Page 86 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

I laugh, thinking about what Lake did with that random painting she and I made. I could never do that. “I don’t think so. I’m still pretty pragmatic.”

He opens his legs some more as he leans toward me. “Lark, what would you do with another chance?”

I perk up. “Another chance?”

“If you could be anything else, what would you be?”

I grunt thoughtfully. “Oddly, I’ve never given that any thought. I guess…” My eyebrows crush into a frown. The reason resides several layers beneath my surface, and I can’t seem to reach it. “Well, I…” I rub the side of my face anxiously.

“It’s okay, Lark. This isn’t a pop quiz.”

His smile is easy, and that relaxes me. “An archeologist,” I blurt.

“Ha—nice.” He nods, impressed.

“Yeah, I like the idea of finding something old and discovering human history.”

He snorts. “Yeah, I just discovered mine. You think you know what you know, but the truth isn’t always so cut-and-dried.”

“I get that,” I say, nodding.

“You do?”

“It’s like, the past is no different from now because we never change. We are human. The past isn’t grand—it’s real.”

Again, he’s staring into my eyes.

“What?” I ask.

Just before I can look down again, he gently places his fingers under my chin. “You’re so pretty, Lark.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. My heart is beating like crazy, my lady parts throbbing.

Our lips are drawing closer to each other. His brows crimp as his eyes dart around my face. I’m dangerously close to him, but I don’t care.

“I feel like—” he whispers.

“Mr. Hercules Valentine,” a woman says over the loudspeaker.

People clap. I sit up straight, but he doesn’t. All eyes are on him and then me as applause fills the room. His name is called again as the winner for the abstract featuring me and Lake.

Still watching me as if he has something to say, Hercules stands up. Then he walks to wherever his name is being called. As soon as the applause stops, I feel so abandoned by him.

Seven Minutes Later

I check the time on my cellphone. I thought Hercules would come back to the bar, but he hasn’t. I let my worried eyes search the room. There are so many faces, and none of them belong to the man I’m looking for. The bartender gives me a dirty look as she lifts Hercules’s glass from the bar and then mine.

A guy slides into his chair without asking if someone’s sitting there. He smiles at me as if he’s testing the waters. I return a weak smile. Then I get up and walk around, looking for LC, who’s nowhere to be found.

I yawn, and I take that as a sign that I need to go home and try to figure out what it all means.Did Hercules finally recognize me by the end of our conversation?Maybe it’s best if I go to the office and tinker around in the brain until I find that code the Valentines supposedly had stolen from Grandfather’s library. After what just happened between Hercules Valentine and me, I think it might be time to abandon ship.

Chapter Thirty-One

That Night We…

Hercules Valentine

Ilean on the wall, riding the elevator down to the lobby. I’m as hard as steel. I’m about to explode, and she’s not even in sight. My attraction for this woman is too strong. I know I’ve seen her before. I’ve had sex with her too.