Page 26 of The Rhino's Rose

Her eyes look as if they might pop out of her head. “Shit! What is he doing here? He’s not supposed to be back for another week!” She tosses the covers off and lunges from the bed.

Before her feet touch the ground, I have my armsaround her waist, catching her to prevent the impact. Her ankle is getting stronger by the day, but it’s a long way from being one hundred percent. The last thing we need right now is for her to reinjure it while naked, with her father, who isn’t aware of the change to his daughter’s relationship status, waiting at the front door.

“Thank you,” she says, pulling me down by the horn and caressing it while kissing me.

“Don’t wake the monster.” I peel her soft fingers from my horn. “I doubt your father would appreciate me greeting him with a hard-on.”

“Too late.” She giggles while checking out the bulge behind my fly. “Sorry?”

“You don’t look the least bit sorry,” I say with a chuckle, then give her a quick kiss before stepping away from temptation.

Another sharp knock on the front door startles the smile off of her face. “What should we do?”

Something inside me deflates. This isn’t how I envisioned revealing our relationship to Garion, but I did assume we’d tell him as soon as he returned from Sicily. “The choice is yours. What do you want to do?”

“The choice isours, isn’t it?” She wraps her arms around her middle, a defensive posture I haven’t seen her take since I pulled my head out of my ass and told her how I feel about her. “Unless you’re not sure what you want.”

With one step, I’m in front of her, tugging her against me and stroking her long, silky hair while kissing her head. “You’re the center of every waking thought andevery nightly dream. The past week has been the happiest of my life, and I want it to be the first week of forever with you. There is nothing I’m more sure about.”

She tips her head back, eyes shining, full lips curved in a smile more beautiful than any flower could ever be. “Then I should get dressed so we can answer the door together.”

The next round of insistent knocking rattles the wood as I’m setting Rose on her feet at the front door.

She doesn’t take a big breath or hesitate in any way; she just grabs the handle and flings the door open wide. “You’re back!” Genuine joy lights her face at the sight of her adoptive father.

“Dusci mia,”Garion says, stepping forward to hug her. Looking over her shoulder at me, his yellow eyes meet mine, but give nothing away. Releasing her, his gaze falls from her face. “What happened? I left you intact.”

Rose swallows, a loud gurgling sound audible in her throat, and her cheeks flare with a red blush.

“She sprained her ankle,” I say, when Rose remains tongue-tied. “Dr. Schaefer did a scan the next day and says it’s minor, but Rose has been careful to keep her weight off of it, including letting me drive her to and from the flower shop.”

“Thank you for seeing she was well taken care of.” Garion turns his attention to Rose. “Why didn’t you mention this in your messages?”

“Because you would’ve asked how it happened, and Ididn’t want to lie to you, or tell you the truth, while you were halfway around the world.” With a careful hop, she’s by my side, her arms wrapped around my middle. “I slipped while getting out of Cornelius’s tub. Well, it was Cornelius’s tub when I slipped,” she says, then looks up at me, a wide, loving smile curving her beautiful pink lips. “Now it’s our tub.”

Garion’s brow line rises. At his back, his wings twitch, and I hold my breath, waiting for them to unfurl and the claws to come out, literally. Garion has never shown any sign of temper in the five years I’ve known him, but gargoyles are ferocious when in protector mode.

If I had a beautiful, innocent daughter and came home from a trip to find she’d been deflowered by the monster I’d asked to look out for her, I’d probably ram my horn through his chest. Or lower, where he really deserved to feel the pain.

“I love your daughter,” I say, breaking the silence hanging between us. “I’ve known she’s my true mate since the day I met her, and I spent five long years fighting my instincts and feelings. I thought about moving, leaving Fate’s Falls, but even if I couldn’t be with her as her mate, I couldn’t be away from her, either. I truly tried to respect your wishes of a full, human life for Rose. Every time I rejected her, it killed a piece of my soul. I hated hurting her, and I’ll never do it again. All I want to do is love, provide, and cherish her for the rest of my life, and she has honored me by saying yes.”

“And you, Rose?” Garion asks.

“He’s the only one I’ve ever wanted. The only personwho’s ever made my heart race and my soul feel alive. I love Cornelius and, if fate hadn’t brought us together, I’m sure, without a doubt, there would never be anyone else for me.”

Garion’s gray lips shift, rising at one corner. “Fate brought you both to Fate’s Falls. Fate even went so far as to drop you next door to each other. But I get the credit for bringing you together.”

“You?But you told Cornelius I deserve a full, human life.”

“I did say those words, yes. Because I wanted Cornelius to give you that life. The full, human experience of opening yourself to someone, trusting them, loving them with your whole heart and being loved the same way. The experience of having a family, if you choose to. Gargoyles are no strangers to the mate bond. I sensed on the day he arrived that Cornelius was meant to be that person for you.”

“All those times you told me what you wanted for Rose,” I say, meeting Garion’s yellow eyes, “I focused on the word ‘human,’ not ‘full.’ I thought you were subtly warning me away because you wanted her to be with a human.” Five years lost to assumptions. Five years I could have spent with Rose.

“Things happen when they’re supposed to happen,” she says, as if reading my mind.

Garion grunts a laugh. “Or when your father gives things a nudge by going out of town after removing an integral, yet difficult to diagnose, part from the hotwater heater, and ensuring your adoring, devoted neighbor would come to the rescue.”

Rose’s bottom lip drops. “You broke the water heater on purpose?”

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