Not knowing how easy it was going to be to sell her jewelry, she didn’t unpack. Why settle in if she wouldn’t be staying long?
When her stomach grumbled, she decided to take Tanner’s suggestion and eat at the diner attached to the hotel.
Most of the seats were empty, probably because it was still early. Ella sat at a booth by the window so she could study the comings and goings of Plux. She’d spent much of her life looking out windows imagining what life was really like. Now she could actually live a little.
Something plastic hit the table in front of her. It was a menu. A pretty girl with a nametag that read Sasha had a pad and pencil in hand. “What can I get you?” her server asked.
“A coffee to start. Black.”
Sasha smiled. “Sure thing.”
Ella debated calling home to let her sisters know that she’d arrived safely at her destination, but Mori was very tech savvy and could probably figure out where Ella was calling from by doing her computer magic. Because her younger sister was shy, she would never go against their parents’ wishes and withhold that information. Sadly, it was better to cut ties entirely.
“Is this seat taken?” said a deep, rich voice.
Ella looked up and stilled for a moment, almost not recognizing Tanner. He’d put on a fresh shirt and had shaved. “By all means.”
“Have you settled in?” he asked as he slid in across from her.
“More or less.” Ella wanted to ask him about selling some of her jewelry, but that would open a host of questions—ones she wasn’t ready to answer. “What’s good to eat here?”
“The hamburgers are the best in town.”
He didn’t ask her what her story was, and Ella appreciated that Tanner seemed willing to keep the conversation casual. “Thanks.” She waved a hand around the diner. “Did you really build all of this?”
“Just the hotel, though I only came in at the end of the construction project.” He explained how a man by the name of Slade LaMont started the construction company with Jace Sanders. “When Slade found his mate, who lives in Edendale, he moved there and put his partner Jace in charge. Then through Slade, Jace met his mate, who also lives in Edendale. He too moved and put me in charge.”
Mates always seemed to create a lot of upheaval in a person’s life. “I hope you don’t intend to visit that place.” She was only kidding, but she wanted to keep things light.
He laughed. “Not on your life. The last thing I need is to find a mate now.” From the way he was avoiding her gaze, he wasn’t comfortable with the topic.
Her body, however, was vibrating something fierce—partly from lust and partly from disappointment that he had no intention of mating. Ever. Her family claimed that the annoying physical attraction she would experience at some point in her life had nothing to do with Fate’s decision to put them together and had everything to do with mere desire. Now she wasn’t so sure.
I can tell you’re feeling that pull, her leopard said. It’s the real deal.
Are you sure?
Before she could figure it out, Sasha came up to them, her gaze only on Ella’s dinner partner. “Hi, Tanner.”
Her smile caused something ugly to erupt inside Ella. It made sense that since both lived in Plux, and the fact Tanner helped build the hotel, that they would have interacted often.
“Sasha, can you get me a cup of coffee?” he asked.
Ella appreciated his attempt to defuse the tense situation. “Sure. Oh, I forgot to ask you something last weekend when we were at dinner.”
“You mean when I came here for dinner?”
She waved a hand. “You know what I meant.”
“What did you want to ask me?” Tanner’s tone came out rather curt.
“Do you want to go to the Expansion Day dance this weekend with me?”
Really? Ella had been convinced that her mother had been brainwashed into thinking some people outside of their town were peasants, but Sasha just might be one of them. Who asked out a man when he was sitting with another woman? It didn’t matter she and Tanner barely knew each other.
Had Tanner and Sasha been an item? It made sense in a way since they were both beautiful people, but he hadn’t shown much interest in the waitress. Maybe Ella had read him wrong. She might be suffering from hero syndrome. Just because he’d saved her didn’t mean he liked her. Her feelings for him might have nothing to do with him possibly being her mate.
“I, ah, have a date.” He looked at Ella. “Right, honey?”
The slight kick under the booth implied he needed her to play along. Normally, she’d never lie like that, but this man had saved her life. “Absolutely. I’ve been waiting for it forever.”
She hoped this was some annual shindig.
“Oh.” Sasha turned to her. “I didn’t realize Tanner had a girlfriend. He’s never mentioned you.”
Tanner reached across the table and clasped Ella’s hand. “Ella has a big job in Thedia. I’ve been commuting there on weekends to visit her.”
“I see,” she said to Tanner. “I’ll get that coffee.”
She turned to Ella and sent out a chilling stare. Her lips were pressed together so firmly, Sasha almost looked like Ella’s mom.
As soon as Sasha spun around and rushed off, Tanner let go of Ella’s hand. The quick shot of comfort that came from his grasp disappeared. “Why did you tell her I’m your girlfriend?” Ella whispered, not sure how to respond.
“I’m so sorry, but Sasha has been hitting on me for months. I needed an excuse to get away from her.”
“You could have said no thank you, darling, I’m not interested.”
He chuckled. “Trust me, I’ve tried. That woman doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Is she that bad? She is pretty.”
“I know she’s just after my money.”
He had money? That almost made her not
