Page 17 of Ancient Promises
Swallowing hard, she took in a few slow breaths to calm herself down, which did nothing but bring in the faint scent of him, all masculine and spicy.
Even though she didn’t feel confident, she still lifted her head high and strode out to the main room from the storage room where she’d been checking inventory to keep herself busy.
Oh, he was sexier than she remembered.
Shaking the unwanted thought from her mind, she watched him for a moment, realizing he looked utterly enraptured as he looked around the bookstore.
Did he like books?
Instead of asking him, she started off with an aggressive question, so he’d know for sure she wasn’t happy with him. “What are you doing here?”
He turned slowly, his broad shoulders twisting as he moved, his whole body tensing, muscles rippling under the tight shirt he wore.
For a moment she wondered if he’d come to talk to her about the fact they were truemates. Even now her wolf was howling, and the part of her that was lion was purring, excitement lighting her up from the inside out.
But as he settled the full weight of his gaze on her, she didn’t feel any kind of touchy-feely warmth emanating from him, just a strange disdain that she couldn’t really figure out.
Why didn’t he want to be with her?
“I was told to let you know that I’ll be standing guard.”
“What? Why?”
“You don’t have a front door.”
“I know.”
One brow arched. “It’s not safe for you to be in a place that’s not secure.”
“First of all, my apartment is upstairs and that door locks just fine.” She folded her arms over her chest. “And secondly, why do you care?”
His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. “Because I’m part of the security team.”
She tilted her head and stared at him. Oh, it would have been so easy to run across the room and jump into his arms, find out how soft his lips were and how strong his hold was. But she was one hundred percent sure he wouldn’t hold her and she’d wind up on her butt on the floor.
She didn’t know what his deal was, and she truly didn’t care.
“You haven’t even introduced yourself. What makes you think I’d want you in my business for any reason? You’re a stranger.”
His lips pursed, and then he said, “My name is Eivross Danforth.”
He spoke so woodenly, like every word out of his mouth was pulled with pliers. What was so wrong with her that he couldn’t even be nice? She was a nice girl. He’d be lucky to call her his mate.
“You can’t be in here. I’m sure I can’t stop you from guarding my store, but I don’t want you in the building.”
Although it was the last thing she wanted to do, she forced herself to turn from him and go back to the storage room. She pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. A few moments later, there was a soft, sad trill, which she bet was from his dragon. Heavy footsteps sounded, and then the tarp was pulled aside as he left.
She breathed out a sigh of relief and sadness twined together.
This was not how she pictured meeting her truemate. They were supposed to rush into each other’s arms on sight and get right to the loving. She’d dreamed of how it would go and in none of her fantasies had she ever imagined her truemate not wanting her.
The thought made her eyes sting, but she ignored it and got back to work. The books weren’t going to inventory themselves, after all.
She picked up a book from a box that had been delivered the day before and looked at the cover, which depicted a skull covered with roses and thorny vines. Flipping to the back, she read the description, which detailed a story of betrayal. She was certain it ended in a happily ever after, but she was sure the angst was high.
It made her think about other books she’d read about betrayal, so she pulled a notepad from the counter and began to sketch out a new table set up. She’d put it right in the center of the bookstore, with a sign that read, “Romance novels with betrayal as a trope.” If Eivross came into the bookstore again, he’d see it and know the display was aimed at him.
If he didn’t want her, that was fine. Her beasts would get over it, eventually.