“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I’m right.”
As Ken drifted off to sleep, Dewi felt a little guilty about having worn him out earlier. Of course she’d known what he was up to when he followed her up to the bedroom. Duh. Prime Alpha. Even without that, it wasn’t hard to deduce.
Men.
They were so cute when they thought they were being sneaky.
Chapter Eleven
Nami was rudely jolted awake by her alarm the next morning. She stumbled out of bed and over to the dresser, slapping the alarm clock until it turned off. She was halfway back to bed before she realized it was a driving day, and she had to remain vertical.
Coffee.
It would take a lot of coffee to keep her functioning this morning. She started the coffeemaker and instead of going to take her shower, she stood there and waited for it to brew enough she could pour herself a mug. At least today was Friday. She would be working at the dress shop tomorrow, and might just allow herself to catch a little extra sleep in the morning instead of doing chores.
Damn that man.
It was all that Dawson Beckett’s fault. She couldn’t get him out of her mind. Even the little bit of sleep she’d been able to snatch had been filled with sexy dreams of him.
Of what she wished he was doing to her.
After her shower, she barely remembered to wake Da’von up. She knocked on his door. “Get up,” she hollered on her way back to the kitchen.
Maybe I’m coming down with the flu.
She hadn’t taken a sick day—or needed to take one—in several years. Although she did have PTO and vacation time she used up every year. But she never faked being sick just to call off at the last minute. That wasn’t right, and she wouldn’t do it. She got her flu shot every year, and she used hand sanitizer religiously while on the bus.
Knock on wood, she hadn’t suffered from more than allergies in the past couple of years.
She was not a person who abused the trust of her employer just to get off work.
When Da’von emerged from his room and made his way out to the kitchen, he pulled up short and stared at her. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she testily shot back. “Hurry up and get ready to go.”
“Wow,” he muttered. “Sis, you don’t look fine.”
She took a deep breath and let it out again. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“I can take the bus to Lu’ana’s.”
“No, I’ll drive you.”
“Oh. Listen, some friends of mine are going to go out to dinner and see a movie tomorrow night. They’re getting together tomorrow afternoon first to go over some stuff from class. They said they’d bring me home. It’s not a late movie, either. I’d be home by eleven.”
“What friends?” She’d met a couple of his classmates that he sometimes studied with and they seemed like nice enough boys.
“You met ’em. Guys from school. Come on, Nami. I know you want me to study, but I need a life. And technically I will be studying.”
Maybe it was how tired she felt. Maybe it was his pleading tone of voice. Today, she didn’t have the strength or heart to grill him or deny him. Yes, in high school he’d acted out and run a little wild until she’d reined him in and forbade contact with the boys he’d hung out with in their neighborhood. Then they’d moved.
But they lived in a better place now, and he was still a kid. He deserved to have fun.
“Okay, fine.” She considered it. “Home by midnight. Knock on my door if I’m not up. Make sure you tell me you’re in.”
His broad smile made her forget all her troubles and exhaustion for a few seconds.
It was well worth it. “Thanks, Nami.” He hugged her and had started back toward his room.
“You need money?” she asked. He received an allowance of twenty-five dollars a week. Which wasn’t much, but it was all she could afford without short-changing her savings and emergency fund. He took his lunches to class, and if he needed supplies for school, or needed clothes or something, either Nami or one of his sisters bought it for him.
He stopped and turned around. “Um, naw, I’m good. I had some left over from last week.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. But thanks.” He raced back to his room.
Nami was going to ask him something else when she glanced at her watch and realized how late it was getting. “Be ready in ten,” she called after him.
Today, she’d have to drive all the way to the depot to get her bus, but she’d drop Da’von off at Lu’ana’s on her way. Either one of them would take him to HCC, or he would catch a bus from there that ran right by the community college.
This is going to be one long-ass day.
* * * *
Beck sat in his car and studied the parking lot of the Walmart. It was nearly seven-thirty, and Nami hadn’t shown up for her shift yet.
He struggled not to let his mind go to all the worst-case scenarios, like car accident or home invasion. He tried to think logically.
Maybe she doesn’t have the same shift every day?
Or maybe she asked to be reassigned to avoid me?
He was so frustrated he almost missed it when he saw her pull in to the parking lot—driving a bus. He dove out of his car, barely remembering to lock the doors behind him.
The bus sat facing away from him as it idled, so she didn’t see him when he ran up to the door, jumping on and startling her just as she was reaching to close the door.
Her eyes looked wide, like she was about to scream and she barely managed to choke it back.
“Fare,” she whispered.
He smiled, fishing the bus pass out of his pocket and scanning it, then holding it up. “Unlimited rides for the month.”
Then he turned. The bus wasn’t full, but there was some scruffy young guy in the front seat next to the door.
“That’s my seat,” Beck said to him.
The guy was absorbed by a game on his phone. He finally realized Beck was speaking to him and looked up. “Dude, what’s your deal? Go sit somewhere else.” He returned his attention to whatever game he was playing.
It was times like this when Beck really wished he was a Prime.
He knew he could go feisty on the guy, and probably scare the crap out of Nami in the process, as well as have a whole bus full of witnesses who would say he got on and acted crazy.
Beck opted for the easier route. He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew two twenties.
“I get carsick real easy,” he told the guy as he held the twenties out to him. “Unless you want to ride all the way downtown smelling my puke, how about you let me have my seat, huh?”
The guy looked up again, did a double-take, then grinned. He snatched the money from Beck’s hand and stood up, indicating the seat with a flourish. “Dude, kept it warm for you.”
“Thanks, man,” Beck said as he settled in, his back to the window. “I appreciate it.”
Nami watched all of this with wide-eyed fear.
None of the other passengers seemed to even notice the incident.
He offered her a smile. “I suggest we get moving soon,” he quietly said. “Busy day ahead, and you don’t want to get behind schedule.”
Slowly shaking her head, she finally closed the bus door and pulled out of the parking lot.
* * * *
It was almost more than Nami could take, being startled half out of her wits when Beck jumped on the bus. She’d just started to relax and get back into her usual routine, too. Beck hadn’t been waiting for her at the Marion Transit Center, so she’d thought she was off the hook.
Well, she’d hoped she was.
I should have known better than that.
She couldn’t deny there was something else bubbling inside her, too.
Relief that he’d finally shown up. And pleasure.
I can’t believe I was actually looking forward to seeing him.
That revelation slammed into her b
rain as she was pulling the bus into the Marion Transit Center.
Beck didn’t move from his seat.
When the disembarking passengers left, he leaned over, swiped his pass, and sat back with a handsome smile on his face that she wanted to kiss right off—
Slap right off. Slap, not kiss.
Oh, who am I kidding?
She did want to kiss him again. That first kiss had settled into her soul, leaving her craving more. If he kissed that good, she could only imagine what else he could do.
And how well he could do it.
“So what are we having for lunch?” he asked.
She stared at him, her body and some alien pod person inside her silently doing battle for control of her mouth. Finally, “Who says I’m having lunch with you?”
“My apologies. Would you like to have lunch with me? My treat.”
“I’m not having lunch with you!”
But he sat back, looking handsomely smug. “You didn’t say you wouldn’t like to.”
She couldn’t reply because other passengers were now boarding. So she faced forward again and tried to ignore the handsome hunk of man sitting on her bus.
* * * *
Beck snuck more pictures of her today. He acted like he was reading something on his phone, his eyes on the screen and not on her. When she turned to check her mirrors, he managed to get a couple of really good, almost full-face snaps in.
Sigh.
He once again waited for her outside the office at the transit center while she ate her lunch inside.
And again, she didn’t report him to supervisors, or call the cops on him.
She did stop in front of him as she exited the building, like she was going to say something.
Then she let out an aggravated-sounding grumble before heading to the bus she was taking over from the driver.
She’s not just beautiful, she’s adorable, too. He imagined with her strong-willed nature that they’d have a lot of fun once they were mated.
Yes, at some point, he’d allowed himself to slip into full on denial of any possibility of her saying no. He knew if he waited her out, slowly broke down her walls, she’d say yes to him.
And no matter how long that took, he’d take it, until he won her over.
* * * *
“How damn long is this going to take, Beck?” Dewi demanded when he returned to her place that night. She and Martin had been in the office discussing Enforcer business.
Beck leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “As long as it takes.”
“Well, speed it up, buddy. We need to make a run up to Valdosta in the next week, and it’s going to be an overnighter. I need you there with me, or I need you here holding down the fort with Badger, but I cannot have you riding around on a HART bus all damn day long, making moony eyes at some poor woman and freaking her the hell out. So, pick an option.”
“It’ll take as long as it takes.”
She leaned back in her chair. “Wrong answer. Try again.”
“Dewi, I told you I’m not going to rush claiming her—”
“I get that. And it’s admirable. But you need to speed this process up, because I need paws on the ground I can count on.” She jabbed a finger at him. “You don’t think I’d rather be off on a six-month vacay to the Bahamas or something with Ken? Wrong, buddy. We have a job to do. Dammit, suck it up and do it.”
Beck locked eyes with her, eventually turning away first. He knew she was right, but his heart didn’t want to let go of this.
Dewi’s tone gentled. “Tomorrow morning, I’m going with you. I’ll take the hit and break the ice for you. But this dicking around shit has got to stop. Please, don’t make me go Prime on you.”
“I’m not going to just claim her and—”
“Beck,” she snapped. “I didn’t say claim her. I’m not asking you to force her. I’m saying we need to jump-start the romantic part of this relationship. If she says no to dinner, then you will have to let it go until after the Valdosta stuff is handled.” Now her tone dropped into growly, warning territory. “I don’t want to Prime you, but I will. We have work to do.”
He noticed Martin was uncharacteristically quiet on the matter. “You don’t want to add your two cents to things?”
Martin held his hands up, placating. “Dude, I get it, but Dewi’s right. The Valdosta stuff is serious.”
“What’s going on there, anyway?” Beck asked. “I thought we had that group settled down.”
“We did,” Dewi said. “Until one of the guy’s jackass teenage daughters got caught up with a damn meth dealer. She’s a non-shifter and hasn’t been told. Her parents are both quarter shifters. They’ve tried to resolve this already, and we’re their last hope.”
“Oh, man. Not one of Jackson Coltrane’s kids?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” Beck stepped all the way into the office and took the chair next to Martin, in front of the desk. Dewi occupied the seat behind it. “Jackson’s such a nice guy.”
“Exactly. Apologized all over himself for having to call us in the first place. But he’s not exactly bloodthirsty.”
“No, he’s not.” Beck scrubbed at his face with his hands. “Okay. You come with me tomorrow morning and we’ll invite her over here for dinner tomorrow night. But no Prime. Either she says yes or no on her own. Okay?”
Dewi sat back in her chair. “Deal,” she said, sounding relieved. “Thank you. Look, if it’s meant to be, maybe her getting to meet all of us at once, it might help her realize you’re not a crazy stalker guy.”
Martin snorted. “Dude, you have to admit, you’re not exactly putting your best foot forward, here.”
“Fine. Point taken.”
Dewi nodded. “Glad we’re finally on the same page.” She stood. “And that having been settled, what time are we leaving in the morning?”
Beck had discovered through some gentle conversational prodding late that afternoon that Nami’s route was usually the same every day. What changed was where she picked up her bus and started her driving day, and the length of her shift. Some days, it started at the Walmart, and some days, it started at the central bus depot.
Tomorrow was a depot day, meaning she’d reach the Walmart for the first time around seven thirty.
“I want to be there by seven,” he said. “Otherwise, if we miss her, we’ll have to sit there and wait for her to do a complete circuit again.”
“I’ll drive myself,” Dewi said. “Because I suspect you’re going to waste another whole day riding her bus.”
He didn’t respond.
Mainly, because he knew Dewi was right.
“I’ll be ready to leave by six,” Dewi said, stretching. “So I bid you all a good night.” She walked out and headed upstairs.
Martin also stood. “I feel like I’ve run you out of your own house, man. I could stay here, if you want to go home.”
“No, it’s all right. I’m used to it.”
“Yeah, but things have changed. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before I close on the house and get moved in. I don’t mind staying here.”
“I haven’t claimed her yet,” Beck said. “One step at a time. I don’t want to jinx myself.”
“Okay. Your call. See you all tomorrow.” He headed out, leaving Beck alone in the office.
Beck pulled out his phone and swiped through to the pictures, going through the ones he’d taken of Nami today.
His heart ached. The more time he spent around her—jasmine was now his favorite scent—the more he fell snout-over-tail for her.
And they’d barely had anything resembling a conversation.
Hopefully, she’ll agree to dinner and maybe we can take care of that.
Chapter Twelve
Nami wasn’t much of a drinker. But that evening, as she drove from the depot to go pick up Da’von, she was seriously considering a stop at a liquor store along the way to get herself a little something-something for later, once she was home.
Drinking wouldn’t solve her problem.
But getting into bed with that gorgeous man would solve a lot of problems, sistah.
That was a damned aggravating voice in her head, too. Encouraging this nonsense, begging and pleading with her to give in and talk to the man.
The fact that she hadn’t been able to bring herself to report him yet, in essence digging herself in more deeply, only added to her mental clutter.
It wasn’t even the fact that he was white. She didn’t care about that. She wasn’t sure how her siblings would react, but it wasn’t an issue for her. There was just…something about him.
A magnetic draw she couldn’t deny. One she’d never felt before.
Sit, or git, woman.
She parked in Lu’ana and Reggie’s driveway and went in to pick up Da’von. He glanced up from his phone, putting it away almost like she’d caught him doing something.
“You ready to go?” she wearily asked.
Lu’ana leaned against the kitchen doorway. “Mm-hmm. All right, sis. When you gonna quit this ‘ain’t nothin’ wrong with me’ bullshit and tell me what’s goin’ on?
Bebe, sitting on a blanket in front of a children’s show on the TV, started flapping her arms at Nami and happily squealing.
Nami walked over, scooped her up, and blew raspberries against the toddler’s belly. “Oooeee. Someone needs a diaper.” She walked over to Lu’ana and handed her over with a smile. “Here you go, Momma. Da’von, let’s go.”
“Love how you dodge the question, sis,” Lu’ana said, wrinkling her nose at the smell of fresh pooh wafting from her daughter’s diaper.
“Because there ain’t no answer for it,” Nami said as she headed for the front door. “I’m fine, and that’s all there is to it.”
* * * *
The next day when Beck showed up at the Walmart to board Nami’s bus, he wasn’t alone. The woman who’d been with him the first day, when he’d kissed Nami out of the clear blue, was also with him.
Geek Chic (Bleacke Shifters Book 2) Page 9