Stop it. He was a random creeper.
Well, he’d be Danice’s problem from now on. No way, no how, would Nami drive that route again, unless one of her supervisors ordered her to.
Period.
But even as she thought that, something inside her wanted to rebel, to protest…
To go hunt the man down.
The alarm rudely interrupted her reverie. She got up to start her day and shoved all thoughts about the man out of her brain. She’d think about letting another man into her life once Da’von was out of school and on his own.
Then, only then, could she let down her guard, relax, and possibly think about having a life of her own.
And not a minute sooner.
I promised Momma to raise them all right. And I’m going to do it.
She’d seen what happened when she tried to ensure her own happiness before her responsibilities to her family. It had ended in a divorce that broke her heart.
And no way would she risk that again. No, the next time she fell in love, it would be after she knew Da’von and Malyah were all right, although Malyah was already all right.
Time for me to stop dreaming and focus on reality. All dreaming does is make my life miserable.
* * * *
Lara looked up from her sewing machine when Nami walked into the dress shop’s back room a little after ten that morning. “What’s the matter, chica?” she mumbled around a couple of straight pins held carefully between her puckered lips.
Nami tucked her purse under the desk buried in a corner of the room under bolts of satin and lace. Any weekdays she worked at the dress shop, she drove Da’von to campus herself. It gave them time to talk, but that morning, the last thing she’d felt like was talking.
To anyone.
All she’d wanted to do was stay safely locked inside her own mind and think about Mystery Hunk.
Even around her best friend. “Why do you ask me that?”
Lara removed the pins from her mouth and shook them at Nami. “How long we been friends?” She shook the pins at Nami again. “I can practically read your mind. What happened? Why you look like you lost your best friend?”
Nami settled into the office chair she used when working at the shop. Two jobs that required long hours of sitting down had rounded her five-five frame into one hundred and eighty pounds of less than firm flesh. “I had a weird day yesterday driving a friend’s route.”
“Weird how?”
Nami related the strange man and his kiss, leaving out the part about his one-word possessive declaration.
When Nami finished, Lara let out a low whistle. “Why didn’t you call the cops about it?” The feisty Cuban-born woman was in her sixties, but her auburn hair stayed its same reddish shade due in no small part to her hairdresser.
“Because the last thing I wanted to do was call attention to it. Not like he groped me.”
“What if he comes back and does it to the other girl who drives that route?”
That was the only concern Nami had. In the light of day, she felt a little guilty that Danice might run into that guy. By all rights, Nami should have reported it. Now that she hadn’t, she didn’t want to get in trouble if word got out later that she hadn’t said anything or filed a report. She couldn’t afford to lose her job.
Then again, maybe Danice knew about him and didn’t say anything to
her
.
Piled on top of that craziness, more than a tinge of jealousy that Mystery Hunk might kiss Danice.
“Somehow, I don’t think he’s going to do that,” Nami said.
“You don’t know that.”
No, she didn’t. But a tiny irrational voice deep inside her quietly spoke again. That the stranger wouldn’t bother Danice, because he wasn’t interested in Danice.
He was interested in
her
.
And
only
her.
She shivered despite the comfortable temperature. “No, I don’t know that. And I’ll talk to her.”
In fact, Nami texted her.
Any strange guys on your route lately?
No guys stranger than normal. Why?
Nami thought about her reply, carefully pondering exactly how to phrase it.
Got propositioned yesterday afternoon.
Danice texted her back immediately again, which surprised Nami.
Did you report it?
No, didn’t want to start trouble. Just a flirt. Big guy, white, blond hair and blue eyes, looks like maybe military. Boarded on north Nebraska with a woman.
I’ll keep my eye out tomorrow.
That took Nami aback.
Tomorrow?
I’m off today. Needed two in a row w the hubs. Txs again!
That explained how Danice could be texting right now. Nami wanted to reach through the phone and shake her. Danice hadn’t exactly given her a clear reason why she’d wanted to swap shifts, but she’d given Nami the impression it had something to do with an appointment that couldn’t be changed for one of her kids. Not that she’d wanted to finagle an extra day off so she could have two in a row in the middle of the week.
Nami shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Must be nice.
No, that wasn’t very charitable, but at that moment charitable was the last thing she felt. At least Nami got two days off in a row every week. Usually. And she’d borked her own Saturday in the process of shifting her schedule around to help Danice out.
Never. Again.
She spent the day trying to focus on her job at the dress shop. Which proved wicked difficult.
At least if she screwed something up, as long as it wasn’t cutting fabric or trim too short, it was easily fixed. Not like if she drove the bus off the road or something.
Which, knock on wood, she had a perfect record so far. Over the years, she’d been in three minor accidents caused by other drivers, but her own driving record remained unblemished.
By the time she left that afternoon a little after six, she felt even worse than she had that morning.
I could always detour up Nebraska on the way home…
Stop it!
When she pulled into the driveway at Lu’ana and Reggie’s house, both their cars sat parked in the driveway. As she walked in the front door, Bebe spotted her and started screeching with joy from where she sat on a blanket in the living room, reaching her arms out and up for her.
Any troubled thoughts vanished from Nami’s mind. She set her purse down on the back of the couch before she walked over and scooped the baby up into her arms to blow raspberries on her sweet cheeks.
Da’von sat nearby, on the floor, his back against the couch and his laptop propped on his thighs. “That’s gross.” But he smiled.
Another familiar routine.
Bebe squealed with delight as Nami tucked her against her hip. “Where’s your momma, little thang?” Nami carried her into the kitchen, where Lu’ana stood at the stove.
“You’re staying for dinner, sis,” Lu’ana said. “Don’t even try to argue. I had a roast in the slow cooker all day. You can take a plate home for Malyah.”
“Well, since you twisted my arm.”
Her younger sister leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, her eyebrow arching when she spotted Nami wearing regular clothes and not her uniform. “No driving today? I thought today was a driving day.”
“I swapped days with that stupid Danice yesterday. Won’t do
that
again.” She realized after she said it that she should have kept her mouth shut.
Lu’ana turned. “Why?”
Nami thought fast. “Turned out she just wanted two days off in a row during the week. I thought it was for something important.”
“Oh.”
Nami breathed a sigh of relief when her sister turned back to the stove.
“Da’von said you were real quiet this morning. Everything okay?”
Dang it.
“Same ole. I think he’s frustrated with me that I won’t get a computer of my own.” That was a partial truth. Anytime she needed to look something up, she asked Da’von to do it for her.
“Maybe Santa will bring you one this year.”
Nami swatted her on the ass. “No. You want to spend that money, spend it on Da’von, or on Malyah. Or on this little one.” She blew another raspberry against the toddler’s cheek, making her squeal with delight. “Not on me.”
Lu’ana let out a sigh. “Why won’t you let us do things for you? You’ve spent your life doing them for us.”
“Because that’s just how it is, and how it should be,” she insisted.
“You need to let me take you out some night. Me and you and Malyah. Lara, too. Girls night out.”
Part of her wanted that.
Part of her couldn’t make herself accept anything from her younger sister, even though she knew how irrational that was. Lu’ana and Reggie were doing okay. They weren’t rich, but they had good jobs and paid their bills.
“I’ll think about it.”
“And you’ll say no, won’t you?”
Nami turned to leave the kitchen. “Then why you even gonna ask?”
Chapter Six
The next afternoon, Beck nervously paced back and forth behind the bus shelter while Dewi stood under the shade of a nearby tree.
“Calm down,” she said.
“What if she’s not there?”
“It’s the same time as yesterday. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“What if they change routes?”
“What if she
is
there?”
He stopped and turned to look at Dewi. “Oh, my god. What if she
is
?”
“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“I do! I—” His jaw snapped shut on his next words.
“You’re scared.”
He nodded.
Dewi walked over, took his hands in hers, and gave them a gentle squeeze. Up until a few weeks ago, when she first met Ken, she and Beck had been more than just partners.
Much more.
Although she’d known all along she wasn’t the mate for Beck, the way he’d known it about her as well.
“You’ll find her, and we’ll help you figure it out,” Dewi said. “Have faith.”
“What if she’s taken?”
“And what if she’s single and ready for a handsome stranger to sweep her off her feet? Stop thinking of reasons this won’t work before we’ve even found her.”
What lurked in the back of Dewi’s mind and she didn’t want to admit was that she had a strong suspicion the hunt for N. Drexler might not go as smoothly—or as quickly—as Beck hoped.
But for the sake of their sanity, Dewi
really
hoped it happened sooner rather than later. Dewi knew Beck would be practically useless for handling pack council business, or his Enforcer duties, until this was resolved.
Not that she blamed him, because she didn’t. She couldn’t. She remembered too clearly the way she’d felt when she’d scented Ken. It had been an all-consuming obsession, a need, a hunger greater than anything she’d ever dreamed of, an unslakable thirst, until she sank her teeth into Ken’s shoulder and marked him as hers.
Her mate.
Forever.
Beck started pacing again. When Dewi spotted the bus in the distance, Beck stood on the far side of the shelter, out of sight until the bus pulled up and stopped in front of them and the door opened.
The man behind the wheel stared at them, waiting for them to get on.
Beck rushed up to the doorway and peered inside. “Where’s the driver who was here yesterday?”
“What?”
“There was another driver. Yesterday. A woman.”
“Buddy, there’s about ten different drivers who run this route all the time. You getting on or not?”
“N. Drexler,” Beck said. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only been driving this route a couple of weeks. You want to file a complaint against her or something?”
“I…no.” He stepped off the bus. “Sorry. Go on.”
The driver shrugged, closed the door, and pulled back into traffic.
Beck walked over to the shelter’s bench and sat, dejected, head in his hands. “Dammit.”
Dewi sat next to him and draped an arm around his shoulders. “We’ll sit here and wait for the next one,” she said. “It’s supposed to be here in about forty minutes.”
“What if she’s not on that one?” His voice, while soft, almost sounded like a mournful howl.
Her heart broke for him. “And what if she is? We haven’t even really started yet. Just have faith.”