Page 39 of Fated to the Alpha

So, this time, he took the direct approach. He’d show up when she was actually there and take her to lunch or bring her lunch. Anything to break the six days and two hours of separation.

He pulled up to the flower shop and hurried inside as if she would vanish into mist the minute he stepped over the threshold.

The space behind the counter was empty, but he could hear country music from the back workroom, and Kimberly’s scent was fresh and present beneath the suffocating aroma of flowers and candles. His heart hammered in his chest and his palms went sweaty, and he hated the way his body betrayed him. His nerves were all on display for her.

Pull yourself together. It’s just a woman.

No, it wasn’t just a woman. It was Kimberly, and in his gut, he knew something was wrong. He just had to figure out what it was.

The electric chime doorbell alerted her to his arrival, and he heard quick footsteps approach.

It took Shane a solid five seconds for his brain to stop misfiring for him to understand who he saw walk through the curtained doorway. Any orderly parade of thoughts came to a grinding halt, jumbling into one another so much that he couldn’t untangle them fast enough to react.

Kimberly stood in front of him, but it didn’t look like her. No version of her, past or present, could compare. His legs went numb in response to the shock, but he locked his knees to stay standing. His mouth went bone dry and he couldn’t swallow. His wolf howled and panted for her. And contrary to it all, his cock went rock-hard, straining against the front of his jeans.

Obviously, the first thing he noticed was her hair, or lack of it. The complete, utter lack of it. Her hair had always been up, down, or in a braid, and never any shorter than the bottom of her shoulder blades. When they were kids, he thought he knew every strand of her hair so intimately. Now, it was all gone. There might not have been an inch left of her hair from high school. Hair could grow and get trimmed a lot in ten years. But now, looking at it so short, he knew for a fact there was nothing left. Nothing left from high school. Did she know she had cut off every lock he had ever touched? Did she understand how that made him feel? Was that what she had in mind when she did it?

But more than that, did she know how she glowed? He couldn’t point to a specific thing that made her exude this new, sizzling energy. Whatever happened during that kiss made her do this. And he tried all too hard to tell himself it wasn’t about him, just like she said.

But whatever this was, whatever her reasons, it seemed to suit her now, and the way she shined seemed so contradictory to everything else that he didn’t know what to say or do. All he knew was that, despite it all, he still wanted her as madly as ever.

“Not going to say anything about my hair?”

Shane’s mouth opened, but he had to stop himself from saying exactly what he thought, that the new cut made her look sexy. That probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Take it slow. “Uhhh … looks good. The shape of your face pulls it off.”

Kimberly jerked as if she hadn’t expected that response. She absently touched some hair behind her ear. “Someone said it looked like some actress named Shirley-something.”

“Definitely not Shirley Temple.”

She seized in a laugh, and Shane broke into a smile. God, he loved to see her smile.

When she recovered, she visibly relaxed, like a wound-up spring finally released and melted. “Thanks. I needed that.”

He eased up to the counter, glad for the cover from the hips down. “Happy to be of service. I’m serious, though. It does look good on you … but you know what I’m going to ask, right?”

Kimberly sighed. “No, it’s not about you. I just … This just makes me feel better. The first time I washed it was a huge reality check, and I still catch myself trying to mess with my hair like tucking it behind my ears or twirling it. It’s like phantom syndrome but for hair.”

Shane flipped his hand at her hair. “Is this why you’ve been dodging me all week? Did you think I’d get upset?”

A touch of red bloomed in her cheeks. “I knew how much you liked my hair in school.”

If he could have vaulted over the counter to hug away that insecurity, he would have. “I like your hair if you like it. I just don’t want you chopping it all off for the wrong reason.”

“What would a wrong reason be?”

“If someone else made you feel bad about it.”

Kimberly looked away, and his wolf growled at the speck of darkness that marred her brilliance.

“Did someone make you feel bad about your hair?” he demanded, a sliver of authority in his voice that he didn’t expect to come out.

Kimberly pulled herself back to the conversation. “No, no. Not exactly.” She took a breath. “Listen, I’m sorry I made you feel like I was dodging you. I just have some things to work out, and I didn’t want any distractions while I tried to reset.”

So much to unpack. “I’m a distraction?”

Kimberly smiled. “A nice one. A very nice one. But I couldn’t handle it this week.”

“And why did you need to reset?”