Page 78 of Rejected By the Shifter King

They can lie to you, too, and they’re not even doing it for your sake either.

Enough, Sam.

I shake off the past with an effort, and my stomach twists itself in knots as I reluctantly turn my attention back to the man whostillhaunts my dreams more than I want to admit. He’s taller and more powerful than I’ve allowed myself to remember, his aura more warrior than billionaire, and his eyes of gold so piercingly sharp that he seems to see everything...except me.

The memory of his rejection has me torn between squirming...and just running away. But because I really hate the thought of acting like a coward—

“Are you...are you here for the speed dating?” I realize it’s a stupid question as soon as I ask it, but it’s too late to take it back...since he’s already looking at me like,yes,I don’t know why I keep thinking that way, but yes, he’s looking at me like I’ve grown a pair of horns.

Let’s just mentally wipe the slate clean and start again,I urge myself. Maybe this is just a coincidence and he simply wants to say—no!

I reach across the table to stop him, but nope, I’m still too late. Again. And now he has my notes in my hands, and all my secret thoughts exposed to his soul-piercing eyes of gold.

Please let him NOT know how to read—

“Does not know how to leave and cleave.”

Eep, too late, he reads Greek, and I’m doomed.

“Traumatized by past,” he continues to read.

“Please give it back—”

“Seeks validation in educational attainment.”

I feel so bad hearing him say these words out loud. I wasn’t lying when I wrote them, but it just feels...wrong.

“Sexually preoccupied.”

Is it just me or did his lips tighten while saying those words? Then again, so what if—no!

I make another attempt to snatch my notes back when I see him flipping to the previous page, but my reflexes fail me for the nth time. Is it because I’m human or I’m just...not physically gifted?

“Please give it back.” I try to sound calm even though I’m panicking inside. “Those notes—”

“Knows how to take charge, keep his word, and stand his ground.”

I think I’m going to die of shame. While waiting for the speed dating to start, I absently enumerated the traits that embodied my ideal husband. And at that time, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. How was I to know that my notes would end up being read out loud by—

“Doesn’t need to put others down to feel big.”

I’m so tempted to just close my eyes and cover my ears like a little girl wanting to deny reality.

“I want...to belong to just one man, no one else.”

I think I’ve heard enough.

But the moment I start to rise—

“Sit down please.”

He says this softly in strongly accented English, and I’m not sure why, but...I feel like I’m this newly enlisted private being comanded by his sergeant, and so, yes, I do sit back down like a dutiful little soldier.

Golden eyes capture mine, and my breath catches as well. Why do I feel like he’s seeing me for the first time?

“It seems I fit all of your requirements, Samira.”

Uh...