by Alicia Banks
“Well, I can’t live on nuts.”
Antoine shot her a look, like he was waiting for her to say something. “Like I said, let’s get sushi. I know a lot of people that like it.”
Cassandra opened the door and stepped out. She was already nervous about being around Antoine. She didn’t want to stay in that vehicle any longer than she had to. He had a dominate presence that drew her in and probably everyone else as well. As soon as they entered the restaurant, Cassandra could see men and women alike, giving him a look. Cassandra almost felt like she was in there with a celebrity. The hostess and the waitress knew him, too.
“I take it you like sushi a lot?”
He shrugged. “Cold rice, raw fish, seaweed, what’s not to love?”
She shook her head. “All of it.” Cassandra pulled out her nuts and he just looked at her. “You’re really not going to have any?”
“I am really not into raw fish.”
“And if I have them make you something?”
“I don’t think they do that here.”
He waved her off and ordered something in Mandarin when the waitress got back. She was impressed, and a little put off. Cassandra had to remember who this guy was. He was the one that left her behind. No number of good looks and charm was going to change that. She just might need a reminder or two is all.
Cassandra answered the questions that she was asked, but went out of her way not to volunteer any information. She was trying her best to play the charade that they did not know each other, but it was hard. Cassandra had conflicting emotions. She wanted to kiss him, her eyes falling to his lips as he spoke. And then she wanted to ask him what the hell he left her for, after he slammed into her car. She could not go down both routes, she had to pick one, and Cassandra hadn’t decided which one yet.
That in and of itself told her a lot.
“You aren’t listening to me, are you?”
“No, not really. It’s lunch time.”
He smiled and agreed. “You’re right. It is. I don’t know why I am talking about work, anyway. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself.”
“Not much to tell. I live up on the mountain.”
“Oh, yeah? I live out that way as well.”
“I don’t think you’re my neighbor. I would remember seeing you at the little store that is out there. It’s the only thing for miles. Everyone goes there.”
“Wilma drops off an order once a week for me.”
Cassandra was surprised that he knew who she was talking about. It made her believe him, even though Cassandra didn’t know where on the mountain he lived. There were only so many places. It was remote and sparsely populated.
“Must be hidden well. I thought I knew everyone up on the mountain.”
“Obviously not.”
And just like that, Cassandra was aggravated at him again. One minute, he could be the most charming man, then the next, he was just a rude jerk and she wanted to push the truth between them.
When lunch was over, she was glad to get back to the office, even if they were still together. At least there, she wasn’t forced to talk to him. He left her alone to do her work and spy on him on occasion. There were also the yelling matches that he had on his phone. They were quite entertaining, as well. Cassandra knew that she had a lot that she wanted to say to him, but she kept it in.
By the end of the day, she was ready to run out the door. He stopped her as she was leaving. He thanked her for coming, and Cassandra still wasn’t sure how she felt about it all. She was building a website that he’d just started and a social media base, that he’d never had before. It wasn’t writing that she was doing, but something else. Cassandra should have walked away. Thanked him nicely for the job and opportunity, but just walked away.
Instead, she told him that she would see him that coming Monday and hurried out of there before she said something to ruin everything. Cassandra still wasn’t sure how she wanted it all to go. Her feelings for Antoine had not become any less confusing.
All she knew for certain was the longer she was around Antoine, the less she thought about the wreck and the more she thought about a kiss.
Chapter 4
Antoine
“So, how is it going with the new girl?”
Antoine cut his eyes to Nathan.
“Do you know how quiet my life was before you came back into it?”
Nathan agreed that he did. “You should be thankful that I pulled you out of your rut. You didn’t go out last night, so I figured things were getting interesting. Cassandra, that human, is pretty. If I weren’t with someone…”
“Well, you are.”
Nathan chuckled and Antoine couldn’t believe that he had been baited so easily. It had only been a week and already it felt like an insurmountable task, just to deny himself the pleasure of the women he wanted. Antoine wasn’t used to being in such a tizzy over a woman, especially not a woman that was a human. He had never really liked them, even though many of his friends had sustained that fetish. Antoine didn’t think it was a fetish. It wasn’t that she was human, it was the woman herself. The rest of it didn’t matter.
“Something has your panties in a bunch. Tell me that you are still staying away, pretending that you didn’t fancy her when you saw her after you wrecked her.”
Antoine wasn’t going to say anything in that way at all. He knew that he would just be wasting his time. It had been a while since the two of them had been around each other much, but his friend knew him well enough.
“She’s human.”
“You have never been with one?”
Antoine shook his head that he hadn’t.
“You should give it a try sometime. It’s a whole different experience and the girls, I swear they are more into it. Does she know that you’re a shifter?”
Antoine disagreed. He hadn’t known how in the world he could make that work, so he hadn’t even tried. “She doesn’t need to know more than she already does. I just want to keep an eye on her for a bit, make sure she doesn’t start trouble for me.”
“Oh, is that what the plan is?”
Antoine growled. “What is it, Nathan? I know that you didn’t come all this way to bust my chops, did you?”
Nathan shrugged and chuckled. “It would have been worth it, but no, I guess I am here for other things as well.”
“Like?”
“Like the attack from the enemy. We know that there is going to be a hard choice to make soon, and we want to know if you are on our side.”
Antoine looked at him strangely. “Seriously?”
“No, we know whose side you’re on, but it’s going to get bad very soon. Some things went down last week, and someone close to the new leader isn’t happy with us. It has invited chaos.”
Antoine didn’t see much difference. It had been chaos for a while.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Keep your human safe if you’re going to keep her around. Maybe you should do a little traveling. You never know, all that time alone might do you some good.”
Antoine made a disgusted sound. “You really are incorrigible, aren’t you? Do you really think it’s the time for all of that? I have a lot on my plate, Nathan, without worrying about some damn human.”
“I thought things were going well?”
“Yeah, you would think that. It's going fine, but I don't think that it is right to keep this going. She shouldn't be in our world, especially if there are more attacks coming in from the opposition in the Fire Islands. You know that I am here for you until the end, my end if need be, but we shouldn't expect that from a human.”
“You get rid of her if you want to, Antoine, but I really don't think you do. I think that you need to take her up to the cabin and let her stay there for a little while. She would be all safe and sound, under your thumb.”
“Why would she do that? Look, Nathan, you aren’t making any sense now.”
“And you, Antoine, are acting like a damn human. Can you really no
t think of another way to push the issue and make her see things your way?”
“You know that I don't do that.”
Nathan shrugged. “Well, then, it is probably for the best you don't deal with humans. It's the easiest way to do so. Other species have been using it for years. They have minds that are so easy to push and control. It takes almost no effort.”
Antoine could not hide his distaste for that. Magical beings could enthrall a human. Vampires did it, witches did it in different ways. All species did it in one way or another, and with the shifters, it was just more natural. As dragons, they were dominant and would be deferred to on most occasions.
“I feel like she's more to you than just your human plaything.”
“It was never like that. I just felt bad for hitting her car and I wanted to make it right.”
“You fixed it. Give her some money and be on your way, if you're really doing this out of obligation and nothing else.”
As he said it, he had a smile on his face, and Antoine knew that his friend did not believe it was obligation at all. The truth was it really wasn't. He could have easily left her, before or after he checked to make sure she was alright. He let her see him, which was his first mistake. But after that, Antoine should have just walked away. If she had remembered too much and went to the police, it wasn't like he didn't know several at the top who could get rid of things for him. Hell, the sheriff was a shifter, which was one of the many reasons that he had picked the small town of Lasbo. It wasn't something that was done quickly and without thought.
“You're right, Nathan. I’ll think about it. I want to be ready if you need me.”
Nathan patted Antoine on the shoulder. “Don't let me be your excuse to run away from this woman. You're not as good at hiding your emotions as you think.”
“It doesn’t always turn out good, like it did for you, Nathan.”
“No, but what if it did?”
Antoine refused to comment on that last part. He quickly changed the subject to the battle that was going on in the Fire Islands. Nathan had been found to be its true Alpha once his true lineage was revealed. Antoine was happy for his friend, going from obscurity to the top, but it had not been an easy ascension. The people that were currently running the Fire Islands did not take kindly to being kicked out of their leadership roles, and they were fighting back. There were also some people in their attack force that felt the same way. Nathan not only had just found out his true lineage and his true place in the world, but now he had to fight for it.
Nathan got wrapped up in his own problems, and although Antoine felt a little bad about it, he didn't feel bad enough to take his mind back off of it. Mentioning the human only made Nathan grin and cause him discomfort. He could do without that.
“So, time for the truth, Antoine.”
They were about to set off on their separate ways and Antoine turned back to look at Nathan.
“What truth?”
“You want that human, don't you?”
Antoine didn't answer, but he had a feeling that he didn't need to. While it was true Cassandra had really bound him up, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with that. Antoine was not used to feeling such emotions for anyone, let alone a human. It was confusing and troubling. It would be easier if he felt nothing at all.
***
Monday rolled around and Antoine had it in his mind that he was going to get rid of Cassandra. He hadn't figured out a reason why, but he knew that he had to say something. The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt in the crossfire, and since things were getting more intense, it was best if Antoine got her out of it sooner rather than later. He knew that it wasn't what he wanted, but it was what he had to do.
The problem was, he didn't want to. Antoine did not want other people dictating what he did or didn't do. He was funny that way, and the idea of someone else telling him that he couldn't be with her was enough to bother him. He felt an immediate rebellion inside of him or it was just an excuse. Antoine did not want to get rid of Cassandra. He really enjoyed having her around, even if it was hard on his senses. Being close to her like that was complicated, only because he wasn't supposed to touch her.
They started out like they usually did and after he told her good morning, he went to his desk and for the first time, he truly wished that he had a proper office. Then, he could just shut the door and she wouldn't be right there, ready to bother him with her presence. While he wanted to believe that he was above it all, the last couple of weeks had proven otherwise. He was just as easy to persuade as his fellow people. Maybe there was just something about humans, he wasn't sure, but this human was really getting underneath his skin. He asked if she wanted to go out and have lunch. She hesitated and finally said yes. Antoine told himself that he would get rid of her then.
The lunch time hour felt excruciatingly slow to arrive, and Antoine found himself looking at the clock on the wall way too much. It had been something he had added to the office to look official, but in the end, it became his downfall because he could not take his eyes off of it. It moved so devastatingly slowly, and it was not at all bringing him closer to an inevitability that he didn’t want.
When it was finally time to go to lunch, he had nerves running through him and he tried to prepare himself, laying out what he would say and then trying to guess her reaction. Would she be mad? Would she finally blurt out that she knew who Antoine was? Because he was quite sure that she did.
Antoine didn't know what to think. All he knew was what he had to do. There was no way that he could go with his friend’s other suggestion. He wasn't taking her up to the cabin. That would just make everything worse.
***
When they got to the restaurant, she asked him if he was okay. He looked up, surprised by her question.
“Yeah, why?”
“No reason. I'm just not used to you being so quiet. You haven't screamed on the phone all day.”
He looked at her strange. “Is that something I do often?”
Cassandra grinned. “Yeah, it's quite entertaining. I don't know who you're yelling at, but you definitely like to yell. We need to get some proper popcorn in the office.”
Antoine didn't know what to say to that. He didn't realize that he was so gruff, but when he thought about it, he knew it to be true. What surprised him was instead of her being afraid of it, she found it interesting. Entertaining even.
Why was this woman so different from anyone he had ever known before? She just made it all that much more complicated. Why did she have to be so great?
They got into a conversation and Antoine just let himself get pulled into it. He did not under any circumstances want to fire her. The longer he sat across from her in the midst of a pretty good conversation, the more he realized that he didn't want it to end, at all. But he couldn't let something happen to her, either. That left only one option, and since Antoine had thought it was too ridiculous to even think about, he did not even have a plan. He had no idea how he was going to make it seem possible. It was not like he could just ask her to go stay in the woods with him for no reason. She would never go for it, no woman would.
Then, there was the suggestion that he could just make her want to go with him. He knew many of his kind that got basically anything they could ever want like that, but he wasn't that sort. He not only found it completely distasteful, but he also realized that he didn't want someone if he had to do such a thing to get them. He wanted real attraction and desire, or nothing at all.
So, the idea of him being able to use it on Cassandra was almost laughable. There was no way. He did not want to make her do anything. If he was true to himself and there was something that he wanted from her, but it was so against everything that he believed, he had to fight it with every part of his being.
With that understanding, it was better to get rid of her. Not just for the sake of safety, but for the sake of his mental function as well. He couldn't just pretend like he didn't care about her. He did. Too much, an
d it was painfully obvious to him.
That left him doing nothing. At the end of the lunch, she was still working for him and they went back to the office. But, he went back feeling like a failure. How hard would it have been just to say the words?
Apparently too hard, he thought ruefully to himself. Cassandra was a human that he needed to get rid of, his life getting ever more dangerous, but he didn't want to get rid of her. He wanted, instead, to pull her closer and never let her go.
Chapter 5
Cassandra
“I feel like you want to talk about something or say something, but you won’t.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Well, I mean, yeah. You are never this quiet, so there has to be a storm brewing in that thick head of yours.”
“That is probably truer than you will ever know. I have to tell you something, and I don’t know how you are going to take it. I have been trying to figure out how to word it right, but I think any way I say it, is going to sound bad.”
“Well, just spit it out. It can’t be that bad.”
He looked at her dubiously and it made Cassandra wonder if she was going to eat her words. Maybe it could be that bad.
“Let’s just say that one of my clients has gotten some bad news, and they are looking to attack me because of it. I need to either fire you or put you into hiding for a week or so. Maybe more. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for things to calm down.”
She paused and then looked ahead. Cassandra had been expecting many things, but not that. More danger? What was it with this guy?
“Are you serious? I mean, I thought you dealt with people’s money.”
“I do, and sometimes I lose their money, and they are not happy with me about it.”
“Wow, I never would have thought that hiding out from a client was something that you’d have to do. I don’t know what to say.”
He chuckled, if not a little bitterly. “Trust me, I know how you feel. I didn’t know what to say about it, either. I don’t know what to do. I could just pay you and you don’t have to come in. You can do it all from your home if you want.”
