The Tracker's Mate: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 1) by Ingrid Seymour (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

suffered through my lack of senses alone. Rosalina always kept me company and figured out a way to make things bearable, even coming up with the idea of learning sign language together. There was no one else in the world I could trust or feel comfortable with while in that vulnerable state—not to mention I didn’t want to be a burden on anyone for any length of time, no matter how brief.

Like before, Jake wasn’t pleased with my evasive answer. He pursed his lips and leaned back on the booth.

The waiter came with our food. Steam and a delicious scent rose from it. I practically inhaled half of my serving while Jake poked at his pie with disinterest.

“You should eat,” I said. “You look like shit.”

He chuckled, taking no offense, and started eating.

I told him about Tom and the priest. He seemed relieved when I mentioned Tom showed good signs of recovering. Then we went silent again.

Feeling the pressure of our awkwardness, I let curiosity get the best of me and asked, “Where did you go, Jake?” I thought he might brush away the question, but he didn’t.

“New Orleans. Remember Kaden Smith? He lives there.”

Kaden had been my brother and Jake’s classmate through high school. They’d been inseparable. All three popular Skews, who played varsity and had gaggles of girls chasing after them.

“I’ve never been to New Orleans,” I said. “I need to visit.”

It was one of those cities on my list of places to scout for new scents, sounds, and insights. It would certainly expand my options and the likelihood of finding mates. Every new place I managed to visit had a great impact on my success rate.

“It’s a great place,” Jake said. “Awesome food, incredible nightlife. Very unique.”

“Did something there prompt you to start your PI business?”

He pushed a piece of toasty sausage to the edge of his plate, reminding me what a picky eater he could be. “Nah, I got that idea here, after we found Emily Garner. Returning her to her family felt... amazing.”

“Yes, it did.”

I still remembered her parents’ faces when we walked into the police station, Jake cradling Emily in his arms. It had been as if we’d not only rescued the little girl but her entire family as well. That day, we gave them back more than just a child. We gave them back hope and the desire to keep going.

And we’d done that together, combining our skills and smarts to accomplish it.

“I’ve helped other people, and it’s felt just as good every time.” He set his fork down. “Then I heard about Stephen. He spent some time in New Orleans with Kaden and me. He was trying to get away from his father and... get over a certain relationship.”

I never thought Stephen would have to get over me. I wasn’t happy about the way our relationship ended, but I couldn’t say he had affected me much. I liked Stephen, and maybe, if we’d been allowed to keep seeing each other, I would have eventually developed feelings for him, but that hadn’t been the case.

Everyone loves at different rates, I suppose.

“I wish he hadn’t returned to St. Louis,” Jake continued. “Then this wouldn’t have happened. But Ulfen called him back, told him he needed him here, that it was time he took up his heir responsibilities.”

Ironically, if Stephen hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have been sitting there with Jake, aching to ask him all the questions he didn’t want to answer.

“What about you?” Jake asked. “How long since you opened the agency?”

“Almost a year ago.”

“Do you like what you do?”

I felt the judgment in his voice. Finding somebody’s mate compared to returning a child to her parents didn’t score high in his book. And yeah, I had to admit that on a scale of Mother Teresa to Hitler, my new job leaned a little right from the middle. Still, that didn’t make me a bad person. I was still helping others find their happiness while I kept mine.

“I do like it,” I said. “I’ve also helped people, and it felt good. Best of all, I’m doing what’s best for me. If you think that makes me selfish, then I guess I am.”

Jake reached across the table and grabbed my hand, surprising me. The touch sent a thrill up my arm that made me catch my breath. I froze, unable to pull away as his thumb went back and forth over my knuckles.

“I’ve been unfair to you,” he said, his voice a low whisper that reminded me of many intimate moments. “I’m sorry about that. It’s not my place to judge you. Your life is yours to live and I...” He swallowed, making it evident that this was hard for him. “I have no business sticking my nose in it. You should be safe now, I trust. No one should bother you anymore. I’m glad you were clear about Ulfen with that damn vamp. She had no business trying to intimidate you like that. I’ll call him and tell him about your run-in with the Dark Donna. Try to get back to normal. If my presence next door bothers you, I’ll leave, find another place. Though I am in St. Louis to stay.” He pulled his hand away, and I had to slide mine under the table to stop from reaching back.

His touch opened a door that I’d slammed shut many months ago, and everything I’d crammed in there came spilling out like junk from an overstuffed closet. All it had taken was the electrifying brush of his skin against mine to shatter the lies I’d been telling myself all along.

I was not over Jacob Knight. Not by a long shot.

In that moment of realization, I wanted to tell him to get the hell away from me, to go and find another place in the nether regions of St. Louis—somewhere the sun didn’t shine—so I would never have to see him again and be reminded of what a weak, pathetic, self-defeating woman I was.

But