Waiting for Potter to fall asleep was like torture. He could tell that something he'd said at breakfast had really upset Lenni. He'd wanted to ask her what was the matter immediately, but he'd caused too many scenes already. He didn't want to have an argument in front of his closest friend.

There were many things he'd said that could have caused her bad mood. He had mentioned the pictures, talked about how she was his employee, and talked about how he was moving. Maybe it was a combination of all three that had pissed her off. Whatever it was, he wanted to get to the bottom of it. This whole weekend was a disaster and he wanted to put it behind them as quickly as possible. He still felt like she could be his mate, but whatever relationship they had couldn't last with these kinds of issues.

"Potter?" Her eyes were closed and she was snoring, but he had to be sure. "Potter. I need something."

"I think she's asleep." Lenni told him.

"Would you come to the back of the plane with me?"

"Sure."

She followed him behind the curtain. It was a flimsy privacy screen, but it was enough if they kept their voices down. Potter slept like a rock.

"Something seems to be the matter," he told her when they were alone.

"I liked the pictures." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I don't care if you don't like that, but I like them. I like seeing myself in magazines. Maybe in a few weeks it will annoy the hell out of me, but right now, it's still cool."

"You look fine. I can see why they would be nice for you."

"It would have been cool to get one of us together."

That was where he had to draw a line. "It's called a private life. You're supposed to keep it private. If you want pictures of you looking nice in a pretty dress, great. But I'm not going to put us on display for the public. That's a recipe for disaster."

"Does it have to be private because you're ashamed?"

"Are you out of your mind? Did you see how far Leah and Jasper went to keep their wedding private? Do you think they were ashamed?"

"Your stepmother had no problem taking a picture with me and she didn't even know me."

Beckett gritted his teeth. She wasn't even listening to him. "My stepmother's an attention whore. She isn't the best example of how to act in public with the media."

"Are you ashamed of me? You seem to be dodging the question."

"I'm not ashamed of you. I like to keep my life private. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't have to trumpet my feelings from the rooftops and shove them in people's faces for them to be real."

"Then what's wrong? Something's off since this weekend. Or was something off before? Was the vacation the weird time or are you being weird now?"

"What you mean?"

"Well, before the vacation, I thought we had a good connection. During the vacation, we had a great connection." She smiled softly. "Once you got here, it was like something changed. It was like a switch had been flipped. Like you hated me."

"I don't hate you. I'm just surprised by the way you're acting." He sighed. "I didn't know you would like having your picture taken so much."

"I didn't like it so much. I just don't mind. I'm not going out of my way to get photographed, but I won't stop people from doing it."

"It did seem like you want your picture taken very much to me."

"Are we moving too fast for you?"

Yes. Yes they were moving too fast for him. But also too slow somehow. He wasn't sure how to convey that without hurting her feelings. He both wanted her close and wanted to push her away. She was so different from how she had seemed at first that it had turned him off. But that could change too.

They had moved too fast, but there was no going back from that now. He didn't know her well enough to judge if this was her normal behavior or if being in this situation had turned her a little crazy.

"You're kind of driving me nuts right now," he admitted. "What's with all these questions? We can't talk about one topic before you jump to another. It's like you want to fight with me."

"What about moving?" she demanded, ignoring what he'd said.

"I think it sounds like a good plan. Do you have a problem with that too?"

"Are you moving to get away from me?"

"Everything isn't about you."

She reared back as if he'd slapped her. "How could this not be about me?"

He gritted his teeth. "Why does this have to be about you? I just told you this wasn't about you. It's about me and my staff. I want to keep them happy."

"But I'm part of your staff."

"For now."

"You don't care if I come with you," she accused.

"You just met me." He leaned forward and took her hand in his. "I don't understand why you're trying to rearrange your life around me when we've only met. You were passionate about staying in Hope Springs before the wedding, but now you sound like you couldn't care less."

"I am passionate about staying. I love my hometown."

"If you love it so much why are you itching to leave now?"

Her eyes shone. He had said something wrong. Again. He couldn't get it right with her anymore.

"Sorry," he said. He desperately searched for the right words to say. "It seemed like you wanted to stay and I didn't want to force you to leave. But I need to go. I can't keep sequestering my staff up there with me. I'm isolating them from leading full lives. Even if I'm paying handsomely it isn't enough."

"That's very noble of you." She leaned back and looked out the window.

"I think they'll all like it."

"I'm sure they will too. I can also tell there's not a space for me."

"Not if you don't want there to be one," he said carefully. "It doesn't seem like it's the best for you right now. I don't want to make that choice for you, but that's how I see it. You seem all over the place. I don't think you're in a good spot to make that kind of choice right now."

"If you think so." She stood up. "I'm going to go back to the front of the plane if you don't mind."

"Be my guest." He watched her walk away and waited a few minutes before going back in his own seat.

He had spoken honestly, but the conversation had gotten out of hand. Much like everything else that week. They had only just met and he didn't want her to rearrange everything she knew just for him. Not when he couldn't give her everything she needed.

She had just gotten herself untangled from one shifter. He didn't need to add more complications to her life right now. He would be back in Hope Springs next year.

If they belonged together, it could happen next year too. If she was dating someone new by then, so be it. He wasn't going to keep her life on hold to make himself happy. Better to let her go and spread her wings and figure out what she really wanted out of life. No matter how painful it was, this was best for everyone.