Shane sighed louder and touched her hand. She was talking fast, working herrself all up, and for what?
“It was a nice surprise.”
“I thought you don't like surprises?”
“I am starting to warm up to them.”
“That is good to hear. I thought that you might be rigid and stuck in your ways.”
“I am open to new things.”
“Are you?”
Vivica was smiling, leaning in, but soon, she was looking into his eyes. He was right there all of a sudden and he grabbed her on the upper arms, holding her in place. Her breath hitched in her throat and Vivica was trying to figure out what was happening. What was he doing?
“I am.”
They stared at each other for several seconds, Vivica waiting for Shane to make a move. She’d been dying for it, almost did it herself, but now he was, right?
Vivica waited, her heart slamming in her chest and Shane did nothing. He just smiled at her and moved past her to get to the seat she had just vacated. Vivica felt like an idiot. There she was, thinking that they’d had a moment, and she was finally going to get that kiss that she’d wanted from him since they met. Now, Vivica was sure that he was messing with her, or he had someone else to occupy his time.
“Well, I will leave you to it, Shane. Like I said before, I’m really sorry that I fell asleep in here. It won’t happen again.”
Shane told her that there was nothing to worry about. Vivica was devastated, embarrassed, and she just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Why had she thought that he’d meant her? Vivica should have known better. She should have known that Shane wasn’t coming onto her. It was all in her head, and Vivica wished that she didn’t have such a vivid imagination. It probably would have saved her some time and a bit of heartache that she didn’t understand. Why was his rejection so hard on her?
Chapter 12
Shane
He had to wonder what was wrong with him. Shane never felt something for anyone, let alone a human. If he didn’t have better control, he definitely would have kissed Vivica, and he was pretty damn sure that she would have kissed him back. There was something in her eyes, need, desire, innocence. He wanted to take all of those things from her. He wanted to ruin her for anyone else.
None of those things were going to make his current circumstances any better. He was so worried about not being affected by Vivica, that she still caught him off guard. He didn’t want her to. He was sure that there was something that he was drawn to. Shane still didn’t know what ‘it’ was, just that he was feeling more and more.
Finding her sleeping had been one of those moments of lust that he hadn’t seen coming. One minute he was doing fine, getting home from work and the next, he was staring at Vivica for ten minutes, not wanting to wake her up, but knowing that he had to. It was in their best interest.
That was how things were with her. Vivica was someone that came out of nowhere and she was having a direct impact on his life. Shane tried to pretend like none of it was happening, but he was learning quickly that he couldn’t pretend when it came to her, not when he was around her anyway. It was easier to not worry about her, if he didn’t have to see her. He had avoided her at work, but that didn’t help if he had to come home and see her passed out in his chair, leaving the smell of her perfume to linger, long after she left the room. Was that intentional? It almost felt that way to Shane, just because of the immediate reaction that it had on him.
Maria came in, asking if he wanted dinner, and he said that he would just take a sandwich in his study.
“I saw Vivica in here earlier. I hope you don’t mind. She just didn’t want to sit at the table by herself.”
Shane wasn’t sure why Maria was telling him that, except that maybe he wanted her to do something about it, but what? Shane had no idea. He just smiled at her and waited for his sandwich. Shane saw that Vivica had something different. He didn’t even think to come home and eat dinner with her. He didn’t think about that sort of thing, other people’s wants and needs. Instead, he was only worried about his own, but now he felt something akin to regret because he hadn’t. Was Vivica going to make him feel bad about everything, without having to say a word?
He finished his sandwich that had no taste and couldn’t concentrate on his work. Shane wasn’t going to be able to work until he settled his mind. He was about to get up and go for a run when Devin popped by. He texted before he knocked, and Shane was waiting for him.
“What are you doing here?”
Devin’s usually casual face was as white as a sheet, and something was obviously bothering him. Shane didn’t know what it was, but he knew that there was nothing else that he could do until his assistant got it out. For him to be as upset as he was, Shane had to imagine that it was something pretty big, but what though?
“I just got some news from your pack.”
Shane hadn’t heard those words in a while, and he was curious but didn’t know what to say.
“They haven’t been my pack in a very long time.”
“Maybe not, but your father, he has been attacked and he is with a healer, but they don’t know how he is or what’s happened to him. It looks like some kind of spell or something, no one knows. They are asking for you though.”
Shane scoffed. He was supposed to be the leader of the Montauk clan. It was his birthright, but his father had ruined that and gotten himself kicked out of the position. Then, they were cast-offs, all because his father didn’t want to do right with his life. It was his mother’s side that had the royal blood, but his father had been the Alpha for a short time. It was quickly realized that he couldn’t handle such a position. He was bested in a brief battle while he was drunk, and that was the end of Shane’s chance at running things. It didn’t matter that it was his mother’s blood that ran through him, making him the true heir. None of that had mattered when he and his father had been banished. They’d been on their own ever since, and Shane didn’t know why they wanted something from any of them now.
