More than a Cheetah (Shifty Book 6) Read online

  “Okay.” I nodded again, urging him to continue.

  “Grandmother taught me that there is beauty in everything and raised me to find that beauty. The beauty in the forest, in the world around us, and in people. That might sound cheesy, but that’s what I was raised to look for. She homeschooled me, so I was never introduced to the idea that some people didn’t like shifters until I was sixteen and looking for a job.

  “I applied to every fast food place in my city, but none of them would hire me. There were human candidates, and humans always had first dibs on the jobs. So I made a business selling the paintings I’d grown up making, and a year after that, my paintings took off. People started offering me money, so much money I could hardly believe it.

  “I couldn’t keep up with everything people wanted, so I raised the prices. Still, people didn’t stop coming to me. They wanted me to paint this for them, or to paint their kids or their brother. Finally, I told them I was done with commissions. Once I finished a painting, I’d put it up for sale on my website and it went to the highest bidder.

  “That’s when I started making more money than I knew what to do with. My grandmother passed away just as that happened, and if not for my paintings, we wouldn’t have been able to pay her hospital bills. Now, in honor of her memory, I donate money to hospitals every year, and they use the money to help pay the massive bills that some people have no way to afford.” He explained.

  “That’s it; that’s me.” Haiden finally shrugged.

  Some people might’ve found it prideful for him to bring up the fact that he donated money, but to me, it felt like an important part of who he was. His grandmother meant the world to him, so he gave money to help people struggling like she had been.

  I studied him for a few seconds. Not his appearance, I had established that he’d been severely blessed in the appearance department while I was in high school and throughout that day. I studied his eyes, hoping to understand them the way he’d understood mine.

  Though I wasn’t quite that practiced at eye-studying, I saw something in his eyes that immediately drew me in. In his eyes, I saw honesty and I saw attraction. Despite the sadness he could see in me, Haiden Day was attracted to me, completely and honestly.

  And he wasn’t attracted to me solely on a physical level, like the guys I’d met at college who just wanted a physical relationship. Haiden Day was attracted to me for that sadness in my eyes.

  “Why do you want me?” I whispered, squeezing the pillow against my stomach.

  In any other situation, I wouldn’t have asked. I wouldn’t have wanted to know what he thought, and I wouldn’t have wanted him to know that I wanted to know what he thought.

  But there was something about 2 AM that convinced me. 2 AM, the hour made for artists. The hour where a person had to be completely honest with themselves or completely out of it. With the world not moving, there was space and time for that honesty that we so desperately needed.

  The honesty that I tried to hide from.

  “You see me. You see how I feel, and somehow, you’ve seen the things I try to hide. Why do you still want me?” I repeated the questing, pulling the pillow tighter against myself.

  Haiden put his hand on my arm and gave me a soft smile.

  “I want you because of your pain. I want you because the things you’ve gone through have made you perfect for me, and have made me perfect for you. I can make you happy, Jazz, I can help you overcome your sadness.” Haiden’s voice carried a gentle strength that made me want him just as much as he wanted me. “I’m your other half and I want to be with you, to be whole.”

  “I’ve been carrying this around for too long.” I shook my head. “I’m not the person you need. I’m broken.” I stood up, and Haiden stood with me.

  “I love broken things.” Haiden stepped closer to me, placing his hands on my hips. “Broken things can become more beautiful than anything that has never been hurt.”

  I blinked up at my soulmate, the man who was obviously an artist through and through. His words were as beautiful as his paintings, and they were exactly what I needed to hear.

  Though to my brain everything had happened way, way too fast, my heart thought differently. My heart was sure that Haiden Day was exactly the man that I needed.

  When I lifted my mouth to his, for the second kiss in the short time that we’d known each other, I prayed to the Creator and begged Him to let me keep Haiden forever. My soulmate could make me happier, I knew that he could, and maybe I could do something for him too.

  We were soulmates, after all. Two halves of one whole.

  And despite my attempt to run away just a few hours earlier, I decided that I wasn’t going to let go of Haiden. I was the luckiest girl in the world.

  Chapter 7

  When I woke up the next morning, Haiden’s arms were around me. It was strange to wake up with muscular arms wrapped around my body, but good strange. I liked having him close.

  I slipped out of bed and went downstairs, ready for breakfast. Brooke had always called me crazy for it, but I woke up hungry every day. I liked to eat eggs and fruit for breakfast, so I hoped Haiden at least had one or the other.

  When I tugged the fridge open, however, I found nothing.

  Literally, there was nothing in the fridge other than milk and some peanut butter.

  At least he ate all-natural peanut butter. I couldn’t stand the sugared stuff.

  My stomach growled, and I shut the fridge with a grimace. No eggs or fruit, but maybe there was something in the cupboard.

  I found a bowls and plates and silverware, but the only food I could find was a bag of trail mix and a box of Cocoa Puffs.

  Instead of groaning like I wanted to, I sat on the table and stared at the pretty-much-empty cupboards. What could I do with trail mix, peanut butter, milk, and Cocoa Puffs?

  I thought as hard as I could, but the only thing I came up with was a bowl of cereal.

  My stomach growled again, and I sighed in defeat. The Cocoa Puffs won over my desire to be healthy.

  I poured a bowl of cereal, devoured it, and then wondered what I was supposed to do until Haiden woke up. I’d gone to sleep around 11 (though I did wake up in the middle of the night), but he hadn’t gone to sleep until what? 2:30, maybe 3?

  That meant I could seriously have four hours on my hands. Four hours without my computer, so I couldn’t plan my lectures for school, which started in a week. Four hours without any books—my kindle was in the suitcase I’d forgotten in mine and Brooke’s hotel room.

  Four hours to snoop, though. Could snooping in Haiden’s apartment really take four hours?

  A quick glance around showed me that no, it couldn’t.

  Still, I didn’t have anything else to do. So I snooped a little, but didn’t find anything exciting. That was probably a good thing, because I didn’t want to find anything strange or suspicious.

  After 10 minutes of snooping, I was ready to watch a movie.

  It took a few tries to figure out how Haiden had turned it on the night before, but I found the streaming app and went through the movies he owned.

  I guess, technically, we both owned them. Since we were officially married and whatnot. Yeah, that was weird to think about.

  I couldn’t find anything I was super interested in watching, so I turned on the latest Marvel movie. I’d been too busy in Glacier to go see it in theaters, but I’d read plenty about it on Tumblr and Pinterest.

  The movie started, and it captured my attention immediately. I was so into it that I turned it up loud—too loud apparently, because Haiden put his hands on my shoulders about twenty minutes in.

  I jumped, turning around to look at him.

  “Geez, you can’t just come out of nowhere.” I huffed. He’d scared the crap out of me. Not literally, of course. That would be heinous.

  “Sorry.” Haiden grinned lazily. He looked tired.

  “Did I wake you up?” I checked, pausing the movie.

  “Yeah, but don
’t worry about it.” He yawned as he made himself a bowl of cereal. “That’s what I get for staying up later than you.”

  “So, is there a reason why you have no food? You don’t even have flour or sugar, so how do you cook anything?” I joined him in the kitchen, sitting next to him at the table.

  Haiden grimaced.

  “You found my weakness.” He admitted. “I couldn’t cook if my life depended on it. I’ve tried for years, but I burn everything. Even macaroni and cheese.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “How do you burn mac and cheese?” I wondered.

  “How do you not burn mac and cheese?” Haiden shrugged, taking a bite of cereal. “Beats me. I suck at cooking.”

  “I have no problem with it, so I’ll cook for us.” I told him. It was kind of funny that he couldn’t cook, and also kind of reassuring. At least he had one weakness.

  “Really?” he lifted an eyebrow.

  “Really.” I nodded. He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.

  “Then I love you already.” Haiden decided.

  “Uh, thanks?” I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to respond to that.

  “You’re welcome.” He didn’t question my answer, so it must’ve worked. “Good morning, by the way.”

  “Good morning.” I echoed the sentiment. “Do you have anything planned for today?”

  “Nope.” Haiden shook his head.

  “I have an idea…” I trailed off. I didn’t want him to be mad when I suggested it, but I also didn’t want to be unprepared if I didn’t suggest it.

  “I’m up for anything.” He said.

  “Even going to Glacier today?” I bit my lip, hoping he wouldn’t object. “I know you wanted to stay here this week, but my computer is in Glacier and I’m not done with my first few weeks of lesson plans.” I explained. “Plus, then we wouldn’t have to go shopping.”

  “Why not?” Haiden shrugged. “I’m planning on keeping this apartment for a few months, at least, if that’s okay with you.” He said it almost like it was a question.

  “It’s your apartment and your money, do what you think is best.” I told him.

  “Everything that’s mine is yours now too.” Haiden corrected me. “Oh, and do you have any student loans we need to pay back?” he checked. I gawked at him.

  “You don’t need to pay my loans off.” I hurried to shake my head. “I have a job now, remember?”

  “The longer we let them sit, the more interest we’ll have to pay.” Haiden reminded me. “We have plenty of money to pay off the loans.” He said.

  I stood up, my brain going all whacked as I tried to process and figure out how to respond in this situation.

  “I, uh,” I pulled at the shirt Haiden had loaned me. “We’ll just keep our finances separate. Yeah. I’m independent, I can pay off my own loans and I can pay half the bills too. Married humans do that all the time. Okay.” I nodded and hurried to the bathroom.

  “Don’t run away from me.” Haiden protested, hurrying after me. He caught the door before I could close it, pushing it open enough to stick his head inside. “Can we at least talk about this?” his voice was more gentle that time.

  I took a deep breath and nodded. Right, talking. That could help, couldn’t it? As long as we were both reasonable, that could definitely help.

  Haiden took my hand as I stepped out of the bathroom, and he laced our fingers together.

  “Sorry that I freaked you out.” He apologized.

  “It’s my fault.” I sighed as I sat across from him at the table. He abandoned his cereal, now focused on me.

  “Do you really want to keep our finances separate?” Haiden checked. I sighed again.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t want to feel like I’m mooching off your bank account. I’ll make enough money to pay everything off in a few years, so I don’t feel like it’s necessary to mooch.” I explained.

  “Okay, that’s valid.” Haiden nodded. “But I want you to realize that this could easily be going the other way around. If my paintings hadn’t taken off I wouldn’t have much money at all, and we would be relying on your income to pay for everything.”

  “That’s true.” I could accept that. “But your paintings did take off.” I pointed out.

  “Would you feel bad about sharing money if they hadn’t taken off until after we found each other?”

  “Probably not.” I admitted.

  “You don’t have to feel like you’re mooching, because you’re not. My money is now our money, just like your loans are our loans.” He said. I nodded slowly, trying to wrap my head around not minding using Haiden’s money.

  “How much money do you have?”

  “We have plenty.” Haiden replied, an emphasis on the “we”. “Let’s put it this way… we could both stop working now and live very comfortably for the rest of our lives.”

  “Frick.” I raised my eyebrows.

  Haiden nodded.

  “A few student loans really aren’t an issue.” he smiled wryly, and I had to give it to him. He was right about that.

  “I’ve just never imagined a life where you don’t have to worry about money.” I admitted. “Growing up, my parents were always worried about it. Then my aunt and uncle…” I looked away. “It’s going to be strange for me.”

  “That’s okay.” Haiden put his hand on my arm. “We’ll figure everything out.” He assured me. “When do you want to head to Glacier?”

  “Whenever you want.” I pulled my messy hair over one shoulder. “I’m up for anything.”

  “Alright. You finish the movie while I get everything I need, and we can leave after that.” He decided.

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” I nodded as I stood up.

  “Just one second…” Haiden stood too, then stepped closer. “Thanks for being willing to work everything out.” He smiled.

  “You’re the one who made it happen.” I couldn’t help but smile back. Good gracious, his eyes. They were gorgeous.

  There I am sounding creepy again. Don’t mind me, creepy-mc-creepster, mate and wife to world-famous Haiden Day. Good gracious, how did I deserve him?

  “I couldn’t have done it alone.” He reminded me, leaning closer.

  “You would’ve figured it out.” I teased him, smiling wryly.

  “If you say so.” His words tickled my cheek, and he pressed a kiss against that same cheek.

  “Oh, that was low.” I accused him as he stepped away. “You just teased me. A kiss on the cheek, after coming that close and being all sexy?”

  “Hey, it’s my job to make you want me.” He shrugged, a smirk teasing at his mouth.

  “I’ll get you back for that.” I shot the words at him, and he grinned.

  “Good luck.”

  He disappeared up the stairs, living me with a goofy grin on my face.

  “What is happening to me?” I muttered, sitting back down on the couch. The movie sucked me back in as I turned it on, but I couldn’t quite forget the feeling of his lips on my cheek.

  Good gracious, I was falling for him already.

  Chapter 8

  Haiden yawned after we packed everything into the back and trunk of the car.

  “Do you want me to drive?” I checked. I didn’t mind driving, and I had woken him up early so that seemed only fair.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Well, I’m going to.” I snagged his keys, and he smiled.

  “Alright, don’t crash our car.” He warned, though it seemed more like he was teasing me. I was glad he wasn’t one of those guys that was so completely in love with his car that he wouldn’t dream of letting a woman drive it.

  I mean, I’d never actually met a guy like that… I didn’t have any guy friends, the guys I’d met were either afraid of cheetah shifters or other shifters who weren’t interested in talking to me because talking could lead to more, and they were saving themselves for their mates.

  But I’d seen more than my fair share of movies, and that
kind of guy was totally a real thing.

  Anyway, so I actually enjoyed driving. I liked to be busy but not busy, and driving was the perfect way to do that. It gave me time to think, since the roads were empty, and Haiden was asleep so it was almost like alone time.

  Call me crazy, but I needed alone time to function. I had to have time just me inside my own head if I wanted to be the best Jazz I could be.

  It was a two-hour drive, so it was like the perfect amount of relaxing-thinking-driving time. I got to reflect over everything that had happened, which was necessary for my mind to process things.

  By the time we arrived in Glacier, I felt great. Haiden was still asleep, but there was a hint of a smile on my face. I was Haiden’s mate, and he was mine. He cared about me, and I cared about him. We hardly knew each other at all, but we were soulmates and there was no changing that.

  Even after such a short time, he was important to me.

  When I parked in front of the house Brooke and I were renting (it was old and kind of a mess, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to afford it), I realized the mistake I’d made.

  I didn’t have my keys. They had been left in the hotel room with Brooke and everyone else, along with the rest of my stuff.

  Haiden was waking up next to me as I dialed Brooke’s phone number.

  “Hey, J.” Brooke picked up. “You called at the perfect time, I’m just taking a lunch break. What’s up?”

  “You didn’t happen to leave a spare key somewhere outside the house, did you?” I checked.

  “Nope.” Brooke was always blunt, which was like the best quality I could’ve asked for in a best friend. “I locked everything, too. You know I’m paranoid.” She reminded me.

  “I know.” I leaned back in my seat.

  “Oh, but I sent all your stuff back with Leah and Sav and everyone. I wasn’t sure when you were going back to Glacier, but thought you might need it. Your keys are in your laptop bag.” She said.

  “Thanks.” I smiled. “You rock, B. Love you girl.”

  “Back at ya. Have fun with your hunk!” she exclaimed.