Free Reviving Bloom by Michelle Turner Page B

him apart, but the last thing I want to do is scare her. I’m already worried how she’s going to react whe n I reveal my true self to her.
     
    I’ve lain beside her every night for a week. I’ve watched her sleep and breathed in that sweet scent of hers ; strawberries and cedar. Even now surrounded by the smells of this lake and the fish living in it, I can smell her strawberry and cedar scent strongest. I could smell her from miles away. I did, that’s how I found her and how I got caught in that damn trap. I was consumed with finding where that heavenly scent originated and wasn’ t paying attention. I haven’t been able to be far from her side since the moment I found her. My heart aches for her closeness and my wolf’s protective of her. My pack would laugh at me now if they saw me playing “pet , ” but I have to get to know her and find away to reveal mine and now Billy’s secrets without scaring her away.
     
    I can hear her thoughts seeping into my mind, they are washed in exhaustion. She hates arguments; they seem to drain her as much as I seem to relax her. She’s glad I’m h ere to protect her and she’s hoping she doesn’t see this guy again, but she knows it’s not over . I wish I c ould shift and pull her into my arms to comfort her, but that would just cause her more stress . Instead I just rub up against her side, knowing that’s the best I can do at this time .
     
    She’ s leaning against me now and is knott ing her hands in my fur. I can’t wait to have her hands in my hair that way, and mine in hers. I’m brought back out of my fantasy by more of her thoug hts. Wait did she just say she’ll marry me? No, she’s just wishing she could find a man who was like me and said s he’ll marry him if she does. I have to chuckle at that though. She already has and doesn’t e ven know it. Though I wish she’ll quit calling me a dog. I can’t really blame her for that; I’ve been the one playing the good “dog . ” I need to work up the courage I know I have and show her she already has me.
     
    How do you break it to the woman you love that the “dog” she has come to care for isn’t a dog at all, but a man who can change into a wolf ? I could shift right in front of her so s he won’t be able to accuse me of being insane, but she’ll probably think she’s lost it instead.
     
    Chapter 18 – Bloom
     
    ~ She’ll burn you faster than the Florida sun in July ~
     
    By the time Bonnie co me s back from her “talk” and finds me it’s after midnight. I’m drained from the confrontation with Trace, but I don’t w ant to worry her so I d on’t bring it up. She ’s clearly having a good time. Her lips are bruised pink from being freshly kissed and the smile hasn’t left her face since she sat down beside me. Knowing she’s ready to relay what’s happened to m e but not wanting to brag I go ahead and ask, “So on a scale of 1 to 10, how good of a kisser is he?”
     
    Watching the dark water on the lake trying to hide that her smile ha s somehow grown wider, “Hmm, I’d say he’s a 6.”
     
    Shocked I ask, “A 6 has put that smile on your face?”
     
    “A six is a decent kiss rating.”
     
    “A six is average. The smile you have should only come from a kiss that rates at least a 9 if not a perfect 10 . So please explain what’s causing this reaction.”
     
    “I’m smiling because I’ve realized that all those years I crushed on him I could’ ve had him and now I don’t want him. It’s funny how things work out.”
     
    “Let me get this straight. You’re smiling because he wants you and you don’t want him?”
     
    “I know it sounds mean, but it feel s nice to be wanted even though I know now he’s not what I want.”
     
    “Not mean Bon that ’s just the way it goes sometimes . You’ve had this perfect idea of what he would be like for four years and now you’re just realizing he doesn’t live up to the dream him. Plus he’s been on the receiving