Denying Bjorn (3 page)

“Look, I need to apologize to you for the way I acted earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Please forgive me for the way I spoke to you this morning.”

“I know. You just have a lot on your mind.” Her tone was sarcastic. She was going for the jugular. “Oh, and have fun with Dawn tonight.” She lowered her voice to almost a snarl. Yeah, she wanted him to know that she knew about his little date with her cousin. It was hard, but she was fighting the jealousy. Actually, the emotion was winning, almost taking her over, but she managed to maintain a little bit of her cool.

“What are you talking about?”

The man sounded confused. Perhaps someone should give him an Oscar for sounding so damn convincing.

“You and Dawn are going out tonight . . . to dinner, from what I hear.” She sat back in her chair, awaiting an answer. An outright lie, she expected.

“No, doll, I’ve never asked your cousin out. I really have no idea what you’re talking about. Listen, I’ll be back to the office sometime around four o’clock. Can we talk then? I really owe you an explanation.”

“I’ll be gone by five,” she snapped. Why the hell would he stoop so low as to lie to her? What a dick. “I’m not waiting around, either.”

“I’ll see you at four.” He really sounded convincing. “If I can return to the office earlier, then I will.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” With that, she hung up the phone quickly and sought to become lost in her work again. Since it was lunchtime, the office was rather quiet, and she enjoyed it.

As she worked, she entertained the thought of finding a place of her own and getting the hell away from her cousin. The girl was trouble, plain as day, and she wondered why the hell she remained living with her.

Dawn had a jealous nature. There was no doubt about that. It seemed as though since Lydia had admitted her attraction to Bjorn, her cousin had gone out of her way to throw herself at the man. Then again, most women in the office threw themselves at Bjorn and Angus. She sighed as she wondered how the hell Julia put up with that mess, especially when working.

Perhaps it was for the best that she didn’t get involved with him. Hell, every other relationship she’d attempted to pursue had been touchy since she’d been a courtesan. That was another part of her hesitation with Bjorn. She’d become jaded and sometimes found herself labeling men as being nothing but sex maniacs. She had to remind herself that not all men were like that. How dare she try to even have a relationship with any man? She cringed. Perhaps Karma would come back and bite her in the ass—hard—for her past.

Lydia bit her lip in an effort not to cry. No matter how hard she tried, her past just wouldn’t die. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, there just had to be some way of making amends and releasing old ghosts from the past. There just had to be.

* * * *

Lydia glanced at the clock and shook her head. It was now four thirty, and she needed to wrap up some loose ends in the office. Coffee sounded great right about now, and her stomach had started growling half an hour ago.

Bjorn the liar. Well, perhaps something had come up that prevented him from showing at four o’clock. He was rather convincing, but perhaps he was just putting her off. Maybe he and Dawn were together, she thought with disappointment as she forwarded the phones into the break room. She needed to clean off the coffeepots and tidy up the kitchen a bit.

Earlier, she’d restocked the papers and fax machines with paper, tidied up the copy room, and cleaned off the small coffee area with the Keurig machine. She then trudged into the kitchen to finish her chores for the day.

After finishing up, she purchased a pack of peanut butter crackers and got a cup of coffee. By the time she returned to her desk, Bjorn was just entering the office. She wanted to smile to greet him, because he’d just made her day. Then she thought of her cousin and wanted to slap the taste buds out of his mouth. The liar.

He smiled at her before reluctantly approaching. He looked so damned hot, clad in his expensive black suit with that blond hair lightly brushing his shoulders. He looked like a surfer dude turned businessman.

“I thought you said you would be here by four.” She glanced up at the clock. “It’s four fifty-five,” she said as she powered her computer down. He looked sympathetic, as though he had an explanation or two, but she wasn’t hearing it.

“The meeting ran over due to the client being late,” he explained. “The meeting was an hour and a half away, and by the time I got back on the beltway, traffic was horrible.”

She searched his eyes for any semblance of truth. Some of the office workers had already left, but the few remaining whispered among themselves at the sight of them staring at one another like two teenagers in love. Yeah, they must have looked a sight to everyone, but she really didn’t care at the moment.

“I’d like to know if you could accompany me to dinner.” His eyes lit up, and he smiled slightly. “I do apologize for being late.”

Lydia melted where she stood. Something magnetic was between them, and the pull was delicious. She’d become lost within those blues of his.

“Listen . . . I’m starving, and you must be hungry too. Would you like to come out to dinner with me?” he said quickly.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she gathered her things. “You know, I would have said yes to that hours ago, up until I found out you asked Dawn out to dinner tonight too. What were you going to do, take us to restaurants across the street and run back and forth, Mr. Casanova?”

He wrinkled his handsome face in confusion and frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ve never asked Dawn out.”

She studied Bjorn carefully. He usually was a trustworthy man. At least that was the way she’d pegged him, but the last thing she wanted was to be made a fool of. The blond man sighed as they studied each other. Thick blond eyebrows slashed over his pale baby blues as his eyes bore into hers with intensity. For a moment, time seemed to stand still.

She thought heavily on the subject. Why would he lie? That snake-in-the-grass cousin of hers had struck again. She should have known better. The wench was probably sitting at home having a good laugh at her expense.

“I’m sorry, Bjorn,” Lydia said with a laugh. Actually, she was relieved to know he hadn’t asked Dawn out. “Guess I’m under a lot of stress.”

“That makes the two of us. I’m in the mood for Italian. How about you?” He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Maybe have a few drinks just to let our hair down for a bit?”

“That does sound good,” she said. “Okay, I’m looking forward to this.” Excitement flooded her veins as they made their way out of the double glass doors.

“I’ll drive,” Bjorn suggested. He glanced at her. “If that’s all right with you?”

“That’s fine.

Chapter Four

Bjorn smiled at Lydia as the waiter bought them their food. It was a nice, breezy night, and they had a perfect view of the harbor. There was nothing like being in the company of a beautiful woman, good food, and great wine.

He took the time to admire the beauty of her features. Dark brown eyes sparkled against rich mocha skin. Thick wavy black hair framed her oval face. And her lips…Bjorn released a sigh. The desire to kiss and gently nibble those full pouty lips coursed through his veins like an out of control fire.

“So, Dawn actually told you I’d asked her out?”

Lydia nodded. “Yeah, she did. But, let’s not let her ruin our evening. Obviously she’s making trouble for the hell of it.”

Bjorn’s brows arched. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll let it go. By the way, I managed to land the contract.”

“Oh, Bjorn, that’s really great to hear.” She reached over and touched his arm. He seemed to freeze as he looked down at her hand. “Congratulations.”

His muscles were taut beneath the black suit he wore. He wanted nothing more than to clasp a hand over hers, but he fought the urge to do so. When he didn’t, she pulled away. It was obvious she felt the same, but because of their situation, he thought it best to hold off.

Lydia picked up her fork and dove into the lasagna. After taking a bite and chewing slowly, she reached for the glass of Pinot Noir and took a small sip. “What made you ask me out to dinner tonight? And why were you acting so strange today?”

“Lydia, the truth is . . .” He paused for a moment, wondering if he was right in telling her how he felt. This could cause problems for them both.

She smiled politely. “Well? I’m waiting, Bjorn.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while now.”

“But you never did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why? You had to have known I wanted to go out with you.”

“Well, judging from the way you carried yourself, I wasn’t so sure.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You’re usually shy. I mean, we’ve always had awesome conversation, seem to like the same things, football, basketball, fishing, and the sort.” He frowned and looked across the crowded restaurant. “I figured maybe it wasn’t right of me to ask. After all, you are an employee.”

“Well, Julia and Angus are an item.”

Bjorn smiled. “Julia and Angus are . . . shall we say, a rarity.”

“Oh?” She smiled and batted her eyelashes at him. It made him want to reach across the table and kiss her, but he controlled his urges. “How rare?”

Bjorn laughed. “I thought we were talking about us?”

“Okay, what was bothering you this morning?”

He put his fork down and sighed. Once again, doubt graced his mind, and he looked over toward the water. What now? They were having such a great time, and he didn’t want to ruin it, but he couldn’t allow them to suffer because of his situation.

“Bjorn, please. Talk to me,” she insisted. “Whatever it is can’t be so bad, can it?”

“If you only knew.” He shook his head at her. “You’re a great woman, you really are, doll, but . . .”

“But what?”

“Things are complicated, and I’m not sure this will work between us.” It hurt him to admit that to her.

“You’re not giving it a chance, are you?” Lydia’s hand slowly slid over his, making his heart lurch and his cock stir. Her skin felt like silk, and her eyes, those beautiful brown eyes, he could lose himself in them forever, he was sure. It had been years since he’d felt like this toward a woman.

“I’m always working, and rarely have time for anything other than business. I’m putting in close to sixty hours a week, or more.” There, he hoped she would leave it at that, because it was the truth.

It was so much better than saying he was immortal and, should they carry on a long, successful relationship, one day she’d wrinkle, grow old, and die while he was still young. How do you tell a person such a thing?

“You know what I think, Bjorn? I think you don’t know what you want,” she said with a forced smile.

His stomach churned. If she only knew how badly he needed her, physically and mentally. He needed to say something else because he’d chase her away at this rate. “We should take our time if we pursue this, you know. Let’s not rush into anything too serious?”

Lydia bit her lip. “Too serious? Do you mean just enough for us to sleep together and go our merry way come morning?”

Her words stung. Did she really think him to be such a man? “Now, Lydia, that’s not what I meant. You don’t understand.”

“Oh, I understand perfectly well. I’ll be honest, I really do enjoy your company, and no, I wasn’t trying to rush into anything serious. Not sure I’d want to, at this rate.” She put her fork down and peered out over the water in a frustrated manner. “Maybe you should just take me back to my car. Perhaps this was a mistake.” She started to slide out of the booth.

“Please, don’t go.” Bjorn reached across the table and grasped both her hands. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then, please tell me what do you mean?”

“I promise, when the time is right, I’ll tell you, okay?” He squeezed her hands in reassurance.

“Bjorn, in case you haven’t noticed, the time is definitely right. Now, something’s eating at you. Whatever it is, you need to tell it, because I’m not one for playing games.”

“I assure you, I’m not playing games, Lydia.” He grimaced as he realized he couldn’t put her off any longer. She demanded the truth.

“Then tell me right here, right now. Prove to me that you’re not playing games.”

Admitting defeat, he sighed. “We are so different, you and I. You couldn’t even fathom how different we are.”

“Try me,” she challenged. “Put up or shut up, or I’m leaving. Now. Please, let me in.”

The look on her face tugged at his heart, and he nodded in agreement. If they were going to give it a go, there shouldn’t be any secrets. “Okay, this is totally not how I envisioned telling you about me, but I guess it will do.”

“I guess it will have to do. Now spill it.”

Bjorn loved Lydia’s demanding nature. It made him wonder what she’d be like the first time they made love. From what he was seeing, she was a take-charge kind of gal, and he absolutely loved it.

“What would you do, how would you feel, year after year aging while I remained young?” His heart was once again riddled with pain at the agonizing fear of loss. “Could you imagine what that would do to me? I’m gathering that you are a human woman, right?”

Lydia’s eyes grew wide, and she gasped. “So that’s the problem?” She lowered her voice. “What are you, a shifter? Dragon, wolf, panther?”

Bjorn smiled and squeezed her hand. “No, I’m simply human and what you call a Protector. My job has been to watch over Angus for many centuries while guiding him. My ancestors watched over their Dragon Lords for many centuries, until they found their Fire Mates. I have done the same for Angus.”


“You’re immortal? Oh man. How could I have not noticed?” She shook her head. “You and Angus always seemed so secretive. I’ve heard of Protectors. You’re a rarity.”

Bjorn nodded. “That we are, my lady.” He flashed her a smile, and when she smiled back, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “So, that doesn’t bother you?”

“I’d be crazy to let something like that bother me.”

“I’d be crazy to sit back and watch you age over time. I don’t think I can do that again, Lydia.”