Her smile widened, showing perfect white teeth. She shook his hand. “Becca.”
After staring for a moment too long, he released her hand and nodded toward the dance floor. The place wasn’t busy by any means, but there were enough people around to suggest that it would be soon. “I haven’t seen you here before. How’d you know I’ve been here the other nights?”
Becca nodded as she took an order from one of the waitresses and quickly began drawing another beer. “Oh, I’m one of those pathetic losers who like to come to work on her days off.” She shrugged as she placed the pint on the waitress’s tray and started another. “It’s a small town, not much to do. I saw you sitting alone, drinking. Trust me, a guy that looks like you gets noticed. You’ve got all the women gossiping.” When she finished filling the order, she turned back to him. “What brings you into town?”
Before he could answer, she was called away by one of the patrons at the other end of the bar. He cocked his head and studied her as she busily set up a row of shot glasses and began pouring out measured amounts of some liqueur. She was nothing like the other women he’d targeted over the past few days. She seemed smart and nice and not at all loose. But that didn’t concern him—he knew when it came down to it, he wouldn’t have a problem convincing her to sleep with him. She was obviously interested. What bothered Cal was that he wasn’t bothered…the bond seemed to ebb away every time he talked to her.
When she turned toward him he realized why. She looks like Morgan.
His mind clicked on line, his dark goal coming into focus. That was the secret. That’s how Father did it. He found a woman who resembled his Huntress and tricked his body. And Cal’s body was definitely tricked. His cock was hard for her already, a state of arousal he hadn’t experienced with the others.
“So?”
A sly smile spread across his lips. “Would you believe that I’ve got sorrows to drown?”
Becca raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Who doesn’t?”
He motioned for her to lean forward, beckoning her with a crooked finger. When she did, her breasts grazed his forearm, shooting desire straight to his cock. “I’ve come here to drown myself in other things as well.” He boldly ran his finger along her cheek. “Like drown myself in someone.”
When she pulled back from him, she licked her lips. “Oh yeah?” she said again, her words breathy.
He moved toward her, ready to brush his lips against hers, but hesitated at the last moment, merely inches from her face. “I’ve got a terrible itch that needs scratching.”
She moved a fraction back but held his gaze, her breaths coming out in short pants. “I don’t usually have one-night stands.”
He pushed himself back to sit on his stool. “Who said anything about one night? I’ve got all the time in the world and nowhere important to be.” Go big or go home, right? This is what Morgan wants. It’s what she needs. Free her.
Her eyebrows rose and she laid her hand over her collarbone as if trying to calm her rapid heart.
“What time do you get off work?”
Becca hesitated, and in that moment, he stood from his stool and dropped a twenty down on the bar. Her eyes roved his body from his face down to his waist, growing wider as she caught sight of the bulge in his pants. When her gaze traveled back to his eyes, a deep blush was painted across her cheeks. “I get off in an hour.”
He smiled and reached over to snag her hand before bringing it to his lips for a brief kiss. “Until then, Becca,” he said as he let her hand go and slipped his room key across the bar. “I’ll be waiting for you at Hollow’s Hotel, room 102. And I will make it worth your while.”
Cal strolled out of the bar, knowing that her eyes were on him and also knowing he gave an impressive showing from the rear as well as the front. For the first time in five days, while talking to Becca, he’d felt burden free, the tug of his bond only a faint pulse…but as he moved farther away from the bar, it returned with a vengeance.
His heart palpitated with the need to go home to Morgan. He replayed her final words once again, that she preferred Lance to him. That Lance was a better Hunter for her. And she was right. Lance was nothing if not a gentleman, honorable and deserving of a Huntress’s love and admiration. Cal had nothing to give her but his devotion to the Order and a fucked-up legacy of murder that he wished with every beat of his heart wasn’t his destiny. His gut twisted, doubt pounding him. He’d cure himself of it for good after a night with another woman and rid himself of the gnawing impulse to go back to Morgan. She didn’t want him, and after tonight, he’d at least be able to give her that.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mistakes