No smell.
No memories.
Nothing.
She’d never been to his home before.
He was … lonely.
Walking to his kitchen, he went straight to his fridge. The food was covered in mold. He had no choice but to throw it all out. A lot of wasted food. He tossed it straight into the trash, then took it outside.
He returned to his fridge, opened the freezer section, and grabbed the large tub of chocolate ice cream. There was nothing better to take care of his misery than frozen dessert. It wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t care about health right now.
No, he was miserable.
His mate was hesitant around him. She didn’t trust him. This was the biggest humiliation he’d ever faced. His mate didn’t trust him.
Lifting the spoon, he stared at the spoonful of ice cream and placed it into his mouth.
He reached for another spoonful and shoved it into his mouth as his doorbell rang.
No one ever disturbed him at his home.
Getting to his feet, he made his way to the door and opened it, shocked to see Misha on the other side.
She smiled at him. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Er, can I come in?”
“I thought you were working tonight?” He stepped back to allow her inside. “Not that I mind you being here, obviously. My home is your home.”
She smiled. “I called the diner. Blueberry is covering for me.”
“Blueberry? She never works at the diner.” He closed the door, and already his home felt more welcoming just having her here.
She rubbed her hands together.
“Is it starting to get cold?” he asked.
“Oh, no. I’m nervous.”
“Misha, you don’t have to ever be nervous when you’re with me.”
“I know.” She held her hands up. “You have a nice place.”
“You’ve never been here before,” he said. “Would you like to take the tour?”
“Yes, I would love that.”
He wanted to put her at ease. “So my dad purchased this land for me when I was eighteen,” Decker said.
“You built the house from scratch?” she asked.
“Yeah. He got the land, and it was up to me to build everything, which isn’t so bad. I loved creating things with my hands, even when I was a kid. I have a knack for it, as I’m sure you can see. I built everything. My house. The furniture. The lot.”
He stepped into the dining room, and Misha put her hands on the back of one of the chairs. “I find this so amazing.”
“It’s what I love to do, and it stopped me from running with the crowds that let off firecrackers near Ernie’s place.”
Misha giggled.
He’d actually made her giggle. He loved the sound.
“I was a study girl, myself,” Misha said. “I never wanted to cause any trouble, and I liked Ernie. He would sometimes buy me some candy when I was walking home from school. He was such a lovely old man.”
“You’re one of the few people to think so.”
“Yeah, but I think he sees me as a kindred spirit.”
“Kindred spirit?” This was new to him.
“Yeah, I like to help preserve nature. I plant flowers, bushes, and it’s one of the reasons I rarely wear shoes while out in the forest. Ernie likes to keep the world how nature intended it.”
“I never knew that,” he said.
“Ernie doesn’t just talk to anyone.”
“He talks to people he likes.”
Misha chuckled. “No, I think he talks to people who he knows listen to him. I listen.”
“And that was totally a dig at me, wasn’t it?” he asked.
“Not really, but you don’t always listen.”
He grabbed her hand, showing her the kitchen, where his tub of chocolate ice cream was slowly melting.
“It looks amazing,” Misha said.
Decker lifted the spoon and held it out for her to take.
She slurped it right up. “Yum.”
“You’re a vanilla girl, aren’t you?”
“Nothing wrong with loving vanilla.”
This time, he chuckled. Having her close to him, it meant so much. He didn’t want to let her go.
“So, as we’re moving on, I will take you to the laundry room.” He showed her every single room in the house, including the main bedrooms, en-suites, and the guest bedrooms, which he hoped would have many children filling them.
Arriving back downstairs, all he wanted to do was fuck her and make love to her in every single room of the house. Instead, they ended up downstairs with Misha glancing through his cupboards to try to come up with a meal for them both to eat.
He watched her.
Misha looked at home, and she should. When she finally gave in and agreed to be his mate, this would be her home.
“You buy spaghetti sauce?” Misha asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You have a drawer full of herbs and spices. You can make your own.”
“Don’t have time.”
She rolled her eyes. “You have a bigger collection than I do.” She shrugged. “Let me cook you something.”
“Feel free.”
After putting away the leftover chocolate ice cream, he sat at the table and watched Misha as she worked her way around his kitchen. The woman was a natural at everything.