Lone Wolf (Wilde Brothers Ranch #6)- Scarlett Grove Page 0,12

was something about her. Something he couldn't touch. Something she would keep to herself no matter how much he wanted to see it. “I hope you're right.”

“You can take the rest of the day off if you want,” Austin said.

Dylan waved his hand in the air, dismissing the offer. “There's no point.”

“Well, you obviously haven't had a shower yet. And if you’re distracted, you're not going to be much of a help here. So why don't you let me babysit the interns and you go home and wash your hair?”

“Fine.” Dylan hadn't had a day off in so long, he wasn't going to turn it down. He grabbed his things and went to the door. He thanked Austin for his help and reassurance, but truthfully, he wasn't reassured. The sinking feeling in his gut told him it wasn't going to turn out well for him.

When he got home, he showered, dressed, and made himself something to eat. He sat at his kitchen table, stared at his phone, willed her to respond to his texts. But there was nothing.

7

Annie looked down at Dylan, her head fuzzy and thick from drinking the night before. The sun glowed softly across his stubbled cheek. And she slowly crawled out of bed, as if moving away from a dangerous animal that might attack at any moment. She quickly changed into her clothes, moving as silently as possible. She threw her things in her suitcase and was out the door without a second thought. What had she done? This was not good. She'd made love to a total stranger.

It might have been the best sex of her life. He might have been an attentive, passionate lover, but it still was not something she ever should have done. She hurried back to the van, where the other bridesmaids were loading up their bags. They looked at her disheveled appearance and snickered. Tricia asked where she'd been and if her head hurt. She tried to blow them off, but she took several Tylenol before getting into the van to go home.

Amelia was driving for the return trip. The bridesmaids were quieter and calmer than they had been on the previous drive. Everyone had had a good amount to drink the night before. And Annie was grateful for the peace and quiet. She propped her jacket against the window and closed her eyes to sleep. A text message popped up on her phone by the time they were halfway back to Denver. She didn't look at it. She knew what it was. The fate that she was trying to escape was coming after her. But she wouldn't let it catch her.

When Amelia dropped her off at her apartment, Annie felt a deep sense of relief to be at home. When she walked through her door and saw all her things right where she had left them, she finally had the guts to read Dylan's message. Upon seeing his words, emotion poured out of her, and she began to cry. She stumbled over to the couch and sat down, covering her face with her hands as she wept deep, heavy sobs. She could never be with him. She could never let him close to her.

She picked up her phone, swiped it open, and deleted the mate.com app. She didn't want to get any more text messages from him, offering what she could never accept. Annie was a loner. And she had to keep it that way. She couldn't allow anyone inside. Then they would find out there was nothing inside her to connect to.

8

The realization that Annie was never going to respond sank slowly into his heart and mind like a growing sickness, a plague that he couldn't shake. It was slowly killing him.

It had taken several days for the full weight of his reality to set in. All that time, he’d believed that maybe there had been some mistake or some misunderstanding. But her profile on mate.com had disappeared the same day she’d run out of his life. And despite the many excuses he could make up for why it might have happened, the truth was always hiding at the edges of his consciousness.

He sat at his desk, staring at an order spreadsheet, his head pounding and his shoulders tight with tension. Annie was never going to contact him. He was never going to see her again. He would never have his mate or his family. He had been given that small taste of what his life could be