Lucian lifted his head to tell her he’d run a sweep on the tables when a flash of a suit jacket caught his eye and stopped him. Marcus had arrived. He settled on a bar stool in front of Clarissa, and although the music from below did a fine job of drowning out low conversation, Lucian heard the words Marcus spoke withclarity.
“KnobCreek,neat.”
Lucian stared at him, hand stopped. Marcus had passed him to sit at the bar by Clarissa, so there was no doubt that Marcus knew he was there, but he didn’t so much as spare Lucian aglance.
Marcus wasignoringhim.
Lucian’s hand tightened, clutching the rag he cleaned the counter with tightly. He’d assumed after the things Marcus had written that he’d want his full attention, but it looked like that wasn’tthecase.
Was Marcus done with himalready?
Before Lucian could upset himself, Marcus lifted his head. He didn’t turn to look in Lucian’s direction, but Lucian watched Marcus observe him from the corner of his eye. There was a playfulness to Marcus’ expression that told Lucian things weren’t over between them. Not by alongshot.
Whatever game Marcus was playing, Lucian wanted itoverwith.
“Same as usual?” Clarissa asked. She was already preparing Marcus’glass.
“Of course,”Marcussaid.
“Any plans for tonight?” Bourbon met the glass. Lucian watched as the whiskey stones were swallowed by thedrink.
He wished Marcus would look his way, but Marcus refused to turnhishead.
“Nope.” Marcus took custody of the glass and raised it in a toast, then sipped. “It’s going to be another night ofthesame.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” Clarissa put the Knob Creek back. Before she could notice that he was spaced out, Lucian got back to work. He wiped the counter down and started taking care of organizing the fridge beneath the counter. It put him safely out of sight of Marcus and allowed him to take a moment to composehimself.
What in the hell wasgoingon?
On Monday, Marcus had made it clear that he was interested, but tonight? It felt like tonight he couldn’t care less. The conflicting messages left Lucian unsure of where hestood.
Lucian took longer organizing the items below the bar than he needed to, and when he stood back up, Marcus was gone. Clarissa was busy serving a new crowd, so Lucian allowed himself a second to scan the bar for the man who was toyingwithhim.
He found Marcus settled in booth five, but despite his privacy, his gaze still didn’t drift in Lucian’s direction. It was as infuriating as it wastantalizing.
For the rest of the night, Lucian found himself checking in on booth five whenever he had a moment between patrons. Marcus didn’t wander. When Clarissa announced last call a few minutes after two, Marcus was still there. He was engaged in conversation with another alpha, his back to Lucian as if Lucian didn’t exist. By the time the bar shut down and club security began escorting patrons from the club, Marcus had only just left booth five and headed for thestairs.
He hadn’t traded a single word with Lucian allnight.
Lucian watched him go, ruffled. He was used to men flinging themselves at him, not men who acted like they wanted nothing to do with him. It stuck beneath his skin and irritated the hell outofhim.
What was Marcusplayingat?
Lucian wasn’t convinced thatheknew.
“Chairs up, kid,” Clarissa announced jovially as she shut down the register. “The sooner we get cleaned up, the sooner we canleave.”
“I’m on it,” Lucian said, and he was—but his mind was nowhere near asdevoted.
Marcus wasn’t supposed to mean anything to him. Now that his heat was over, there was no reason why Marcus should be driving him so insane. The rules were clear—they weren’t supposed to be involved with each other—but in the absence of Marcus’ touch, Lucian wanted nothing more than to screw therules.
… And the alpha who made them so difficult tofollow.
12
Marcus
Marcus tappedthe back of his shoe against the pavement, eyes set on an arbitrary point across the street while he waited for time to pass. It had been a long, long time since he’d been at The Shepherd for last call, and an even longer time since he’d outstayed his welcome, but seeing Lucian steal glances in his direction all night was worth it. Confused, curious looks like those gave Marcus life when he felt depleted. The magic he’d once come to The Shepherd to findwasback.
