Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
I was an hour late getting to the shop and Amber just quirked a brow when I walked in.
“Can’t talk need to work.”
I hid in the back room and fortunately she knew not to disturb me while I sewed. Distractions led to errors and I had no time for them.
There were seven fittings and while I did exactly as I always had done before, the longer the day went on the harder I found it to concentrate. My mind kept wandering to Landry.
I missed him.
I was putting the final touches on the mayor’s suit when Amber strolled in.
“You’re never late, I’m guessing that date went well.”
“It did, yes. How about yours?”
“It was real nice and we’re seeing each other again on Friday.”
“Lovely.” I really didn’t want to talk about Landry with Amber because I didn’t know what to say and I was mildly freaking out about meeting his parents.
“So, tell me about him.” She sat on the large ottoman in the back room, knowing all I’d be doing right now is cleaning.
“It’s new and I don’t want to jinx it. Let’s see how things go.”
“You’re being weird, Jay.”
I shrugged. “Aren’t I always weird?”
“Um, no, you’re sort of normal and boring but now you’re being weird and intriguing.”
“Wow, thanks, Amber.”
She tossed some tulle at my head. “Come on, you never keep secrets from me.”
I sighed knowing she’d never stop. “Fine. I’ll tell you but I don’t want to hear a thought or opinion about it.”
“See, there’s the intrigue.”
“My date was with Landry and I pretty much was with him all weekend minus Saturday and I’ll be seeing him tonight.” There was no way I was telling her I was meeting his parents. She’d think I was well and truly bonkers.
“Oh…wow, yeah, that’s a surprise.”
I stared at her…more like glared daring her to say something more.
“Well, good luck.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Not good luck?”
I stood and wiped my pants of some sequins that got stuck. “If I say thank you you’ll leave it at that?”
“For now.” She winked.
“I’ll accept those terms. Thank you, Amber.”
She dipped her head. “Well, I’m off.”
“I’ll walk you to your car and then I need to Uber home because I was dropped off this morning.”
I could tell Amber was dying to ask but she simply smiled. “I can drive you home.”
“I need to clean up real fast.”
“I’ll help and I’ll drop you home.”
As promised Amber didn’t ask and when she dropped me off she told me to have fun, be safe, and to call if I was gonna be late again tomorrow.
I’d told Landry I’d meet him at his place and we could go to his parents’ together. I had an hour to shower and dress so I rushed inside and got ready for a terrifying night.
“Stop fidgeting. They are going to love you, Jason.”
“Jay, call me Jay. We’ll be together for hundreds of years.”
“Very well. Stop fidgeting, Jay.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you’ve all been alive for hundreds of years, how do you maintain a business and people do not realize you aren’t aging?”
“Good question. Remember when I came to your shop I’d said I’d been in Johannesburg?”
“Vaguely, I mostly remember the bullying.”
He playfully slapped me. He’d called a car to drive us so he could sit with me and relax. We had the partition up so the driver couldn’t hear us.
“I’d been there for twenty years, not five like I told you originally. Before that I was in Paris, and before that I was in Rome. We travel around and when years pass we loop back saying we are Astors and they think we are all part of the same family.”
“Like vampires have to do? Wait are—”
“No, vampires aren’t real, Jay.”
Any further questions were halted when we pulled up to a huge estate. It was gorgeous and ridiculous. It reminded me of the Great Gatsby house so more like a castle.
“Your parents live here?”
“From time to time.” He winked and we got out.
The front door opened as we approached and a man, the spitting image of Landry just with more gray and a few wrinkles, smiled at our approach. Beside him a petite woman with golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and a few happiness wrinkles herself, waved at us.
“Welcome,” she said.
“Hey, Mom.” Landry wrapped his arms around her and she squealed when he spun her. His father was a little more sedate and they hugged minus the spinning.
“Mom, Dad, this is Jason McPherson, my mate. Jason, these are my parents, Nathaniel and Charlotte Astor.”
I held out my hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you both.”
“I can’t tell you how amazing it is to meet you.” Charlotte beamed, pushed aside my hand and hugged me.
Over her shoulder I saw Landry and his dad laughing. Knowing those were two men who could shift and devour us should have terrified me, but oddly I felt safer than I ever had before.
“Come in, I made a roast and I don’t want it to get cold.” Charlotte took my hand and didn’t release me until we got to the dining room table.
It was a dinner like any I’d had with my folks, except I was sitting in a castle and these people were richer than anyone I’d ever known.
They joked, talked about their day, mundane things.
“Jason, you must be feeling overwhelmed.” Charlotte smiled at me from across the table.
We’d gotten to dessert without anyone talking about the elaphrosaurus in the room.
“I was, maybe still am. Landry’s done a tremendous job of explaining things. I realize that Google is a program of lies and life as we know it is also a lie.”
All three of them burst out laughing and I couldn’t help but to join them.
“Fair deduction,” Nathaniel said. “Bonding to my son will mean you will have a very long life.”
“With that, you’ll watch people you love die,” Charlotte added.
I nodded. “In my life I have clients, Amber is my assistant but also my friend, and then there’s my parents. I always knew I’d watch them die, but I don’t have many people in my life.”
“That may be so, but in the hundreds of years you’ll likely live, you will make connections and lose them.” Charlotte’s expression was full of compassion.
“I’d love to say I understand but until I experience it, I won’t know how it’ll affect me.”
Landry smacked his father’s arm. “Told you he was smart.” Then he winked at me.
“You’re a wise man. It will be hard at times but the rewards far outweigh the negatives.” Nathaniel tipped his teacup at me. “I think I speak for Charlotte when I say we’d be thrilled to have you as part of our family.”
For the next hour I heard tales of things they all did over the years and a niggle of excitement sparked in my chest. I’d traveled some since my father gave me the shop but not as much as I wanted. With Landry, I’d see every corner of the world and that made my heart so very happy.
As we traveled back to his building, he squeezed my hand.
“Not so bad, right?”
“Your parents are amazing.”
He smiled. “They love you.”
I took a deep breath and pressed a kiss to his delicious lips.
“I’m ready.”
“For sex?”
I chuckled. “Probably always with you, but I meant to complete this bond thing. I want to do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I promise, I’ve never been more sure in my life.”
We didn’t speak for the rest of the ride, we were far too busy kissing.