Page 4 of Duty Preserved

His eyes came back. “Donovan.”

“Donovan.” I repeated it like an idiot. “Are you here alone?”

“Meeting someone.” His gaze moved past me again. Whatever he was looking for out there was a lot more interesting than I was.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll let you⁠—”

“It’s not—” He stopped. Something shifted in his face, quick and almost invisible. He looked at me, really looked, for just a second. Then his hand went to his ear and his jaw clenched, and whatever opening I had was gone. “It was nice to meet you, Sarah.”

There it was. Polite, painless, and final.

“Yeah. You too.”

I walked back to Alyson with as much dignity as I could manage, which wasn’t much. She took one look at my face and handed me whatever she was drinking.

“That bad?”

“He’s meeting someone.”

“Oh, Sarah.”

“It’s fine. I tried. Can we not talk about it?”

She didn’t push. She just pulled me back into the dancing.

The next hour passed in pieces. More songs. More drinks. At some point, Alyson switched us to cocktails and I stopped keeping count. I drank whatever she put in my hand. My body had stopped objecting and every time I closed my eyes, I was back against that chest with those brown eyes looking down at me, and I needed that to stop.

It didn’t stop. But the edges of the room softened, and the music filled in the spaces where my thoughts had been. Eventually, I stopped looking for him.

At some point, I noticed Daniel leaning against the wall near the booth, eyes half closed, swaying in a way that had nothing to do with the music. Even as a vet, I could have diagnosed him from across the room.

Alyson noticed too. “Daniel’s done.”

“He looks awful.” I heard my own slur of the s.

“He’s been matching me shot for shot. That’s his mistake.” She grabbed my arm. “Come on. We’re going. You did good for tonight.”

“Yeah? I thought I was supposed to do the nasty.”

She smiled. “I mean, I was hoping, but I know you. That wasn’t ever going to happen. I would’ve been thrilled with you just kissing someone. Sorry your hot guy disappeared.”

I shrugged, the world spinning a little. I needed to get back to my room. “We’re leaving tomorrow anyway.”

We collected Daniel. Alyson got under one of his arms, I got under the other, and we hauled him toward the exit. He mumbled something about being fine. He was not fine.

The night air hit all three of us at once. Cold, sharp. I sucked in a breath, and the tequila sloshed in my stomach. My thoughts were experiencing lag, and the edges of my vision were dissolving.

We were maybe twenty steps from the club entrance when the strap on my ballet flat snapped.

The shoe folded under my foot, and I stumbled and caught myself on a lamppost. Five days of cobblestones had finally killed it.

“Go ahead,” I said, crouching down to deal with the strap. “I’m right behind you.”

Alyson hesitated. Daniel was sagging against her, dead weight.

“Sarah—”

“The hotel is right there. I can see the awning. Go. I’ll see you guys in the morning. I think you’re about to have your hands full with him.”