Page 33

ELLIETTE

I flipped down the vanity mirror in Lukas’s Lotus to survey my handiwork and sighed.

My bruises had spread to my temple and around my eye, and despite my double layer of foundation, they still shone through in full technicolor.

No amount of makeup camouflaged the abrasion on my cheekbone where I’d hit the concrete floor.

“This was a bad idea,” Lukas said as he turned off the ignition.

It was early afternoon, we were in the MetroMarket parking lot, and Lukas couldn’t have been more wrong. This was a great idea.

I’d seen an ad for a non-profit that delivered food to people in assisted living.

They were looking for volunteers and, as it turned out, some of the clients were avid hockey fans.

I’d gotten their shopping lists and as soon as we were done here, Lukas was going to deliver their groceries in-person, sign some autographs, and pose for more photos.

I was already ahead of the game with potential captions and headlines :

WE KNOW BAKKEN DELIVERS THE PAIN ON THE ICE, BUT HOW DOES HE DO DELIVERING GROCERIES?

Or this one:

THE COMMUNITY’S NEWEST SON DELIVERS THE GOODS

I was still tweaking:

KNOCK, KNOCK! SPECIAL DELIVERY!

But this one was my favorite:

BAKKEN MAY MELT THE ICE AND MANY HEARTS - BUT NOT THE ICE CREAM!

We got out of the car, and I smoothed the front of my dress before we walked into the market. I did my best to ignore the surreptitious glances cast my way, not to mention the accusatory glares shot at Lukas.

It was harder to ignore the opposite , namely how Lukas refused to look at me. Like, right now, he was studying the cart corral as if it were the Eighth Wonder of the World.

“Relax. They’re not that bad.” They were totally that bad.

I jerked a cart free from the stack, then pushed it toward the produce.

“What’s not that bad?” he asked—playing dumb—from several feet behind me.

I stopped by the lettuce and took a small digital camera from my purse. Lukas picked up an acorn squash, gave it a thump, then a sniff.

“The bruises ,” I whispered and quickly took his picture. “And I think you’re supposed to thump melons, not squash.”

He put the vegetable back on the pile and slowly turned to face me. “We should have waited to do this. Once you’re all healed up.”

“I need to make more content,” I explained for the umpteenth time. “The algorithms are working for me right now, but I’ll lose ground if I don’t post on a regular schedule.”

“Whatever,” was all he said. “I just don’t like everyone staring at you.”

“Well,” I quipped, “at least I’m not invisible anymore.”

He gave me one of his classic looks—part weary, part sardonic. Definitely not amused. “They’re looking at me , too.”

“People are always looking at you,” I said. “You’re easy to look at.”

He frowned. “That’s not why they’re looking.”

“You don’t know that.” I took another photo of him examining a bin of carrots, then pulled the list of requested grocery items from my purse.

I ripped the list in half. “Let’s split up. You hit the bakery and dairy sections. I’ll do the aisles. We can meet at the butcher and take more photos there. A berserker wolf with a big piece of raw meat… Could be good.”

“You’re sure you don’t want me to stick close?” He glanced around the produce section as if he expected ninja assassins to pop out of the arugula.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. There were too many people in the store for anything bad to happen. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Lukas glanced down at his half of the list.

“You have gone grocery shopping before, haven’t you?” It occurred to me that maybe he hadn’t. He was a wealthy sports celebrity who hated being stared at. Maybe he paid someone to do his shopping for him.

“Sure,” he said somewhat unconvincingly, then wandered off to find his own cart.

I let out a sigh, watching him go. I’d meant what I said. He was definitely easy to look at. Tall. Zero body fat. One hundred percent swagger.

I left the produce section and traipsed up and down the aisles, comparing my list against the overhead signs.

A few minutes later, with my cart full of spaghetti, tomato sauce, canned vegetables, and a dozen cans of chicken noodle soup, I moved on to the last aisle where I grabbed three packs of paper plates, and?—

Shit! Shit, shit, shit. Daniel was standing at the far end of the aisle, surveying the cleaning products.

I turned quickly, miscalculated my angle, and rammed my cart into the shelves. CRASH! Packs of toilet paper tumbled down onto the floor.

I glanced back at Daniel, hoping he hadn’t heard. No such luck. He’d heard.

The air between us went thick with his residual anger. Apparently, forgive and forget wasn’t going to be Daniel’s motto—at least when it came to being humiliated in his own apartment by a berserker wolf.

Daniel stared at me for several long seconds before asking at a volume that was not grocery-store appropriate, “What…the…actual… fuck ?!”

Then he was on the move. Quickly . And in my direction.

I took a step backward, pulling my cart with me. “Daniel.”

His expression was furious as he charged up the aisle toward me. “Did that asshole do that to you?”

“What?” Oh, shit. My face. I pointed my cart straight at him, creating a barricade. “Of course not!”

Daniel acted like he didn’t even hear me. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him.”

“No! You aren’t. Because Lukas didn’t do it.”

“Yeah? Who did? Who the fuck got your face like that? ”

One seriously brave woman shimmied past us on her way to the paper towels. She slipped a roll under her arm and hustled out the far end of the aisle.

“I…uh…had a situation ,” I explained, trying to sound blasé. “But now it’s sorted, and— Eeep! ”

I let out a small scream as Lukas shot into my periphery. The angry look on his face gave the distinct impression he’d heard Daniel yelling all the way across the store.

“Is he giving you trouble again?” Lukas’s jaw was so firmly set I worried it might crack under the pressure.

“No,” I said. “It’s fine.” Then I re-assessed Daniel and was surprised—on second glance— that his anger had subsided, and he was staring at me with an expression of regret.

“What happened to her?” Daniel asked Lukas, though he continued to stare at me. He sounded genuinely concerned.

“Did you ask her?” Lukas asked.

“She’s being cagey,” Daniel said.

“I’d take that to mean it’s none of your business,” Lukas replied.

I was finding it difficult to swallow. I didn’t want a repeat performance of the last time the three of us were together, this time in public.

“I had some trouble,” I said quickly. “It’s not Lukas’s fault. In fact, he helped me sort the trouble, so…there’s no need to worry. Everything’s fine.”

“But Elli … ” Daniel reached up as if he meant to touch my cheek. “Your face .”

I leaned back and away, colliding with Lukas’s shoulder.

Lukas’s left hand shot out and grabbed Daniel’s wrist, stopping him before he actually touched me .

Daniel held steady, and his eyes shot daggers at Lukas.

Lukas took that, and returned an ice-cold, electric-blue stare.

Daniel blinked and yanked his arm out of Lukas’s grasp.

Lukas slid his arm around my waist. “Find everything on your list?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“El…” Daniel said, his expression still contrite. “I’m sorry everything went south between us.”

“It was probably a good thing,” I said, surprising myself by how much I meant that. “Let’s just call it water under the bridge and move on, okay?”

Daniel frowned at my glibness, but I ignored it and continued. “I’ll be out of the apartment by next week, like you wanted.”

I didn’t own much besides my clothes, toiletries, a lamp, and some kitchen gadgets. All the furniture and décor either belonged to Daniel or his parents.

Jen had already agreed to let me crash on her couch until I found a place. If it took longer than a week, I promised to make other arrangements, and Amy had called dibs on hosting me next.

Daniel looked confused at first—as if he’d forgotten what he’d said the last time we were together—then the wrinkles smoothed from his forehead. “No need. We can stick to our original plan. Stay the full two months.”

I gave him a stiff nod. “See you later, Daniel.”

He smiled softly. “I’ll look forward to that, babe.”

Lukas’s body went taut and he snapped, “ Christ , man. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Daniel reared back in surprise. “With me? ”

“I’m standing here in a grocery store,” Lukas growled, “with my arm around my woman, and you call her ‘babe?’ Say you ‘look forward’ to seeing her again? Read the room, dude.”

“Lukas…” I warned, but his arm only tightened around my waist. And…um… my woman? That was the second time he’d called me that around Daniel.

“What I’m reading, dude ,” Daniel sneered, “is that you let Elli get hurt. Seriously hurt.”

Oh-oh. Definitely the wrong thing to say. Lukas’s spine stiffened.

“Daniel,” I said, “you need to back off.”

“You think you have the right to even make eye contact with her after breaking her heart?” Lukas asked.

“I’m hardly heartbroken!” I said with an eye roll. “Squeezed within an inch of my life maybe, but?—”

Lukas loosened his arm around my waist, but he was still ramping up in his tirade against Daniel. “Calling her boring , of all things? As if she weren’t the most captivating woman on this planet?”

Captivating? Oh, shit. I was getting nightclub vibes again and starting to hyperventilate. So much so, I halfway expected my brother to show up and make everything worse.

“And you cheated on her?” Lukas asked, sounding accusatory if not completely baffled. “What kind of moron does that?”

“Did you just call me a moron?” Daniel asked, puffing out his chest.

“You answered to it,” Lukas replied smugly.

“Okay,” I said, putting both hands up, palms out. “That’s enough.”

“Do we have a problem here?” asked a new person to the scene.