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Maddox had to tell himself that he was still wearing his sunglasses, otherwise he’d wonder if she could see his shifter’s eyes flash and glow in the coffee shop’s dim atmospheric lighting. His wolf was as attracted to Evangeline as he was. The mating instinct was hell. Just the thought of her could make him hard, a constant ache that wouldn’t go away.
Now, if only he could get her to remember him. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to trigger the bond if he let her slip back to her apartment, he decided to treat Evangeli
ne like the most skittish of prey.
In the hours that he’d been loitering inside of the coffee shop, Maddox had plenty of time to fine-tune his plan. He couldn’t approach her straight out—that would only engage her fight or flight response. For this to work, she would have to come to him.
Trust him.
Though it was one of the hardest things he’d done in a while, Maddox broke the stare. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, turned his attention toward a different corner of the crowded shop.
There were at least twenty other patrons inside, enjoying their drinks, having a quick bite, using the free wi-fi. A soft, quiet sort of unmemorable muzak piped in through speakers scattered throughout the entire place. Conversations hummed. Machinery buzzed and frothed and beeped as the baristas worked the counter.
Over all of the din, Maddox still managed to make out her soft sigh.
He was already so attuned to her. As she got on line, Maddox obsessed over that sigh. What was the reason behind it? Relief? Or something else?
He didn’t know—but he was sure as hell going to find out.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye. His sunglasses hid the way he followed every move she made. As she ordered her drink, paid the barista, went to stand on the far side of the counter to wait for her coffee.
His Evangeline was tall, and so beautiful that she stood out from any group. She kept a good distance between her and the next person, her arms crossed, almost like she was hugging herself.
Maddox watched her closely.
Colt told him that, the only time he saw her, she seemed distant and sad. Lost in her own thoughts. Maddox understood exactly what his brother meant.
Something… something wasn’t right.
As if she could sense his scrutiny, Evangeline dared another glance over at him. He couldn’t have stopped himself from reacting even if he wanted to.
Lifting his hand in a lazy wave, Maddox gestured to her.
He almost expected her to pretend not to see him. She didn’t. Instead, she glanced around her, checking to make sure she really was the one he was waving over. Evangeline obviously didn’t believe it. Her eyes widened as she met his gaze again and pointed to her chest.
Maddox nodded.
He held his breath, careful not to make any sudden moves. If he did something to spook Evangeline now, he’d have to find a way to kick his own ass.
“Evangeline? Order’s ready.”
She started at her name, too distracted to remember why a female voice would be calling for her.
Her thoughts were too wrapped up in the same dark stranger from yesterday. How easily he lorded over his corner of Mugs, and just how casually he had gestured to her. She couldn’t believe it. One second, she was waiting for her coffee—
Her coffee!
The blonde barista with the pixie cut was holding a cup of coffee in her tiny little hands. She wore an automatic smile, nodding when Evangeline rushed forward to take her drink.
Evangeline started to say thank you, but the words caught in her throat when she realized that the barista wasn’t even looking at her. Nope. She was taking a second to openly gawk at someone across the coffee shop. Evangeline followed the barista’s line of vision, not even a little surprised to find that the girl, barely out of her teens, was drooling over the dark stranger who had to be more than a decade her senior.
She bristled, her back going right up; though she knew she was being ridiculous, seeing the barista stare at him rubbed Evangeline the wrong way. She’d only ever encountered him herself the one time before but, in between yesterday and today, she’d thought about him so often that she built up an imaginary relationship in her head. She didn’t know him—it just felt like she did. And it bothered her more than she wanted to say that someone else was eyeing him like he was a piece of meat.
Maybe that’s what made her do it. Taking her coffee with the fakest of smiles, Evangeline thanked the barista. Then, before she could think about what she was doing, she straightened up to her full height and headed right toward the man.
He was just as foreboding and—okay, she’d admit it—as rakishly handsome as she remembered. He’d traded his tight t-shirt for a turtleneck that did even more to highlight his sculpted body and his broad chest, though he was still wearing the shades.
What was up with the shades, she wondered again.
