She blinked.“How did you know?”
“I’ve known you for three years now,” he said, smiling.“In that time, I’ve seen how you watch mates interact.Hold hands.Start a family.Every single time, there’s yearning in your eyes.You would only marry for one reason, and if you weren’t fated mates, then it had to be for love.”
She dropped her gaze and refolded her napkin on her lap.“It so happens heismy fated mate, and he wanted nothing to do with me.At least, not until the moment he caught my scent and realized our connection.But ...I can’t be with him.”
She took a bite of food, and he respected her silence.The lack of conversation didn’t bother her because it gave her a moment to think of what to say.The waitress came back to refill their drinks.
“Why is he here?”he finally asked after a few minutes.
“To bring divorce papers.”
“I see.No chance of reconciliation?”
“We’d have to be together for a reconciliation, so I don’t think so.”
“That’s not a definitive no.”
“As definitive as the fact that he’s going back to Scotland and I’m staying here,” she said.
“I’m glad to hear that.I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”
“Rhodes,” she murmured on a sigh.
“Oh, no,” he joked.“That doesn’t sound very good.”
“You’re going to find your moon-fated mate one day,” she insisted.“And when you find her, she’s going to be your sun and you’ll be her gravity.I don’t want you to ever feel like you betrayed me.”
“Mairi, I—”
“Mairi.”
Both she and Rhodes looked toward the voice.Tavish stood there, hands on his hips as he glared at Rhodes.The gravity she had just mentioned tugged at her, and her wolf wanted her to go to their mate.To rub against him until his scent covered them both.Mairi had to restrain herself because she refused to let some biological hormone override her common sense.She and Tavish were not a good match.
Rhodes stood up and held out his hand.“Hello, I’m—”
“Don’t care,” Tavish snapped, glaring at him for a quick moment before focusing on her.“Mairi.I need to talk to you.”
She became aware of the nearby diners staring at them.“Stop making a scene.”
“Ineedto talk to you,” he repeated with a forceful bite to his words.
“Goddamn it,” she muttered, rising.Throwing an apologetic glance at Rhodes, she grabbed hold of Tavish’s hand and yanked him so he’d follow her.She headed toward the restrooms because it was the closest place she could think of to get some privacy.When she pushed open the men’s bathroom, there was someone at the urinal.The man did a double take, finished quickly, zipped, and flushed before rushing out.
“Gross,” she muttered.“He didn’t wash his hands.”
“Are you on a date?”Tavish demanded.
“None of your business.”
“Everything about you is my business!I asked you out to dinner and you said no, and now I find you on a date with another man.How could you—”
“Houl yer whisht!”she snapped out the Scottish slang.“You came to America in order to get me to sign divorce papers!You wanted nothing to do with me until you scented I was your mate.This isn’t you, Tavish.This is nothing but ...but ...wolf hormones!”
He blinked.“Wolf hormones?”
She shrugged and huffed.“You know what I mean.You don’t really want me, Tavish.It’s just a forced biological response.”
Tavish stared at her for a long moment, visibly calming down.“I understand now.”
