I grinned and accepted the dress she held out, practically skipping into the en-suite to change.
When Devil saidto meet him in the garden, right at the back of the grounds beyond the shed and the chapel, I hadn’t had high expectations. But I was happy to spend time with him. With my mate.
It still made me a little giddy; I had a mate, a man whose soul was the matching puzzle piece to mine. It didn’t hurt that he was kind, and made me laugh, and was so wickedly handsome that when I crossed the garden and saw him sitting at a small metal table dressed in dark blue jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, I swooned a little. There was something inherently masculine about him, and that was before his scent of ocean and freedom hit my senses, filling up my lungs with the promise of safety and forever.
I grinned, closing the last bit of distance between us, and gazing at the lights that were strung from the trees around the table, making this back corner of the garden quiet and romantic.
“This is beautiful,” I breathed, a flutter moving through my belly when Devil stood and brushed a kiss to my cheek. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been on a real date, and I felt… good. Pretty, feminine, and excited. Hopeful instead of the dread and numbness that had dogged my footsteps for weeks. “It must have taken ages.”
“Took even longer because I had to fight with the branches to make that heart in the lights there.”
His hand flitted over the small of my back as he guided me to the table, and I gave the ‘heart’ a dubious look. It was moreof a squashed W, but the effort he’d gone to was so sweet that I smiled. “So that’s what it is.”
“Harsh, angel. That’sclearlyrecognisable as a heart.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, my tone light. “Of course it is.”
He shot me a playful scowl, which only made my smile deepen. “I’d like to see you do a better job,” he quipped.
“Okay,” I said with a laugh, crossing the grass towards the tree and adjusting the lights, pulling the shape higher at the top. When I turned back to Devil with a smug little smile, he was watching me with a soft expression that made my heart trip.
“I bow down to your superior light arranging skills,” he said, actually giving me a bow. “Would Her Royal Decorating Highness like wine or water?”
I snickered at the title. “Wine. As long as it isn’t that cheap vinegar stuff.”
“I made Winner burn that shit, don’t worry,” he replied, pulling out my chair for me to sit before taking a seat opposite me. “Pretty sure he used it as lighter fuel at the last barbecue.”
I accepted the glass he poured for me and peered at the covered dishes on the table. “Cheese on toast?” I guessed, earning a scowl that made him laugh.
“I’ll have you know, angel, I can make one entire dish and it turns out flawlessly every time. Behold.” He reached across and whipped off the metal cover. “Spaghetti Bolognese. My dad taught me when I was a teenager, and I’ve been perfecting the recipe since then. I add extra cheese and a secret ingredient, and avoid dumping the whole container of salt in it.”
“Smart.” I nodded, kept a straight face. “I bet it used to have a really great flavour profile.”
“Oh yeah,” he agreed with a lopsided grin, his attention fixed on me as I took a bite. “The salt really brought out the flavour of the port.”
I gave him a horrified look.
“It was an experimental phase,” he defended himself, blue eyes glittering when I made an appreciative noise. It was really good. Thankfully no port, and only a normal amount of salt.
“What’s the secret ingredient?” I asked, expecting him to say chocolate.
I snorted when he said, “Love.”
“You’re full of shit.” But I grinned and ate some more, sipping the wine and happy to find it fruity and palatable. “This is nice. You’re nice.”
“Only nice?” He put a hand to his chest. “I was aiming for spectacularly, mind-bogglingly amazing. Not to mention devastatingly handsome, incredibly well-dressed, and so good at putting together romantic garden dates that you can’t help but swoon.”
“Humble,” I drawled. “How do you know I swooned?”
“I’m your mate,” he said with a softer, deeper smile. “I can feel what you feel.”
I glanced down, emotion squeezing my throat. “I can feel it, too. Feel you.”
“What am I feeling right now?” he asked, as serious as I’d ever seen him, but with tenderness instead of the cold violence when he saved me from the Alpha’s Bark.
I took a slow breath, using the excuse to eat another bite as I focused inward, touching that place where I’d felt him before. “You’re… happy. Relieved. Maybe… a little sad?”
He shook his head, the smile softening his eyes, gentling the lines of his face. “Not sad, just… I wish I’d told you the second I realised we were mates, so we could have had this all along.”
