Page 33 of Knot in Bloom
“Planning to stay long-term then?”
The question holds weight. “Depends on whether I find reasons to.”
Her cheeks flush pink, and her scent sweetens. “Oh.”
I step closer, close enough to see her pulse fluttering at her throat. “Sadie.”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something. About Saturday. About why I really offered to fix your roof.”
Wariness creeps into her expression, but her scent shifts with anticipation. “Caleb?—”
“It wasn’t charity. Wasn’t me being neighborly.” I move closer still, until I can see how her breathing quickens. Part of me wants to mark that delicate skin at her throat. “I volunteered because I wanted time with you. Because I’ve been thinking about you since the berry festival.”
Her breath catches, and something shifts in her scent—deeper, richer. “You have?”
“Constantly. The way you talk to flowers like they understand you. How you remember exactly what Mrs. Woodbury needs every week. The fact that you take care of everyone in this town and never expect anything back.”
“Caleb.” My name comes out breathless, and her suppressants must be wearing off because being this close to an interested alpha is clearly affecting her more than it should.
“I know there might be other people interested in you. And I know I disappeared after Saturday instead of having this conversation then.” I reach up to touch her cheek, and she leans into it like she’s starving for the contact. Something protective rises fierce in my chest. “But I need you to know that when I fixed your roof, it wasn’t about the roof.”
“What was it about?”
Her skin is soft under my fingertips, warm with the flush spreading down her throat. This close, her scent is intoxicating—honeysuckle in full bloom mixed with vanilla and something that’s purely her. Part of me wants to bury my face in her neck,mark her somehow so other alphas know she’s got someone looking out for her.
“It was about wanting to take care of you the way you take care of everyone else. About wanting to be someone you can depend on.”
Her pupils dilate completely, and I can smell arousal beginning to bloom in her scent. Sweet and inviting and making my cock thicken in my jeans. She sways slightly, like the proximity to an interested alpha is overwhelming her senses.
“I don’t know how to be taken care of,” she admits quietly, her voice shaky.
“Then we’ll work it out together.”
The words come out rougher than I intended, but more honest. Her honeysuckle sweetness turns richer, more complex, and when she bites her lip worrying, I want to soothe it with mine.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. Not because we need to discuss repairs. Because I want to spend time with you and see what this is between us.”
She looks up at me, hazel eyes wide with something between wonder and fear. “What if I’m not good at this? At being... wanted?”
Hearing the doubt in her voice makes something protective surge through me. Mine, my alpha side growls when she looks at me like that. How can someone so generous doubt her own worth?
“Then we’ll figure it out together.” I stroke my thumb across her cheekbone, watching her eyes flutter closed. “Say yes, Sadie.”
“Yes.”
The word is barely a whisper, but it hits me like lightning. Without thinking, I lean down and brush my lips against hers. Soft, testing, giving her room to pull away.
She doesn’t pull away.
Instead she rises on her toes, her hands fisting in my shirt to pull me closer. The kiss deepens, and she tastes like everything I’ve been craving—sweet and warm with that hint of vanilla that drives me crazy. Her scent explodes around us, so rich with arousal that my alpha instincts practically purr with satisfaction.
When we break apart, our breathing is ragged. Her scent carries traces of want now, sweet and inviting in a way that makes my cock throb. She looks thoroughly kissed, lips swollen and eyes dazed.
“Tomorrow night,” I say against her forehead. “Seven o’clock.”
“Okay.”
