Page 35 of One True Mate

“Kyle, this is by far the best thing I have ever eaten in my life. Oh my gosh, it's delicious. You really cooked this all by yourself?”

“I swear it.”

The way she was looking at me was going to quickly lead back to where we left off at the door. Not that I'd mind that, but I did need to talk to her and explain some things to her. Mostly I needed to explain about mating and what was going on between us. It wasn't fair to her that she didn't already know before we acted on it.

“So, how was The Crate tonight?”

She smirked at me. It was the sexiest look I'd ever seen on a woman and had me ready to pick her up and drag her off into my bedroom and finish what we had started.

“If I tell you, are you going to freak out and try to attack me again?”

I frowned, “No.” I would never attack her. I wasn't even capable of hurting her.

“Damn, that's a shame.”

I choked on the sip of wine I had just downed. I had certainly not expected that!

“Well, after work I drove over to The Crate and Sally wasn't there yet. I didn't really know what to do. I had never been in a bar before. No one has ever asked me out for drinks like that, so I had no clue what I was doing or where to sit or anything. Fortunately, Cole Anderson was there and it helped to see a familiar face. So I hung out with him and we caught up over drinks waiting for Sally to arrive. Apparently, everyone's talking about the big race. I had a few guys buy me a round as congratulations.” She paused and frowned. “Sorry.”

“I can take the heat of losing to a girl.” I laughed.

“Oh, um, yeah, okay.”

She was hesitating and I needed to know why, so I asked her. No more beating about the bush with us now that things were coming out in the open. Mates aren't supposed to hide anything from each other and I wanted to know everything about her.

“It's just, I don't know. I'm not very good with this stuff so I could be way off mark here, but it's just that you seem to get a little, uh, upset, when I mention other guys.”

Okay, she was definitely onboard with brutal honesty.

“Guess I haven't been keeping that in check as much as I thought I was.”

“It's okay, you kind of flipped out the other day about the, uh, tattoo when you saw it and I can, I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel when you're unhappy about something. I don't always know what, but I know when something's bothering you and I just didn't want to upset you realizing I was talking about the guys in the bar buying me drinks.”

“You feel my emotions?”

She nodded. All this time I thought she wasn't really feeling the connection and the call to mating, but maybe I was wrong.

“What else do you feel?”

She shrugged and I knew there was more.

“I know when you're watching me. I always know when you are in the woods in your wolf form guarding my house. Like last night. I knew you were there all night. I almost called you in just so you'd get some sleep. You were very restless last night.”

I know I stared at her in shock. I really shouldn't be. I mean, I had noticed I was more and more in tune with her too, especially since our first kiss, so why wouldn't she reciprocate? But the enormity of what she was saying was still stunning. We hadn't even mated and yet what I had been feeling and what she was telling me sounded very much like what I had always been told about the bond between mates.

She sighed, “I'm not supposed to be feeling that, am I?”

I could see the disappointment on her face.

“No, not yet, it's too soon.” The look she gave felt like pure rejection, like I'd just shamed her over what she'd told me and I had to make it right no matter how crazy it sounded. “Kelsey, we aren't supposed to feel each other on that level. Only bonded mates are supposed to be that aware of each other.” I lifted her downcast head to face me. She wouldn't make eye contact and I missed looking into her beautiful brown eyes. “But I feel it too. I always know exactly what room you're in. I know when you're scared or stressed or disappointed with yourself or something someone's told you.”

Her eyes flew to mine and we held each other's stare. Even as mates, we shouldn't be able to do that for this long either. I knew deep down that whatever this was between us was different, special.

She licked her lips and didn't break eye contact as she boldly asked, “So, you're my mate, right?”

I know I blushed. Guys aren't supposed to blush. I needed to pull it together.

“Uh, um, yeah, who told you about that?”

---