Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

what I can. I can smell how much you want me even now. Just give us a chance, December.” His voice dropped slightly, taking on that sensuous quality that made her legs tremble and heat spread across her lower abdomen.
    “Liam, we’re—”
    “Too different. Yeah, that line is getting really old, Red.”
    A flush hit her cheeks. “Don’t call me that.”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s too…familiar.” Unfortunately she very much liked the intimate way the nickname rolled off his tongue. And that was bad.
    “I plan to get very familiar with you soon,
Red
.” He reached out and fingered one of her bright red curls.
    Her stomach muscles clenched with need as his knuckles brushed against her cheek. As his masculine, earthy scent rolled over her, she struggled to remind herself why things would never work between them. When he looked at her with those captivating eyes, it was hard to remember her own name.
    The sound of a man clearing his throat jerked her back to reality. Her date stood next to the table, looking between her and Liam with slightly narrowed eyes. “I didn’t think I’d been gone that long,” he said semi-jokingly.
    “I’m sorry…”
Oh God, what was his name?
“…Mike. This is a friend of mine. And he’s
leaving
.”
    Liam snorted loudly and glared at her.
“Friend?”
    He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. Holding her breath, she waited for him to move.
    After what felt like an eternity, he finally stood. Completely ignoring her date, he looked at her. Anyone else would have said a few polite words or excused himself, but not Liam. It wasn’t in his DNA. He wouldn’t be civil or polite if he didn’t mean it. “This isn’t over,
Red
.”
    Mercifully, instead of sitting back down, Liam nodded at the guy he’d arrived with. His friend dropped a bill on the table and they left without even having touched their drinks.
    As her date slid back into his seat, she blew out a shaky breath.
    “Ex-boyfriend?” Mike asked.
    She shook her head. “Not exactly. I’m really sorry that happened.”
    He shrugged but she could see the annoyance in his expression. Not that she blamed him. In his position she’d be ticked off too. When their server came back to take their order, she knew she couldn’t sit through a meal with this guy. Seeing Liam had shaken her to her core and made it clear she wasn’t interested in dating anyone else. Until she could purge him from her system, she might not ever be ready. Just knowing he was out there and available made everyone else pale in comparison. After asking their server to give her a few more minutes, she looked at her date. She was ready to bail, but he beat her to the punch.
    “You want to leave, don’t you?” he asked, his voice wry.
    Embarrassment flooded her but not enough that she changed her mind. She nodded and pulled a few bills out of her pants pocket. Removing one, she dropped a twenty on the table. It would more than cover theirdrinks. “I’m so sorry to have ruined your evening. There’s no excuse for my behavior. I know you don’t want all the details and I’m just…sorry. Would you mind taking me back to my store?” She’d let him pick her up there instead of home mainly because she’d wanted Liam to see them leaving together, but also because she didn’t like giving her address out to too many people. Curse of being a cop’s sister, she supposed.
    “It’s no problem and you don’t have to pay.” He placed a clammy hand over hers. His hands were soft, unlike Liam’s callused, roughened ones. She didn’t know what it was, but the feel of this guy touching her made her feel ill. He slightly tightened his hold and something akin to fear jumped inside her. Which made no sense. He seemed like a nice man. He’d held open her doors and pulled out her chair and been perfectly polite. But he wasn’t Liam.
    Somehow Liam had ruined her for anyone else and they’d never even kissed. She wanted to curse his name for that. December stood, using it as an excuse to take her hand back. “I spoiled our date. At least let me pay for the drinks.”
    Mike hadn’t attempted to pull out his wallet, so she figured he didn’t actually mind her paying. The walk to the parking lot was quiet. Politely, he held open the passenger door of his BMW.
    As they steered out of the parking lot, the need to apologize again overwhelmed her. She’d never been so rude to a date before. “I know I said it already, but I really am sorry for