“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, uncrossing and crossing her legs, turning in a slightly different direction, away from him, as if she were trying to hide something.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re friends now, aren’t we? You can tell me.”
She sipped her scotch and coughed again, making him mildly concerned. She waved a hand at him. “I’m fine. I guess… I was living with someone. It went bad, and I had to get out fast. I had to leave a lot behind. But it doesn’t matter. Stuff is stuff.”
“So you were working?”
“Oh yes,” she said. “I’ve always been working. My entire life it feels like.” When she saw him looking at her with pity, she frowned. “No, it’s fine. I like working. It takes my mind off things. Makes me feel worthwhile.”
Imagine feeling you had to do common labor in order to feel worthwhile.
“Where is your family?” he asked suspiciously. “Why did they allow you to be in this position? A woman shouldn’t be allowed to wander alone in the world.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s a very old-fashioned concept,” she said. “But as for family, I’m afraid I drew the short straw there, too. I emancipated myself at sixteen and moved here, to the city, thinking I was going to make something of myself. Instead, I ended up homeless. An agency helped me, and I worked a few temp jobs before meeting some friends and finding something longer term.”
She leaned forward thoughtfully. “I thought I finally had something. Had saved a lot up for, you know… plans I had.” She shrugged. “Instead, I wound up homeless again. And everything just went worse this time. I’m an adult. I shouldn’t find myself in these positions, but I didn’t learn basic life skills. Like having a bank account or…” She looked away, flushing. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it. This is my new chance, and I’m not going to ruin it.”
His throat was tight as he set aside his scotch, his stomach churning as he thought about everything she’d been through. She’d given him only very vague details, yet it was enough to grasp that something infuriating had happened.
Maybe many times in her life.
He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair and looked out the window, at the world he hated even more now for being cruel to his mate.
Mate.
The word was becoming almost commonplace in his mind. He snuck a sideways glance at her. She was strong for a human. Maybe she was part shifter?
He scented the air. Nothing. No, he didn’t think she was anything but human, which made his fascination with her that much more baffling.
He wasn’t supposed to fall for a human. He wasn’t supposed to care what happened to them. He hadn’t really cared about much of anything in this world since he’d been awakened. He hadn’t intended to start now.
But watching Kelsey, with those hopeful, luminous green eyes lit by the lights outside the window, he couldn’t help it. He was starting to care what happened to her very much indeed.
He resisted the urge to reach for his drink, wanting to stay sober for his next moments.
He scooted his chair a little closer to hers, and her eyes came up to meet his, widening.
“What—”
He cut her off by scooting a little closer, noting the little hitch in her breath, the way she tucked her curls behind her ears. Her hair had little hints of blond and brown and red if you looked closely.
And Adrien was looking very closely.
He scooted forward one more time and reached out with one hand, wanting to touch the skin on her cheek. See how she responded. Perhaps try a kiss with his mate.
Instead, she jerked back, knocking over her chair in her hurry to stand up, her drink sloshing as she took a step backward, stumbling.
He stood, his intention only to steady her, but she put up a hand.
“No,” she said sharply, her face angry now. “I’m not doing this.” She pointed at him with her drink, then set it on a table so it wasn’t in her hands while she gestured wildly. “I’m not.”
“Doing what?” he asked, eyes narrowing to slits while his hands slid back into his pockets.
Unless he’d been reading the moment wrong, she was attracted to him, too. Why was she acting as though he’d committed some kind of offense?
Given how many human women had made moves on him, he hadn’t expected this response when he finally made a move of his own.
He wasn’t unaware of his own appeal.
She bit her lip, eyes blazing angrily, arms folded, a barrier between her and him. “So this is it? This is where you ask for something back in return for what you’ve done for me? This is where we make some kind of deal?”