Duke(94)

Gen watched as Duke put away as much food as Brain had earlier.

There were no people at tables close to them, and when he didn’t talk, she said, “Brain told me you walked out without an explanation because your wolf wanted to spank me, and you needed to get away from me before the wolf won out.”

His eyebrows rose as he chewed and swallowed. “You seem awfully calm about that.”

“I screwed up, Duke. I’m not saying it’s okay for you to, you know, hit me, but I guess I can kind of get why part of you would want to. I don’t understand how you can be two different beings in one body, but I hope you can find a way to explain it to me.”

Duke didn’t say another word, just methodically ate through the massive amount of food on the table.

When he finished, he paid the bill, tipped the waitress about fifty percent, and walked to his bike. Gen followed him, feeling much like she had as they left the Marina, though at least this time he double-checked her helmet to be sure it was on right.

Duke pulled into a gas station when he exited the interstate, put his vest on, and then drove to the compound with no further stops. He didn’t slow down to say hi to anyone in the clubhouse, but walked straight to his room and pointed to a drawer. “I went shopping. Yoga pants and tees are in there, along with some underwear. I’m going out on patrol. MacGyver’s in the control room, let him know if you need a laptop, but stay in here. Don’t go out in the clubhouse. Go to bed when you get sleepy, probably be at least three before I come back.”

Gen opened her mouth to argue, but he was out the door before she had a chance.

She looked through the drawer, realized he’d gone to Target for the clothes, which wasn’t really shopping, but she supposed it was the thought that counted. He’d bought the right sizes in everything, and the right style of underwear, if a crappy brand.

She gathered it all together and went into his tiny bathroom, and smiled as she saw her soap, shampoo, and conditioner. For this, he’d had to go to a specialty store, and it made her heart ache that she’d hurt him.

Duke didn’t appear to own a blow dryer, so she’d be stuck with wet hair, but she needed a shower because she needed to cry.

Her tears battled with her willpower as she stripped out of her clothes, but she waited until she was under the water to let the sobs burst forth, and when they did, there was no stopping them. She leaned into the wall as the water beat down on her, and cried until there were no more tears.

She put her hair up in a towel, wrapped her belly band around her waist, and put her Sig on her right hip. She donned the new panties and yoga pants, pulled the tee over her head, and cleaned up behind herself before gathering all of her things and heading to bed. Her extra mag went on the small table beside the bed, and she used her cellphone to read a little before setting it beside the mag and going to sleep.

Duke wasn’t in bed when she awoke the next morning. The towel had come off during the night and her hair was a horrid mess. She scrounged in her purse and found a clip, put it in a French twist, and used her emergency make-up supplies in her purse to fix her face. She wore the jeans from the night before and used another of the tee’s, slid her magazine into the belly band’s holder on her left hip, and went out into the clubhouse.

It was only eight-thirty so she hadn’t really expected anyone to be up and about, and she was right, it was empty. She went back to Duke’s room and used her cellphone to call a cab, waited five minutes, and went back out, intending to meet the cab in the bar’s parking lot across the street.

She made it out of the clubhouse and was halfway across the lot when she heard the door open and close behind her, heard rapid footsteps, and Duke was suddenly standing in front of her.

Gen came to a stop and looked up. “You never came to bed.”

“So you’re leaving?” His face looked incredulous, though she could tell he was pissed.

“I have things to do today, Duke, and if I’m not here to spend time with you, why the freak am I here? If I’m going to be alone I’d rather do it at home.”

The cry last night had been good for something because it let her speak to him reasonably, without bursting into tears.

He eyed the clubhouse, brought his gaze back to her. “Cancel the cab, I’ll take you home. We need to talk and there’s no privacy here.”

Gen shook her head. “You look exhausted. I’ll be fine. We’ll talk later.”

“Yeah, I’m exhausted. I’ve been up all night. I also have half the officers ticked at me for making you cry last night, but if three of our men hadn’t reported hearing you cry in the shower, looking at you right now I wouldn’t believe it. I don’t want you cryin’ again. My wolf doesn’t, either. We need to talk, but shit hit the fan last night and I had to handle it.”