Free Belle and Valentine by Tressie Lockwood

another man. I just don’t see a future with us.”
    She waited for Sam to respond, but he watched her with those eyes that were the reason she thought of him as an old soul. He seemed to say, “go on, I’m listening,” even if he didn’t articulate it.
    “If I’m honest with myself, I loved him, even back before I left Aves. I want to let go, but I can’t do that here. I have to move away, and this time, no matter what happens, I’m going to stay gone.” She raised her chin and straightened her back.
    Sam rose from his seat and came around the desk to sit on the side of it. “He will come for you this time.”
    She blinked. “What do you mean?”
    Instead of answering her question directly, he posed a new one of his own. “Do you know why I let Fane date you?”
    Zuria’s hand flew to her hip. “What do you mean let ?”
    One side of her brother’s mouth quirked higher—his version of a smile. “The only reason I let him date you,” he repeated stubbornly, “is because I knew you were different to him than any of the others.”
    Zuria had no words for this ridiculous statement.
    “I knew once Fane got you, he would do everything in his power to keep you.”
    Zuria surged to her feet and scraped her chair back. “You’re crazy, Sam. Can I borrow the money or not?”
    “Of course.”
    ****
    A few hours later, Zuria stood inside the building where she would catch the bus out of town. Of course when service hadn’t been cut, the place had been used as a stop. Now it housed a Laundromat, but the bus still stopped outside. She had another hour’s wait after having refused Sam’s offer to drive her to Charlotte or at least to wait until morning. She had refused both suggestions, wanting to leave before she could change her mind or Fane could find out her plans.
    The Laundromat was open late for the bus and maybe those who didn’t want to wash clothes during the day. One of the few places open at this hour except for the bar, the Laundromat was empty. A dryer whirred in the back, and Zuria assumed whoever set it going would come back before long.
    She shifted her suitcase’s position with the toe of her sandal and started when the roar of a motorcycle engine sounded above the dryer. Her throat dried, and she pressed a hand to her chest in an effort to calm her racing heart. He wasn’t coming there. He was just passing through.
    A broad, black tire with silver spikes rolled into view and then a muscled thigh encased in black jeans. She licked her lips. The glass door opened, and Fane stepped inside. He glanced around and then pinned his gaze on her. She quaked and chided herself for it, raising her chin.
    “Why are you here, Fane?”
    He looked down at her suitcases, and a furrow appeared between his brows. “I didn’t think of that.”
    She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
    He grinned at her, and her heart skipped a beat. Damn the man.
    “I had this vision of us riding off down the highway. It didn’t include clunky luggage. I should have known better. One of them is probably your makeup bag.”
    “Haha, funny.” She rolled her eyes. “Wait, you said… Why would we ride off down the highway together?” The question came out breathless.
    He moved closer. She resisted stepping back, but her nipples hardened as if he’d touched her. “Because this time, you’re not leaving Aves without me. Where you go, I’m going.”
    Sam’s words came flooding back to her befuddled brain. “He will come for you.” They sounded like a line from a romance movie, stuff she didn’t even watch, but the impact was probably far worse. Her knees turned to jelly. Her only defense was anger.
    “Oh so you’re going to leave Sam high and dry just before a move and right after he had that collapse?”
    “Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
    Her teeth snapped together so fast they hurt.
    “You’re his business partner,” she tried again. “Your place is—”
    He closed the space between them in a