Page 31 of Broken By Her Mate

Cora rolled her eyes. “Fair enough. Laila is right. I have a right to know what’s going on. I’m kinda involved, after all. Don’t think I haven’t noticed my tail the last few days.”

Tolliver frowned. “Apparently, I need to teach some of our operatives about being inconspicuous.”

“I don’t care who you have watching over her,” Laila said. “I feel better now that she knows what’s going on and to be careful.”

“So, you lied to me about why you wanted to come here,” Tolliver said.

“Not at all. I’m more comfortable knowing my bakery is doing okay, thanks to Cora.”

Cora beamed.

“And since we’re here and there’s no immediate danger, I’m heading downstairs to help in the kitchen,” Laila announced, giving Tolliver a pointed look, “while you fix my door… please and thanks.”

Tolliver glanced at the shattered chunk of wood and sighed.

Chapter 13 - Tolliver

Tolliver’s senses worked overtime even as he screwed on Laila’s doors. He listened in on the conversations from customers downstairs and passersby. Laila and Cora were the only ones working since the two other employees left. He was on high alert for the scent of any shifters in the area other than Laila. So far, their journey into Cedar Ridge had been pleasantly uneventful… except for that brief incident when he thought one of the rogue shifters had used magic to throw him off while they took Laila, and he needlessly destroyed her door.

That aside, the trip wasn’t bad. He absently filtered through the hum of conversations downstairs until something caught his attention. He heard Cora excitedly tell Laila, who promised she’s stay in the kitchen and out of sight, that her sociology professor was in the shop. Tolliver paused as he sifted through his memory. He’d heard something he hadn’t liked about a sociology professor days ago…

The memory of Cora telling Laila about wanting to set her up with her professor hit Tolliver hard, and his hackles immediately rose. Gritting his teeth, he wielded the screwdriver too hard, almost damaging the door hinge. Muttering a curse, he reigned in his shifter strength and went easier. However, as he continued to listen, his irritation mounted.

Laila huffed. “Cora, now isn’t a good time to play Cupid.”

“Why not? You and Tolliver aren’t really back together.”

Tolliver’s nostrils flared, and his molars almost shattered. What happened to Cora being on his side? Then again, she was pissed he’d lied to her that night.

“Come on, Laila. I’ve told him so much about you, and he’s been dying to meet you.”

“I told Tolliver I’d stay in the back.”

“Good girl,” Tolliver muttered, satisfied with Laila’s response.

“But…”

He froze at the sound of thatbut.

“Your professor is hardly a threat. I guess there’s no harm in saying hi.”

“For the love of the gods,” Tolliver huffed. “That woman is going to give me gray hairs.” However, he could sniff out the professor who had recently entered the shop. The man was all human. Even if he had bad intentions, Laila was capable of biting his head off, and Cora was no slouch, so he wasn’t too worried about their safety.

The conversation that he overheard, though, had him fuming. Laila was already in the shop because he heard her chirp, “Hi, you must be Walter. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

A deep chuckle assaulted Tolliver’s ears. “All good things, I hope.”

Tolliver rolled his eyes. The man sounded like a douche, but that was only because he was jealous as hell. Laila’s little giggle made him snarl.

“Of course,” she said, too sweetly for Tolliver’s comfort. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too,” the man said. “You are even lovelier than I imagined. To think you’ve been right here for years, and we’ve never met.”

Tolliver inhaled and exhaled. He was overreacting to Laila simply talking to the man. However, as he picturedthem shaking hands and the professor’s eyes moving over her delicious curves, his jealousy peaked.

“Yeah, that’s how it is sometimes,” Laila replied. “But here we are.”

“Here we are,” the professor drawled. “Seeing as how we’ve finally met, I think it’s time we had a conversation. I know this great restaurant on the other side of town…”