“I should find Beck.” She didn’t wait for a response and walked away, weaving through the tables toward the bar where Beck was pouring drinks.
I sat there, staring at the untouched check on the table.
At least she hadn’t tried to give me the knife back.
My dragon roared, wanting me to follow her and do something other than sit here like an idiot while our mate walked away.
But I didn’t move.
I’d already done enough damage for one night.
Chapter 11
Liz
Islept like shit.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lucan’s face across the table, his smile stuck in my head. He’d made me laugh without trying, and my body had betrayed me, pulling me to stay when everything in me said to run.
I rolled over in bed and glared at the ceiling.
This whole thing reeked of something being off.
And yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about the warmth in his eyes when he looked at me. The way he tried to make it right, even when I’d been ready to run. How he sat there and let me walk away without making it harder than it already was.
My chest tightened at the memory of leaving the table. It had taken actual physical effort to make my legs move. My body had been trying to anchor itself to him, and I’d had to override every instinct just to stand up.
Which was insane.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, fighting the urge to scream into my pillow.
What was wrong with me? This sketchy, wannabe naked nature survivalist had somehow made me feel more alive in one evening than I had in the past several years combined. My bodywas practically humming with sexual energy I didn’t know what to do with.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d wanted to be touched.
I kicked off the blanket and sat up. My phone said it was already past nine. I had tossed and turned until almost four in the morning, which meant I’d gotten maybe five hours of sleep total.
Great.
My brain already wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
At least I had a nice long walk by the lake planned. Then my first shift at Split Pine this afternoon and evening. Beck had hired me on the spot, which was the only good thing that had come out of that disaster of a dinner.
I needed the distraction and something normal and productive to focus on instead of obsessing over a man I barely knew.
I shuffled toward the kitchen, already craving a Diet Pepsi. One day I’d break the habit, but today wasn’t that day.
I froze halfway to the kitchenette.
The corner of something white was wedged between the door and the doorframe. I crossed the space in three strides and pulled the envelope the rest of the way through. My fingers shook as I tore it open, already knowing what I’d find.
It was the cashier’s check written for twenty thousand dollars. Heat flooded my face.
He’d come here in the middle of the night or early morning while I’d been sleeping and shoved this thing through my door like I was a charity case who couldn’t make her own decisions.
I didn’t care that he thought he was helping or that the money would solve most of my problems in one swoop. What I cared about was that I’d told him no.
My hands crumpled the envelope as I shoved my feet into my sneakers. I didn’t bother changing out of my sleep shorts and oversized T-shirt. I didn’t even grab my phone. I stormed out of the trailer, letting the door slam behind me with a satisfying bang.
