Hit with a rush of defensiveness, I decide not to make the conversation easy.
“About what?” I ask, my tone as cold and removed as I can manage.
Her eyes trace over my face, searching for something. I don’t let her find anything other than a chill.
But my cool demeanor doesn’t drive her away. Instead, Juliet perches on the chair opposite my desk, almost absent-mindedly picking up one of my spare pencils. The writing device twirls in her fingers as she glances over her shoulder toward the door.
“Do your pack members come here a lot?”
“They know they can find me here.” Is she going to add me being an alpha to the list of reasons she doesn’t want me? Because it’s not like I could just quit the job even if I wanted to. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
“No.” She sighs, but the sound isn’t relaxed with her shoulders so rigid. “I was just hoping for privacy.”
So you can officially break my heart without anyone hearing?
Uncertain and frustrated, I go defensive again.
“I have work to do.” Not a lie. Both my nine-to-five and my role as alpha have me busier today than most.
Juliet nods, then asks, “Would you mind coming over tonight?” Her eyes flit to every part of the room except where I’m sitting. “Or I could come to your place if that’s easier.” She murmurs the offer, her fiery personality missing. The lack sets me further on edge.
Where is the woman who loves to argue with me?
Mate is sad. Kiss her.
But I don’t think I’m allowed to anymore.
“I have to go out of town,” I say, wondering if this will get her to snap at me. To scowl in the pretty way she does.
My pushback isn’t just to see the fight in her. I do have to leave town. Pack business has been on the calendar for months, and I can’t shift this around. My plan was to tell Juliet about the trip, but there’s no way I can now. Not when I’m unsure of our future. Sharing pack business with a woman who refuses to commit to me would be irresponsible. Dangerous.
If she keeps us separate, then I have to as well.
Juliet drops her attention to the pencil she’s fiddling with, not meeting my eyes. But I see her teeth dig into her lower lip and her lashes flutter.
The sight saps away my anger and hurts my heart. My wolf whines.
“Okay,” she murmurs, setting the pencil back where she found it and pushing up from her chair.
I expect her to leave. To walk out the door and walk out of my life. Maybe when I return from my trip, she’ll have left Pine Falls entirely.
No! Chase her. Bring her home.
Panic opens a black hole in my chest, and I struggle to breathe.
Then Juliet circles around my desk to stand next to me. To loom over me. Which she can only accomplish while I’m sitting down.
Finally, our gazes clash, and in hers, I spy sadness, but also determination.
“I haven’t been fair to you, Roderick. I know that.” There’s a sheen in her eyes before she quickly blinks it away. “But my past has made me choose between being fair and being safe. I don’t know if I can change. I don’t know if I can make myself take the risk.” The inhale she sucks in is ragged, and I find myself breathing in time with her. “But I want to try. And I, at the very least, want to explain. Explain what happened to me. So, if this—if we—can’t work, at least we’ll both know why.”
Her confession is so unexpected that I struggle for a response. But Juliet isn’t done.
“If you still want to be with me, I want to kiss you.” Her voice cracks on the last word. “Now.” The bottom lip she was biting before quivers. “Please.”
Her words crash through me, demolishing the cool facade, the icy wall erected between us.
She still wants me.
