wonder why was she alone? I mean, where were her kickass gal pals? Or had that wild snatch back at the bar been her only friend? God, I fucking hoped not.
There was more to this. I could feel it. All in good time, though.
She had a friend, now. A friend in me. I just hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Seven
Aspen…
“Hm, not yet.” His arms tightened around me as I went to creep out of bed and I froze. “We still need to talk,” he murmured.
I swallowed hard. “T-talk about what?” I stammered.
“About why you would say what you did last night – about not wanting to be alive anymore.” His arms tightened again, almost imperceptibly, and I closed my eyes, cautiously relishing the contact, chastising myself for allowing it to feel so good… too good.
I couldn’t see his face, my back to his front, spooned firmly by his much larger frame. I was glad for that, burning with shame as I was.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said in the barest of whispers.
“Gotta talk to somebody, and I’m right here,” he said, and I closed my eyes.
“I shouldn’t have called.”
“I’m glad that you did. That I could be here for you.”
I was too, for that last part, but somehow in the light of day, I felt marginally stronger.
“Thank you,” I said, not really knowing what else to say that was the right thing to say beyond that.
“You’re welcome,” he said, and I didn’t know what to do.
Finally, after a long, somewhat tense silence, I said, “I have to go to work.”
“You sure you’re good?” he asked.
“No,” I said honestly. “But even though he’s trying to take it from me, work is one of the few stabilizing things I have left.”
He didn’t let me go, just froze a little behind me and I could almost feel his frown.
“Who’s trying to take what, now?” he asked and yep, the scowl I couldn’t see, I could definitely hear in his voice.
I sighed.
“My ex-husband,” I said softly. “I got papers in the mail; he wants half my business.”
Fenris grunted and let me go, his hand sliding from my midsection to rest atop my hip. “I’ll handle it,” he said firmly. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked back at him. He twisted, lying on his back and giving a stretch reminiscent of a large cat. I blinked and tried to keep my eyes off of his tattoos and that physique. His blue eyes searched mine carefully, and I swallowed hard.
“Charles isn’t a bad guy,” I whispered, and it felt strange to defend my ex-husband. Wrong somehow.
“I beg to differ, baby,” Fenris said softly. “He broke your heart and now he’s coming after the one thing keeping the pieces going. That makes him a shitty person.”
I swallowed hard, tears springing to my eyes. I swept my gaze off of Fenris and fixed it onto something nonsensical at the moment – a block of pattern on the covers that had slipped into our laps.
“He just wants me to talk to him,” I said and swallowed hard.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “And it’s the mark of a controlling, shitty human being that he’s trying to manipulate you into doing it.”
“What if I said I didn’t want you to do anything?” I asked softly.
He breathed in slow, in through his nose, nostrils flaring slightly, and out through his mouth.
“Then I won’t, but I won’t let you despair either. Not like this. Not anymore.”
“Why?” I asked softly.
“Why do I care?” he asked.
I nodded and couldn’t look at him again.
“I just do,” he answered and sighed. “You should get ready for work.”
I nodded again and slipped over the edge of the bed and put my feet on the floor. I was tired from the late, emotional night, and my thoughts were racing. I moved about the room gathering things to wear that day and slipped into the bathroom, Fenris watching my every move from the bed.
Damn, looking at him in my bed, comforter piled artfully in his lap, muscular tattooed body on full display… the man was an absolute feast for the eyes.
He hadn’t made a move, though. His hands always remaining both steady and respectful. I still ached despite it. A part of me wished for a touch more intimate, but I didn’t think he was interested like that and I really needed a friend right now, so I didn’t want to push my luck. I mean, besides all that, I shouldn’t even