Page 22 of Fated to the Alpha

“What are you doing?”

Shane realized he had been staring at her sandaled feet and bare ankles a little too long. He looked up and couldn’t help but admire the view of her looking down at him with those shadowed green eyes, full of curiosity but also a little shyness. There was a bit of the old Kimberly.

“I’m fixing your table. Can you take that off for a minute?”

Kimberly’s gaze jumped from him to the table leg, then her red vase and bouquet. She hastily snatched it up and took several steps away.

It took a little while to get it just right, but with the proper adjustment of the wedges, Shane was able to lengthen the shorter leg.

He tested his work. Solid as a rock.

“No more rocking.”

Shane stood and realized that Kimberly hadn’t moved from her spot, still clutching the vase between her hands, her chin just barely clearing the top of the flowers. She blinked and set the order down again, then tested it for herself.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

They were closer now. Just a foot of space separated them. The air sizzled, and Shane wanted nothing more than to grab her, set her on the table and prove it was the steadiest thing in the flower shop, besides her new flower bucket rack, of course. But that would have been harder to make out on.

“Kim,” he began softly, tenderly, “I’m sorry for what I said. It was low and I don’t have a good excuse. Please forgive me for accusing you like that?”

Their eyes met and that sizzle turned into a full, grease-popping, going-to-burn-the-kitchen-down kind of heat that made his hands twitch with need to feel her against him, just one more time. The last couple of days had done little to settle the rediscovered desire for Kimberly and what they had before. All facts and reality aside, he knew he couldn’t leave Tolstone without trying something, anything with Kimberly. Even if they only went on one date, or just had coffee together, he’d be content.

“I forgive you.” Kimberly’s voice was low and equally sincere.

“If it makes you feel any better, Gage took back the joke about you before I had the chance to rip his head off.”

The corner of her mouth twitched with a restrained smile. “He better have. I was ready to tear into him too.” Then, she took in a lungful of air. “And I’m sorry for making so many comparisons to your dad … It’s just—”

“I know what he did to you and your family hurt you, and I don’t blame you for dredging up the past.”

A touch of something made her look pained. “It’s not the past I’m worried about. It’s the present.”

Kimberly turned to face him and Shane had to use every ounce of concentration he had not to glance down at her chest. She was wearing a flowy blouse that was just translucent and light enough to show the edges of her bra. His teenage self would have been salivating.

“Have you heard that saying about the two sons raised by a father who was a drunk?” she asked.

Shane shook his head.

“One son grew up to be drunk, like his dad. The other son never touched alcohol. When asked why, they both said, ‘I watched my dad.’ I guess I’m trying to figure out what kind of a son you are.”

Shane swallowed and he saw the way her attention flicked to his throat, then how her eyes dilated just a little. “I promise you, I’m not anything like my father. You know how much I hated the way he treated our pack.”

“I know the seventeen-year-old Shane. Not the twenty-seven-year-old who’s been through hell. Time changes people. I don’t want to get hurt again.”

The level of trust Kimberly must have had in him to say that had to mean something.

“And I don’t want to hurt you. I want to make up for what hurt I have caused.” Shane took a half a step closer, so close that Kimberly had to tilt her head even further up to meet his gaze. “Let me prove to you that I’m the son who doesn’t want to be like his father.” He sucked in a breath for courage. “You remember how we used to watch foreign films without the captions and make up the dialogue for the characters?”

Kimberly’s perfect, kissable lips twitched in a smile and she nodded.

“Let’s do that again,” he offered. “We can meet at your place, eat pizza and junk food, and watch a movie like old times. Just us. No packs, no bad memories … and maybe…” Shane took the risk and reached for her hand, the one that he had accidentally touched the other day when they were moving stuff around her shop. Her fingers were pliable as he curled his own around hers. “Maybe we can get to know the twenty-seven-year-old versions of us.”

Kimberly’s mouth opened, ready to answer, but something stalled her for a few extra seconds. “Shane … I’m … I think I want to spend time with you, too, but … we both know this can’t go anywhere.”

His brows tightened. “Why not?”