Chapter 3 #2
“I—what?” Did he think she was embarrassed of being with him?
“No, you have the wrong impression, Eli.” Reaching out, she gripped his forearm, tugging at him until he turned back to her, staring at her with those dark, mossy green eyes.
“I wasn’t embarrassed about being with you.
I told you, I don’t do stuff like that. I mean, hooking up with someone right after meeting them.
” Her cheeks heated, as thoughts of that night flooded her brain again.
“People judge me a lot, and I was worried you were going to …” Oh God, could she even say it?
“You were worried I was going to what?”
“That y-you would think I-I was an easy lay. That you would brag to your friends about sleeping with me. Or post about me on social media.”
“What? No, no.” He shook his head. “Never. I don’t have social media. Or friends.” His mouth twitched. “And why would I post about you? “
He had no idea who she was.
Now it was beginning to make sense. That morning when she left, her first thought was about her reputation. There were a lot of models who’d been burned by guys treating them as mere conquests, bragging to other men about sleeping with them or worse, selling them out to gossip rags.
“You shouldn’t be ashamed,” he said in a quiet, but serious voice. “What we did wasn’t shameful.”
She sucked in a breath as he reached out and cupped her cheek.
His palm, rough and warm, caressed her so gently and once again she was reminded of that night with him.
A night she had replayed over and over again in her mind.
The sex had been out of this world and no one she’d ever been with had given her pleasure like that.
But beyond that, there was something between them.
For now, it was like thread, thin and fragile, but it was there.
“I feel it too.” She covered his hand with hers. “That connection.”
“I won’t abandon you or our child.” To her disappointment, he pulled his hand away. “But I don’t know what kind of father I’d be.”
“And you think I’d be a better parent?” She let out a laugh.
“The last time I spent any time with a child, I was a kid myself. I don’t know anything about changing diapers and early morning feedings.
And frankly, the idea of being in charge of a small person scares the heck out of me.
But …” Squeezing his hand, she glanced up at him. “I want to get to know you.”
He looked relieved. “You mean something to me. I was going to look for you, but that morning you left, things went to shit here. Jacob and Sloane were jumped in the back alley of Blood Moon that night.”
She gasped. “I remember. I came to Blood Moon with Sloane.” Olivia had come home after an extended period doing shows abroad and went straight to her cousin Lizzie’s house, where she had met Sloane.
They decided to go to Blood Moon since Sloane had never been there before.
“I felt even worse when I found out she was attacked after I abandoned her to leave with you.”
“Jacob was set to go on a job in Europe,” Eli explained. “I had to go in his place and be part of the Queen of Zhobghadi’s security detail during her royal tour.”
“Deedee—I mean, Queen Desiree?” Desiree Desmond Creed AKA Queen Desiree of Zhobghadi, was a New York Lycan who had married the king of a small, independent kingdom.
Olivia knew Deedee from when they were kids, and occasionally met during clan functions, though they hadn’t really run in the same social circles once they grew up.
He nodded. “Didn’t get back until this morning. Came here for a debrief, but as soon as Blood Moon opened, I was gonna go and find you.”
“You were?”
“Yeah. It worked the first time. I spent every moment I could at Blood Moon, hoping to run into you.”
Her jaw dropped. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
She let out a laugh. “I did the same. After that night we—” She gasped as he took a step forward and his hand planted on her waist with the gentlest pressure.
“I want to you to get to know me, Olivia,” he said. “If you want to.”
“I want,” she whispered. “I mean, I want to. Will you stay if the Alpha lets you?”
“I … yes.”
The moment of hesitation from him made her chest clench. But she supposed she couldn’t blame him for being cautious. There was still so much they didn’t know each other.
“Ahem.”
The sound of her father’s voice made them jump apart. They hadn’t even noticed he had re-entered his office.
“D-Dad.” Olivia gulped, her father’s knowing gaze burning into her. “Were you able to speak with the Alpha?”
“Yes,” he said. “The Alpha wants to see you. Now.”
“I’m coming with you,” she declared.
Her father clucked his tongue. “I know better than to say no to you. You get that stubbornness from your mother. Speaking of who, I told her and your brother that we had a situation with the Alpha that I couldn’t explain now but I will once we were done.
I figured you’d want to tell them the news yourself . ”
“Thanks, Dad.”
He nodded at Eli. “Blake, you ready to do this?”
Eli grunted. “Yeah. I’m ready to face the consequences.”
“Really?” Her dad crossed his arms over his chest. “And you’re prepared to accept any punishment the Alpha metes out?”
“Yes. But I’m not abandoning Olivia or the baby.”
“Even if you did, she doesn’t need you. We’ll take care of her.”
“Dad,” Olivia warned. “I’m sure we can ask the Alpha for some leniency. Especially when he finds out I’m pregnant. The Lupa is his True Mate, so he’ll understand.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Eli said.
“Good,” her father said. “Now, you’ve told us everything, right? No more secrets.”
“None,” he said quickly.
Olivia sensed an odd timbre in his tone. Her she-wolf, too, scratched at her, telling her there was something going on.
You’re just being paranoid.
Everything was going to be fine, she told herself.