Free Kismet by Tanya Moore Page B

He looked up at Riley and she
had a confused look on her face.
    "I'm listening." She said, as she sat on the
ground and gave Dude more attention.
    He leaned forward with his elbows on his
knees and his head hanging down. He looked up and met her beautiful
eyes, praying he wasn't going to ruin everything. "I want to start
by saying I don't like liars." He took a deep breath and continued,
"But I'm sorry and ashamed to say I lied to you." She had the
cutest confused expression on her face. She cocked her head to the
side, looked down at Dude and then back up at Garrett.
    "What do you mean you lied, this isn't your
dog? I'm confused."
    He could see the look of hurt and
disappointment in her eyes and he wanted to kick himself. What was
he thinking, lying to his Kismet? He really was an ass. He gulped
and went for truth. He'd put his heart out there and hope she
didn't stomp it into smithereens before he could get a chance to
explain. His heart was thundering. He could feel his pulse in his
temples and he swore he was about to pass out. He ran his hand
through his hair again. "Well, you see. I'm an idiot. When I saw
you at Rowdy's on Friday night I wanted to approach you, but I did
it in the lamest way possible. This is a friend's dog, not mine. I
came up with the lie in order to get your contact information, so I
could see you again." He paused and when she didn't say anything,
he continued, "There was something special about you and I lost my
head. I'm beyond sorry and I hope you can find it in your heart to
forgive me." He was sure he was going to throw up any second. He
waited for her reply as a myriad of emotions swept over her face.
He wasn't sure how to read any of it. Her scent was changing every
few seconds, from nervousness, to excitement, to anger and back
again. He couldn't keep track of it. "And on top of everything, you
can see that I don't have a way with animals. They don't normally
like me much." He looked down, ashamed of the entire fiasco and
waited for her to beat feet out of the exam room.
    However, she didn't run out of the exam room,
instead, she hung her head and looked at the floor while absently
petting Dude. He was completely depressed and decided he had better
leave. He didn't want to have an emotional breakdown in front of
her. Wolves weren't wired to accept rejection from their Kismet and
her apparent rejection felt like a knife in the gut.
    "I'm sorry Dr. Riley. I really am. I'll take
Dude, if he'll go with me, pay my bill, and head out. I'm sure
you're very busy and have clients to attend to." He asked Dude to
follow him, feeling as if his heart had been ripped out of his
chest. He thought Sarah dying was painful; it was nothing to being
turned down by his Kismet. He didn't think he was going to recover.
He felt tears burning at the back of his eyes. I am a shifter
wolf, I will NOT cry. Absolutely not, even though I feel like I'm
dying. He opened the exam room door and made his way to the
reception counter to pay, with a very reluctant Dude following.
    Approaching the front desk, he felt like a
complete jerk. Jennifer looked up in surprise to see him so soon.
He asked her to charge for the visit, which she did, and he signed
his credit card receipt. As he was heading out the door, he felt
Riley enter the room.
    "Wait. Garrett, don't leave yet," Riley
called
    Garrett's hand stilled, on the door handle.
He felt like he was splintering apart. Did she stop him to give him
a chance? He took a deep breath and turned around. Her emerald eyes
locked onto his and his breath whooshed out because of the heated
look she gave him.
    "Hey, we all make mistakes," she said.
    Relief slammed into him and his heart started
beating again. He wasn't sure what to do; he wanted to grab her up
and hug her and never let her go. Instead, he took off his jacket,
walked over, and wrapped it around her shoulders. He said, "I know
this seems strange, but would you mind holding onto it for me until
I see you next?"
    "I can do that.