“It’s not that she doesn’t want you, Gabriel.” Rosie placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. “She just doesn’t understand what’s happening, being human.”
“It would be easier if she was a shifter.”
Rosie laughed out loud. “Lord, do you really think human and shifter females aren’t similar? I thought you had more sense than that. Growing up, you never did starve for female attention, whether it was from that suffocating family of yours or all those women fawning all over you. Maybe it’s time you did some of the chasing, Gabriel Russel.”
“I know, I know,” he said glumly. “I’m easy on the eyes.” Rosie snorted but he continued. “I have a job. I look pretty hot when I’m in my uniform.”
“And you’re richer than sin,” Rosie added.
He winced, not really thinking about that. “Then why doesn’t she want me?”
“Gabriel, have you ever thought that perhaps those are the reasons she doesn’t want you?”
“What?”
The older woman’s lips twisted. “You’re not blind right, you can see her scars?”
“Yeah, and so?”
“And so?” she parroted. “How do you think she feels about them?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to her,” she said. “It’s part of her, something she has to live with every day. And you can’t just ignore them—”
“I’m not.” But Rosie’s words made him think. Truly, aside from the fact that she must have been in incredible pain, those scars didn’t matter to him at all. Obviously, it bothered Temperance a lot. “Do you know what happened?”
“Not the whole story.” Rosie’s tone lowered. “But you can’t just ignore her scars. She’s extremely self-conscious about them, and it’s not just about how she looks. There’s a deeper scarring there, one we can’t see.” She sighed. “Temperance is an amazing person—inside and out. You don’t even know how lucky you are that she’s your mate. But her confidence has been left in tatters by God knows what, and so, when you come in and start throwing your weight around, she won’t believe you want her for her.”
Huh. He’d never really thought of that. Of course not. His entire focus in trying to claim Temperance had been to make her want him back. Now he realized what he had to do was earn her. “What do I do, Rosie?”
“Talk to her. Show her you genuinely want her for her, and for God’s sake, listen to the things she’s saying and not saying. You’re used to showing everyone your perfect side, but maybe what Temperance needs to see is your flawed, human side. Trust me, she’ll respect you more for it.”
“And what about us being mates? Should I tell her?”
“That’s up to you, kiddo.” Rosie patted him on the cheek. “You’ll know when it’s time.” There was a sad smile on her face, and Gabriel wondered if there was any meaning behind it.
“Will she even talk to me?”
“She might be persuaded. Wait here.”
Gabriel felt his body tense again when Rosie disappeared through the door. It seemed like an eternity passed, but he didn’t dare look away. Finally, the knob turned, and the door opened slowly.
Temperance peeked her head out, then quickly turned away to hide the right side of her face. A pain plucked at his chest wondering if he had blown it with her. He thought they had gotten past the whole conversation about her scars, seeing as he’d told her he wasn’t disgusted. Seeing her like this, skittish around him, made him realize his mistake—not only did he try to bully his way into her life, but he’d failed to make her feel safe and secure around him. And that just wouldn’t do.
“Rosie said you wanted to talk to me?” she asked.
“Yes, but only if you want to.”
She shrugged.
“I just wanted to say …” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry about overreacting this morning. I should have checked in with you here. And … and I should have sat down and talked to you.” Sweat formed on his palms. “The thing is, Temperance … I like you. I really, really like you.” That didn’t seem enough to convey how he felt, but he had to remember to take things slow.
One hazel eye looked up at him. “You do?”
“Uh-huh. There’s no joke. No ulterior motives. When I went crazy this morning, it was because I genuinely thought you were in trouble.”
“B-but you hardly know me.” She paused, her gaze lowering. “I don’t even know you.”
“All right then, we’ll get to know each other,” he began. “Let’s give this a whirl. Ask me anything.”
She blinked and turned her head slightly so both eyes snapped up to meet his gaze. “Now?”
“There’s no better time.” He smiled at her. “Go ahead. Ask me anything.”
“Well … tell me something about yourself.”
Gabriel knew he could have told her a million things about himself—his favorite color, his job, about growing up. But the first thing he blurted out was, “I hate frogs.”
“What?”
“They’re slimy and gross and have these creepy eyes.” He shuddered. “I can’t stand them. When I see them, my chest starts to seize up, and I can’t breathe.”
“But don’t you work as a ranger?” She nodded at the patch on his uniform. “That means you have to spend a lot of time outdoors.”
“Believe me, I know the irony.”
“But frogs are cute and harmless,” she cried. “They’re lovely, especially the colorful ones.”
“Of course you’d love them,” he grumbled.
“You can’t stand them … not even that puppet one on TV?”
While he took Rosie’s advice to heart about showing her some weakness, he wasn’t about to hand in his man card. “He’s, er, all right. Especially when he sings and plays the banjo.”
She laughed—a genuine, honest-to-goodness laugh that warmed his insides. Even his lion mewled happily, pleased to see their mate so amused.
“I don’t understand,” she giggled. “Why do you hate frogs? Did something happen when you were
