Fuck, I hoped she wasn’t heartbroken. Had she loved the man? Dumbass, she’d married him–of course, they’d been in love. Yet she was eyeing me with definite hesitance but also interest. I knew it. My wolf knew it. I could scent it. That honey sweetness was stronger now.
Whatever her deal was, I could work with it.
I had to.
She was mine. I needed her in order to survive.
Shit. I was smart. Really fucking smart, but if I didn’t figure out how to win her over so I could claim her, I’d lose control of my wolf. I was barely hanging onto my wolf’s leash as it was, and it’d only been a few minutes.
This was more than just surviving though. Her being my mate wasn’t just a way to keep from going moon mad. I wanted her. My heart and my dick. I needed to see her smile. To see her come on my cock. To be by her side and take away whatever haunted her. If she suffered, that wouldn’t happen again.
Her gentle touch, palm to palm, made the air charge around us like a heated night before a storm. I gently closed my fingers around hers. Her hand looked small and delicate in my large calloused one. Soft, warm. Her nails weren’t painted or long, but they were neatly filed and clean.
It struck me again that she was human. Fucking human! That meant she was a fragile glass. Breakable. When she got hurt, she didn’t heal instantly.
It made my wolf want to bare his teeth against any and every danger that came her way. I felt the need to keep her safe more fiercely than ever.
I cleared my throat, as if it was rusty from use. “I won’t touch you again without permission,” I promised, holding her gaze. Making sure she knew I heard her rule and would follow it.
She searched my face as if trying to decide if I meant it, yet she’d put her palm in mine.
A small step, but it was a fucking step.
I held perfectly still for her scrutiny and let the crowded bar slip away. I didn’t hear the twangy music or hear the conversations around us. “Tell me all your rules.”
Fuck. Did that sound too gruff? Too bossy? Everything that came out of my mouth sounded growly, like it was my wolf talking. I really didn’t know how to flirt and finesse. I hadn’t had to in order to make deals with clients, watch the stock market, and learn trends and economic patterns to turn my clients’ millions into even more millions in a long fucking time.
But I’d better learn fast.
She blinked. Stared at me. I didn’t think she had any other rules logged yet. Hell, we just met. Maybe I’d have to break them first for her to figure out what they were.
I could work with that.
She glanced back out into the crowd and lifted her hand, picking up her tray. She was already moving when she said the words over her shoulder, “Wait here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I swore. Not without my mate. I sure as hell wasn’t ever leaving this place without my mate.
I settled on a free stool where I was, tracking her movements in the mirror above the bar. At some point, Cody dropped off a glass of ice water in front of me. Twenty minutes later, Summer sailed back, working quickly to divest her tray of used drinks and bottles.
I let her work. My wolf was impatient, but I held him by the scruff of his neck. I couldn’t just throw her over my shoulder and carry her off in the middle of her shift. I couldn’t carry her off, period, because I was sure that was one of her rules. She had to walk out of here with me willingly. And, I reminded myself, that was going to take flirting and finesse. Or at least a smile or something that didn’t scare her.
Plus, Cody’d lose his shit if I did that.
She refilled her tray with fresh drinks Cody had made then paused in front of me again. Sitting as I was, we were almost eye level. “Rule number two: you have to take no for an answer.”
My eyes widened, and I hesitated. My wolf said absolutely not. He would never ever stop trying for her.
But I could see this was important to her. She was afraid I wouldn’t respect her or honor her wishes, and it made me wonder who in the past hadn’t listened to her.
Who hadn’t stopped when she’d said no.
I bowed my head, leaned in a little, so she could hear me. “I promise I will take no for an answer.”
Even if it killed me.
And it might fucking kill me if she told me no to being together entirely.
Cody flicked the lights to show last call, and the energy in the saloon got even more frenzied as everyone rushed to get their last drink and find their hook-up for the night. I stayed in my seat watching my mate in the mirror through all of this, biding my time.
