“And it goes without mentioning that you two are my best friends, and I’d be devastated if you couldn’t accept the choices I make in my life.”
“If he makes you happy, we’re happy. Right, Joey?”
“Absolutely,” Henry answered.
“But don’t forget that friend thing comes along with the privilege of concern for your wel being,” Joey said.
“That goes both ways,” she agreed. “But concern and insult are two different things.”
“Agreed,” Both Henry and Joey said in unison.
“Now that you’ve forgiven me, I think I’l go to bed. It’s been a long couple of days. Good night.”
Joey yawned loudly.
“Me too. Good night, Georgia.” Henry kissed her on the cheek and she smiled.
“Good night,” she said.
“I need a hot shower, but I have to take Lucy out first.”
“I’l take her out for you. Go take your shower,”
Kish said.
He stil seemed distant. It pained her that she’d hurt him, given him doubts about her feelings for him.
She was beginning to understand how deep the obviously careless way women had treated him in the past had affected him. She believed she was starting to earn his trust, but she’d have to be careful with him.
He was one of the strongest men she’d met, but his heart was delicate. She barely kept a giggle from escaping. How he’d love to hear that. Nonetheless, she believed it to be the truth. She supposed he might come across as intimidating to others. His size alone would intimidate most, but he was kind and considerate and had been nothing but respectful of her and her needs.
She wanted to show him how much she loved him, how much she cared about his feelings, and prove to him that she would always stand by his side.
However, this was something that would take time.
Earning someone’s trust didn’t happen over night, but if he gave her the chance, she would do so no matter how long it took. But would he give her that chance?
She went to her room and got a change of clothes.
For the first time in a long time, she wished she had some sexy lingerie to wear, but she’d only brought sweats and Tshirts. After al, she hadn’t been expecting to do anything for a whole week other than relax, spend time with Henry and Joey, and try to keep warm. Fashion had been the furthest thing from her mind when she’d packed for this trip.
She took her things to the bathroom and brushed her teeth after starting the water in the shower. When she finaly stepped under the steaming spray, she sighed in relief. Kish’s shower was awesome, for lack of a better word. The temperature was perfect and the various sprays coming from above and in front of her hit in al the right places.
There was a ledge in the corner of the shower, and after washing her hair and body, she sat on it and leaned against the wal to let the spray massage her.
This was heaven. But soon, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She was not alone, and the only person she knew capable of getting close to her without making a noise was Kish. Or could it be something else? Other lycans had been in the area.
Would they have the ability to sneak up on her as wel?
“Kish?” Silence greeted her.
She stood, turned off the taps, and reached for the towel she’d hung beside the shower before getting in.
She wrapped it around her and stepped out.
“Is that you, Kish?” Silence again. She giggled. A nervous habit she’d nearly forgotten she had until this moment. “Is someone there?” Nothing. “You’re scaring me. Please answer me.”
Chapter Nineteen
He watched her as she reached for the white towel and wrapped it around her. This was the first time he’d seen her completely nude, and the beauty of her curves rendered him speechless. She was different from the women he’d dated in the past, from the kind of women he thought he preferred.
He had been wrong about skinny women. They didn’t hold a candle to his Georgia. His Georgia.
Everything about her caled to him. Her green eyes.
Her ful, naturaly pouty lips. Her golden skin. He watched a water droplet run down the inside of one curvy thigh, and he ran his tongue along his bottom lip, yearning to folow that path with his mouth. But the direction he wanted to go was not down. It was up, up to the golden curls nestled between her thighs.
He ached to taste her, to breathe her essence deep into his lungs, to imprint an intimate part of her upon his soul for always.
Finaly, he realized he was scaring her and gave himself a mental slap. “Don’t be afraid.” She jumped, and he cursed under his breath.
“Kish, you scared me half to death. Why didn’t you answer me?”
He cleared his throat. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you took my words away for a moment. You are beautiful.” He wanted to touch her, kiss her, claim her, but he needed to show her something first. If she could accept him for what he realy was, then just maybe they had a shot, just maybe he could find a way to give her his heart, a heart he’d vowed to never give to another again. It was almost as if he had no choice with Georgia, though. He not only wanted her, but he needed her. Every time she was near, he felt whole, at peace, wanted . . . loved.
She blushed and he chuckled. “No need to be embarrassed.”
“I’m not.” She lifted her chin in defiance.
He smiled. “Okay then. You’re not.”
She giggled. “Okay, I guess I was a little bit. I’m not used to men watching me while I shower.”
That was a sobering moment. He frowned and clenched his fists at the thought of another man seeing her naked. A serious rush of jealousy hit him hard.
“I should hope not because if I ever catch another man watching you shower . . . Wel, I can promise that it wouldn’t end wel for him.”
“Why are you watching me?”
“Seriously? Why wouldn’t I want to watch you?
You take my breath away.”
She blushed again. “You don’t strike me as the Peeping-Tom type, Kish. Is something wrong?
Lucy’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Yes. I gave her some fresh water and she’s curled up on the couch.”
“Thank you for taking care of her. But you aren’t fooling me. I can hear that something is wrong in your voice.”
“No.” Yes. He was about to show her the wolf, and if she freaked out, he didn’t know what he’d do.
He wanted her to accept him, al of him, and al of him included his wolf.
“Uh-huh. Why don’t I believe you?”
“I need to show you something.”
“Oookay.”
“I promise you there is no reason to be scared.”
“Wel, I wasn’t scared until you just said that.
Funny thing. When people say there is no reason to be scared, there is usualy a huge ass reason to be scared.”
He sighed. This was not going how he’d planned.
And how the fuck exactly did you plan it to go when you turned into a wolf for her the first time?
“Kish?”
He took her hand before he had time to think on it further and led her to the tub. “Sit here.”
She sat on the edge of the tub.
“This is one time when someone tels you not to be scared that there is honestly no reason to be scared.
Trust me. Okay?”
Georgia nodded slowly, but he could tel by the frown that tugged the corners of her lips down that she was worried.
He stepped back and let the wolf come to the surface. He let the change come slow this time. Hair sprang through every pore of his skin. Claws shot from his fingertips. Canines elongated. Muscles contorted and reshaped. He was so used to shifting he’d forgotten how painful it used to be at one time.