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Canaan ended the call, but he would never forget just how beautiful Elizabeth Mooney was.
FIVE
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth had to call it a night at nearly two in the morning. Blood Wolf, or Canaan, as she now knew him, had played one quest after another with her. The man had stamina like nothing she had ever seen.
It was sweet that he let her lead the charge. He knew she needed it, and though he definitely had a job to get to in the morning, he played without complaining for hours and hours.
Jordan had never supported Elizabeth’s love of gaming. He would complain that he had fallen in love with a smart woman, not a lazy couch potato. He would gripe and throw a temper tantrum like a toddler until Elizabeth packed up her gaming system in the back of the closet for good.
The only time she would pull it out was when Jordan was away on a business trip or gone for a few hours. It had bothered her that her main coping mechanism was an issue for her boyfriend.
That should have been the first and only red flag she needed, but Elizabeth had convinced herself that Jordan was the kind of man she should fall in love with. He had a good job, a healthy 401(k), a good family, and all around, he was justgood.
Until he wasn’t.
Now that enough time had passed since the breakup, she could clearly see all the flaws in their relationship. Elizabeth didn’t like herself in those memories. She had cut herself off from a lot that she liked about herself.
Well, that was done now.
Elizabeth was committed to a new relationship … the one she had with herself. There would be no more dating and no more men clouding up her space.
It’s not like she had the time, anyway. She had to find a new jobanddeal with the baseless accusation that she was some kind of corporate spy.
“I need to get some sleep,” she said as the quest to rescue Ji’Una, the Enchantress, was completed.
The triple chocolate ice cream and copious amounts of pizza that were her gaming fuel were long gone from her system, and though Elizabeth was still too angry to rejoin the real world, she needed a break. Her eyes were starting to burn and ache.
Besides, she would eventually need to face reality. She couldn’t keep playingFantasy Warriorsuntil she died.
Sure, it was tempting with a partner like Canaan Wolverton on her side.
“You’ll be okay?” he asked, his voice filling her earphones.
Now that she knew Canaan was gorgeous, she was powerless against his deep, smooth voice. It made her belly flop and her breath catch.So much for no more men.What was a harmless crush, though? She would never see Canaan in person. They would never meet or cross paths. He was just a kind stranger with whom she liked to save fictional characters in her favorite game.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” she replied. “I just need to sleep a bit.”
“Well, you have my number if there’s anything you need.”
“Yup. Thanks, Blood Wolf.”
“I think you can call me Canaan now, Elizabeth.”
“If you insist.” Part of her needed that anonymity and distance.
“See you tonight for another quest?”
She considered replyingno, but who was she kidding? She was jobless and single with an impending investigation into her professional ethics. What the hell else would she do with her life in the evening hours? “Yeah. Usual time.”
“Sleep well, Queenie.”
She nodded and logged out with the sound of Canaan’s voice calling herQueenie. She didn’t know exactly when he had started calling her by that name, but she had always loved it. She loved it even more that he kept on using it after learning her name was Elizabeth.
Most people would just call her Liz and assume she was okay with it. She wasn’t. Her name was Elizabeth, and that is what she wanted to be called.
There was something special aboutQueenie, though.
