Page 12 of Tiger Betrayal

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked as she sat down slowly.

He huffed a laugh. “Our lunch break isn’t long enough for that conversation.”

“You really wish you hated me?” she asked. The answer mattered.

“I’m no good,” he said simply.

“You mean you wouldn’t make a good friend for—”

“I wouldn’t make a good mate for you, or for anyone.”

“Mate,” she repeated softly. This man was so confusing, and she was struggling to understand his language.

Stellan cracked his knuckles and looked agitated, then stared off into the woods.

“I have issues, okay?”

“Me too.”

How did he look hot even when he was frowning? He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “You’re perfect.”

“Me?” she asked, absolutely floored. “No one has ever, in my entire existence, accused me of being perfect.”

“You are. You’re nice and soft and you can talk to people and make everyone feel seen in a busy room.”

She did not understand any of this. “Me?”

He nodded jerkily and took a bite of his sandwich. Around the bite, he said, “That’s not me.”

“Yeah, I could tell by the way you are nice to me one moment and hateful the next. You ignored me for two days. I said hi to you three times and you didn’t even acknowledge me back. That felt not-good, Stellan.”

“I’ll get worse,” he promised her.

Frustrated, she asked, “Why?”

“Because I’m not good at people.”

She scratched an itch on her cheek. She was getting agitated. “I see you talk to the guys out in the shop all day. You have them all in line, like a well-oiled machine. Even Murph says you run that shop back there.”

“So?”

“So, you are capable of communication.”

He inhaled sharply and stood, then paced off and back. He opened his hand, palm up, eyes sparking with intensity as he looked like he wanted to say something. But he changed his mind and paced away again.

“Just say it.”

He came back and gripped his hair in the back. “You aren’t what I expected.”

Those five words in that combination made no sense to her. Laramie just sat there like a bump on a log.

“I’m not going to see you for two days,” he pointed out.

“I know. It’s my Friday.” She frowned, trying to keep up with the winding conversation. “Does that make you happy?”

“It makes me feel like my guts are on the outside of my body.”

Oh shit. Laramie released a tense breath and relaxed, easing back from the table as she watched him pace away again, and return.