Chapter 3 Ch 3

Work was torture. Not for just Tuesday, but the entire week. I rarely saw my mate after that strange encounter Tuesday morning, and, when I did, he made no advances in me. The heat was slowly charring my organs, I was certain. It should have been ending soon, as far as I was aware. If Tandan and I stopped playing games and actually spent time together, he could mark me and this ridiculous heat would finally go away.

But I never got the chance to get him alone. Angelica kept me occupied at all hours, and his own working hours were sporadic. He often gave house tours, so most of his work was done outside the office. I was miserable not being able to see him. My wolf wanted its mate, and I was hurt that he didn't seem to feel the connection as intensely. If he did, I was certain I would already have his puncture wounds on my neck.

Friday came, and I was relieved that I wouldn't have to spend the next two days in agony over wondering if I'd see him or not. At least I knew I wouldn't. The certainty was more promising at this point. Angelica and I were starting to shut down the office when Tandan suddenly strode through the front door. I looked up from my desktop, already stunned by his scent.

He didn't so much as look in my direction on his way to his office. My heart sank. As I glumly slung my purse over my shoulder and hung my jacket over my arm, the door burst open again. This time the redhead came in. She looked at me with a tiny hint of a smile, but she didn't slow down at all. Then she disappeared down the hall as Tandan had seconds prior.

A wave of jealousy shocked me. My fingers balled into fists and a scowl twisted my lips. I took a deep breath to keep my face from getting overly hot. As far as I knew, they weren't anything romantic. They were perhaps friends or maybe she was even another employee that I just hadn't been introduced to. Something was odd about it, though. If she was important around here, Angelica would have told me. We had been getting closer throughout the week.

Just leave, I instructed myself. He clearly doesn't want to talk to you.

On my way towards the door, I stamped out my time card and added up my hours. Forty-six in total. My eyes widened. I knew I'd been working what felt like a lot, but I didn't know I had worked that much. Another whiff of Tandan's smell reminded me to get my tush going before I changed my mind. I put the time card away and started for the door. Just when I grabbed the brass knob, raised voices tickled my sensitive hearing.

I paused and turned back. Tandan sounded upset, but so did the mysterious woman. My jaw clenched while I tuned into their conversation, focusing on their words in spite of all the walls between us. Eavesdropping was not beyond me by now, clearly.

"—such a prick!" she snapped. "I don't get it. You're all touchy one second, then you can't stand me the next. Make up our mind, Tandan! You can't do this to people—you can't do this to me. We're in love! This isn't what love feels like!"

"I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?" he growled out, the restraint on his inner canine seemed weak. "I need you to leave."

"Not until we work this out!"

"I'll call you later, but I just need some time to thi—"

A sob cut him off. "Tandan...please. Just talk to me."

Tears were swimming in my eyes. I couldn't take this anymore. I couldn't hear another word. As I spun back towards the door, shoving it open, my ears defied me by listening for a moment longer.

"I'm sorry, Lorrie," he told her. "I do love you. I'm sorry."

—(—)—

For the first time ever, I found myself at a bar. I didn't like the scene one bit—it actually repulsed me—but I needed to get out. My Friday night had been spent weeping on the couch with my hands pressed to my chest, trying to stop the ice I felt in my heart. I was so confused and hurt. How was my mate in love with someone else? A human, nonetheless! I didn't know how to handle such a huge disappointment.

So Saturday I forced myself to stay busy to keep from thinking about him as often as I could. I unpacked all of my belongings and tried putting them away; one lamp ended up thrown against a wall in my bedroom and a book had been torn to shreds, its pages littering the carpet in the living room. Then I threw on some workout clothes and drove to the nearest, cheapest gym to purchase a membership. They let me start immediately.

When I had used all of the equipment I was familiar with and my body was exhausted, I drove home and showered. Not too long, though, or my mind would wander. Then I went grocery shopping and spent a few hours trying to set up my WiFi. Everything seemed to be in place in the apartment, and it was only seven o'clock. There was no way I was about to lay in bed and think about Tandan. I was sick of his dark eyes, muscled figure, and luscious black hair taunting me.

So I dug around in my closet until I found that obscenely short white dress my best friend bought me for my eighteenth birthday and a pair of white wedges. Summoning some courage with a long breath, I changed, threw some makeup on, straightened my wavy dark blonde hair, and headed for the door.

Now I sat on an uncomfortable wood stool with a rum and coke between my fingers. A football game shot across the screen above me, which I occasionally glanced at just for kicks. Country music played as background noise to the conversations sparking around me. The older crowd had left and my generation was moving into the bar. The stools beside me filled with twenty-somethings and drinks I'd never even heard of.

I had finished off my drink, feeling a slight buzz though not enough to be impaired, and was thinking about leaving when I felt someone draw up beside me. They didn't smell familiar, so I waited for the stranger to leave. But they didn't. As I prepared myself to face them, the person suddenly stepped up to the bar, wedging himself between me and the platinum blonde on my left. I didn't acknowledge him at first, even though his eyes burned into the side of my face.

"Hi," he finally said.

Forcing myself to maybe not look terribly depressed, I straightened in my seat and turned to look at him. His gray eyes were the first thing I noticed, beautiful and deep. Then I noticed his shaggy flaxen hair and the trimmed beard shadowing his jaw. He wasn't much of a looker, but his eyes shined with something genuine, something that intrigued me.

"My name's Matt," he told me with a grin. His teeth were white but crooked, which made me smile.

"Lee," I replied, offering out of hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Missy." He shook my hand. So..." he dragged out in his strong southern draw, "are you here alone?"

For whatever reason, I glanced around. None of the faces here were familiar, as expected. I shook my head. "You?"

"I came with friends, but I saw you and thought I'd say hi."

He had somehow picked me out of all the other young things perched at the bar. I was touched, uncaring as to if he meant the words or not. Something told me he did, maybe the honesty in his eyes.

He cares more than your own mate, my mind snarled.

"Say, you wanna dance?" Matt questioned with another smile. "I'm a real gentleman, I swear."

The last thing I wanted to do was step onto the dance floor in my current mood, but I realized I had absolutely nothing to lose. I wasn't ready to go home yet. I still had too much energy to burn. Maybe Matt could help me with that.