TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 39

Thirty-Nine

LISA POV

Mom called to tell me she’d moved.

“It’s small,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Two bedrooms. Two bathrooms. The kitchen is barely big enough to turn around in. But it’s ours, Lisa. It’s ours.”

Relief hit so hard I sat on the edge of the bed.

“And it’s close to James’s school?”

“Ten-minute walk. He can come home for lunch if he wants.” She paused. “The landlord didn’t even ask for references. Just first and last month’s rent. The money you sent covered everything. More than enough.”

roof

I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly, letting the weight lift off my chest. Mom wasn’t under Dad’s roof anymore. She had a door she could lock. Walls that belonged to her.

“I’m glad, Mom.”

“I know what this cost you,” she said quietly. “What it’s still costing you. And I-‘

“Don’t.” I cut her off before the apology started. “Just be safe. Be happy. That’s enough.”

We talked a little longer before she hung up to keep unpacking.

I sat there afterward, staring at the phone in my hand, letting something close to pride settle in my chest.

I’d done it.

My family was safe.

Whatever humiliation came with this arrangement, at least I had done that.

The relief didn’t last.

As evening crept in, tension built in my chest.

Would Cameron come tonight?

We’d already had sex in the forest earlier. His hands in my hair. His mouth on mine. His body claiming me in a way that felt nothing like the routine encounters in my bedroom.

He had kissed me.

That thought circled back again and again.

He had broken his own rule. Crossed the line that was supposed to keep this transactional.

And afterward, while his knot was still locked inside me, he’d said it.

Don’t fall in love with me.

The memory made heat crawl up my neck.

As if I needed the warning.

As if I didn’t already know what I was to him.

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A womb for hire.

Someone who’d do anything for money.

I told him I understood. Told him I hadn’t forgotten why I was here.

Both statements were true.

Both were lies.

Because the truth I didn’t want to look at too closely was that some foolish part of me had forgotten.

Foolish.

That was the word.

Foolish and desperate and so starved for any scrap of tenderness that I’d mistaken biology for emotion.

I shook my head and pushed the thoughts away.

None of that mattered.

The contract mattered.

The money mattered.

My family mattered.

Everything else was noise.

7

I found Franklin downstairs.

“Sasha wants to visit,” I said. “My best friend from Creek Keepers. Is that allowed?”

Franklin leaned against the counter. “I’d have to clear it with Cameron. And probably Evangeline.”

A voice cut through the hallway.

“Your friend isn’t coming.”

I turned.

Nadia stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because this isn’t a social club,” she said. “You’re here for a job. You don’t get visitors. You don’t get to pretend this is normal.”

“I wasn’t pretending-”

“Save it.” She turned to leave, then looked back over her shoulder. “Evangeline requested your presence at dinner tonight. Don’t be late.”

She walked away before I could answer.

I sat there for a moment with my hands curled into fists, swallowing the anger.

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At seven o’clock I walked into the formal dining room.

Four places were set.

Cameron sat at the head of the table. Evangeline sat to his right. Nadia across from her.

One empty chair waited at the far end.

For me.

I crossed the room slowly, aware of their attention following every step.

“Lisa,” Evangeline said warmly. “I’m glad you could join us. Please, sit.”

I sat.

A servant appeared immediately, pouring water into my glass and placing a napkin in my lap.

“I thought it would be nice to have a proper family dinner,” Evangeline said. “We’ve all been so isolated lately. It’s important to stay connected.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Please,” she said gently. “Evangeline.”

She reached for Cameron’s hand.

Their fingers laced together easily, comfortably.

I noticed everything about it.

The casual intimacy.

The way his thumb brushed across her knuckles.

A servant placed plates on the table.

Roasted chicken with herbs. Garlic mashed potatoes. Green beans in butter.

Real food.

My stomach growled despite the tension tightening my chest.

I picked up my fork and focused on my plate.

“How are you feeling, Lisa?” Evangeline asked. “Any symptoms yet?”

I nearly choked on my food.

“No. Not yet.”

Across the table Nadia made a quiet sound that might have been a laugh.

“Cameron has been very diligent,” Evangeline continued, squeezing his hand. “Haven’t you, my love?”

“Yes,” Cameron said.

His voice stayed neutral.

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I looked up for a moment.

He was watching Evangeline, not me. His expression softened in a way I had never seen directed at me.

“I’m grateful we have Lisa,” Evangeline said. “That she’s willing to do this for us. It’s such a gift.”

“You’re welcome,” I said.

More food arrived.

I kept eating even though my appetite had vanished.

Cameron and Evangeline talked quietly between themselves about her medication, an appointment next week, and whether she felt strong enough to walk in the garden tomorrow.

He was gentle with her.

His hand stayed in hers except when he needed it to eat. When she struggled with the knife, he cut her food into smaller pieces. When a drop of sauce touched her lip, he wiped it away with his napkin.

I watched from the far end of the table.

Of course he loved her.

She was his mate.

The woman the Moon Goddess chose for him.

What had I expected?

That one afternoon in the forest would change that?

That because he kissed me and made me come and knotted me in the dirt, suddenly I would matter?

I was an idiot.

A hired womb.

A transaction.

A temporary inconvenience.

“Lisa?”

I looked up.

Evangeline was watching me.

“Are you alright? You’ve barely touched your food.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just not very hungry.”

“You need to eat,” she said gently. “For the baby. If you’re carrying.”

Right.

For the baby.

Everything was for the baby.

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I forced down another bite.

The rest of the dinner blurred together. More small talk. More watching Cameron be attentive to his mate. More feeling like a guest at a table where I didn’t belong.

When the meal ended, I stood.

“Thank you for dinner,” I said to Evangeline. “It was lovely.”

“Of course,” she said. “We should do this again soon.”

I nodded and walked out before anyone could continue the conversation.

I reached my room, closed the door, and leaned against it.

My hands shook.

Nothing had happened.

No one had insulted me. Evangeline had been nothing but kind. 1

But watching Cameron with her had forced me to face something I’d been avoiding.

He would never look at me the way he looked at her.

No matter how many times he touched me.

No matter how many times he knotted me.

I was temporary.

She was forever.

And I needed to remember that.

Before I did something stupid.

Like fall in love with a man who had already warned me not to.

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