Chapter 6
Standing much too close to Colton but unable to summon the energy to move away, Jewel managed to hold everything together until the fire truck left, taking Bill the arson investigator with it. Then, when Colton gently turned her around and held her, she knew she had to choose between anger—and self-respect—or tears.
Of course she chose the anger, but before she could work up a good rage, the tears came.
She cried for herself and her trapped wolf, for what her life should have been and how it had ended up. She didn’t know how much longer she could continue to live like this, unable to change, unable to fight, with no one to turn to.
And then this—Colton’s unexpected kindness. Not only was he the most attractive man she’d ever met, but he wanted to be her friend. He’d offered her a place to stay, temporary shelter until she figured out a new path, claiming he wanted nothing in return. She believed him too, especially since she knew men who wanted more would not have hesitated to take advantage when she’d so wantonly offered her body.
He claimed to like her and, while she knew better than to trust him, instinctively she wanted to believe. All that he’d done, especially his actions now, told her he could be trusted.
Unfortunately, until she regained control of her own body, she knew she could not.
Pity party over, Jewel sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Mumbling a quick thanks at Colton, she pushed herself out of his arms, away from him in case her raging libido took over.
Her car was totaled, her rental house gone. What little possessions she’d had had burned. Luckily, she never took her silver wolf necklace off, so she still had that. That, and the clothes on her back.
Ignoring the yellow crime-scene tape and poking through the rubble of what had been her temporary refuge, Jewel jumped when Colton called her name.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked. The gentleness in his tone and the pity she saw in his eyes was nearly her undoing. “I’ve got my boat.”
Straightening, she walked over to him, shading her eyes with her hand. “About that, while I appreciate you making the offer and all, I don’t think me staying with you is a good idea.”
With the sun behind him, his expression was in shadow, making it difficult for her to read his face. “Don’t make any more of it than it is. This would be a temporary thing, just until you get on your feet.”
“Thank you, but no.”
“Why not?”
Why not? She could give him one big reason. Instead she focused on the one he could relate to. “I keep trying to seduce you, remember? If we’re staying together in close quarters, I can’t promise it won’t happen again.”
He looked away at her words. The sudden tension she sensed in him told her he wasn’t as immune to her as he pretended to be.
“See,” she said gently. “When you think about everything, you can see it’s a bad idea.”
“You have nowhere else to go.”
“True, but that’s not your problem.”
At her words, he shook his head. “How long has it been since you had a friend?”
To her shame she felt tears sting her eyes. “I haven’t had any friends since Leo and I married, and I think you know that.”
He took a step toward her, jamming his hands into his pocket. “Let me help you. Let me be your friend.”
This she couldn’t fathom. “What’s in it for you?”
“Having someone as brave and resourceful as you as my friend. You took a stand against what your husband was doing. You were fearless, even when you said you were buying a gun. I admire your courage.”
Her throat closed up. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had admired her for anything. In her husband’s circles, the only people she’d known for the last five years, she was universally despised.
It had been a long time since she’d had a friend. She so badly wanted to take him up on his offer. But, like everything else about her life here, their tentative friendship was based on lies. True friends didn’t have secrets.
Sure, he’d offered to let her stay with him, extended a helping hand in her time of need, but he had no idea what she was—or, more accurately, what she had been. If he found out she was a shifter, once he got past his initial shock, he’d push her away.
Most humans didn’t like learning their myths and nightmares were real.
She looked up, met his gaze, and felt as if she were drowning. How he, a human male, could make her melt inside with a simple look, she didn’t understand. Most likely this had something to do with the fact that her system was at its weakest, and the wall she’d erected to protect herself was beginning to tumble.
