18. Edgar

18

EDGAR

E dgar clutched a shopping bag full of books as he stepped out of the elevator on the penthouse level. It was his parting gift to Jasmine, and he hoped she would appreciate the gesture and the effort he'd put into thinking about it and acquiring it.

There should be a guide for clueless guys about what gift fit which occasion. Females seemed to know stuff like that intuitively, but most guys needed help.

At first, Edgar had thought of getting her some perfume, which most women liked, but it was too generic and meaningless. The same was true for chocolate or wine. Then it dawned on him. Jasmine had complained about having only two paperbacks with her, and somehow, they had never found the time to stop by a bookstore before heading out to Tibet. It had been mostly his fault for always finding other things to do that had been more important than that, and in retrospect, he realized that he had been too selfish, and Jasmine had been too accommodating. She should have insisted.

He'd spent hours at the bookstore, going numb while leafing through the most popular romance novels of the day.

Ultimately, he'd chosen the ones that had more going on than just he-loves-me, he-loves-me-not. Jasmine was an intelligent woman, and he was certain that she needed more than such simplistic plots to fulfill her. But then, women were a mystery, and he might be totally off.

She'd said that she read to relax and forget about all the crap that was going on in the world, so maybe those simplistic storylines were precisely what she needed.

Well, she wasn't getting that. He'd taken a gamble and bought her one book with dragon riders that was pretty cool and appealed to the pilot in him, a couple about vampires, and a whole series based on fairy tale retelling. The saleslady assured him that it was trending and that he couldn't go wrong.

He tried to muster a smile as he walked in, but it felt forced. "Hello, everyone." He waved.

Jasmine looked up as he approached and cast him a smile that melted some of the ice around his heart. "You are just in time. Mia and Toven got here a few minutes before you, and we haven't started yet."

He glanced at Mia, noting that something was missing.

Her wheelchair wasn't there. She was sitting on the couch with Toven on one side and Margo on the other, and as Edgar's gaze drifted down, he saw that she wasn't wearing one of her long skirts or covering her legs with a blanket. She had on form-fitting pants, and her small feet were on full display, clad in shoes resembling slippers.

"Congratulations, Mia. I'm so happy to see your regeneration is complete."

"Thank you." She beamed at him and lifted her feet, twisting them this way and that. "I wish it was warmer outside so I could wear sandals or flip-flops and show off my new toes."

Smiling indulgently, Toven patted her knee. "Remember what Bridget said, love. You need to start with comfortable footwear and slowly transition to other styles."

Mia pouted. "She wanted me to wear orthopedic shoes, but I drew the line at that. I didn't suffer through all these months to go back to wearing granny shoes."

As the discussion moved to all the styles Mia wanted to try out as soon as possible, Edgar sat on the floor next to Jasmine and put the paper bag in front of her.

"I got you some books," he murmured.

Her eyes widened, and she pulled the bag closer to peer inside. "Thank you." She lifted her gaze to him. "Is that where you went? To a bookstore to look for books for me?"

He nodded. "You complained about having to reread the same two old paperbacks. I thought I'd replenish your supply before I left."

"That's so sweet of you." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Take them out and see if they are to your liking. It was a challenging task finding something that you might like." He reached for one of the Snake Venom beer bottles lined up on the coffee table.

"I bet." Jasmine chuckled and reached into the bag, pulled out one of the fairy tale retellings, and cooed over it like it was treasure trove.

Edgar took a long swig of the beer, letting the cold liquid coat his throat. It would take much more than one bottle to numb the ache in his chest, but the night was still young, and the table was loaded with bottles.

"They are perfect." Jasmine returned the books to the paper bag. "Now I will have plenty to read to pass the time while I wait…" She didn't finish the sentence and cast him an apologetic look instead.

She didn't have to.

Edgar knew what Jasmine would be doing over the next several days. He'd stopped by the clinic and asked Bridget about her progress with the twins, and she'd given him an update. The prince was still unconscious, but he was being fed intravenously and monitored, and Edgar could see Jasmine sitting in the chair next to him like he was her mate or a family member, and not an alien she'd never met and knew nothing about.

As time passed and the drinks kept flowing freely, the tight sensation in Edgar's chest started to ease. However, his brain was still fully onboard, and the anger and disappointment that had been his constant companions for the past couple of days were just as vocal when drunk as they had been when sober.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked.

Edgar barked out a laugh. "No, I'm not okay." He took another swig of his beer. "I would have stayed, you know. To be with you. But I'm needed in the village. I'm the clan's only helicopter pilot." He snorted. "Well, Kian and Kalugal have learned how to fly helicopters on the simulator, so they can do that now, and maybe I'm no longer needed."

"That's nonsense, and you know it," Jasmine said. 'That's your job, and you are very good at it. No one is going to take it away from you."

He finished what was left in the bottle, put it down, and reached for a new one. "Yeah. They are both too important to fly themselves, let alone others." He took a swig from the new bottle. "Come with me, Jasmine," he slurred his words. "You'll be happy in the village." He waved a hand in a big arc. "You have nothing here. I can give you everything that he can't."

"I'm sorry, but I can't," Jasmine said with sadness in her eyes. "I wish I could."

The finality in her words was like a knife to his heart, and suddenly, he couldn't stand another moment with her. Pushing to his feet he staggered back, nearly tripping, and the room spun around him, the faces of the others blurring together.

He had to get out of there.

"I need to go."

"You shouldn't drive when you are in a state like this," Toven said. "Mia and I can take you back to the village."

Edgar waved a dismissive hand. "That's what autonomous driving is for. Good night, everyone." He stumbled toward the door.

Jasmine called after him, but he ignored her and closed the door behind him.

The elevator was right there, and as he got inside, the doors slid closed.

Alone at last, he leaned his forehead against the cool mirror glass and squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to look at himself.