I waited for Noah inside Miranda’s Brew at lunch, twirling the ring box between my hands. I knew that Lily was right, that I needed to return it if I was not going to marry him, but I did not want to hurt Noah. He had been so sweet to me and had been such a great help with this case against Bob, and I didn’t want to drag him down.
“Crystal!”
I startled at the sound of Noah’s voice. I stashed the ring box in my coat pocket and instinctually grabbed my latté.
“Noah!” I called, waving him over.
Noah took the seat opposite me and set down his green table on the small table.
“I’m glad to see you, though a bit surprised,” he admitted. “I wasn’t sure how much we were going to be seeing each other after you showed up at my house with the Alpha King to retrieve your things.”
Internally, I cri
