[Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online Page B

Oddly, Alec smiled. “You’re growing up, kiddo. Sort of sucks, huh?”
    “Christ.” Nick rolled her eyes at him. “Get out of here before I decide to make your life hell by trying to find you a wife.”

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    31

    Moira Rogers
    If Nick guessed he was already on his way over when she called, she was polite enough not to mention it. He arrived at the bar three and a half minutes after hanging up and gave her a sheepish smile.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey.” She shoved several plastic cards into her back pocket and grabbed her cell phone and keys from the bar. “Can you help me with something?”
    “Sure. Need a ride somewhere?”
    “I need to go to my place, pick up some things for Michelle and then maybe go shopping.” He pulled the door open for her and gestured to the beat-up truck parked behind the bar. “Posh it’s not, but it’ll get us around.”
    “Mackenzie took my car. She and Jackson are staying with Aaron and Michelle and…” Her words trailed off, and she turned to him. “Thank you, Derek. For what you did last night, and for helping me now.
    And…just everything.”
    He didn’t remember moving, but in the next second he had her nestled against his chest, his arms around her. “Shh. I’m here, for anything.”
    She reached up and slid her fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck. “We need to talk too. I should explain things to you.”
    “There’s time, Nick. I don’t want to be pushy and make it harder, I just need to be around.” She flashed him a self-deprecating smile. “I can’t imagine how nuts I’d be if you were going through something like this. I promise to try and keep you in the loop, Derek.”
    “That’s good enough for me.” He gave in to temptation and leaned down to kiss her, avoiding her lips at the last minute out of sheer self-preservation. He brushed his lips over her cheek and pulled away.
    “Come on. Let’s go.”
    She gave him concise directions, and they spent the short drive to her house in silence. Nick seemed edgy, almost anxious, and he could hear her heart pounding over the rumbling of the truck’s engine.
    She had her keys out by the time he pulled up to the curb. “Do you want some tea or a soda? Coffee?”
    “Coffee would be good.” He parked the truck and shot her an amused look. “Kat had a fit at me this morning and kicked me out. Andrew, who also spent the night being an overprotective jackass, got to stay because he made her breakfast.”
    That prompted a laugh as she reached for the door handle. “He got to stay because she wants to see him naked.”
    If he never had to hear about Andrew and sex again, he’d die a happy man. “I don’t think she’s going to get that. Andrew’s got some screwed-up thing in his head about Kat not liking him if she really gets to know him.”
    “That’s stupid.”
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    Crossroads
    “Yeah, well…” He grinned and followed her through the front door. “You girls make us boys sort of stupid.”
    Her keys clattered on the counter as she reached for the coffee pot. “You boys turn us into idiots too.” She eyed him while she started the coffee. “I have a lot of stuff to tell you. About how I grew up. About the way things are.”
    “Alec’s told me some of it.” It was hard to think about what that had been, though. The graceful curve of her neck bore a tiny bruise. A mark.
    His mark.
    His hands shook as he curled them around the counter and jerked his gaze away from her. His voice was strained when he spoke again. “I know the basics.”
    “Then the first thing you should know is that I’m not in danger. It sounds ridiculous, since we’re having to hide my twin sister away, but it’s true. I’m the Alpha’s heir. No one is going to touch me.” Alec had told him same thing, but it didn’t ease the tense worry. “I can hear that intellectually, but I’m not sure how to convince my instincts.”
    “I don’t know if you can.”