The following morning Gray woke up and the sheets beside him were empty. He was used to being walked out on in the middle of the night but never before had he been struck by such panic.

She said she was going to stay! How dare she toy with him like that when he had actually believed her?

Barely managing to put on a pair of pants, he rushed out to the living room and relaxed instantly when he saw Mandy. She was wearing one of his shirts and her wet hair dripped onto the tile floor as she rifled through his kitchen cupboards.

Mandy looked up and smiled when she heard him approach. “Morning! You really need to get some groceries. I was going to make you breakfast but there is literally only a banana and some yogurt in your fridge. That’s pretty sad, Mikey.”

Gray seized her in a hug, his heart still pounding. “We can go grocery shopping later. You still need to help me pick out a houseplant.”

“And a fish,” she reminded him. “I don’t really have anything to get changed into though.”

That wasn’t a problem. He could get someone to buy him a dress from a nearby boutique as long as he knew her size. He told her so and her eyes widened. She gave her head a brief disbelieving shake before thanking him as he called one of his people.

This wasn’t the first time Gray had to call someone to bring women’s clothes to his place but it would hopefully be the last. He really wanted to believe Mandy wasn’t going anywhere.

Once she had a simple teal long-sleeved dress on and he had bothered to put on a shirt, they headed out. She said they were going to a nursery first to pick out a plant, then a pet store, then a grocery store. He followed all of her instructions without complaint.

Mandy picked out a couple of spider plants in pots that matched his apartment’s general color scheme at the nursery, claiming they were nearly impossible to kill. She oohed and ahhed over different types of flowers too.

But when Gray offered to buy them for her, she claimed they were beyond her skill level and would die a horrible death. That made him snort. Out loud. For possibly the first time ever.

This woman was surprisingly funny. He had already laughed more in the less than twenty-four hours they had spent together than he had in years.

At the pet store, Mandy offhandedly commented on how she had always wanted a big fish tank but could never afford it as they walked past a bunch of pretty ones that held over a hundred gallons of water. Gray informed her that she could pick any one she liked, bringing on another of those glorious smiles.

“I want to see what kind of fish they have first before I decide,” she said. “Come look with me!”

Gray was examining some neon tetras and thinking how tiny they looked when Mandy tugged his arm and pulled him over to check something out. A wide grin was on her face and laugh lines formed at the corners of her eyes.

“Look at these ridiculous goldfish! I want seven.”

They truly were ridiculous, with giant puffy pouches beneath their eyes. The plaque said the breed was aptly named Bubble Eyes. He couldn’t imagine keeping such creatures in his house but had to admit he would probably chuckle slightly every time he walked past them.

He went off to find an employee who would know what kind of other fish to put in a tank with these odd-looking things when he bumped directly into the last people he expected to see. Violet Hale and her boyfriend had been everywhere lately.

“What brings you here?” he asked in his real voice before forgetting he wasn’t talking to Mandy anymore.

Violet blinked at him in surprise at the voice change and he winced internally. Too late to take it back now.

“I recently moved into my own place and my mom wouldn’t let me take the cats so I’m  here to adopt a new one,” she explained.

She pointed to an area right next to the aquarium section filled with cats on loan from the local animal shelter in an attempt to get them adopted by people going to the pet store for something else. Quite a manipulative move if you really think about it.

Gray was still trying to think of something to say other than “oh” when Mandy came to see what was taking him so long.

“Did you find someone to ask about those bubble eye goldfish?” she asked. Realizing there were other people present, she turned back towards him with obvious questions in her eyes. “You know these people, Mikey?”

Noah barely concealed a snort after hearing Gray be called Mikey but he was still too baffled by what was happening to care about that. “Yes, this is Violet Hale and her boyfriend Noah Singleton. Violet is my…”

He panicked, forgetting that Violet probably didn’t know the truth about how they were related. Aaron would kill him if he spilled the beans without permission. Well, not literally but he would give off enough ice to freeze him solid. That was certain.

“Niece. I’m his niece,” she said, surprising him.

So she did know after all. He had his suspicions a while back but wasn’t positive. Interesting. This girl was as sharp as a tack.

“Ooh, so you’re Aaron’s daughter! Nice to meet you, I’m Mandy Applegate. Your future aunt,” Mandy said with a bright smile, holding her hand out to shake.

Future aunt? One day together and she already planned on marrying him? Not that Gray was complaining but he was still in a state of shock that any of this was happening at all. What sort of Twilight Zone was he currently living in?

Violet’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the two of them. “Future…aunt?”

Gray knew what she was thinking. The last time she saw him, a bad date had unceremoniously dumped water all over him. That was only a few weeks ago. Nobody within their right mind started dating someone seriously enough to consider marriage in only a few weeks.

He wanted to open his mouth and try to explain himself but there truly was no explaining this. Mandy ignored his internal panic and wrapped her arms around one of his, scooting closer so her face touched his upper arm.

“Yep! We’re here picking out a fish tank because quite frankly, his place is unfit for female habitation. There’s lots of work to do but that’s what I’m here for; livening it up! Right, sweetie?”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Gray found himself agreeing. That actually was why they were here so that part wasn’t a lie. He would have to ask her about the ‘future aunt’ thing later.

Violet looked as bewildered as he felt and it was tempting to laugh at this entire situation. She decided that excusing herself was the least awkward option.

“Well I can see that you two are very busy so I’ll let you get back to picking out a fish tank. I’ll tell my dad you said hi,” she said a bit uncomfortably.

Noah’s arm went around her shoulders to reassure her as they moved closer to the cats to choose one. Mandy steered Gray towards an employee who could help them and that was the end of that extremely awkward encounter.

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