Page 109 of Dragon Charmed

The back door opened, interrupting her thoughts.

“I’m good, Marilyn. I don’t need another…” The words died when she saw who was standing on the deck.

Ben.

No.

The man in front of her wasn’t Ben. And it wasn’t his clean-shaven face or dress shirt and pants that told her that fact. It was his eyes and what was reflected there. Determination, resolve…regret?

“Adam.”

He walked closer. “Tessa.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m not sure exactly. My brain has finally quieted down, but I’m still sorting through things, memories.”

She took a breath. “I can’t even imagine. I’m glad you have your memories back.”

“Me too.” He hesitated. “The truth is, I thought I would feel better about everything, but I feel…”

“Feel what?”

He shook his head.

“Come on now, you can’t leave me hanging.” She almost said dragon boy but stopped herself. “Feel what?”

“Overwhelmed.” He paused. “Guilty.”

“I’m not surprised you feel overwhelmed. I would be worried if you didn’t. Why do you feel guilty?”

He blew a hard breath. “I left my family and clan. And I didn’t break the curse. And then you were almost killed.”

She shook her head. “Wow, I guess I shouldn’t have called you Superman the other day. It went to your head.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Tessa rested her hand on his arm. “I’m talking about this need to try and take care of everything yourself. And you didn’t leave your family and clan, you were zapped by a witch who took away all your memories. Your family is ecstatic you’re back. So punch the ego you got in the gut and forgive yourself.”

His eyes widened. “Thanks for knocking me down a peg or two.”

She shrugged. “I love to deflate egos. It’s one of my superpowers.”

He smirked at her for just a moment, and she saw Ben once again before the serious expression came back front and center. “Tessa—”

She patted his arm. “It’s okay, Adam. I know you have so much to work through right now. We need to take a step back. It makes sense, right?”

He hesitated again for a moment, and she wanted to scream at him. She was giving him the easy out. Giving herself one too.

“Is that what you want?” he finally said.

“You said yourself you have things to figure out. Clan, family, curse, witches, Templars. The list is a big one.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So we stop it now. It wasn’t like we expected it to go any further, did we? Once your memories returned, it would be back to business as usual, right?”

Those brown eyes of his stared at her as if he was trying to read her thoughts. But she put on her model face, showed him what she wanted him to see on the outside, inside be damned.