by Haley Weir
“You aren’t my doctor anymore!” she shouted. “We aren’t anything. You made that perfectly clear.” It was then that he noticed that Sapphire held her body at an awkward angle. “Someone attacked me…they warned me about you.”
She knows, was all he thought. Sapphire knows about Nora.
But she mentioned nothing of the facility or his failed relationship. “You heard me bear that ran into the fire for me. Instead of leaving me behind to die, you swallowed that pride and you saved my life. Even if it was out of guilt or some sort of doctor’s oath…I have you to thank for being alive.”
Anders couldn’t find the words he needed to say. There was so much that he wanted her to know, so much that he wanted someone to know so that the weight of his true existence didn’t sit heavily on his chest anymore. The look in her eyes spoke of no betrayal or anger, just hurt. He stepped aside and allowed her entrance into his home.
As she sat down in his living room, Anders pulled on a sweater to make himself more presentable. Sapphire fidgeted with the end of her shirt that was ripped down the neck to expose the bite he left upon her pale flesh. He looked away, unwilling to subject himself to the memory of their date once again. “Honestly, I’m not mad or afraid about what—no, who you are. I just can’t believe that Brock and Jenny all lied to me.”
“They didn’t know what to do. None of us did.”
“You could have told me,” she said sensibly.
“But you were already struggling to remember the trauma of nearly dying, Miss White,” Anders reasoned. He moved closer and placed his hand on her leg. “Who attacked you?”
“Patrick. He’s a hunter that’s part of a unit that started the fires.”
“I’m familiar,” he sighed. “Not long after you fell into a coma, we all met up with a man named Corey Reed and his men. They put up a good fight, but we won in the end. We all had to face the truth about what we were that day…it was hard for me.”
Anders was confused when he heard Sapphire giggle. She curled up on her side on his settee and lost herself to the laughter that bubbled out from between her lips. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking that I’m happy to not to be the weird one out of the two of us.”
Leave it to Sapphire White to make light of a serious situation. But, just then, he felt the urge to kiss her again. Anders wanted to taste her reddened lips and listen to the moans he knew he could coax out of her. “What are you going to do now that you know everything about that night?”
“I’m going to do what I’ve always done,” she said, finally recovering from her amusement. “I’m going to move on with my life and put this entire situation behind me. Patrick said he wasn’t a murderer. I sort of believe him.”
The sound of another man’s name on the mouth of his…what was Sapphire, really? It was dangerous to think of her as his mate and even stranger to think that his opinion had Sapphire had changed after only one date. “Would that help? What if you run into another creature?”
“If I didn’t notice anything about you and your friends, then I think it’s safe to say that I won’t notice anywhere else, either,” Sapphire snorted. “I could probably move back to Italy and live the life of struggling poet. Seems fitting enough.”
“Who knows, maybe we’ll run into each other again?” He moved to sit beside her and hated the way she flinched. “May I?”
Sapphire nodded in response, letting Anders look over her body for injuries. He checked everything that she would allow and the churning in his gut didn’t allow him any peace of mind. Having her this close was like waving a steak in front of a hungry lion. “Nothing was broken in the attack, but you have a bruise around your ankle,” he announced, but didn’t remove his hand from where it rested upon her ankle. The skin there was soft and creamy, reminding him that his hands had caressed her thighs as he thrust against the lace of her panties.
He dropped the ankle and stood to move away from her. “Why would Patrick say that you are a murderer?” she asked. “Out of everything he motioned, that was what upset me the most. Please, talk to me.”
“Do you believe him?”
“That depends on whether it’s true or not,” Sapphire quipped as she lifted a sassy brow. Anders had to remember that she wasn’t like everyone else in the world, that Sapphire White was as intelligent as she was beautiful and as cunning a she was innocent. She was a stunning contradiction.
“Yes, it’s true,” Anders confessed. “But I don’t-”
“You don’t trust me enough to tell me why.” Sapphire stood up and kissed his cheek. She stared into his eyes and gave him a sad smile. “I hope one day you trust someone to let them in. I’ve made peace with the fact that it will never be me.”
She stepped away to move toward the door. Anders made a split-second decision and grabbed his phone. He looked up just when the front door closed and then typed out his message. “This isn’t over, Sapphire,” he whispered.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Her slippers scuffed along the sidewalks of Haden Springs as she moseyed down the street. Sapphire didn’t know where to turn, for her friends had all moved on with their lives. Brock lived at Michael’s old loft apartment, Jenny and Dorian lived together in sickening marital bliss, Destiny slept in the old flat above her bookshop, and Tilly usually crashed on the couch in her office at the school. So, she returned to her home with a heavy heart, for it was the last place she wanted to be. After Patrick invaded her sanctuary, the smell was different.
Sapphire turned her key, trudged up the stairs, and opened the door to find her landlord sitting on her sofa. “Mr. Fergus, what are you d-doing here?” she stuttered. The cats poked their heads out from under the sofa where he sat and Sapphire cringed. Her rental contract firmly stated that she was not allowed to have more than one pet over a certain weight...and Puffer alone surpassed that threshold.
The portly man moved to stand before her and handed her a folded piece of paper. “This is your eviction notice, Sapphire. I need you gone by Thursday morning.”
“Eviction?!” she shrieked. “What have I done to deserve an eviction?”
Mr. Fergus blubbered out one excuse after another. “Aside from the cats, the strange visitors, the fights, witchcraft, and noise complaints—”
Sapphire clapped her hand to cut off his raid, furious at his accusations. “Since when is art witchcraft?” she demanded. “And the only noise complaints come from you even when you are not even down in the shop! I understand the cats, Mr. Fergus, as well as the times when my friend and I roughhouse, but do not make false accusations.”
“Nevertheless, I want you out.”
“By Thursday? That only gives me two days to sort everything out.”
“Then I suggest you move quickly, unless you want to find yourself without a home,” he said snidely. Mr. Fergus walked toward the door and gripped the handle. “I’m selling the shop as well, so there’s no point in trying to convince me to let you stay. Good day.”
What a strange thing to say, she thought. How on earth was she supposed to have a good day after being attacked and evicted all in the span of a few hours? Sapphire kicked over one of the pots she had crafted and watched it roll into the kitchen. She threw the coffee table over and tore down the beaded curtains. The sofa was torn to shreds and every book she owned was strewn across the faded rug by the time she was finished. As Sapphire flopped onto her bed, she heard her cellphone chime with a new notification. She took a deep breath before unlocking her phone.
SAPPHIRE, your match would like to invite you on a second date! Please reply ‘YES’ to this message if you accept. If not, we will match you with a new partner based on your compatibility results.
Confusion warred with intrigue as she read the message from the agency. Did Anders truly wish to have a second date? Sapphire didn’t want to be hurt again, but there was a part of her that wanted to see what could come of their chemistry. If anything, she wanted to prove to hersel
f that there was nothing more than physical attraction between them, but she was open to a friendship if he was in agreement.
YES.
Perfect! Prepare for a day of physical exercise at the HADEN SPRINGS CLINIC at four o’clock tomorrow. Congratulations! You have unlocked the ability to see your match’s survey questions.
Sapphire clicked the link attached to the text message and scrolled through Anders’ survey to compare it to her own. They had a ridiculously high compatibility score. She took a screenshot and messaged the photo to Jenny, who replied instantly. Apparently, Jenny and Dorian only had eighty percent compatibility, which was above average. With a ninety-four percent compatibility rate, why did it seem as though Anders could barely stand the sight of her?
She called for an emergency meeting at Books & Baubles the following morning. There were things that needed to be said amongst The Ladies In Waiting Book Club. Sapphire was the first to arrive aside from Destiny, of course. They sat in the room modeled after a pastel-colored, eighteenth century drawing room and sipped hot tea until the others arrived. Since Jenny married Dorian, Lori Stevens had even become part of their little circle in Sapphire’s absence.
“So, what’s this meeting about?” Jenny asked. “Got some pre-date jitters?”
“No. This is about all of the lies,” Sapphire stated boldly. “This is about the night I fell and all the days after. This is about the bear shifters and the hunters in the forest. This is about Michael, Brock, Dorian, and Anders...and it’s about my friends keeping things from me even when I asked questions. All of you lied to my face.”
Everyone fell silent, unable to argue against her accusations.
“Why?” Sapphire asked. “After everything we’ve been through together, why lie to me about something so important?”
“Because you had suffered a serious trauma, Saph. None of us knew if you would even survive for another year,” Jenny replied. “We didn’t want to put you in danger if the hunters came asking questions.”
“But I was in danger! Patrick, one of the hunters, broke into my apartment and attacked me. He told me everything and even suggested that—” she cut herself off before she said revealed Anders’ past. The last thing she wanted to do was put him in a position of that sort of vulnerability. “Look, nothing good ever comes from lying to your friends. I’m sure I will learn to forgive this, but I’m not in a good place right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“I just woke up from a coma to find that the world has moved on without me. I lost most of my clients and I’m struggling to make ends meet. My love life is barely existent and the guy I actually like thinks that I’m worthless. I’ve been evicted from my apartment and I’m going to be known as the homeless cat lady.” Saying it all out loud made Sapphire burst into a fit of hysterical giggles. The other ladies stared at her as though she had gone mad...and perhaps she had. “My life is a mess.”
***
Anders walked into the fire station and gestured for Dorian to meet him in the kitchen for a minute. He leaned against the food prep counter and crossed his arms, waiting until his friend joined him. “Has Brock told you about my date?” Anders asked the moment Dorian walked through the door.
“He said you had one and that it didn’t go well, but spared me the details.”
“My date was Sapphire,” he disclosed. “And something tells me that you saw it coming. I mean, you dreamt of Jenny long before you found out she even existed. The night Sapphire almost died, I heard her calling out to me even though she was way up in the mountains. She’s my soulmate, isn’t she?”
“I think the difference between what happened with Jenny and I is that I wasn’t the one who hurt her. She hurt me. I don’t think I have the ability to hurt her if I tried.”
“You think I hurt Sapphire.”
“The only thing you’ve done since she walked into the clinic for the first time is hurt her,” Dorian huffed. “Michael and I are best friends and even I didn’t treat her like the plague, Anders. And from what I hear, you even let this come between you and Brock. The two of you have been the closest in our group for a long time. What happened on your date that made him so angry?”
“I took advantage of her.”
Dorian gaped at Anders in disbelief. “What do you mean you took advantage of her? Please tell me that you’re exaggerating.”
“No exaggeration. We had a few drinks and a good conversation over dinner. I acted on my urges and then I ran away like a coward. Just because we didn’t actually have sex doesn’t make it any less barbaric.”
“It takes more than a few drinks to get Sapphire White drunk,” Dorian snorted. “Maybe you shouldn’t have done what you did and then left her, but I think you should talk to her about it before you say such incriminating things about yourself. She might see it differently. Brock said she defended you to him the other night.”
“Was this before she was attacked?”
“Sapphire was attacked?!” his friend shouted. When Anders nodded and glanced pointedly at the open doorway, Dorian came around the counter and stood closer so that he could lower his voice. “Who attacked her?”
“One of the hunters. He said his name was Patrick.”
“Jenny knows him. When she was abducted and held at their camp, she said that Patrick was the tracker. He’s a retired marine that always goes off on Corey’s more elusive missions,” Dorian explained. “What happened?”
“He broke into her apartment. You know Sapphire. She won’t go down without a fight and from what she told me, she got a few good hits in. They grappled a bit and then he told her everything.”
“Everything?”
“About us, about the fall, and…he told her that I was a murderer.”
Dorian grabbed Anders by the back of the head and forced him to stare directly into his eyes. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her the truth, but not all of it. All I said was that it was true and that I can’t tell her why. She…she thought I withheld the rest because I don’t trust her.”
They separated and Dorian paced through the kitchen with anger reverberating off of him. “Lord only knows what she thinks of all of us now. I can’t imagine what she thinks of herself. To know that her friends and the man she likes don’t trust her enough to tell her the truth…it has to hurt.”
“Keeping it from her seemed like the right thing to do in the beginning. We all agreed that the trauma of what happened was too much in her fragile state.”
“But we should have told her eventually,” Dorian said. “But instead she had to learn the truth from some fiend out there in the forest trying to force us into a corner.”
“I planned for us to go on a second date tonight. If things go well, then I’ll pursue things further with Sapphire. And if not, then we can at least part at friends.”
“The fact that she accepted the date means that she’s willing to talk to you. That’s more than you deserve, so be grateful that Sapphire gave you an opportunity to be honest with her. Don’t screw this up any worse than you already have.”
Dorian clapped Anders on the back affectionately and then they parted ways. Anders grabbed his gym bag from the trunk of his car and headed down to the clinic. He showered in the staff locker room before going into physical therapy room. His heart rocketed out of his body and fell at the feet of Sapphire White.
A pair of snug leggings hugged her thick thighs and plump bottom. Black sneakers and a loose-fitting ‘Tree Warrior’ shirt finished the ensemble. The fabric of the t-shirt draped over her figure in a way that made him envious, for he wished it were his hands ghosting along her flesh in an intimate kiss. Anders dropped his bag and startled her. Though he hadn’t meant to surprise Sapphire, the blush on her cheeks was gorgeous. “Hey,” he said pointlessly and silently berated himself.
CHAPTER NINE
Sapphire fell over like a tree in the forest, but unlike that tree, there was nothing silent about her fall. The sight of Dr. McKinney in a t
ank top and black workout shorts was too much for her wandering eyes to take in. She braced herself to hit the ground, but the inhuman speed and strength of Anders McKinney caught her just in time. Sapphire was ensnared by his eyes and struggled to speak.
“I don’t know if I take it as a compliment or an insult that you fell over the moment I walked through the door,” he said with a devastating smile. “Are you alright?”
“I’m in the arms of the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on, of course I’m alright.” Sapphire slapped her hands over her face and wanted to die of embarrassment. “I meant to say that in my head, but my mouth beat my brain to it.”
“I don’t mean to sound like such a doctor, but that’s not how the body works.”
She rolled her eyes and awkwardly removed herself from his arms, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Still, they had a lot to talk about and her recently awakened hormones wasn’t up for discussion. “This is a strange place for a second date. Was this your way of getting me to finally show up for physical therapy?”
“No. I just thought it would prevent us from raising anymore questions.”
Sapphire’s mouth turned down into a scowl. “Are you ashamed of people knowing that we’re…well, whatever we are? Do you want this to be a secret?”
“The people who matter know.”
She cocked her head and asked, “Does Michael know?”
“Why should he? I asked Lori to keep it from him in case this doesn’t work out.”
Sapphire wasn’t normally a petty person. She much preferred bluntness. However, desperate times called for desperate measures. “The only reason I agreed to a date with anyone is because Michael and I made a bet. It had nothing to do with you in the beginning, but I feel like you should know. I challenged him by saying that his company was a fraud. He wagered that if I didn’t fall in love, then he would give me everything I need to ruin him and his company.”
Dr. McKinney’s nostrils flared. “And if you lose?”
