by Lola Kidd
He didn't care where all the stuff went. She could throw away every possession he had, for all he cared. The only things he cared about were his mate and their dog. As long as there was a space for them, he was good.
"They're pulling up now." Beau sat down on the couch. "No way are we going to move stuff without eating first. We've been at this for hours."
"How did she fit all of this in her apartment?" Tuck wondered.
"I had a lot of closet space," Joseline said as she walked in. "Hey, Sheridan. When did you get here?"
"A minute ago. I brought food."
"Thank God." Zach came into the room and went straight for the coffee. "I'm starving. These two tricked us. They never told us she had enough stuff for a family of six."
Joseline laughed. "You guys are wimps. But if you must eat, fine." Then she came over and kissed Rhett. "I'll have all this stuff cleaned up by the end of the week, I swear."
"I don't care," he told her. "I like seeing all your stuff in my house."
"I like seeing that, too."
Rhett couldn't wait to see all her stuff mixed in with his. As soon as she was settled, he was going to get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. But everything in its own good time. He would give her a chance to enjoy this part before he rushed her to the next, hard as it was. He wanted to do it all with her. He wanted the rest of his life to happen all at once. He was just so damned excited to experience it all with her. No matter what came for them in the future, he knew they could take it on. With her at his side, he could take on the world.
Epilogue
Joseline put her hand under her chin. "Something is missing here."
"Where?" Rhett looked up from his book.
She gestured to the coffee table. "Here. We need like a centerpiece. This space is so bare."
"What'd you have in mind?"
She shrugged. "Dunno. You like the knickknacks. I can't believe you never had anything here before. It seems like an oversight."
"I did used to have something there. It was a basket. You knocked it over dusting and told me it was too much clutter."
"Don't remember that happening."
He put his book down. "It was two weeks ago."
"Nope."
"I'll jog your memory." Rhett went to the coat closet and dropped a basket in the middle of the table. "Remember now?"
Joseline frowned. "Oh yeah. I hate that thing. Something smaller. Or maybe some magazines?"
She went to her work bag and took out her magazines. She fanned them out in the middle of the table. "What about this?"
He picked up one of them and raised an eyebrow. "Summer Weddings?"
"Oh!" Joseline lunged to take it from his hand but he stood up and swatted her away. "Give it back! That's private reading material."
"What, are you hiding a dirty story in here?" He held the magazine high over his head and flipped through a few pages. "Nope. Looks like a normal magazine to me."
"Come on." She put her hands on her hips and hung her head. "Don't make fun of me. I like looking at the pictures."
"Yeah and I bet the articles are great too." He kissed her on the cheek and handed her the magazine back. "I'm only concerned because that is from the summer of 2014. Just how long have you been planning your wedding?"
"Too long," she muttered. She put magazine back in the spread. "Imagine different magazines. Maybe National Geographic or something."
"What, you don't want people to think we read Summer Weddings and Us Weekly? I think those are great publications. I mean, you read them. They must be great."
"Right, but I don't know if they're centerpiece material." She eyed the magazines and then brushed them off the table. "Nope. Something else."
Rhett took a sleeping Brownie off the couch and put the puppy in the middle of the table. "What about this?"
She laughed. "It's cute, but I was thinking something more permanent."
He picked the puppy up and put him back on the couch. "I liked the basket."
"We aren't going for a first Thanksgiving vibe. We want something more sophisticated that matches the rest of the room."
"Oh, is that what we want. I had no idea. I liked the basket."
"Right, but we want something else."
"You're using the royal we, right? I get it now. We can try a few things and see what we like." He got up and went to the kitchen. When he came back, he had a small vase with fake red poppies in it.
"Where did you get those?" Those fake flowers had been one of the first things she'd put in a box and banished to the garage. They'd been on top of the toilet in the guest bathroom. They made zero sense there and didn't add anything to the room but clutter.
"They were just sitting in a box in the garage." He put the vase in the middle of the table. "What'd you think?"
"I think we don't want toilet flowers on our nice coffee table." She wrinkled her nose. "Put those back in the box where you found them. Where have you been hiding them?"
"Under the sink," he went back to the kitchen and returned with a small pumpkin. "Ta-da!"
Joseline nodded and rubbed her chin. "This has potential. I mean, we'll have to change it out with each season but this does work for now."
"I'm glad we have such great design taste." He picked his book up and sat back on the couch.
Joseline picked up her old wedding magazine and flipped through it next to him on the couch. She'd been slowly working her way through the house since she'd moved in two weeks earlier. She'd been organizing and adding small touches. She didn't want to change too much, but it needed to feel more like their home. Rhett had been living here so long by himself that the house had a very distinct look. It was very him but not very them.
"Are you reading that because you like it? Or are you reading it at me?"
"I told you, I like the pictures." She showed him a page she'd dogeared years ago. "Look at this dress. So much drama."
"It is pretty. Not very you though."
"You're right. I couldn't pull a dress like this off. It's for someone much taller than me."
"I think you could pull off anything, but that doesn't mean you should wear it. I always pictured you in something sexier. Tighter. Something that showed off your figure."
"What else do you picture?" She shut her magazine and tucked her feet under her. She could listen to Rhett talk about weddings all night.
"I was thinking early fall, not summer. Better weather and the colors will look amazing in the pictures."
"I don't have my heart set on summer. Just not spring. The weather is too volatile."
He closed his book. "Sounds like we're both thinking something outside."
She nodded. "Yup. Has to be outside."
"At dusk?"
"Sounds good to me."
He nodded. "See, we already agree about all the important stuff."
She laughed. "That's only two things! There are a few more details that we'd have to work out."
"Not the royal we this time."
"Not the royal we. I want you to have the wedding of your dreams too."
"I have a feeling you've been dreaming of the wedding much longer than I have. I dreamed of the mate and the life together part more than the wedding."
"I dreamed of it all. The wedding is part of the beginning."
His book fell on the floor. He got off the couch to pick it up and went down on one knee. "This isn't exactly how I planned to do this, but I think this is as good a time as any."
Joseline sat up and put her feet on the floor. "What are you doing?"
He took the ring box out of his pocket and flipped it open. "I'm asking you to marry me. I've been waiting for the perfect moment, but no moment is going to be perfect. I don't want to wait any longer. I just want to set a date and start planning. I love you with all my heart. You're my dream girl and I want to give you your dream wedding. So Joseline Herza, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
She could barely speak around the lump in her throat. She
nodded and managed to croak out an answer after a few tries. "Yes."
He slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her into a hug. He wiped at her tears. "Thank you."
"I love you." She kissed him.
"I love you too. You got any more old wedding magazines to look at?"
"I may have a box of them."
He laughed. "Go get them. Now. You think we could pull off a wedding by next fall?"
"I don't see why not." She tilted her hand back and forth in the light. "This is gorgeous."
"It was hard finding something that was pretty enough to be on your hand, but Sheridan helped me."
"That makes so much sense." Joseline wiped her face. "She was asking me all these ring questions a few weeks ago. I thought it was just girl talk."
"Nope. That was all me. We went out and got the ring the next day. I knew I was going to need it very soon."
She kissed him. Her mate. Her forever love. And in less than a year, she was going to get to stand up in front of her loved ones and make it all official. She couldn't believe this was really her life. From catfished to engaged in less than two months. It was better than any romantic comedy she'd ever seen.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Thank you so much for reading Claws and Effect. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review and signing up to my mailing list so you don’t miss the next Small Town Shifters book. Thank you :)
Up Next:
Beau’s Story, Small Town Shifters Book Two
A Note from Lola
Thank you so much for reading Claws and Effect. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review. It really helps other readers decide to take a chance when looking for new authors to try out. I would really appreciate it if you have the time!
If you’d like to keep in touch you can always join my private new release mailing list. I won’t spam you’re inbox or share your email address with anyone and you’ll get an email whenever I have a new release. You can also friend me on Facebook. ---Lola
Other Series by Lola Kidd
Mail-Order Mates
Loving the Lion
Wolf Seeks Wife
The Bear’s Bride
Taming the Tiger
A Wife for the Wolves
Surrendering to the Stag
Pursuing the Panther
The Leopard in Love
Holiday Mail Order Mates
The Mountain Lion’s Valentine
Lucky Lion
The Bull’s Bride Hunt
The Tiger’s Summer Bride
The Jaguar’s Halloween Bride
The Silverback’s Christmas Bride
Safari Island Shifters
Rhino You Love Me
Between Two Crocs
Elephants Never Forget
Once a Cheetah
Don’t Kiss and Gazelle
Shifters Everafter
Tiger Bite
Red and the Tiger
The Tiger’s Tale
Shifter Brides Everafter
The Dragon’s Fated Mate
Beastly Bear
The BilLIONaire’s Ball
Black Oak Shifters
Taken by the Shifters
Captured by the Shifters
The Shifter's Wife
The Shifter's Surprise
The Shifter's Choice
Witch and Wolf Universe
The Witch and the Wolf
The Vampire and the Bear
The Lost Tribe
Blood Royals
The Vampire’s Claim