“Why what?”
“Why did you claim me?” She pulls her hands from mine, wrapping her arms around herself. “You said claiming is permanent. That I’d be yours forever. Why would you do something like that if we’re not...”
She trails off, but I hear the word she doesn’t say.
Fated.
Here it is. The conversation I’ve been dreading. The truth I’ve been hiding.
“Imani.” I take a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not. At least, I hope it’s not.” I scrub a hand over my face, trying to find the right words. “Do you remember when I told you about the pull? That inexplicable connection?”
“Yes.”
“I lied. When I said I didn’t know what it was.” I force myself to meet her eyes. “I knew exactly what it was. I’ve known since the night you took a shower and I smelled your true scent for the first time.”
Her brow furrows. “My true scent?”
“The cleaning solution you use at work. It masks your natural scent. That’s why I didn’t recognize you right away.” I shake my head, the memory of those first two days still bitter. “I treated you like garbage because I couldn’t smell what you were to me. And then you showered, and the solution washed off, and I finally caught your real scent.”
“Brown sugar,” she says slowly. “You said I smelled like brown sugar.”
“And vanilla. And shea butter. And something floral underneath.” I close my eyes, breathing her in. “The most perfect scent I’ve ever encountered. The scent of my fated mate.”
Silence.
I open my eyes to find her staring at me, her expression unreadable.
“Your fated mate,” she repeats.
“Yes.”
“So when you were avoiding me, when you were chopping wood for six hours, when you kept saying you couldn’t explain the pull...”
“I could have explained it. I just didn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because I wanted you to choose me.” The words come out rough, scraped from somewhere deep. “Not because fate told you to. Not because some cosmic bond decided we belonged together. I wanted you to want me, Imani. The real me. The grumpy asshole who crushed your phone and ripped off your car door. I needed to know you could love me without knowing you were destined to.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. I feel the shift in her: surprise giving way to understanding, and beneath it all, what might be affection.
Then she smacks my arm.
“Ow.” I rub the spot, more startled than hurt. “What was that for?”
“For letting me think I was losing my mind!” She smacks me again. “Do you know how crazy I felt? Wanting you when I should have hated you? Feeling this pull that made no sense? I thought there was something wrong with me!”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“I know that now!” She throws her hands up. “Because apparently it was just fate the whole time! Fate that you knew about and didn’t bother to mention!”
“I was trying to?—“
“Win my heart, yes, I heard you.” She crosses her arms, but her lips twitch with a smile. “Very romantic. Very noble. Also very annoying.”
