Page 15

Chapter 15

Cat

W hen I woke, Deegar wasn’t lying beside me. I sniffed the air, hoping to smell bacon or coffee, but no such luck.

“He needs more training,” I said with a laugh. Although, when considering what we’d done in my bed the night before, he was already an expert. I’d been with guys in the past, but none of them had touched me as deeply as him. I wasn’t teasing when I told him he was becoming addictive. I couldn’t imagine moving forward in life without Deegar beside me.

“Hello?” I called out in the kitchen. And in the living room.

No Deegar.

I stuffed my feet into my slippers and grabbed my little-used robe from the closet and stepped out onto the front porch. He wasn’t there either. Or in my tiny front yard or the area behind my house that was in sore need of mowing.

“Maybe he went to a coffee shop or . . . somewhere to pick up a treat to have with breakfast?”

I sunk into the porch swing where we’d snuggled and stared at the stars together, watching the street.

Two hours later, I was still there and getting worried.

After dressing, I made circles around the neighborhood. I went to the closed diner and even walked a mile or so in each direction on the beach.

By the time I returned home, I was sweaty and frantic. It only got worse when I found his phone lying on the kitchen counter. He wouldn’t leave without it. I knew this in my heart.

I called the police, but they said it was too soon to fill out a missing person’s report.

I fretted all afternoon and finally realized at about six that I’d eaten nothing all day.

I heated leftovers from the fridge and got teary while sitting on the front porch eating them.

At eleven, I made myself get ready for bed. The diner reopened in the morning, and it was beginning to look like I would be the sole server.

“Where are you, Deegar?” I whispered as I climbed under the covers. I hugged the pillow he’d slept on, sucking in his scent.

I didn’t try to hold back my tears.

Two days later, I’d filed a missing person’s report with the police and ran my tail off at the diner keeping up with business.

“Where’s Deegar?” everyone asked. You’d think I hadn’t worked here alone for the past year, that he was the only server.

“I hope he’s back soon,” Wilfred said with a frown.

So did I.

After work, I trudged home and slumped on the front porch— not sitting on the swing. That was where I’d fallen in love, and I didn’t dare touch it.

“Where are you?” I asked softly, but there was no reply.

I scrolled through my phone, and it occurred to me to go to Chatbook, where I clicked into Deegar’s fan page. Should I tell them he’d disappeared?

There was no need to say a thing . . .

. . . because he hadn’t disappeared.

The group was full of recent shots of Deegar dressed in much fancier clothing.

Standing with his bodyguards at the embassy in Boston.

Dining with a gorgeous orc female at an exclusive restaurant.

Taking transport to the orc kingdom, a grim smile on his face as he waved to the crowd.

He was safe. He looked happy enough.

And he wasn’t just plain old Deegar Aerensten. Nope, he was actually Prince Deegar Aerensten Weelest Brilladon Tritemarden.

First in line for the throne of the orc kingdom.

He’d played me all along.

I threw my phone onto the side table, buried my face in my hands, and cried.