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He perked up. “Customers?”
“AtThe Greasy Jester. Customers. I work behind the bar.”
One slow nod later, he was studying me like I was some kind of experiment.
Well, did he have anything to say about that? Or was he just going to keep staring?
I took a shaky breath. “I could use some coffee right about now.”
Mechanically, he went to the counter and prepared our coffee. My surprise must have registered when he set the mug in front of me because he gave a quick laugh and then stroked the back of my head. “There are things I can’t forget, Ginny.”
“Yeah, well…” It was best to let my hope die. “We’re not supposed to be around each other.”
“Has that ever stopped us before?”
Oh no, he couldn’t go around saying things likethatto me. It wasn’t fair. We weren’t even on a level playing field at this point. His family was established and respected. Mine had been publicly rejected.
We weren’t the same. “No, I guess it hasn’t.”
I slurped my coffee. More memories came up from the depths of my soul. The truth bubbled up in my throat, ready to spew out onto the table, ready to rock his world with a ten-year-old secret—or rather, two ten-year-old secrets.
I rubbed another worry crease into my forehead. “Listen, about this guardian nonsense—”
“What were you doing with the likes of the Silent Pride?”
I took a shuddering breath. “I don’t want to talk about it, Slater.”
“You don’t exactly get to choose whether or not you talk about it.”
My fist clenched under the table. “You’re not about to force me to doanything, Slater. I said, I’m not going to talk about it right now, and you’ll do well to leave it alone. You understand?”
Those eyes turned frigid with suspicion and irritation. But he didn’t push me. He didn’t try to peck the truth from me like a starving bird trying to grab the last bits of meat from roadkill. He leaned back, gulped some of his coffee, and dutifully nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Gods, that was unnecessary. He didn’t need to be formal, and he certainly didn’t need to give off that macho guardian energy that made me want to jump on top of him. My knees wobbled at the idea of straddling his lap right now and taking him for a ride.
For old time’s sake. And nothing more.
I cradled my coffee and shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t mean to bite. It’s just—”
“It’s just my family ran your family away from the Frostcrown pack region.”
“Yes, that’s…” I squinted at him. “That’s correct. I don’t think I’ve ever heard somebody say it like that.”
He gestured vaguely to the table. “A lot of folks around here just want rumors, not the truth. I know what happened, and so do you. No point in beating around the bush.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“Oh, darling,” he said with a dark chuckle. Despite the laugh, the humor never reached his eyes. They remained as icy as they had been when he’d first realized who I was during that meeting. “I’m absolutelylivid. We just haven’t talked about it yet.”
I gulped.
That solved the mystery of why he wanted to chaperone me everywhere. It wasn’t to protect me.
It was to make sure I didn’t do what my granddaddy had done.
Chapter 5 - Slater
I knew I should have left at first light.
