A tiny spike of jealousy shot through me, and I pushed it far, far,fardown. Natalie was part of Ben’s support system, and I had no reason to feel that way. I could have my moments of silliness and romanticism, but there were some things where I had to put my metaphorical foot down, and that was one of them.
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
I shook my head, keeping myself from saying anything stupid by taking a big gulp of my Ensure, which was not one of the flavors that disgusted me. When I got home after the whole Melton situation, Simon surprised me with several cases of different flavors, none of which were vanilla, strawberry, orchocolate.
He really was a sweetheart.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” I managed once I swallowed. God, what was it about Ben Poynter that made me feel like I was a young girl in college again, full of dreams and energy and much less achy knees?
I listened as he did as he said, still marveling that I’d ended up watching TV with Ben and eating ice cream. Anyone looking in from the outside would no doubt think we were a couple enjoying a night in.
Except we weren’t.
I could tell there were a lot of things holding him back. As much as I would love to be in my own Hallmark movie, Ben wasn’t just a deeply hurt man, he was awolf.
But he was so gorgeous. Those kind eyes, impossibly thick eyelashes, the intense cut of his chin, those broad shoulders and chiseled chest. His eyes lit up whenever he talked about his son, and he always beamed when he was proud of Benny.
Yeah, so maybe I had a crush. Was that so wrong? It wasn’t like I expected anything to happen. It was just nice to have one. Like a return to normalcy that I’d long forgotten.
“I got you a bottle of water in case you wanted to wash all the sweet down,” Ben said, startling me a bit. Man, for being so big, he sure could move quietly. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to give you the jump.”
“It’s okay,” I said, laughing nervously. Damn, why couldn’t I be my normal, confident self around him? Oh right, it was because he was perfect in so many ways outside of his wounds, and I was... well, Iwasn’t.
He deserved the best. Some educated and kind, fit woman with curves and long, flowing hair. One who could shift and run with him into the forest or help him with both of his kids once they got their animal forms.
Someone who wasn’t me.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Ben asked as he sat down. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Uh, why do you ask?”
He tapped the side of his nose. “Sorry if it’s a bit invasive, but sometimes I can smell spikes in your scent that mean different things or hear your heartbeat picking up. I don’t do it intentionally, but it is a way that shifters communicate.”
Ah.
Of course.
Once again, I found myself blushing furiously. I probably should have put that together on my own, but the idea that he could track my emotions through mysmellmade me feel a bit self-conscious.
And that was exactly why he deserved some lovely lady shifter to sweep him off his feet. Not a semi-disabled elementary school teacher who barely had her head on straight.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Jeez, I wished that I could be smooth all the time.
“Uh, yeah, just processing what you said. My, uh, my perfume isn’t too much, is it?”
He opened his mouth to say something, but then he swallowed it down and shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. Everything you wear is... fine.”
Ah, what every woman wanted to be called.Fine.Granted, that was the kind of thing I was supposed to be called as a... a...
WhatwasI?
Were we friends? I liked to think I was at least that, but really, this was only the fourth time we’d been in each other’s company, and tonight had been based around explaining Melton’s story. The time before that, Melton had kidnapped me and stolen Ben’s car. Not exactly normal circumstances for a connection.
