Page 58 of Unexpected Temptation

Loki almost leaps from my arms when I open the door and springs at Tristan. Tristan looks tired, but not in a defeated way. He catches Loki and holds the dog but doesn’t show the usual love he offers. It’s like he’s closed parts of himself off.

He’s so different from the man who almost made love to me last night. I thought I’d be nervous, but when I felt him on top of me, I knew we were doing the right thing. I knew he was the right man for me. Atthat moment, there was no confusion.

“Are you okay?” I whisper.

“Hmm,” he says, nodding. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“What isn’t?” I ask.

He’s changed from last night, wearing a military-green jacket and faded jeans. The jacket makes me think he’s getting himself ready. Reaching into his jacket pocket with one hand while still holding Loki in the other, he hands me an envelope.

As I take it, I get the sense he’s being careful that our hands don’t touch. He probably thinks we’ll collapse into the same heat we shared last night if we even brush our hands, and he’s not wrong at least on my part.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, Maya,” he says, not looking at me as he puts Loki down. “I wanted to make this work, whatever it was. The truth is, with you, I’ve felt …” He pauses. I almost yell at him to go on, but the mood seems tense as if any sudden excitement could snap everything.

“Different,” he goes on. “Good. Like maybe I could be a new man.”

“Good,” I whisper, my heart thudding. “I’ve felt the same, Tristan. With you, I can be somebody new.”

“Felt,” he goes on. “Past tense. The Mob came here, Maya. They could’ve done anything. You need to forget about me.”

Loki looks up at me when my voice cracks. Morning sunlight spears down at me, making my eyes even more watery. “Forget?”

He begins to turn away, again seeming unwilling to look at me. “Open the envelope when I’m gone. It’s the most I can do. I’ll send for the dogs.”

With that, he’s gone. Loki begins to trail after him, but Tristan must say something because the Jack Russell turns back and pads back over to me. Tristan climbs onto a motorcycle, ducks his head, and leaves.

“Asshole!” I yell, but I don’t mean it.

Going inside, I grab my phone, almost calling him, nearly begging him to stay and try to make this work. Surely there’s something we can do. Surely there’s a way to fix this. But fix what, exactly? We haven’t even been on adateyet.

Instead, I open the envelope. A gasp escapes me as I stare at the cash, wads of tens, twenties, and fifties. When I count it all up, there’s twenty thousand dollars.

This is too much!I text him, then watch as the status changes fromdeliveredtoread.

He leaves me on read. I wait ten minutes, hoping for a response. Still no reply. I think about texting him again, but where would the endpoint be? I can’t keep begging.

This was nothing, I try to tell myself: a fling, a few kisses, some steam. Technically, maybe he took my V card, sort of. Can I put it behind me? Do I even want to?

After feeding the dogs and handling Mom’s morning routine, I sit at her bedside, checking my cell phone, but there’s still nothing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

TRISTAN

Later that day, I’m in the office, trying to get my mind right as I make arrangements. Tank has twisted something up in me. For as long as I’ve been a Marine, I never thought another jarhead would sell me down the river like that. In hindsight, there were signs, especially with how willing he was to take my guns off me. He wasn’t trying to help me sell them. He was trying to disarm me.

A knock comes at the door. “Sir?”

It’s Miles.

“Come in,” I call.

He walks in awkwardly, his hands intertwined, staring at the floor. Miles has always been somewhat socially awkward. Maybe that’s why I’ve often felt a connection to him, though things have been stilted since Maya came along.

“Sir,” he says again. “I wanted to clarify something about Maya.”

---