Page 13 of You're Not My Mate

Rose’s eyes started to close, and only a sudden knock at her door brought her out of her sleep. This had happened a fewtimes, and once again she felt overwhelmed. Had Graham died?

She closed her book, placing it on the coffee table in front of her, bundling up the blanket, and making her way toward the main front door. Pulling it open, she saw Rocco on the front step, but he didn’t look grim. Instead, he carried a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“Rocco?”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She opened the door a little wider, and she frowned as she looked at the flowers. They looked wild, as if he had picked them himself, not gone to Chantel, the florist in town.

“What’s going on?”

“The florist was … closed, but what do you expect, it’s late, and I wanted to give you these so I could apologize. I don’t know what flowers you liked, but then I saw the wildflowers growing in your garden, I put two and two together, and you know, figured you might like that.”

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He held out the flowers but she didn’t take them.

Rose needed answers.

“I … I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way today. I’m sorry. I’m just … I’m so fed up with this shit, you know. It’s hard. They all come, and when they find us and we understand what is going on with them, it’s like we’re their miracle cure, only we’re the furthest from that.” He released a breath. “And then we have to see it through until the end, and that’s hard.”

She looked at him and the flowers. Part of her knew she should tell him to get lost, but she didn’t want to in that moment. Instead, she reached out and took them. “Thank you.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Rocco said.

“And?”

“Would you like to go to the Poison Bar?” Rocco asked.

Rose frowned. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yes.”

This time she lowered the flowers, focusing her attention on him. “What is going on?”

“I want us to go out, get a drink, talk.”

“What happened to neither of us telling anyone that we’re, you know, mates?” she asked.

Rocco gripped the back of his neck, and his face scrunched up. “Yeah, I, ugh, I don’t know what to say about that.”

This time Rose was amazed and couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, so, we both come to the realization that we’re mates and our wolves want to connect, and that means we’re mated. You freak out and tell me in no uncertain terms will you ever settle down with one woman, or one wolf, that I am not enough for you, that you are embarrassed to even be mated to me because I’m a little reclusive for you. To make matters worse, you come to me with all the crap that is going on with this Milton doctor and his little experiment, to clean up your mess, and now you want to go on a date, and your only answer is you don’t know what you’re doing or what to say about it?” Rose was truly amazed.

“Okay, now that you say it like that, it sounds really bad.”

“I say it exactly how it sounds. Wow, you don’t see it, do you?”

“I do see it, and yes, it sounds bad, and there is no way I’m getting away from it, and I totally get that. I’ve not been the best … person in all of this, and I am truly sorry.”

She shook her head and then slammed the door in his face. Only, she took several steps, intent on never going back to that door, but her wolf didn’t like the way this was going. Spinning around, she walked back to the door, opened it, and glared at him.

“Pick me up tomorrow at seven, and don’t think for a second this is me forgiving you for everything you have done. Iwill not be doing that.” And she slammed the door back in his face.

“I’ll be here.”

Rose heard him mumble the words through the door, and she looked down at the wildflowers in her hands.

It was strange, because she knew how much hard work Chantel put into her bouquets and elaborate displays, but she loved these flowers. They were so beautiful. She leaned down, and they had a soft floral scent and smelled mainly of the forest, but also of Rocco. His wasn’t a smell she wanted to get used to.

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