No, it wasn’t strange that he was attracted to her, nor that he wasn’t with his mate. Plenty of people had failed matings. It happened, tragic as it was. It also wasn’t necessarily unheard of that beings with mating imperatives found other sexual partners. Could she bring one to mind readily? No, but that didn’t mean anything. Probably.
And really, was it so extraordinary that he might feel moved enough by her situation to want to help her? Atria knew for a fact that he’d feltterriblein the motel room. Perhaps this was all a quite literalguilt trip.
It was with a withering sense of exasperation that Atria realized she didn’twantit to be that, either.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Letting out a gusty sigh, she asked, “What more do you need to know? I gave you all thepertinentinformation last night.”
“And we talked about how whatyouthink is important and whatIthink is important are two different things,” he replied. “I want to know why you broke up. I want to know what he’s been working on. Finally, I want to know where he is right now.”
Atria glowered at him. “I don’t know why you think I know where he is. He’s myex,if you recall.”
“Oh, Irecall,”he replied, voice deepening until it was a low, low growl. “But I also know you’re a soft touch. My best guess is that you broke it off with him, but you stuck around as his friend because you still care.”
Kaz quickly dropped his speed as a small orcish caravan passed them on the narrow road. Trucks and trailers decorated with ribbons, whorls of paint, and all manner of baubles rumbled by. Atria caught a handful of glimpses through the windows of happy faces, young and old. No doubt they were one of the many orcish clans who followed the yearly migration around the territory.
They were a cheerful sight but a sadly brief distraction.
As soon as they disappeared from the rear view mirror, Kaz leveled her with a narrow-eyed look. “Well? Did I get it right?”
“You know, I was starting to like you,” she bit out. “How quickly that came and went.”
He shrugged, those great shoulders rippling. He was large enough — and the car small enough — that when he moved, his bicep brushed hers. “Ah, princess, it’ll come around again. Give it time.”
She was greatly alarmed to see him smile —reallysmile, with all four of his fearsome fangs. Atria swallowed wrong and would have choked if not for her ironclad determination not to give him the pleasure of her reaction.
Gods help me, Kaz has dimples.
His smile widened anyway. Adjusting his casual grip on the top of the steering wheel, he added, almost to himself, “Yeah, we’ve got nothingbuttime.”
ChapterTwenty-One
Babe’swas notan establishment she normally would have stopped at on a road trip, but this far out into the rural heart of the Orclind, one couldn’t afford to get choosy.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like a good diner. In fact, she had a deep and abiding love for all things greasy food, fry baskets, and vinyl-covered swivel stools. She’d spent most of her college years working in one greasy spoon or another, after all.
However,Babe’swas one of those places that tacked on the namedinerso no one could effectively criticize them for their lack of hygiene, poor selection of food, and sticky countertops.
That being said, by the time they finally pulled off at the rest stop whereBabe’swas located, Atria was ready to eat a deep fried shoe. She couldn’t have cared less if the menu was faintly damp, nor that the bar was crammed full of rough-looking men, nor even that the bathroom had to be unlocked with a key chained to a dusty plunger.
“Coffee, please,” she practically begged the fey waitress who handed them their menus.
The waitress, a pretty thing in jeans and a barely-there top, gave Kaz a deliberate once over before she asked, “And you, handsome?”
Atria tried not to make a face when the waitress’s wings began to buzz faintly, the surest sign that he’d caught her interest.Ugh. Can’t she see that he took the kohl?
Kaz’s hands were plainly visible where they rested on the laminate table top, but the waitress clearly didn’t care that he had a mate. She fluttered her wings and gave him a sly smile as she waited, fingers poised over her old tablet, for his order.
“Water,” he grunted, charming as ever.
Undeterred by his one-word answer, the fey buzzed louder and leaned slightly over the table, her smile widening to reveal a tiny pair of fangs. “Water it is. Can I get you anything else to start out? Maybe some pie or—”
“Princess,” Kaz interrupted, “you want something to hold you over?” A deep frown etched lines around his mouth. “I don’t even know how long it’s been since you ate.”
Flustered that he would call her that stupid nickname in front of the waitress, who was now looking at her like Atria had won the lottery, she answered, “Ah, yeah, some toast might be nice?”
Kaz turned his dark stare on the fey once more. “Toast, then.” He paused, thinking hard behind those dark eyes, before adding with the utmost seriousness, “And some jam.”
