If he could coax it from her, coax her into trusting him enough to believe, to want this as badly as he knew he wanted it.
Wanted her.
Back to Citrus Park, he scanned his bus pass again, glad to see that the farther they got from rush hour that the number of riders dropped. He leaned forward. “When does your shift end today?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” He didn’t want to push too hard. When he sat back she looked at him, as if unconvinced her answer would shut him up so readily.
He smiled.
She immediately faced forward again.
When she got off the bus at the Marion Transit Center and took what he supposed was a lunch break, he got off, too. He was waiting, watching, when she emerged from the driver lounge and walked back out to another bus, but for the same route, and switched places with that driver.
Fortunately, his usual seat was also vacant. After swiping his bus pass, he settled in. He’d been prepared to run if she’d reported him, but he suspected from her reactions to him that reporting him wasn’t what she wanted to do.
Maybe she didn’t even know what she wanted to do.
Her instincts drew her to him, though. He felt it, heard the way her heart raced when she realized he was still focused only on her.
Somehow, he would win her over. She had a far stronger will than he’d first suspected.
Only befitting the mate of an Alpha wolf.
A little after five o’clock that afternoon, they were back at the Citrus Park Walmart, and she was switching places with another driver. She ignored Beck as he followed her across the parking lot, until she turned on him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He stopped, studying her. “I think I’m following you.”
“Why?”
He smiled. “You felt it, didn’t you? When we kissed. Don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t.”
“Felt what? That a crazy white guy assaulted me?”
“That a man you are terrified of because of how badly you’re attracted to him kissed you.” He edged a little closer. “That you’ve had feelings ever since that one kiss that you can’t explain.”
He was only feet away from her and opted to try it again. “That you heard me mentally call you mine.”
Her eyes widened as a high-pitched squeak escaped her. She turned and bolted for one of the cars, an old Toyota Camry he knew he’d be replacing for her ASAP.
After taking a picture of her license plate, he stepped out of the way as she backed out of the parking space. She still wore wide-eyed fear when she drove away, nearly rear-ending another car when he lifted his hand to her in a wave.
He walked back to the benches. He’d have to wait for the next bus to take him to the Marion Transit Center downtown, where he’d parked his car.
After sensing how scared she was, with desire and longing threaded through those emotions, he thought it best not to press her for more today. She could have, at any time, called over the radio for help, or called a deputy. Hell, she could have reported him when he waited for her at the transit center during her lunch break.
But she hadn’t.
That meant something inside her, despite her fear, wasn’t ready to turn away from him yet.
There was always tomorrow. And he planned to be here bright and early tomorrow morning, waiting on her to start her shift. Now that he knew her name, had her license plate, knew her route, he could afford to force his desire back down to a controllable level.
He wanted her to want him. He wouldn’t force her. He would seduce her and have her begging for it by the time he was done.
He didn’t call Dewi or anyone else to come get him. For now, he wanted to sit and stare at his phone, at the picture he’d surreptitiously snapped of her while she drove.
Wanted to sit and gaze at her all night long.
Mine.
* * * *
Nami nearly plowed into a car while trying to drive out of the Walmart parking lot. That startled her, shaking her up enough to force herself to calm the heck down.
Mystery Hunk or not, she wasn’t ruining her perfect driving record for anyone.
Beck, she corrected herself before she realized what she was thinking.
Wait, I can’t think about him like that.
Why not? another pesky mental voice asked.
Why didn’t I report this? Why didn’t I call the cops?
At a stoplight, she had to force her hands to let go of the steering wheel so she could flex her fingers. She realized how much they hurt from the steely grip she’d kept on the bus steering wheel today. She never drove like that. Driving usually relaxed her. Only during bad traffic, or bad weather, did she ever remotely stress out.
Today, she could barely focus on driving, too aware of Mystery Hunk—
Beck
—sitting right there and watching her.
And the way he smelled! Delicious, just like the other day. Not even a cologne, but as if it was his natural scent.
She’d almost reached home when she realized she still had to go pick up Da’von.
Oh. My. God.
This was so unlike her. She didn’t even recognize herself.
She got her car pointed in the right direction and focused on breathing. If she didn’t have herself settled before she got there, Lu’ana would notice and be all over her.
Nami didn’t know if she had the brain cells, much less the will, to hide this new development from her sister today. And if she told her what happened, she would be insisting Nami called the cops or report him—
Beck
—to her supervisor.
I don’t know where he lives. I don’t have his phone number. I don’t—
She took a deep breath to short-circuit those thoughts. She didn’t need any of that information about Beck, because whatever he thought, no matter why she was reacting to him the way she was, there was no way in hell’s happy acres anything would ever happen between them.
At the thought of that, she nearly burst into tears.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Somehow, she managed to get her emotions under control before she reached Lu’ana’s. Because they were eating at home tonight, Da’von was ready to go when Nami got there.
He wore an odd expression. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just tired. Long day. You ready?”
“I’m ready, but you look…weird.”
“Thanks a lot. Get in the car.”
Lu’ana stepped out of the kitchen, concern on her face. “Nami, you okay?”
She fought the urge to scream. “Just a really long-ass day. I’m tired, I want to go home, eat, and get a shower, so I can relax.”
And collapse in bed so I can think about Mystery Hu—
Beck.
Lu’ana crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrows arched in disbelief. “Mm-hmm. You look a lot worse than just having a long-ass day.”
“Every aggravating passenger on the face of the earth ended up on my route today. That’s all. Da’von, let’s go.”
Lu’ana looked like she didn’t want to drop it, but finally stepped over and gave Nami a hug. “Call me later if you want to talk about it, you stubborn woman.”
“Nothing to talk about, but thanks.”
On the way home, Da’von stared at her.
It uncomfortably reminded Nami of how Beck had stared at her all day while she drove.
“What?” she finally asked.
He slowly shook his head before facing front again. “Nothin’. I can tell you ain’t gonna talk about it.”
“Because there ain’t nothing to talk about. How are your classes?”
“Fine. Got an A on the programming test I turned in last week.”
Finally, something to take her thoughts off Beck. “That’s awesome!” She didn’t have to fake or force her enthusiasm. “I’m so proud of you!”
He stared down at his lap, s
omething he’d done all his life when he felt embarrassed, especially by praise. “Wasn’t hard.”
“I don’t care. This is why I rode you so much in high school, and why I still ride you now. So you can…” She wasn’t expecting to choke up. “So you can do what I couldn’t. All three of you.”
“When are you gonna go back to school?”
“I’m too old for that.”
“No you aren’t. There are people in my classes way older than you. People go back to school all the time.”
“That was seventeen years ago, I was in school. Nearly a whole life since. I wouldn’t know what to do. Maybe once I retire from driving.”
“You won’t retire,” he muttered, now staring out the window.
“What?”
“You heard me.” He faced her again. “You work your ass off for everyone but yourself, sis. It’d be nice to see you put that into you for a change.”
She didn’t have a reply to that, so she let it drop, the uncomfortable silence slowly expanding between them. When they got home, he headed to his room to drop his stuff off while Nami went to the kitchen.
Malyah turned from where she was washing dishes in the sink. “There you two are. I was about to call you. I was getting worried.”
The apartment smelled wonderful. “What’d you cook?”
“Roasted a chicken. Should be done any time now. Just cleaning up.” The small table was set and ready for them.
“Thanks, sugar.” Nami turned to go to her bedroom.
“Hey, Nami?”
“Yeah?”
“Did something happen today? Lu’ana called me.”
Nami worried if her eyes rolled any harder they’d pop out of her skull and bounce across the kitchen floor. “I’m fine. Rough day. Nothing more.”
“If you say so.”
“I say so.” Once Nami had safely closed herself behind her bedroom door, the shakes hit her. She heavily sank onto the bed, letting the strap of her purse slip down her arm.
Kicking off her shoes, she tried to get the scent of Beck out of her mind.
And the sound of his voice out of her head.
Mine.
Lord, how she wished it could be. There was no way she’d let some random stranger come in and upset all the hard work she’d put in through the years to make sure those three kids had as good a life as she could give them.
Even a stranger as handsome as Beck.
Chapter Nine
After Beck retrieved his car he headed straight for Dewi’s. He knew Martin would be there, too, going over things with Dewi and Badger. Bursting in, Beck located the four of them in the office. Martin, Badger, and Dewi stood staring over Ken’s shoulder at his laptop.
“I found her!” Beck crowed.
“You did?” all four of them parroted.
“Yes! Namiyah Drexler.” He opened her picture on his phone and showed them.
Martin frowned. “Okay, stupid question. If you found her, why are you not with her right now?”
“Not so stupid,” Dewi said, “because I’m wondering it myself.”
“I think we all are, lass,” Badger added.
“Ditto,” Ken said.
Beck realized they were all staring at him, waiting for an explanation. “I’m taking it slow.”
“Slow?” the four of them asked.
“Yeah, slow.” Beck stared at her picture again. “She’s scared. Terrified.”
Dewi and Badger exchanged a glance. “Um, Beeeeck?” Dewi started. “How are you going to get her used to you if you’re not, you know, with her?”
“I’m going to ride her bus every day, until she agrees to talk with me, alone.”
“What?” they all echoed.
“You four are starting to sound like the Stooges, you know that?”
“Lad,” Badger said. “Don’t ye think that’s a little unorthodox? Claim her already and be done with it.”
“Do you have her address?” Martin asked.
“Nope, but I have her license plate.” He pulled up the picture on his phone and showed Ken so he could note it. The man’s fingers started flying over the laptop’s keyboard.
A moment later, success. “According to the DMV,” Ken said, “she lives in an apartment in Carrollwood.”
“Great,” Dewi said. “Let’s go.”
“No,” Beck said.
They stared at him like he’d shifted into an octopus. “No?” they asked in unison.
“No. I’m going to ride her bus tomorrow. And the day after that, if I need to. And the day after that, even. As long as it takes.”
Dewi stared at him for a moment. “Why not just show up at her house and talk to her tonight?”
“Because I told you, she’s scared. I want to take things slow. I don’t want her to think I’m a creepy stalker.”
“Yeeesss,” Martin drawled, “because riding her bus all day, every day, isn’t creepy at all.”
Dewi, Ken, and Badger also wore equally dubious expressions. “Well, sure, when you say it like that it sounds creepy,” Beck admitted.
Dewi arched an eyebrow at him. “When anyone says it like that.”
“You don’t understand—”
“Beck,” Badger interrupted. “Yer starin’ at the four people on the face of the bloody earth who do understand. We just don’t understand yer decision-makin’ process here, lad.”
“Look, I can tell how scared she is. Let me do this my way. She’s my mate. Got it?” He realized after the words left his mouth how harsh they’d sounded. “Sorry.”
Martin was only twenty-nine, and while an Alpha, he was single and unmated. Beck didn’t expect him to understand. Dewi, however, was mated, and Badger…
Well, the old Prime Alpha widower wolf had experienced love and loss long before Beck had ever been born.
“I’d have no problems going with you,” Dewi said. “Act as a go-between for you. Maybe she’d feel less threatened with a woman there.”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” Martin snarked.
She turned on him. “What?” Dewi’s indignation had rankled her scruff just as surely as if she’d been shifted.
Ken laughed. “Babe, you’re not exactly a shrinking wallflower. There are a lot of words I’d use to describe you. Non-threatening isn’t at the bottom of the list, but it’s close.”
“And it’s a long damned list,” Badger added.
She threw her hands up in the air. “Okay, fine. You’re absolutely right, Beck. Your mate, your call. Enjoy freaking her the fuck out.”
She shoved past Beck and headed for the doorway, where she turned and jabbed a finger at him in the air. “Just know that if you get arrested for stalking, or creeping, or whatever, I’ll make sure to give Peyton the whole goddamned story when he personally has to come all the way from Idaho to bail your ass out of jail. Because I refuse for the four of us to have anything to do with it. Got it?”
She stormed out. A moment later, the four men flinched when they heard the door to the master bedroom slam shut upstairs.
“Aw, shit,” Martin muttered. “Now you did it.”
Ken pushed his chair away from the desk. On his way out, he stopped next to Beck. “Gee, thank you for pissing her off. Now I’m going to have to go distract her and calm her down.”
“What are you bitching about?”
“She’s damn near worn me out to the point of exhaustion over the past few weeks. I love her and would die for her, you know that. But I’m just a human, not a shifter.”
It was only after Ken had left the office that Beck connected those dots. “Oooohhh.”
Badger let out a snort. “I hope ye claim her soon, lad. Ye seem to have misplaced yer brains for yer bollocks.” He departed as well, leaving Beck and Martin alone in the office.
“You have something you want to add since everyone else is piling on?” Beck challenged.
Martin held up his hands. “Dude, I’m just sayin’. I think you’re going about this the wrong way, but you’re right.
It’s your call.” He started around the desk for the door, then turned back to Beck. “By the way, I think I found a house today, not too far from yours. I’ve got an appointment to go look at it tomorrow afternoon with a realtor. So I should be out of your hair pretty soon.”
Beck grunted but gave no other reply as Martin left. When he heard the front door open and close, he knew the man was heading back to Beck’s house for the evening.
He sank into one of the office chairs in front of the desk. After staring at Ken’s computer, he reached out and turned it around.
On it was a search result from Google Maps, with Nami’s address plugged into it and a pin highlighting where she lived.
He could drive there in about thirty minutes, this time of evening.
No. I need to follow my instincts on this.
While part of him wanted to go pound on her door, grab her, and kiss her again, he knew that was absolutely the wrong way to go about this. Not without being an utter asshole in the process. Sure, he could go do that, but he’d feel guilty about it later, always wondering if she would have chosen to be his.
And he wanted his mate to actively choose him, not just fall for him because of whatever lupine love pheromones were at play. In his forty-nine years, he’d always felt a little…squeamish when he heard recounts of mating stories, even when they came from the female mates themselves. No matter that every one of them seemed happy with the final outcome, he didn’t want his claiming to be like that.
Wouldn’t do it like that.
And he felt guilty he hadn’t done a better job instilling that ethic in Dewi, even if her story had a happy ending and Ken had no complaints.
He sent himself the Google search results, his phone vibrating a second later when the e-mail arrived. Then he looked up the HART schedules for Nami’s route. He wanted to make sure he was there at the Walmart plenty early enough to get on her bus. He emailed those to himself as well.
He headed for the kitchen to scrounge up some leftovers. Badger joined him a few minutes later.
“Yer determined to do this yer way, aren’t ye?”
Geek Chic Page 7
