Chapter 169: Chapter 169 Unexpected Confessions
Elara
Knock, knock—
At the sound of knocking, Dominic calmly set me down and rose to his feet, smoothing his suit jacket. "I’ll wait for you downstairs. Take your time."
He turned and left without another word.
I tried to steady my breathing and composed my voice before calling out, "Come in."
Nancy pushed open my office door, clearly not expecting to see Dominic walking out. She gave him a respectful nod as a greeting.
"Elara, here’s the data you requested."
"Thanks." I glanced at the time. "It’s five thirty. Let’s call it a day. We’ll go over the reports together tomorrow morning."
"Okay." Nancy and I had a decent working relationship, but we weren’t close enough to talk about personal things.
So even though she could clearly tell something was wrong with me, she thoughtfully closed the office door behind her.
I stood in the exact spot where I’d been held moments ago, unable to think straight.
If there really was no ex, then what about the tattoo beneath his collarbone...
D.E...
D must be Dominic.
And E... E...
Could E be Elara?
But that made no sense. I didn’t know Dominic before our deal.
I took a deep breath before heading to the parking garage. I thought Dominic would ask me about what had just happened in my office.
But to my surprise, throughout dinner, he didn’t mention a single word about the incident.
Since I was still confused and my feelings were a mess, I didn’t bring it up either.
There’s a pack summit in South America this weekend," Dominic said quietly. "One of the allied packs is dealing with a rebellion. Some rogues are trying to overthrow their Alpha. Several Alpha s have been asked to provide backup and restore order. I’ll be back by Sunday."
When pack conflicts like this happened, it wasn’t just local business. Rogue uprisings could spread like wildfire if they weren’t stopped quickly.
The pack alliance system meant that when one Alpha called for help, the others had to answer. It was about keeping the balance of power stable across all territories.
Plus, if rebels successfully took down one Alpha, it would give other troublemakers ideas.
Nobody wanted that kind of chaos spreading through the werewolf community.
Sunday. That meant he’d be back in two days.
"Okay."
Two days would give me time to sort out my confused thoughts.
Author
After Nancy’s last awkward setup, where Yardley had swooped in to rescue her, her mother Carol, still recovering in the hospital, had become convinced that her daughter was simply trying to avoid the topic of dating entirely.
Carol was certain Nancy had even made up a boyfriend to get her to stop worrying.
This made her frustrated.
"Nancy, you shouldn’t brush me off like this. I just want to see you happy and settled.“
“Here’s what we’ll do. You’ll go apologize to that Dr. Bennett from last time.We’ll pretend this whole mess never happened."
"You know, Mrs. Henderson mentioned her nephew is looking for someone nice. He’s a financial advisor, very stable—"
"Mom, I don’t need you setting me up. I’m seeing someone."
"Oh? When did this happen? You didn’t mention anyone last time we talked."
Nancy thought of Yardley’s words that day and jumped in quickly, "I really do have a boyfriend now. His last name is Wolfe. He’s been swamped with work lately, but once things calm down, I’ll bring him over for dinner."
Carol looked skeptical. "You’re really seeing someone?"
"Yes!"
Carol seemed determined to test this claim. "Then Saturday it is. I’m being discharged Friday. No matter how busy he is, he can make time for family dinner, can’t he?"
Nancy had already backed herself into a corner. Now she could only agree and hope for the best.
Later that evening, back in her small apartment, Nancy scrolled through her phone until she found that unfamiliar number from that day. She was pretty sure this was Yardley’s cell number.
She hesitated, debating whether to call, but ultimately decided to text him first.
Nancy opened Yardley’s chat thread. Their conversation history was still stuck on messages from weeks ago.
She bit her lip and typed out "Hey, are you free to talk?" then immediately deleted it.
While she was still trying to figure out what to say, a message from him suddenly popped up first.
[Nancy, hey. Everything okay? I saw you were online.]
Her heart skipped a beat. She immediately dropped her phone on the couch.
Like he could somehow sense her nerves through the screen.
She’d been planning to play it cool, be casual about it, when another message notification appeared.
[You’ve been typing and deleting for like twenty minutes. Want to hop on a call? Easier than texting back and forth.]
A few seconds later, her phone started ringing. A regular call.
Nancy hesitated for a moment, then answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, it’s Yardley. I figured calling would be easier than going back and forth with messages. Hope that’s okay."
His voice was warm and clear through the phone. Nancy felt her shoulders relax slightly.
"Yeah, that’s... actually better. Thanks."
"No problem. So what’s going on? You seemed like you wanted to ask me something."
Nancy had never met anyone so straightforward yet polite. His approach was completely different from most guys she knew.
"Mr. Wolfe, I have kind of a weird favor to ask. My mother found out you helped me with that disaster coffee date. She’s still recovering from her surgery, so she’s convinced herself that you’re my boyfriend. I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to go along with it for one dinner."
"I can pay you back somehow."
Through the phone, she could hear what sounded like him settling into a chair, maybe at home after work. His voice had that relaxed, end-of-day quality that was completely different from his usual professional tone.
There was something about his calm, unhurried way of speaking that made her feel like he could see right through her nervousness, even over the phone.
"My department has strict policies about outside work. But if the payment is being your boyfriend, I wouldn’t say no."
His tone shifted slightly, becoming more serious. "Starting as fake dating works fine too."
Nancy pressed her lips together, uncertainty in her voice. "So... you’re agreeing?"
"Yes. I’m willing to be your boyfriend."
Nancy felt like there was more meaning in those words. "Thank you for agreeing to pretend. Are you free this weekend? I might need you to meet my mother already."
"Let me check my calendar." She could hear him tapping on his phone. "Saturday evening works.I’ll handle the restaurant reservation. I can pick you both up. Does that work?"
"...Yes."
Efficient and thoughtful. He had everything figured out.
Nancy couldn’t understand why someone like Yardley was still single.
A guy like him should have been taken ages ago.
