Page 29 of Stalking His Mate

“Neither is the idea of turning the auction into a dating service,” the blond male sniggers.

Jarik’s head snaps to the side and he lets out a low growl that has my chin dropping and my knees quivering. Slowly his attention turns back to me, “Is this what you want?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Fine,” Jarik says, as if it’s of the utmost inconvenience and he points a finger at me, narrowing his golden eyes. For a moment I see the flicker of his beast behind them. “If she rejects you, you back off. If she wants nothing to do with you, you walk the fuck away. If I find out you’ve gone behind my back and forced her…” Claws appear at the tips of his fingers, “You’ll wish for death before I’m finished with you.”

I nod my head, “I understand.”

The look he gives me is doubtful, but he nods once.

“Thank you, Alpha,” I tell him, even as I’m backing out of the room.

The moment I hit the doorway, I turn and run.

18

AMY

Islept like shit.

Actually, I’m not sure if I got any sleep at all.

My head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and even the sludge we call coffee isn’t making a dent in my brain fog. To make up for the weekend I missed, I agreed to work a double today, which means I was in at 5am for the breakfast crowd and I’ll be here through dinner. The lunch rush will be starting soon and I’m in the breakroom grabbing some food while it’s still slow.

I’m about halfway through my Caesar salad when Becca appears in the doorway. She’s gnawing on her bottom lip and looking at me like she has something she really doesn’t want to have to tell me.

“Oh, God. What now?” My fork falls from my fingers to click against the plate.

Her lips twitch into a smirk. “It’s nothing like that. You, ah, have a customer when you’re finished with your break.”

My heart drops. “Tell Chad that I?—”

“It’s not Chad. Really, you know I’d never throw you under the bus like that,” she folds her arms across her chest and leans against the doorway. “When were you going to tell me you were seeing someone?”

“When am I supposed to have the time to see anyone?” I snort, picking up my fork and stabbing at the romaine with more force than is necessary. “Why would you even ask me that?”

Becca chuckles and pulls out the chair across from me, “Oh well, you start to assume things when the same gorgeous guy with sexy metro-biker vibes keeps coming here for lunch and finally asks for you by name.”

I laugh, even as my heart starts beating faster, “Jesus Becca, what are you talking about?”

Becca shrugs and leans forward, “You really don’t know who is waiting for you out there?”

“I really don’t.” Except a man’s image is floating before my eyes as I push my plate back. A man who’s been coming here for lunch every day for the past month to ask for a date and then abruptly vanished for a whole week after the auction. My appetite vanishes. “Do you think Chad sent him?”

“Chad would never hang out with someone this cool,” Becca snorts.

With curiosity gnawing at me, and before I have a chance to talk myself out of what I’m doing, I push my chair back and grab my apron as I head towards the dining room.

I spot him the moment I come around the corner and my feet shuffle to a stop. Our eyes meet and heat flares to life in my core.

He’s sitting in the same booth as always. He looks the same, but at the same time not. His eyes are dull, missing the spark they had before. His face is gaunt, and I don’t remember ever seeing him with the dark smudges that line his eyes today. It’s like he’s not sleeping either. His long hair is pulled back in a half-hazard knot and his clothes are mussed, like he dressed in a hurry or without much care. He looks very much like I feel.

I force a deep breath into my lungs and push myself forward.

His eyes follow me as I cross the dining room. His face remains expressionless. When I stop at the side of his table, the muscle in the sides of his jaw jump. Without being invited, I slide into the booth across from him.

“Hi,” my fingers tangle together on the table between us. His eyes are focused on me, but he has a pained look as an awkward silence stretches between us.

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