All of that was topped off by his decision to join the Marines. He’d been trying to escape his past, although he hadn’t realized it at the time. Back then, all he knew was he wanted to help people. But going to war hadn’t helped himself, and he came out of it even more messed up than before.
So how the hell could he help Lily? He did his part with the Enforcers, tracking down rogue, evil shifters, and making sure they didn’t hurt anyone. That was how he fulfilled the need inside him to help others. Unless she had someone trying to track her down and hurt her, he wasn’t going to be of any help to her.
Maybe Blake was right about some of it, though. He wasn’t sure when she became so stubborn, but he didn’t think she was going to leave until she was assured that he wasn’t doing anything stupid.
Although, stupid might be a relative thing, because not trying to persuade her to leave in the morning was pretty fucking stupid, too.
He wasn’t going to try to force her to go anymore, though. He’d use this mission to assure her that he wasn’t throwing his life away on illegal shit, and then bring her back to the clubhouse safe, and send her on her way back home.
His lion snorted, and Noah huffed a laugh as he fell back on the bed.
Fuck, he was so screwed.
Chapter Five
Lily walked downstairs the following morning, fighting a yawn. She hadn’t slept well at all, and she desperately needed some coffee. She totally expected Noah to try to talk her out of going some more, and she needed to be on her game for that discussion.
Coming to a stop in the archway, she looked around, surprised at the difference between night and day in the bar. It seemed much bigger without all the patrons in it, and much quieter, too. Almost eerily quiet. She half expected someone to jump out at her.
She snorted to herself. There was nothing eerie about it. The lack of sleep—and all of her suspicions—were making her imagination run wild.
“Still set on going with me today?”
Jumping, she slapped a hand over her suddenly racing heart and spun to face Noah. “Jeez. Make a little noise when you walk or something. And yes, I am.”
He studied her, his green eyes seeming to almost glow. “Are you sure?”
Swallowing hard, she forced the jitters she felt down deep. Maybe she didn’t need that coffee after all. Eerily quiet bars and eyes that glowed? She didn’t think adding caffeine to the mixture was a good idea at that point.
“I’m sure. Still set on trying to talk me out of it?”
He slowly shook his head. “No. If you really want to go, I won’t stop you. You’ll probably be bored, though. Want some breakfast?”
Her eyebrows rose as she watched him walk past her and into the bar. Hurrying after him, she took a seat on a stool next to him as he told a big man with a beard to bring two plates of breakfast.
“Why did you change your mind? You wanted me to leave last night.”
“I was worried you’d be in danger last night, but Blake said you won’t be. We’ll need to be careful, though, because I don’t want that to change. Besides, maybe if you see that I’m not involved in anything shady, you’ll stop worrying so much about me.”
Pursing her lips, she studied him thoughtfully. “The girls said you guys are like a private sector of law enforcement.”
If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she would have missed the way he stiffened slightly and the surprise that flashed quickly through his eyes. She straightened in her seat, her instincts blaring again. Had the law enforcement part been a lie? Although, he’d been the first one to tell her that the night before.
But why would they lie? They’d volunteered the Enforcer title, and then when she’d asked, they’d agreed. But maybe it was really drug deal enforcer, or something equally bad.
Then again, why would Noah let her tag along if that were the case? Still, there was obviously something fishy going on.
“The girls?” he asked, bringing her back to the conversation.
“Yeah, Damara and Tarun both stopped in to chat last night.”
“Tarun didn’t say Damara had been there, too. I’m sorry if they bothered you. And yeah, like I said last night, we’re basically law enforcement. Not a branch the general public knows anything about, though.”
She narrowed her eyes, wondering if his earlier reaction had been because he hadn’t known they’d both talked to her last night. Either way, her antenna was firmly up, and she was going to Nancy Drew the shit out of her time with them until she figured out the truth.
“Where’s Damara from? I’ve been trying to figure out her accent since I heard her speak, but I can’t.”
“She’s from Greece. A lot of people have trouble placing it.”