Page 26 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

“For sure,” Al said, waving. “But you don’t have to rush off.”

“Who’s rushing?” I laughed. “I’m just giving you two some alone time.”

“You have any fun plans for your day off?”

“Not so much,” I said. “But I was thinking about going for a walk on the beach to kick things off. Then I suppose I’ll just see where the day takes me.”

“Sounds relaxing,” he said.

“Lord, I hope so.”

CHAPTER 11

RORY

“You had sex, but you didn’t even get her name?” Matt gave me a look, absolutely scandalized. It was my first day off of the long weekend, so Matt and I agreed to go for an early morning run and then hit up one of our favorite breakfast spots in town. Once there, we scarfed down enough food for an entire football team. “How could you not ask for her name after you two fucked?”

“Shh!” I said. “Could you not scream my personal business at the top of your lungs, please?”

“Sorry, you just caught me off guard.”

“The whole thing caught me off guard,” I muttered.

“Alright, fair enough.” He sipped his coffee to wash down the plate of French toast he’d just polished off, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and pushed all his plates to the side. He leaned his elbows on the table and looked me dead in the eye. “So, tell me what happened.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about telling me why the hell the two of you were in the alley behind the bar in the first place!”

“She had, like, a moment of panic. I don’t know exactly what brought it on—I think just the front door slamming—but either way, she tore out of the bar with this really scared look on her face. I chased after her because I thought maybe she could use some help. It’s a good thing I did, too, because she was about to have a panic attack.”

“... Okay.”

“So I calmed her down and asked if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her because, you know, that’s supposed to help. But instead of talking, she kissed me and well… You know where things went from there.”

“She didn’t tell you anything about why she was scared?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“And you still have no idea what her name is?”

I put a finger up and smiled. “Aha, no, I did find out. But not from her. On my way out of the bar a little while later, I overheard Al calling out to her by name. Katrina.”

“Katrina,” he repeated the name back to me. He looked confused.

“What?”

“For some reason, I don’t think that name really fits her. It’s not what I thought it was going to be, I guess.”

“What did you think her name was going to be?”

“I didn’t have one in mind,” he said. “Just… not Katrina. Maybe she gave Al a fake name. She is very secretive.”

“Guarded,” I corrected him. “I think she’s just guarded.”

Matt laughed. “Don’t get so defensive. I wasn’t trying to insult your new girlfriend. I just think she’s hiding something, that’s all. But hey, aren’t we all?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

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