Kyle looked up, surprise on his clean shaven face. The guy was probably good looking to most.
Sam showed his teeth.
* * * *
Okay, this was beyond awkward. Honor slipped inside the booth across from Kyle as Sam followed her, and she couldn’t help but compare the two men. She was only human. They were both good looking, but Sam’s animal magnetism all but squeezed out any appeal Kyle might’ve had. He was also bigger, stronger, and sexier. But hey, the guy was a vampire-demon hybrid, so it probably wasn’t a fair contest.
“Hello.” Kyle held out a hand. “I’m Kyle Longboard.”
“Sam.” Sam accepted the hand, his bigger. The shake was quick and apparently painful to Kyle, based on his indrawn breath.
He looked at Honor. “Honey, what’s going on?”
She delved into Kyle’s brain, her mental fingers tapping along the waves. Man, he still seemed honest, but subterfuge lurked just beneath the surface in a series of rougher bumps that didn’t belong in his thought patterns. “I shouldn’t have let my guard down,” she muttered. This was all too much, and yet, she didn’t have the energy to really get angry. She needed some serious sleep. When was the last time she’d pulled an all-nighter? She couldn’t remember.
“Honor?” Sam prodded her, his gaze remaining squarely on Kyle.
Oh. She forced herself out of her thoughts and drew the ring from her pocket; then she pushed it across the table. A twinge of regret caught her. The diamond really was pretty, and she did like things that sparkled. “Here’s your ring. Good luck with life.” She looked at Sam. “I’m ready.”
Kyle jerked. “What? Wait a minute.” Anger infused his eyes, those brown eyes she’d thought were so intelligent. “What is going on?” He glared at Sam. “Would you please excuse us?”
“No.” Sam didn’t move.
Honor sighed. After the last twenty-four hours, this just didn’t seem like the big deal it had yesterday morning. “Listen, Kyle. I know about your accountant or girlfriend or whatever.”
He blanched. “I’m so sorry. It was a one-time mistake, and I’ll never do it again.” He looked at the ring sparkling on the table. “You’ve been so busy at work, and I’ve been so stressed. I just think we need to work things out. The two of us—alone.”
So his cheating was her fault? Right. Not. She looked at him, not feeling much. That was just sad. What had she been thinking? “It’s okay, really.” As she said the words, she realized she meant them. “I was lonely and figured it was time to get married, and you seemed like a good candidate on paper, and I felt at peace around you. I don’t know. I guess I was hoping there’d be romance and all of that in the future, and I didn’t take time to really think about what I was doing.”
Sam cut her a look. “Daaaamn.”
She giggled. Then she sobered. What in the world? She wasn’t a woman who giggled. But she’d been up for way too many hours and was getting punch drunk.
Kyle gaped. “You don’t love me?”
It was hard to feel sorry for him considering he’d spent the weekend wrapped around a big-boobed blonde. “I don’t think so. I thought I did, and I really did like you, and as a kisser, you’re not bad.” She nudged the ring closer to him. “But it wasn’t love. Obviously it wasn’t for either of us, or you wouldn’t have screwed your accountant.”
Sam coughed under his breath. Or maybe that was a chuckle. God, she was tired.
Kyle reared up, something akin to panic crossing his handsome face. “Is it because of this guy?”
She partially turned to look at Sam. “No. He’s another whole boatload of problems right now.” When that made Sam grin, she felt all gooey inside. “But I bet he’s a heck of a kisser. Better than not bad.”
Sam leaned toward her. “You need some sleep, gorgeous.”
“Now just hold on a minute—” Kyle started.
She was so done with this. “No. Listen. We dated, had fun, got really drunk one night, and then got engaged.” Frankly, she wasn’t even sure how it all had happened, and they’d only been engaged for two weeks. She’d gotten caught up in the moment, and that could happen to anyone. She would’ve called it off eventually anyway. “Then you showed up with the ring, I started thinking about babies and all of that, and it was a mistake. You know it, I know it, and the big guy here definitely knows it.”
If anything, Sam saw her better than anybody else had her entire life. Even so, she wasn’t going to be forced into mating, and he’d all but said he agreed with Bear on that. He was right that she needed sleep. He was wrong that she needed to go on a motorcycle ride with a bunch of bears to figure out her life.
Sam was bigger than life, and he’d already proved that if he wanted her in one place, she’d remain in that place. Would he force her to mate? While he seemed kind, at least to her, he hadn’t changed his course of action when he thought he was correct. No matter what she’d said. The guy had kidnapped her and refused to let her go. She shivered.
“Well?” Kyle said. “I’ve put too much into this for you to just walk away.”
She jerked. “Crap. Sorry. What did you say?”
Sam burst out laughing this time, and the sound was a low rumble of pure pleasure.
She shivered in response.
Then Kyle made the colossal mistake of grabbing her wrist.
What happened then wasn’t a surprise except for the speed with which it happened. Sam manacled Kyle’s wrist, yanked him from the booth, and put him squarely on the ground. Kyle made a sound between a yelp and a screech and then went silent.
Sam looked down at him. “Don’t ever put your hands on her again.” His voice was low with threat, and any humor that had lurked in him was long gone. In its place was a firm, raw, and deadly resolve that was more frightening than yelling. Or anger.
She saw him. Really saw him this time. That calm exterior of his hid a nature she hadn’t come close to understanding. This was a primal being who would absolutely force her to mate in order to protect the shifter nation—maybe to protect her. He was smart, sexy, and immortal. Somebody she couldn’t take on and win.
She needed time and distance to figure out this new reality without him in her space. Without him dictating her future.
Her throat went dry, and she scooted from the booth, grasping the ring and gingerly leaning over to put it on Kyle’s heaving chest. “Maybe the accountant will like this. It really is a pretty ring, Kyle.” Then she stepped away. “Sam? I need to use the restroom and will meet you at the car.” Then she turned, forced herself to walk slowly, and entered the restroom beyond all the booths.