Page 9 of Broken By Her Mate
Laila was moving toward the door before she even realized what was happening. Her feet carried her toward Tolliver as if on autopilot. Her own body was betraying her mind’s determination to stay put.
“Cora,” she said slowly, her voice tinged with suspicion. “What did you just do? Are you using magic on me?”
Cora gave an innocent shrug, but the mischievous spark in her eyes said otherwise. “Just a smidge to give you a little nudge. You’re being stubborn, and honestly, he’s way too cute to keep out in the cold. You deserve a romantic getaway with your long-lost love.”
“He’snotmy—” She pulled in a breath as a strange heaviness pushed against her mind, and her feet started to move again. Although livid, Laila couldn’t help glancing back at Cora with amazement. She had to give the young woman props for her skill. It seemed Cora was more powerful than she thought. No wonder why her father was afraid of her using magic. After her moment of admiration and pride, she went back to being furious.
“Cora, I can’t believe you. Whatever Tolliver said to you is a lie. He never called me! There is no romantic getaway. He manipulated you.” She gasped as her palm slammed against the door, pushing it open. She shot a withering look over her shoulder. “Release me from whatever magic you’re using now, or else…”
Cora winced. “I’m sorry, Laila. You’ll thank me later after you get your surprise.”
What surprise?“Cora—”
“Laila, you’re ready,” Tolliver said, appearing in front of her. “Great.” He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let’s go, babe.”
“Don’t call me that,” she spat. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Yet her feet kept moving toward the door, and Tolliver walked right along with her, keeping her in his hold. She couldn’t believe what was happening. “Cora, you are fired, missy!”
Cora, who was following the duo with a wide grin, stopped in her tracks. “Wait… Am I really? Laila, I’m just trying to help…”
“She didn’t mean that,” Tolliver reassured. “Your job is fine.” He then winked at her. “Thanks, Cora. I owe you.”
Returning to her excitement about her boss’s impending engagement, Cora gave Tolliver a beaming smile and two thumbs up. All the while, through her haze of confusion and disbelief, Laila wondered about their interaction.
She was held captive in the strange magical hold until Tolliver led her a half block from the bakery. At that hour, the town was scanty, with just a few townsfolk returning home after work. There were a couple of businesses on the block with lights still on. Still, Laila didn’t make a fuss to not draw attention to them. She didn’t want her neighbors to know that anything was amiss. Her steps faltered when she spotted a tinted SUV, which Tolliver led her to. She glanced up at him with her heart in her mouth. Where on earth was he taking her? He had switched from charming to stone-faced mode and constantly swept their surroundings.
Laila found herself following his gaze. “Tolliver, what’s going on? What are you looking for?”
“Who,” he said.
When they reached the SUV, he opened the door and practically shoved her inside into the driver’s seat. “Move over.”
She stubbornly refused, but then she had no choice when he squeezed in beside her, crowding her with his larger frame and intoxicating scent. Laila scrambled over the center console to the passenger’s side, desperate to put distance between them. Thinking fast, she reached for the door handle, hoping to make her escape because, clearly, Tolliver had gone crazy. However, before she could open the door, the loud click of the lock echoed.
She huffed and turned to glare at him. He lifted an eyebrow and started the vehicle. Laila’s heart pounded as he swerved onto the road and took off at great speed. She looked back to see her bakery disappearing.
“This is kidnapping, you know,” she said. “You kidnapped me and made my nineteen-year-old employee your accomplice.”
“You still have a penchant for dramatics, I see,” he drawled.
Infuriated, she let out a battle cry and launched herself at him. “Pull over this instant!”
Tolliver’s eyes widened at her surprise attack, and the vehicle swerved. There was a slight scuffle before he caught her flying hands. “Jesus, woman. Are you crazy?”
Laila panted after her futile attack and struggle. Although she was a shifter, too, compared to Tolliver, she was a weakling. For one, he was twice her size. Two, her wolf hadn’t come out in years. As she thought about how she’d attacked him withoutthinking, embarrassment seeped in. She had never been violent or irrational. She’d never attacked anyone like that, either.
Tolliver had turned up without warning and turned her life upside down. He had almost ruined it five years ago when he abandoned her. Why would he be so cruel as to show up now when she’d gotten her life back together? Her eyes narrowed on him in contempt. “You show up out of the blue, spouting nonsense about danger, andkidnapme, andI’mthe crazy one?” She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
Tolliver’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “All right, fine. I’m sorry about the kidnapping.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be too hard on the kid,” he said. “I lied to her,” he added.
“Yeah, I got that. What on earth did you tell her?” For Cora to automatically take his side, it had to be huge.
Tolliver gave her a side glance. She could see his guilty expression, and she frowned. “I sort of told her that we’ve been back to gather for a while, and I wanted to whisk you away for a surprise proposal. I’m sorry.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry about thebabething, too. I was just trying to sell the story to Cora.”
As Laila studied his profile, her mouth hung open. She then snapped her mouth shut and reached deep to find her composure. She felt bad for lunging at him earlier because that wasn’t her, so she worked hard to keep her temper in check. “Tolliver, wherever you’ve been for five years… Did something happen to you? Did you go through something traumatic, perhaps? Better yet, were you by any chance in an insane asylum, and you escaped?”