Page 64 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

Another voice cut through their sniveling.

“Hi, Jordan.” It was Clarissa.

Releasing his wolf, the tingling stopped, his vision returning to normal.

“Hi, Claire,” Jordan said. “That table of kids back again?”

“Yeah, they’re back.”

Thomas had to take several deep breaths from his nose. The pups had been so obvious, the diner workers were keeping tabs on them. He was going to kill the lot of them.

“But they’ve been pretty well behaved so I’m not complaining.” Clarissa sounded tired. “They have three Monte Cristos on order, and then the old ladies’ book club is almost done.”

“Great, thanks for letting me know, have a good night!”

“You too.”

Crap! Tom’s mind went into panic mode. He had less than a minute until she was out in the parking lot. He didn’t want to look like he was loitering, waiting for her. That was creepy. Should he be holding the bouquet? Should he get back in his car? No, that might look forced.

He rushed to retrieve the battered flowers from his passenger seat.

“Thomas.”

His stomach dropped. Straightening up, he pulled out the flowers and shut the car door.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d still be here.” Staring at his hands, he felt pathetic. The bouquet was a wreck. He’d bent some of the stems when he tossed it back in the car. Looking up from the pitiful blooms, his breath caught.

Why’d she always have to look so stunning? He idly wondered if he’d ever get used to it. Heart stumbling, he realized even if he saw her every day, woke up next to her every morning, he’d never get used to watching her. Her beauty was too much for him to become accustomed to. He didn’t mind that. He’d be willing to let his every breath be taken away if it was taken by her.

Mind drifting to her in his arms, her bare skin illuminated in the waxing moonlight pouring in from her window. He’d spent countless hours running in the night, marveling at the moon’s wonder. It paled in comparison to her beauty. Her skin on his, her hot breath in his ear.

Clearing his throat, he jerked his thoughts back to the present. “I know you didn’t want to go to the park tonight, but I, I just …” His words trailed off; he hadn’t thought this through.

“I’m happy you came.” Her voice sounded stressed, distraught almost. It was only then he noticed the red lining her puffy eyes. “I’m sorry. I-I-I feel terrible about this morning. You’ve been wonderful to me and I, well, I guess I just panicked.”

Relief flooded him. He wanted to go to her, console her, assure her all was forgiven, but he held fast. Something in the set of her face told him she wasn’t done talking.

“You see, I hadn’t, before, I mean I …” Flushing, she looked at her feet. Her shoulders pulled in on herself.

The blood drained from his face. Oh no. What had he done?

“I’d always been drunk, or at least almost drunk before … I just … I don’t like people touching me, I didn’t feel safe.” She covered her burned arm.

It was the same reaction she’d had last night when he’d taken her sweater off. Remembering how she cried when he’d kissed her burns. It made sense now. She had been embarrassed, but not for the reasons he’d thought.

Internally, he cursed himself. He should have talked to her more first. This all could have been avoided if he’d kept his composure and hadn’t thought with his dick. Admittedly, a herculean task when he had a raging hard-on, but it was no excuse.

“You see, when I was in school,” she continued. He wanted to stop her, to tell her it wasn’t necessary for her to relive whatever this memory was, but he couldn’t make himself move. “The issues I mentioned … well, there were these girls in my gym class and they made my life a living hell. The showers were the worst. My scars, you see, they were an easy target for them.

“One day they got bored of tormenting me alone, so they let a group of boys in while I was changing. They roughed me up a bit, and … well, since then … well, I usually prefer to be drunk when I’m with someone. The realization of what’d happened hit me and I panicked. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I’m sorry, Thomas, you didn’t deserve that.”

His face fell. There it was again, her terrible habit of saying something depressing and earth-shattering so painfully casual. All he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and keep her safe.

Stepping closer, he was in her space. Near enough to feel the soft warmth of her human body, but not touching. “Please, you have nothing to apologize for. I should have just left last night. I’m sorry, for everything. I can’t believe that happened to you.”

“There’s no way you could have known.” Her face brightened. “And I’m not sorry you stayed, so you shouldn’t be either. It’s not like that with you. You can’t imagine how wonderful last night was for me. I am sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

“Oh, Clarissa.” He sighed. “You don’t have to apologize. I would do anything for you, to make you feel safe, to be properly loved.”