“Tell me about yourself. I want to learn it all.”
He extended his arm. “Can I hold your hand?”
“Please.” It was exactly what I needed, too.
I sat on the bed next to him, and we intertwined our fingers, the warmth of his touch calming my bear, who wanted to skip all the small talk and claim our mate already.
“Thanks. My beast does not like you being so far away.” He leaned into my side.
“Mine doesn’t either. But this…” I picked up our linked hands and kissed the back of his. “This is good. Tell me about Zac.” I kissed his hand again, wanting to do so much more than that.
“Not a lot to say. This is my home. I love Autumn Hills. I work at the birthing center as a doula. It’s pretty awesome bringing babies into the world. How about you?”
I told him about my job, which, compared to his, probably didn’t seem as valuable, but financially probably significantly better and about my condo and friends.
“So what are we gonna do? You’re my mate.” Zac addressed the elephant in the room. This wasn’t as easy as running into the guy two floors down from you and discovering you were mates. We had geography to deal with. “We live so far away from each other.”
“Move in with me. My condo is great and even has a saltwater pool, and my job pays enough to support us both while you settle in. I’m sure we could find you a job there, easy enough, too. People have babies everywhere.”
His hand loosened, then he let go. Fuck.
“Do you think my job is so insignificant I can just get another one?”
Worse than fuck. I’d known my mate less than an hour and I already pissed him off.
“Do you think that my town is disposable and I can just walk away? Tell me about your city life. Who’s the person who checks you out when you buy groceries? Who’s the bartender? Who makes the best apple pie? Who’s going to fix your car when it breaks? Do you have names for any of those faces?”
I shook my head. “No.” I didn’t even know the name of the bartender at the bar I went to. There were so many there, and they came and went with the seasons.
“You know what? I think this is too much emotion all at once.” He stood up. “And with that mixed with being trapped with your scent… I need to step away.”
I wanted to beg him to stay, to tell him I was sorry and didn’t mean it like that. Instead, I froze.
“I’m leaving,” he said. “We can talk about this later, but the solution is not you taking over my life because yours has more value. It will never be that.”
His beast growled in his chest as he walked out the door. I let him go without another word, unsure what to do next.
I’d made the same mistake I always did. I tried to fix things, tried to make them better, not asking for other people’s input, instead just finding solutions. In my job, that worked well. In my personal life, it never had. I knew better.
My bear was begging to get out, to chase him, to follow him, to mark him, to let him know we would do whatever was necessary to keep him. I pushed my beast down. My mate asked for space. He was getting space.
My phone buzzed. For a quick second, I thought it was Zac, then I remembered he barely knew my name. How would he know my phone number? When I looked down, it was Johan, my bestie from the city. I answered and before I could speak, his words came tumbling through the phone.
“Please tell me your car’s ready. You gotta get home.”
I fell back on the bed. “I can’t go home yet, even if the car were ready, which it isn’t.”
“Tell me everything.”
Chapter Six
Zac
I was having all kinds of firsts today. First time at the Mates Motel. First time meeting my mate.
And now, first time at the Howling Heart bar.
I walked in, and no one batted an eye. They were all focused on their drinks or their dates. Or both.
