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“I’m fine as-is,” he murmured, repeating her words.
“Yes.”
“Fine as-is.”
She lifted her chin higher and said it louder. “To me, yes, you are fine as-is.”
“Would you think the same if you knew the me that lives out in the real world? Would you be okay with what I do? Would you stick with me as I travel from hotel to hotel at the whim of the dragon, hunting shifters? Would you drown in the talk of whether people are salvageable or whether I need to put them down? Would you be able to keep your happy disposition if you are the one who has to wash the blood off my hands on the weeks I have to do the dirty parts of my job? Would you be okay leaving this place to follow me around while I try to soothe an animal that will never settle?”
She pursed her lips into a sad smile and shook her head. “No.”
“No,” he repeated. “But you’ll ask me to give up everything I’ve built and become the person I used to be in these mountains, and grow stagnant with you?”
The way he said ‘stagnant’ stung. She didn’t feel stagnant. Her life felt full. “No. I’m asking that when you figure out there is more than being the Blade of the Mountains, you give a life with meaning a chance.”
“My life has meaning. I’ve worked my ass off to become who I am.”
He was getting upset and starting to prickle at her words. It was a defensive coping mechanism—she could see it plainly. He’d done this with his parents over the years too. She had to take a step back, take a second, swallow her pride, and try to understand where he was coming from. That’s what he truly needed. He needed someone to not only hear what he was saying…but to listen.
So instead of arguing with him, she stepped down a stair and wrapped him up in a hug. She squeezed him up as hard as she could until the tension in his shoulders relaxed. “I think it’s been you versus the world for a long time. It’s a hard way to live, but I can appreciate the strength you have built while you lived it. It’s a part of you I like and respect. You may never come back here again, Lucas, and for the rest of my life, I’m going to try and understand your need to roam. I’m going to support it. I’ll be a friend for you on the days you come back to your hotel and need something to anchor you. But someday, if you want to put down some roots, these mountains have some pretty good soil.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and eased back to arms’ length, gripped his shoulders. “You won’t find a fight here.” She knew sometimes a dominant man needed to hear words like those so he wouldn’t look for that fight. She hoped her words settled in his bones.
Slowly, the fire faded from his eyes. He searched her gaze, and after a loaded silence, he exhaled deeply, dropped his head, and gripped her wrists on his shoulders gently to keep her touch there. “I don’t know how you do that.” His voice was gruff and gravelly.
“Do what?”
“I can’t get my gorilla to shut up, and you talk him into silence like it’s easy.”
Her cheeks heated with pleasure, because his words felt like a compliment. She felt powerful for perhaps the first time in her entire life. A big, dominant gorilla quieting when she talked reason?
She’d meant what she’d said—every word. And she did want to spend every minute she could with him until he left. It was tricky to tell a heart to stay in the moment even though she knew he would leave and this would all end, but she felt reckless with him. She was on guard with everyone, but with Lucas? There was something special about him. Something that drew her out and made her feel safe. He made it okay to not be invisible.
She had one more day to be seen.
And so did he.
Chapter Thirteen
“Woman, you forgot your purse.”
“Oh!” Jenna exclaimed with a laugh. She jogged back to the table and grabbed the strap of her purse from its place on the back of the chair she’d just vacated.
Lucas looked hot tonight, and she’d been distracted the entire dinner by his raw sex appeal. He’d changed into a thin forest green T-shirt with a neck and hem that were distressed. He smelled of hot-boy cologne, and wore dark-wash jeans over dark brown Red Wing boots. He was tall and strong and built like a brick wall. His eyes crinkled easily with laughter, and the color changed seamlessly from muddy brown to bright gold. She truly enjoyed every single thing about his physical appearance. Lucas had grown up well, and she wasn’t the only one noticing. There was a bar in the steakhouse, and a trio of ladies kept looking their way. She had teased him about it, but he had waved it off and his eyes never trailed their direction, though his animal had to be hyperaware of their attention on him. Even the fine hairs on the back of her neck were prickled up under the attention, and she wasn’t even the target. He played it off smooth though, probably because he just garnered attention like that in public. And she understood the fascination. This man was built different than the average Joe.
He clapped his hand on top of the doorframe as he ducked underneath and out into the cool night air. She followed, sliding the strap of her purse across her body. Unintentionally, she’d matched him. Green shirt and dark skinny jeans, but she’d worn cedar-brown ankle boots that had a good three-inch heel on them so she didn’t look like such a popcorn shrimp beside him tonight.
It was busy on the small town’s main street, and they’d had to park a few blocks up.
“Did you get enough to eat?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets and waiting for her on the sidewalk.
“I’m full as a tick. Good Lord, you walk fast,” she murmured as she caught up to him.
With a laugh, he crooked his arm out and offered his inner elbow. With a blushing smile, she slid her hand around his arm and felt the tripping pulse there.
“Racing heart,” she pointed out.
He looked down at her with a calculating look. “I can see straight down your shirt.”
With a gasp, Jenna looked down to check her cleavage, but nope, they hadn’t escaped. They were just pushed up thanks to the bra that had promised to enhance her bust by two cup-sizes.
