5

“I don’t want to talk about the guy, either,” Silas said. “But don’t you want to quash his effect on you once and for all?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s clear he still gets to you.”

“Not because I’m hung up on him.”

“The thing is,” Silas went on, “If you don’t go to the premiere, he’ll know he still has power over you. The power to make you upset, or afraid...or to simply get under your skin. Why don’t you flip the script on him?”

“Flip the script?” Amara asked.

“Yeah.”

As Amara looked up into Silas’ eyes, she wasn’t altogether concentrating on what he was saying. She was distracted by the fact that he was the definition of smoking hot. A firefighter being smoking hot...how appropriate was that?

“Tyler is completely full of himself,” she said.

“Trust me, I agree,”

“He’ll always feel he has power over me.”

“Especially if you avoid the event.”

Silas turned to the bar and took a pull of his beer. His jacket slid back as he moved, giving Amara a glimpse of his physique beneath his white dress shirt. Damn, the man was fine. Even with clothes on, she could see that his body was well sculpted. There was no doubt that he was exactly her type. And kissing him.. .she’d felt her body warm in all the right places. Which was exactly why she should probably stay away from him. After her last disastrous date, Amara had decided to go on a dating hiatus. Indefinitely.

She’d examined her behavior and realized that she’d been going about trying to find love with a sense of desperation. Which of course had led to disaster. The problem was, Amara didn’t really know any other way to go about dating than to jump headfirst into a relationship. So she’d sworn off dating and was now trying to get to a place where she could accept being happy on her own. She had analyzed why every relationship she’d had since Tyler—and including her relationship with Tyler, for that matter—had ended badly. And the glaring reason why things didn’t work out was because she went for looks first, character later. If a man looked good and sounded smooth, she fell for him like a fool. And Silas had the kind of looks that could have her brain cells going on strike. So she didn’t even want to put herself in the path of temptation.

She tried another tactic. “Obviously, you’re a very attractive man…”

He grinned at her, “Thank you…”

Amara refused to be interrupted or distracted, “... And you were gracious enough to...to kiss me back...and go along with my ruse. But a man as attractive as you must have several women vying for your attention. Which is probably why you refused to go to the premiere as well. I suppose you wouldn't want to do that when you can spend it with someone you want to. If he still sends the tickets or reaches out to me, I’ll come up with a reason why we still can’t go. You know what, it doesn’t even matter if I have a reason or not. It’s not like I have to answer to Tyler.”

Silas frowned, and shook his head, “I said I wasn't going because I don't like the guy. That's all,”

“Oh,” Amara said, “Mind if I ask why? I mean, I noticed the tension between you two. It's just I decided not to ask because it was none of my business… Unlike you…”

He raised a brow, “Do you always say everything that comes into your head?”

“Most of the time, yes,” she replied, “I'm sorry, but can I ask what's up with you and Tyler?”

Silas narrowed his eyes on her. If only she knew what she was asking. The pack didn't attack humans, but if one found out about them, they were taken out. Nothing personal, but that was just how things worked in order to protect the pack. A human who found out would definitely tell someone, and God knows who that someone would tell and they just couldn't risk that.

“I just don't like the guy,” he replied finally, “Like you said, he's full of himself and I personally find that off putting,”

Amara had a feeling that there was way more Silas wasn't telling her, but she didn't push, “Well, I guess I'm not going then,”

“It's still going to look like you’re chickening out,” Silas said matter-of-factly. “Right now, he probably thinks you made up an excuse not to see him again, and don't ask me how I know, but I don't think he really believed that you and I are together either… not saying your acting wasn't perfect or anything, but I bet he thinks you’re still hung up on him.”

Amara felt a spasm of fear. She wished Silas would stop saying that, because it was the one thing that was weakening her resolve.

“I can see that the truth is getting to you,” Silas went on. “And trust me, that’s how guys think. You went to the trouble of kissing me to make a point to him. Seems as though it would be rather foolish to abandon the plan when you can drive the point home.”

Amara bit her inner cheek as she thought. She hated to admit it, but Silas had a point. Tyler was that kind of guy. Even when he’d dumped her, he’d rubbed salt in her wound by saying that she would never find another decent guy because she was too clingy. He had been right about her not being able to find another man, but the part about her being clingy? Amara wasn’t clingy, and he had hurt her deeply when he’d said that. Still , she had foolishly reached out to him during a time when she had been weak and needed a sexual fix… and then begged him to take her back. Urgh.

She had remembered only the good times between them and forgotten the hurt. It was her selective memory that had led her to call him when she had been lonely. She’d invited him over, telling him that there would be no strings attached, that she just wanted him for one night. He’d come over, and they’d made love. But in the morning, Tyler had humiliated her further by telling her that the sex hadn’t meant anything. And that he knew in his heart she wasn’t the woman for him.