He blew out a breath. “Catalina, you’ll forget about me.”
“Wow,thank you.” She exhaled a sarcastic laugh.
“It’s better that way.”
“For who?”
“For you, of course. I’m not what you want or need, believe me.”
“What I want or need ismycall, not yours.”
“You are stubborn, little lamb.”
“Maybe so, but you’re the one who criticized Jake for leaving me as soon as we got to the party, and now that you’ve fucked me, you’re going to leave me alone on the doorstep?”
Brigan fell silent at this, his expression blanking. He looked to the side, his profile sharp and perfect in the streetlight, jaw tight. It was several long seconds before he inhaled and then blew out a long breath as if he was finally, exhaustedly, giving in to something. He turned back to her. “All right, then. Do you fancy a pint?”
Confusion wiped the scowl from her face. “What?”
“You’re cold, and I’d rather not linger out here on the street. Let’s walk to the small pub on the corner. I’ll buy you a pint. And I’ll promise to answer five questions if you’ll promise to leave me alone afterwards.”
“If I promise to leave you alone, I can ask you anything and you’ll answer?”
He nodded, slowly. “Only if the same goes for me.”
“You get five questions, you mean?”
He nodded again. “You must answer honestly. And then I, too, will leave you alone.”
“The thing is,” she said quietly, “I think you couldmakeme answer honestly.”
After a surprised beat, Brigan laughed, the sound like a flood of joy from deep in his belly. “I won’t compel you,” he said. “Not that it seems to work anyway.”
Cat went still. “Is that what you call it? Compelling?”
“Is that one of your questions?”
She stared up at him, calculating. “I don’t think so. Not yet.”
“So are we in agreement? A pint, five questions each, full honesty, and then you pretend we’ve never met?”
The tension to understand him felt like a physical rod inside her torso, something rigid and pulsing. She wasn’t sure that five questions would ease it, and she hated the idea of never seeing him again, but it was that or nothing, she could see it in his eyes. He wanted her to say yes, but the second she said no, he would vanish again, and this time for good.
“Okay,” she said.
His black eyes glimmered, and he smiled that beautifully dimpled smile. “Yeah? All right? Cheers.” He held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”
Chapter Six
If sex with some sort of magical creature at a crowded party wasn’t surreal enough, then sitting across from him afterward at a small booth at King’s Ale House, having a drink, certainly was. Cat could barely blink as she watched him lift his glass of scotch and bring the rich amber liquid to his lips. He sipped it, let out a happyAhhh, and swallowed.
“Shall I start, or would you rather?” he asked, wiping the pad of his thumb across his mouth. His hand fell away, revealing that amazing smile, and he laughed at her stunned silence. “Is it really so hard to look at me?”
It was, actually. She’d seen him in the dark bedroom, she’d seen him in the shadows of the porch light. But she hadn’t seen him under the warm lighting of a bar, and she didn’t even feel embarrassed about the time it was taking her to get used to being this close to someone so expansive, so massive, so beautiful. His skin was smooth and unmarred, every feature in perfect dimension and proportion. Those black eyes held a constellation of mirth and teasing and fondness. His mouth, that sinful mouth, was full and smiling, teeth straight and white and perfect.
But there was something else there in his eyes. Loneliness, anguish, a haunted tightness she couldn’t identify.
Cat gnawed at a hangnail, wondering where to begin, and a shimmer ran through her. Starting, she registered he’d said something in that low, vibrating voice. “What?” she asked, meeting his gaze.
