“There’s no mind-reading,” he repeated. “And they won’t because we aren’t going to pretend we know each other forwards and backwards. We’re going to tell them the truth. We’re fated mates. We met at the airport. You walked up to me and announced to everyone in earshot that we were mates, and the moment I caught your scent, I knew you were right.”
That glowy thing started in his eyes again, and he rumbled, “You smelled like butterscotch and sweat.”
“Please, for the love of all things holy, do not tell your mother I smelled likesweat.”I swatted his arm with a loose sleeve. “And don’t make that face when you say it. I know wolves are probably all about smells, but you look way too horny.”
A surprised laugh burst from Rhett, and a flush crept up his neck. Good, he deserved to be flustered just as much as I was.
“Do you have like a mega sense of smell even when you aren’t shifted? Can you smell me right now?”
“Yes, and yes.” He turned his head away from the road, gaze burning through me.
“Not looking any less horny.”
Rhett cleared his throat again—it seemed to be a nervous tic—and murmured, “Youdosmell good.” He pressed his lips together, like he didn’t mean to say it out loud.
“Yeah, and sweaty, apparently.” I rubbed another polished fingernail, squinting anxiously at the dinner plate sized snowflakes. “How is a fated mate different from a chosen mate?”
“A shifter can decide to take a mate and bond with them, or they can wait to find the mate the Goddess chose for them. Fated mates are the perfect match. Most shifters believe the bond is an eternal tie between their souls that exists in this life and the next.”
“How would you know if someone was your fated mate?”
His eyes brightened more—if that was even possible—and a low sound like thunder started in his chest. “Do you know thatfeeling when you sink into your own bed after a long day? It’s like that. Like remembering where you belong.”
“Oddly specific.”
I mulled over his words, feeling that weird tensing in my chest again. It was like someone was pulling my hair, except it was happening to my heart.
Maybe I needed to eat something?
Exhaling through pursed lips, I tugged my knees up into the seat. The car seemed to be drifting slightly on the road, and I decided it was safer if I just didn’t look. Otherwise, I was going to start anxiously side seat driving, and then he probably would crash into a snowbank.
“You do realize this is totally crazy and there’s no way I’m going to convince your family that we’re the perfect eternal Twilight match.”
He shook his head, a soft smile on his lips. “I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, it’s not.”
“But look at us!” I unzipped the jacket enough to point at the tattoos on my chest. “Unemployed tattoo artist and—what did you say you do again? We’re like mint and citrus.”
Rhett angled his head so he could see me and the road at the same time. He stared at my tattoos longer than was polite, and I couldn’t decide if I was offended or relieved that he was checking out my cleavage. I might have been dumped and fired within the same month, but at least I could still get some.
Though, judging from this mate conversation, shifters did not do casual hookups. How could you when you knew there was this perfect, made-for-you-by-a-goddess woman out there waiting for you to find her?
I suddenly felt a little guilty for checking Rhett out. How would I feel if I were his mate, and I knew he was flirting with some random woman he met at the airport and pretending to be mated to her?
Well, shit. No going back now.
“I didn’t know you were a tattoo artist.”
“Only in theory. I’ve been fired twice. I have this problem with timing…”
“Like getting to the airport on time to catch a flight?”
I grimaced. “Something like that.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I noticed that.”
I zipped my jacket back up and put my hands in front of the heater vent. “Okay, Teen Wolf, what else do I need to know?”
By the time Rhett was finished explaining scenting, mate marks, pack bonds, and shifting, I felt dizzy. Or maybe that was the road, as it seemed to twist and turn through trees with no end in sight. I wasn’t keeping track of how long we were driving, but our speed seemed to have decreased significantly.
