella crosses her arms. “Fine. What is it?”
This is not going as I imagined. By this point, Stella was supposed to be gazing at me with total adoration. I remember the importance of the close heart-to-heart talk between partners and gesture for her to sit with me on the stairs.
Once we’re settled side by side, my heart beats in rhythm with hers. My mate, if only I could make her understand my love is sincere. “Stella, I have offered to buy your family’s vineyard and run the combined vineyards as equal partners. Your parents have happily accepted my offer.”
Her hand flies to her mouth, her eyes watering.
“It is my sincere grand gesture so that you may know that I take care of those my mate loves.”
She drops her hand. “Oh, Boz. I’m overwhelmed by your generosity and so thankful, but…” She swallows audibly. “The mate part. I’m not sure I’m ready for what that entails.”
She needs more from me, so I continue from the heart. “I did everything properly and received your parents’ approval to ask you to marry me.”
She blinks.
I gaze deeply into her eyes. “I love you. I didn’t realize it until we met, but you are the one