“Don’t you care? Don’t you want to know what happened? What he said? Does it bother you at all?” Layla got in her face.

“What do you want from me? Because I’m not weeping and throwing myself on the ground, tearing at my hair I’m unfeeling? Fuck you, Lay. Yes I care. I care so much it breaks me in two every morning when I open my eyes and he’s not here. But he isn’t. It’s his choice. He made the choice to Claim me and then not live up to his duty to me. Just like I’m making the choice to live openly as what I am instead of playing human in the

desert and cutting myself off from everything else but him. As for what happened.” She shrugged and looked around the room. “He’s not here. He hasn’t called. It’s been over a week. I can take an educated guess. It hurts that he’s not here but he isn’t. I can’t make it anything else. So I’ll live with the pain because there is nothing else to do.”

She stormed out and drove off, annoyed, frustrated and hurt. Over a week and not a damned word. Granted, she hadn’t called him either but at that point, she wasn’t sure what she could say. The ball was in his court.

She could beg. She would if she thought it would work.Shebe with him. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his face. When she got a quiet moment she heard his voice, felt the phantom touch of his lips on her neck.

But if she begged and even succeeded enough to bring him to her, what then? She had to know it was real and not guilt.

Her phone rang just as she arrived at Adam’s to pick him up.

“Megan?” Shane’s deep voice slid through her, filled her up in ways that made her achingly aware of how empty she’d been.

“Hi.” She sat back in her seat, closing the car door to cut the street noise.

“Can we talk? You know, like every day? I want to…can we try to get to know each other? I can’t take the time from work just now but say in two weeks I can come up to visit for a week or so. Would that work?”

She smiled, feeling just a tiny flame of hope kindle in her chest. “Yes. I’d like that a lot.

I’ve missed you. Funny how you can miss someone you barely know.”

“Me too. I’ve missed you I mean. So, what are you doing right now?Wanna talk while I eat my dinner? We can share a meal.” He laughed and things knotted in her gut began to loosen.

“Let me call you back in ten minutes. I’m in my car but I’m only about five minutes away from home and I’ll eat my dinner too.” She’d beg off dinner with Adam, he’d

understand.

“Do you have a webcam? Maybe we could use that and talk. I’d like to see your face.”

“Yeah, I do. I’ll call you back in a few and we’ll get it all set.” She hesitated. “Shane?

I’m glad you called.”

“I’m glad I did too.”

When she hung up she jogged to Adam’s door. He opened as she approached and pulled her into a hug. His support had helped so much over the last week. He’d accepted whatever her mood had been. Had listened when she talk, had left her alone when she didn’t want to. He’d been more than a friend, he’d filled up at least a small part of the emptiness Shane’s absence had created and she’d forever love him for it.

“Hiya, gorgeous. Hungry?” He kissed the top of her head. Another thing was that he’d never been anything more than platonic. Nothing romantic or sexual, just comforting. She could let her guard down with him and he had no idea how much that meant.

“Hey. Listen, I have to bag dinner. I’m sorry. Shane called and he wants to talk. I want to do this. I want it to work.”

He tucked a curl behind her ear. “Of course you do, honey. Go on. We can see each other tomorrow or whenever. You know I’m here for you. I’m glad he’s coming to his senses. I knew he would.”

“That makes one of us.” She laughed as she waved and headed back to her car.

“Drive safely! You can’t talk to him at all if you get into an accident. Call me later to fill me in on what happens if you want, okay?”

She opened her door and turned back to him. “Thank you, Adam. So much.”

Chapter Eight

Shane tried not to be giddy when her webcam finally broadcast her image to his screen.

She was so damned beautiful. More than he’d remembered.

He said so. “Wow, I’ve missed your face.”

She laughed and the sound tightened things in his gut.

“What’s?” She took a sip from a glass and he wished he were there to lick away the bead of glistening liquid on her lip.

He cleared his throat. His yearning for her had been hard to endure but seeing her there, seeing her and hearing her after silence brought it home until his c**k ached against his zipper.

“You noticed I don’t tend to have food in my fridge. I picked up a chicken on the way home. Got some pasta to go with it and a little cheesecake for after.” He grinned. “Not as good as the stuff you cooked when you were here.” Nothing was as good as it was when she was with him.

“When you come up, I’ll cook for you every day. I promise. I like to cook. My kitchen isn’t as huge as yours but it gets the job done. So tell me about your day while I eat this leftover lasagna.”

He found himself spilling all the details of his day to her like she was right in the same room. She laughed when he told her about the mix up in his billing, charging him nine hundred million dollars instead of nine hundred. She made a concerned face when he described the difficulty he’d been having with the rest of his practice group in dealing with treating low-income patients.