Chapter 2

Jessie paced around the room the rude man had shown her to in anger. Who did he think he was? Calling her human? Saying he smelt her arousal? Who was he? She stopped pacing and rolled her eyes at herself. He was very obviously the infamous beast, the one everybody was warned about. He was said to have killed his whole family.

Jessie shuddered, then sat on the bed. She put her face in her hands as the tears started flowing. All this was her own stupid fault! How did she ever think someone like Patrick was in love with her? And she had run away like a coward instead of confronting him. And here she was. In the most dangerous man of the state’s house.

All of a sudden, she heard a knock on the door. She wiped her tears hastily and stood up, not wanting him to know she had cried.

“What?” she asked in the harshest voice she could muster. She practically heard him rolling his eyes as he pushed the door open.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said, looking at her expectantly.

“And?” Jessie asked, trying to put up a brave front while inside, she was quaking with fear.

He looked at her strangely, and she got the distinct impression he considered her a dummy after her question.

“What’s that thing we do with forks, knives, and spoons?” the man asked, sounding like someone encouraging a baby to answer a question.

“Right. We eat,” he deadpanned, then added. “I’m not going to insist. If you wish to starve yourself to death, you may.” Then he went out, quietly, just like he had entered.

Jessie was tempted not to leave the room, but her gurgling stomach told her otherwise. She dragged herself to the living room, then headed for the dining.

“Hm. I thought you lacked any sense. Turns out you got some,” he said mockingly as she walked toward him.

Jessie curled her hands into fists and glared at him. She did not want to say anything and risk angering him, so she was going to go for a glare. She sat down angrily across him and prayed to the gods of time to shorten this dinner.

***

Theo looked at the little thing sitting across from him. It was obvious that she was biting her tongue so as not to retort. He watched her serve herself. A scathing remark was on the tip of his tongue, but he reminded himself of what was at stake if he got too attached.

Theo served himself after her but could not find the zeal to eat as he watched. She somehow managed to make eating sexy and classy all at once. And the sounds she made. They were going to be the death of him.

“Did you make this?” she asked after eating a good part of what was on her plate. Theo had finally gotten to eat. His strategy was not to concentrate on her, so her question came at a really bad time.

“What? Scared I poisoned it?” Throw asked drily, fixing a cold glare on her.

“I was just trying to make conver- Oh, you know what? Forget it!” she said, then started picking at her food.

“Well, don’t. I don’t need your interference in anything I do. Your presence is quite hard to handle,” Theo said, hoping she did not catch the innuendo.

She did not. “I didn’t ask you to bring me here- wherever here is!” she exclaimed, her face taking on a tired but determined expression.

“Wild animals would have devoured you,” he replied flatly.

“Well, I would have been glad to be devoured by them than to be stuck with the Beast!”

“What did you say?” he asked coldly.

“You heard me! I wish I were anywhere else than here with a cold-blooded and selfish killing bastard like you!”

Theo’s face closed up completely. He tossed his napkin on the table, stood up, and left.

***

As soon as Jessie uttered those words, she knew she had gone too far. Even if he had committed that crime, nobody deserved to be shot in the face with their past like that. And an obviously painful past.

She sighed and stood up from the chair. She cleared the table, tucked the leftovers into the fridge, and did the dishes. She was hoping that keeping herself busy was going to alleviate the pain.

It obviously did not work. When Jessie walked into the room, she was surprised to see an outfit and a spare toothbrush placed on the bed. She stood there for a moment and observed the stuff on her bed.

With a troubled mind, she took the stuff and headed into the bathroom connected to the room she was in. After taking a shower, brushing her teeth, and dressing, she felt much better. But the guilt was still there. She regretted every instant of that horrible moment. Sometimes, she was just too impulsive, and this was the result. Jessie got into bed, but sleep evaded her. This was always how she felt when she was mean to someone. And what she had done had passed the mean mark- it was plain evil.

Jessie did not know how long she had tossed and turned on the bed, but when she looked at the clock, it was already 4 AM. She sighed in frustration. She was not going to be okay until she apologized to the man. He would accept her apology, and the guilt would recede.

She woke up from bed and went to the kitchen, looking for a good way to apologize. She decided to make breakfast since she had spoiled the dinner of the previous night.

Not knowing how he took his eggs, she made an omelet, then put the bacon in the pan. When that was done, she started up the coffee machine. As she was doing that, the man – god, she probably needed to get his name – came into the kitchen. He stopped, obviously surprised, and looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

“Look, about yesterday. I’m really sorry. I overstepped my boundaries and took my anger out on you when all you did was help me,” Jessie said, then stopped, waiting for him to give any indication he had heard her.

When he made no signs of replying, she said, “So, I thought I’d make breakfast since I spoiled last night’s dinner.”

He still didn’t say anything, and Jessie got a little bit scared. She was afraid she was going to live with the guilt of this man not forgiving her for her harsh words.

“Look, I’ll understand perfectly if you can’t forget the incident right away, but I’m really sorry. I should not have said anything like that. I don’t know you, and I really messed up last night.”

“Look, it’s fine. Next time, just don’t bring something you know nothing about up. Appreciate the effort,” he replied, giving her a smile that was not really a smile but that was not really a grimace too.

Jessie was shocked. She had expected to grovel more than that. Every time she did something wrong when she was with Patrick, he made sure to remind her over and over, even after she apologized.

“So, you forgive me?” Jessie asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yes. I forgive you,” he said. Jessie had the distinct feeling that he was amused by her but did not say anything about it. Instead, she sat down, determined for them to eat in peace. And when she looked up, he had a smile on his face.