Page 10 of Tiger Betrayal

He almost smiled but stopped himself and returned his attention to his food.

She chewed slowly, and he was done with both sandwiches before she was even halfway through with hers.

Three times, he caught her glance over at him, like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself.

He didn’t know how to do this—small talk. He didn’t care about little stuff in general, nor did he care about people’s lives.

He wadded up his trash and reached for the Coke, then cleared his throat. “Is it your lunch break?”

Around a bite, Laramie said, “Yes.”

Okay. Small talk done. Stellan stood and opened his soft drink, took a sip while he looked at her, then walked away. On second thought, he doubled back. Laramie looked hopeful, but he wasn’t here to continue trying at small talk. He grabbed her trash from the table and left. It was the only way he could help her. Now she wouldn’t have to go out of her way to throw the wrapper away.

“I would’ve thrown it away,” she called in this sweet voice. “I never litter.”

He stopped and looked at her. “Are you dumb? I’m throwing it away, so you don’t have to do it.”

Her pretty eyes dipped to the table, and she didn’t say anything else.

Stellan shook his head and made his way back inside. Women were confusing. And frustrating. He’d brought her a sandwich, so he didn’t owe her for the lunch she’d left on his truck yesterday, and now she’d brought him a soda, and now he owed her again. And now he’d sat there and eaten with her, and it had actually been kind of nice, and now that table would never be the same again. Now, if she wasn’t there, he would think it was less awesome.

She’d done that.

Laramie had ruined lunch forever.

Chapter Five

Sadly, Laramie was about to have two days off work.

That should’ve been a good thing, since Stellan had ignored her completely for two days, and clearly, he could use the break from her working the same shift as him.

She closed out a payment for a customer who got new rims and tires on a truck for his son who was about to turn sixteen, and then said her goodbyes to him.

She cast an accidental glance at the table in the corner, where Stellan sat, fiddling with the paper bag of his lunch. He’d been eating in here since the day she’d asked to join him. She felt bad but couldn’t figure out why.

He cast her a bright gold eyed glance and returned his attention to the paper bag with a frown.

“Lunch,” Murph told her from where he was working on his computer at the desk behind her.

“Oh, okay,” she said. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. You’re doing good,” he said gruffly.

Surprised by the compliment, she ducked her pleased smile and murmured, “Thank you,” again. She was so awkward sometimes.

She hadn’t packed a lunch today, so she headed for the vending machine, but Stellan shocked her to her bones when he stood in front of her.

He chewed his lip and looked uncomfortable.

“Hi,” she said, confused.

He reached into his lunch sack and pulled out a sandwich. “I’ll get the Cokes this time.”

She was stunned as she took the sandwich from his hand. “I…I thought you hated me.”

“Picnic table,” he said simply.

Baffled, she murmured, “All right.” And then she turned and made her way to the back door.