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She was right. I had to believe in myself if I wanted this relationship to work out. If Ty and I were truly fated—and I had no reason to think we weren’t—then we would make it through any obstacle the pack or society threw at us. We just needed to give it a chance.
Later that day, I tried to get Ty out of my head so I could concentrate on bookkeeping. It was my least favorite part of the job, and I looked forward to the day when I made enough profit to hire a professional accountant. Until then, though, I was stuck doing it, even if it made my eyes cross as I worked on inputting data.
A knock on the door interrupted my concentration. “Just a minute.” I wasn’t expecting anyone but assumed it was one of my employees stopping by to grab their paycheck.
“What the hell?”
Through the side window, I saw a huge bouquet floating midair. I flung open the door and was greeted with the largest flower arrangement I’d ever seen. The delivery person pushed the arrangement in my direction, and I took it, struggling to carry it through the door. The stems protruded out in every direction, making it almost impossible to maneuver myself and the bouquet past the doorframe. I gave up and stared at the door, wishing I’d never opened it. I certainly knew what was about to happen. I could feel the tingling in my nose.
Peeking over the roses, tulips, and lavender was none other than Ty, standing with his arms crossed and a huge grin on his face. He was proud of his ridiculous display, but didn’t realize—couldn’t have known, really—the error he had made.
Within seconds, the pollen invaded my nasal cavities, and I sneezed violently. The allergy attack was so severe that I couldn’t hold onto the flowers. They began to tumble as I pushed them away.
“Oh, shit.” Ty grabbed the flowers from my hands. “Are you okay?”
The sneezing fit continued, so I couldn’t answer. Instead, I pointed to the flowers to indicate they were the cause.
“Damn it.” He tossed the flowers over his shoulder and onto the lawn. “Here, step inside. Let me help you.”
He followed me into the office where the fragrance of lavender lingered, causing my sneezing to continue. Ty ran to the bathroom and brought out an entire roll of toilet paper.
I nodded and blew my nose, turning away so Ty wouldn’t see the watering eyes and runny nose that came with this particular allergy. It wasn’t exactly the type of first impression I wanted to have on my fated mate.
When my allergic reaction finally abated, Ty moved closer and laid his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t want to flinch away, but the electric current zinging my skin was almost more than I could bear.
As if he felt it too, he pulled his hand away, but his voice was soft, kind. “Liza, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were allergic to flowers. Actually, I’ve never heard of a wolf being allergic to anything before.”
I laughed nervously and wiped away the tears. “Yeah, well, that’s just one of the many things that make me unique.” My face warmed, and I covered my blushing cheeks with my hands. How embarrassing. “Thank you for the gesture; it means a lot. For future reference, it’s only lavender that gets to me. All other flowers are fine.”
“Lavender. Noted.” Ty smiled, and my stomach flip-flopped. This guy had the kind of smile that made a woman think of long nights and hot sex. Fuck. There wasn’t much about him that didn’t make me think of that.
A sudden flashback hit me, and I remembered being surrounded by lavender and sneezing. I tried to stop it as fear overwhelmed me, and I stumbled backward, almost into him. A hand appeared in front of me.
“Liza? Are you with me?” He waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of the memory or vision or whatever it was. Ty probably wasn’t used to women spacing out when he spoke to them, but we were both on new and slightly unlevel ground. Anyway, the vision faded, but the snapshot lingered at the edge of my consciousness.
“I’m sorry.” I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “All of that sneezing must have created some sort of brain fog.”
I watched him, but not so closely that he would see. I hoped he’d accept my answer and not ask what I had been thinking about. I didn’t know how to explain it or why it suddenly started happening, but I didn’t want to dissect it with him.
Instead, he hung his head and chewed his lower lip before he looked up at me again. “I hate that you reacted so terribly to the flowers. But, hey! At least I learned something about you.”
“Yeah, at least there’s that.” I smiled and motioned for him to take a seat as I made my way back to my office chair. “Are you here to inquire about a catering job?”
Ty’s laughter had my body springing to life. The man had a laugh. It was melodic and deep, almost sensual. If I were to die right then, it would’ve been with a smile on my face. There was something about his voice, about the genuine tone in his laughter, that made me feel safe, protected, secure with him. “Actually, I came by to ask you out on a date.” He paused, and as I was about to tell him he’d already done that, he added, “Again.”
“Oh.” I searched my brain for a more appropriate response, but something about him—be it the looks, the body, the sound of his voice or the smile—rendered me dumb.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. Damn, he was fit. From that angle, I could see the muscles in his upper arms straining against the sleeves of his tight sweater. And I couldn’t even look at his chest without getting the horny sweats.
He spoke, and I forced my gaze to move from his torso. “I wanted to ask you properly this time.”
He cracked his knuckles and stared at the floor, seeming bashful over the whole flower debacle.
I sighed as my thoughts drifted back to the fact that I was so different from all the other wolves. I hated it. Being unique was one thing, odd was another, and I was the latter. Surely Ty had to have been somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of being seen with me. “Are you sure you really want to date me?”
He sat up straight and looked into my eyes as if he was trying to see how my brain was functioning. He scoffed, seeming surprised by my question. “Why would I not want you?”
I could’ve fallen hard for a guy who asked that question the way he did, as if he honestly couldn’t see why I’d asked.
