Page 61 of Trust No Alpha

Finally, I got up and paced the room to the window and back toward the door. Twice. Then I had a thought.

I flipped on a lamp, went to the dresser and opened the top drawer, moving aside the underclothing to get to my treasures beneath. Packing to run away, I’d brought with me all the valuable jewelry I owned in my coat pocket. Now I pawed through it. It clinked against the bottom of the drawer, jingling as I pushed aside gold watches and bracelets, sterling silver tie clasps and cuff links, and a large assortment of rings.

I picked up one of the rings and held it up. Father had given it to me, along with lots of other expensive things, one Christmas. The gold setting held a large emerald stone. I’d worn it many times on my middle finger until I tired of it.

It was worth a lot but how much I couldn’t say.

Palming it, I grabbed my robe and shouldered into it, then headed upstairs.

The ache in my stomach tightened as I approached Thorne’s closed bedroom door. He’d said to come to him if I needed to. Well, I couldn’t sleep with this debt weighing on me. So here I was.

He’d said not to knock. But I did it anyway. A tentative tap.

I heard rustling inside the room, then footsteps. The door opened.

“Kris?”

Thorne had on his robe, hastily tied. I could see the edge of one muscled thigh and further up, the shadow of something promising.

“I’m fine, really. But I couldn’t sleep. I had to see you. I had to give you something.”

He held the door open and beckoned me in. I had not been up here before. The room was laid out much like mine with an adjoining bathroom right above my own. His bed had covers in lots of earth tones, and there was a plush chair by the window, a tall wooden dresser, and two mirrored closet doors. A black rug alongside his bed cushioned my bare feet as I entered.

“You sure you’re feeling all right?” He put the back of his hand to my forehead like a loving parent, or a loyal companion. Or maybe like that of a sweet lover if I dared to think it.

I nodded against the warmth of his skin, wanting him to touch me more but pushing that thought from my mind.

I spoke quickly as I always did when nervous. “I said I wanted to pay you for the room and everything, that I wasn’t going to live here rent free. You’ve done so much. And I just… just need you to have this or I won’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep thinking about it.”

Thorne glanced at my cupped hand. “You don’t need to pay me.”

“I have to or I won’t sleep. Don’t you understand?” My words came out in a single breath. “Here.” I held out my hand.

He took the ring between his thumb and forefinger, holding it up to his face. His lips parted in a slight gasp. “Kris, this is worth a fortune!”

“It is?”

He smiled at me. “It is. It must mean something to you. You shouldn’t part with it.”

“I want to. I want you to have it.”

“But a ring?”

Then I realized how it could be interpreted. How I hadn’t thought this through. Rings were binding for some people. Like proposals.

My face heated. “I guess it’s weird. I—I don’t have much cash but I do have some you can have. But I still want you to have this.”

“I told you I don’t need money, sweetheart.”

There it was again. The endearment.

“I know but--”

“And you didn’t have to come give it to me now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I didn’t mean it that way,” Thorne said. “Don’t apologize. But this can’t be the only reason why you can’t sleep.”