“What brought you to Pine Falls?” she asks.
My eyes twitch to Roderick and away. And I realize, in that moment, the truth of my involuntary reaction.
Heisthe reason I came to Pine Falls, even if I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I chose this as my hiding place because of the description of the Pine Falls pack. They sounded like werewolves who would leave me alone.
“Soft,” Cory said.
Safe, I thought.
And I’m betting a large part of that is the wolves following the example of their noble leader.
Not that I’m going to wax poetic about that to this random guest.
“There was a job opening at the public library.”
“You’re a librarian?” she coos. “That’s so nice. I always feel like I should make more time to read.”
“I recommend it.” I grin.
There’s a hearty clap on my back that has me stumbling forward a step.
“Yep! We’ve got ourselves a top-notch librarian here!” Courtney’s energetic compliment almost makes up for her aggressive handling. Which, apparently, she’s not done with.
Courtney wraps her arms around my neck in a strangle hold of a hug. I’m wondering when exactly we reached this level of intense affection when she presses her left cheek against my right and whispers so low that only I can hear, “Roderick’s ex-girlfriend.”
She pulls back enough to meet my eyes, making sure I heard.
The knowledge clicks into place like a puzzle piece with razor-sharp edges.
Monica, the gorgeous blue-eyed, blonde-haired, sugar-spun princess-looking woman, who just strolled into this house with her sweet-as-candy smiles, used to date my wolf man.
Something heavy settles in my stomach, and I feel slightly sick.
Before I can respond to Courtney, Monica approaches Roderick and hands him a Tupperware container. “I thought I might bring over some dessert.”
She didn’t. Tell me she didn’t make?—
“Éclairs.” Monica’s giggle has a dash of self-deprecation. “Not sure how well I did, but I remembered that they’re your favorite.”
She did. Damn it.
Roderick accepts the gift, his eyes flicking to me. Then he offers a half smile. “Yummy. Delicious.”
I want to incinerate the man with my eyeballs.
But I also want to laugh and hug him. The joke was for me. The smile was for me.
That’s what he does. Drives me to opposite ends of the feeling spectrum at the same time.
The quickly formed jealousy knot in my chest begins to ease, but I can’t seem to untie it all the way.
I’m out of practice. With Cory, I prayed for there to be someone else, Janeen or whoever, that would catch his eye and tempt him away from me. There were times he used to actively try to make me envious of another woman. But all I felt was hopeful.
Please leave me for her, I would silently beg.
But he always came back to me.
However, when Roderick refocuses his attention on Monica, I’m hit with an immature urge to shout out his name, eager to hoard all his focus.
