Then she said boyfriend like that, as if that was all Maddox was…
“Yes. There was.”
Evangeline gulped. “You don’t already have a mate or anything, do you?”
Wait a second—
“Of course.” When she flinched, understanding slammed into him like a brick upside the head. She didn’t know, because he never told him, and still she thought—“It’s you, baby. Shit, Evangeline, it’s you. You’re my mate.”
Her bottom lip dropped just enough to illustrate her surprise. She swallowed roughly, her green eyes going dark with some sort of emotion. “Me? Are you sure?”
Was she kidding?
“Of course I am. Y
ou’re not just my girlfriend. You’re so much more than that. My mate. My partner. My life. And I’m a fucking idiot for not telling you before now.”
“Really? You’re not just saying that?”
Evangeline suspected he was a shifter. How did it never occur to her that the reason he was so careful to hide it was because he was afraid to let her discover she was his fated mate before he had her as insanely in love with him as he was with her?
So desperate not to screw this up, he made the biggest mistake he could. Instead of letting her come to terms with the truth of their reality, he kept it hidden, convinced he was doing the right thing for her.
At the same time, as he pursued her without telling her the truth, his mate must have imagined that she was nothing but a good time.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Maddox longed to dip his head, kiss her worries away, especially since it was all of his fault. He moved toward her, pain shooting through him when she stepped back again.
“Wait. I… I never thought—”
His voice went gruff. “Are you mad? Disappointed?”
“That you lied to me?”
She had a point. “Not that. You have every right to be pissed that I lied to you. It was fucking stupid and, I promise, I’m already regretting it. Are you mad that you’re my mate?”
“I—no. I’m not. I had actually hoped… but then you never gave me any sign that it was so serious.”
She had no idea how serious it was.
“Serious? A mate is forever. You can’t get more serious than that. Promise.”
The words just slipped out. One he growled them, Maddox braced himself for her response, each second feeling like an eternity as his gorgeous Evangeline looked up at him, stunned.
Now probably wasn’t the best time to elaborate on what it really meant to be a shifter’s mate—but too bad. He was standing on the precipice of something important. He could feel it all the way to his bones.
This moment would make or break his and Evangeline’s bond. He knew it. And he was still willing to do whatever he had to in order to make it indestructible.
Because his mate was kind, she was loving, but she was holding onto a piece of her heart. It had only been two months, so he wasn’t actually surprised or anything that she hadn’t given him hers, but he was still hopeful. One day—and, hell, he really hoped it was soon—he’d earn it, and then he would know that she would be his forever.
And now he realized that the reason she was so hesitant to fall prey to his wiles and his charms was because she never expected their relationship to actually last.
Because he was the fucking idiot who kept the truth from her way longer than he should have.
Maddox vowed then and there that he wouldn’t give up until Evangeline understood that he meant it wholeheartedly when he said she was his mate—the one woman meant for him, and the only woman he would ever want.
Until then, he could only work to erase the tiny furrows in her brow. A kiss might make her feel better for a heartbeat, but she needed more from him than that.