Spotting a bus stop at the corner of the street, he noticed a little old lady with a small dog waiting.
Nick approached her and pulled out yesterday’s newspaper from his back pocket. “Excuse me, do you know where this address is?” He pointed to the ad in the classified section.
Her little dog kept yapping and pulling at the leash. It seemed determined to bite him. “Hush, Max. Sit.” She squinted as she tried to read the paper. “That’s not far from here. Three blocks that way.” She pointed along the road they stood on. “Then take a right at the lights and cross the park.”
While dodging the little dog’s attempts to taste his flesh, he thanked the lady and followed her directions.
Nick reached the park where the coffee shop owned by the shifter sat across the street. He studied the gargoyle statues once more. Prior to their migration to this continent, he’d lived in Prague. He and his brothers made a living working the tourists. Taking pictures with live gargoyles made good enough money to feed them. It was Prague, after all. Then things had gone bad when the government insisted on income tax and papers.
They were gargoyles. Borders didn’t apply to them. Or they hadn’t until a few months ago. None of them had birth certificates, let alone passports. Norm had been born in the Carpathian Mountains, Nick in the Alps—not sure if it was the Italian or French—Nate and Neil on some deserted island in the Mediterranean. His parents still lived there.
He circled the park, reading off the street names as he passed. None of them were what he was looking for. He was sure he had followed the old lady’s directions correctly. He stared at his folded paper as if the answers would appear before him.
A familiar face caught his attention as he spotted the owner from the coffee shop, Peter. Nick waved his arm over his head, the seams of his shirt protesting. “Hey, Mr. Paulson, do you know where Lily Street is?”
The shop owner paused mid-step before turning toward him. “Do I know you?” Peter stared at his face as if trying to remember his name.
Nick grinned and held out his hand. “It’s Nick from yesterday. The gargoyle.”
The shifter gave him a slow blink before shaking his hand again. “You said your kind doesn’t have a human form.” Peter stuck his finger in his ear as if cleaning it out. “Did I hear you wrong?”
“We don’t.” He pulled out the charm from under his shirt. The bright sunlight glinted off the multiple strands of transparent webbing within the circle. “It’s a magical charm that allows me to be human. Neat, right?”
Peter assessed him from head to toe while stalking a slow circle around him. “That kind of magic is rare.”
Nick frowned. “You don’t say. It’s not like I had a lot of choice. I’m determined to stay in New Port and to fit in, I need a human form. I made a deal with a witch. It will be fine. I even left her shop without selling my soul.” He winked.
The coffee shop owner’s smile held a feral edge. “You can call me Peter. Mr. Paulson is my father.” He clapped Nick on the shoulder. “Why are you looking for Lily Street?”
He showed him the newspaper. “I’m still job-hunting. The convenience store is looking for a night clerk.”
Peter grimaced. “Do you know why they need a new night clerk?”
He shook his head. “I’m new here, remember?”
“The last one was shot. That place gets robbed every month. You don’t want to work there, Nick.”
Fingering the ad, he tried not to look so disappointed. A gunshot would not harm him as a gargoyle, but he didn’t know the limitations of this charm spell. “Maybe not, but I’m not qualified for most jobs being offered in the paper. I need to start somewhere.”
Peter crossed his arms. “The job at the coffee shop is still open.”
Nick peered down at him, eyebrow quirking. “Are you serious?”
“Sure.” The shifter nodded. “I like you, Nick. That’s half the battle when I’m looking for a new employee. You’re driven and determined. I need that at the shop. Most of my employees are college students, trying to get by. My shop is just a way-station in their career. I need someone more grounded if I’m going to expand.”
“You’re expanding? Are you planning to open another shop across town?” He would prefer to stay closer to the apartment since he was still learning how to navigate the city.
“Nah, I want a bigger shop in the same area. The shifters are building a large neighborhood close by. The park will be a central destination for most. I bought a place that’s right between. It even has a kitchen so I can serve food along with the coffee.” He grinned. “Shifters love to eat.” He patted his flat stomach. “When can you start?”
“Now?”
Peter slung an arm around his shoulders and steered him toward his new place of employment. “Excellent answer. We’ll start you behind the counter and train you with the coffee equipment.”
The breakfast rush was over and Ruby wiped the coffee rings off the counter, trying to ignore the couple in the corner of the diner. There were dishes to be washed in the kitchen and a sandwich for her to eat, but she couldn’t leave.
The guy was much older than the girl and his hand clasped her wrist. From a distance, most people would see it as a sign of affection, but she knew better. The young woman’s hand was paler in comparison to her forearm and his knuckles were white. He was squeezing so tight that he was stopping the circulation to her fingers.
Something tore and Ruby glanced at the rag in her hands. She had clutched it and was pulling so hard she had ripped the edge. Dammit, why did some people like to hurt others?
Before she lost her nerve, she grabbed a fresh pot of coffee and strode to their booth. “Want a refresher?” She didn’t bother to wait for an answer and leaned over the table with the pot.
“We’re fine.” The man’s scowled deepened.
She poured coffee in his cup and moved it over a quarter inch. The hot liquid splashed on the table top and dripped onto his crotch. “Oh no.” She set the hot pot of coffee onto the empty table behind her as he released his hold on the girl.
He jumped to his feet. “Bitch.” He wiped at the wet spot with a napkin.
“Oh dear, let me get that for you.” She knelt in front of him and roughly wiped at the wet spot with her dirty rag, smearing ketchup across his zipper.
He growled, shoved her away, and stormed to the bathroom.
The girl was at her side and helping Ruby to stand. “I’m so sorry he did that.”
“I’m not.” Ruby lifted the girl’s wrist where finger marks were visible. Now that she was closer, Ruby could see bruises on her other arm as well. “Do you need help?” Gently, she caressed the girl’s injured wrist. “I’ve been in your place. You deserve better.” The girl reminded Ruby of Trixie.
She jerked her hand away and glanced at the bathroom.
“I’m here almost every day and if I’m not, the other girls know how to get in touch with me. If you ever need anything, don’t be shy. I want to help.”
A long time ago, she’d had someone who she thought loved her. He had. He’d loved her hard with his fists and feet and teeth. In some sick way, she’d thought she deserved it. Even after she had left him. She wished somebody had offered her escape like she was offering this girl.
Ruby didn’t have much to give, but any help she could give her she would.
The girl shook her head and returned to the booth, head down, eyes on her food.
Ruby strode into the kitchen and yanked off her apron. “I need some air, Mildred. Be back in five.”
She slammed open the rear door and leaned her back against the diner. Breathe. Her heart drummed. She wished she could erase certain memories. Breathe. Nausea twisted her gut.
Even after all these years, she was still a victim. Not from her old boyfriend anymore, but from circumstance and fate. She lived in the same neighborhood, dated the same kinds of guys, and was going nowhere fast. Ruby had thought chasing after a sugar daddy would give her leverage to escape
. Ryota had woken her from that pipe dream. She would have been just a different type of victim.
If she wanted out, it had to be on her terms.
To move up in the world, she needed cash. The diner was a dead-end job. She barely made enough to live. Ruby had to think bigger. Take chances. She had nothing holding her back. No more excuses to not try harder.
Nick could be the break she needed, but he’d leave her too. They all left her.
Hot tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. Dammit, she couldn’t afford waterproof mascara and would look like a raccoon if she didn’t get her shit together. She had to be more like Nick. Spread her wings and fly, make the best of what she had, and get up every morning ready to take on the world with a smile. Just the thought of him pushed away her bad memories. Maybe he was her happily ever after. It was difficult to believe—hope. Doubting him, doubting herself, was so much easier. Would hurt less when—if—he abandoned her.
She dabbed at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. If she had met a guy like Nick a couple of years ago, she would have taken him for everything he had. That’s not who she wanted to be.
A black sedan pulled in the back alley behind the diner. There wasn’t much room to park and her boss made sure to place no parking signs everywhere possible so his car wouldn’t be blocked.
The driver side door opened and a tall man exited. He moved with a shifter’s grace, too liquid to make her think wolf.
“You can’t park there. My boss is most likely calling the tow truck as we speak. He has a thing about this back alley.”
The stranger grinned with his eyes and did a cursory assessment that most men did when they first met her. Hair, tits, and ass. “I don’t think he’ll mind my car.” He held out his hand. “Peter Paulson.”
Ruby barely touched his hand in a quick, gentle shake. Life lessons had taught her not to offer strange men something to grab a hold on. “Ruby.” She glanced over her shoulder and took note that nothing stood between her and the diner entrance.
“You look upset, Ruby.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” She crossed her arms. “Just pissed at a customer.”
“Not a big tipper?” His smile told her he was only teasing, but it still stung. She didn’t cry over tips.
“No, he was being an asshole to his girl and there was nothing I could do to stop it.” Her bitchy tone had Peter’s eyes widening. “Is there something I can do for you, Peter? I have a sandwich in there with my name on it.”
His smile only grew wider the snarkier she got. “I’m here to see your boss.”
Great, he would probably report her. At this point, nothing would surprise her. She might as well pack her bags and start scouting abandoned buildings to live in. “Follow me.”
She led Peter through the back door and into the kitchen. Ruby’s boss was already there, phone in hand as if he were about to call the towing company.
“Peter! I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.” Her boss swiped his phone and pocketed it. He held out his arm and shook Peter’s hand in that firm businessman way. “I see you met Ruby,” he muttered under his breath.
“Things are really starting to pick up at the coffee shop and I’m anxious to get started. I hope you don’t mind, but I need the signed paperwork to settle the renovation permits this afternoon.”
Her boss almost bounced in glee. The image was burned in her retinas forever. “Just give me a minute. They’re in my office—uh—your office now.” He clapped Peter on the shoulder and hurried to the stairwell leading to the basement.
Mildred wiped her hands on her apron and came around the chopping block in the center of the kitchen. “So, you’re the new owner?”
“You bet.” Peter stood, hands on hips as he surveyed the inside of the diner. “It will take some work, but we’ll make this place a moneymaker.”
Great job at first impressions, Ruby.
Chapter Ten
Ruby still couldn’t believe she’d met her new boss while crying in the back alley like a sissy.
She sat at her kitchen counter, feet soaking in a tub of warm water with Epsom salt. The first thing she was going to invest in, once she was more financially secure, was a better pair of shoes. The stilettos were history.
The small purse she kept her tips in sat in front of her. It had been a quiet day. Almost as if the regulars had heard the whispered rumors of the diner changing hands and decided to mourn in private. She emptied the purse on the counter and counted the meager contents. As a bartender, her tips made up most of her income. The cuter she looked and the more she flirted, the more money she brought home.
Waitressing wasn’t going to pay her rent this month. Even if Nick started a job today, they would make him wait the customary three weeks for his first pay. She rested her forehead in her hands and stared at the counter top. Ruby didn’t want to sleep with her landlord but it was looking like she would have no choice. She didn’t even have the fucking money to get good and drunk before having to do the deed either.
Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She still wore the stupid waitress uniform her ex-boss insisted on. Would Peter change this policy? Ruby checked who was calling before answering. “Hey, sugar.” She forced a chipper tone into her voice.
“Hey, back at you,” her sister, Trixie, replied. “I haven’t heard from you in a few days. Is everything all right?”
Trixie and she had grown up in hell together. It had made them very close. Her sister was the only person Ruby trusted and they usually texted frequently, but Ruby had had other things on her mind. Things she didn’t want Trixie to worry about. Like money. “Just been real busy with work. They just sold the diner.”
“Oh no, did you lose your job?” The silent again hung in the air between them.
“Not yet. I met the new owner today.” It shouldn’t be long before he fired Ruby after that afternoon’s drama. “I’m pretty sure he’s a shifter.”
“When the wolf pack decides to do something, they don’t hold their punches. I can’t believe how much real estate they bought in the neighborhood.”
“I don’t think the new boss is a wolf. He moves differently than Ken or Betty.” They were the only two wolf shifters she knew well. Ruby wouldn’t mention Ryota to Trixie. That fiasco was going down in her never-going-to-admit-it-happened book.
“Are you going to start judging shifters by the way they move?”
“You know what I mean. You can’t take the animal out of the shifter. Bears lumber, wolves stalk, and deer startled. This guy melted around corners.”
“He sounds interesting. Is there anything there?” Trixie was asking about her interest in him.
“You made me promise not to date anymore of my bosses after Jamie. Are you changing your policy?” Ruby couldn’t help but grin. That’s the effect Trixie had on everyone. Even though her sister was a newly made vampire, she was still a sunny person.
“I think that’s a good policy to keep. Do you think what happened at the bar will happen at the diner?”
Ruby sighed. “I hope not.” The New Port wolf pack had bought a lot of the empty land around their neighborhood and started purchasing the local businesses and empty buildings. Their hope was to make shifter lifestyle more acceptable here. The focus of this whole project was a huge neglected park not far from where she lived. Actually, she was surprised they hadn’t purchased her apartment building. “You feel like coming over and watching some bad movies on TV?”
Ruby could really use some company, but if she admitted it to Trixie, she would know something was wrong. Her finances were her problem, not Trixie’s. Her sister had her own problems with recently becoming a vampire and moving in with her ancient, slightly crazy boyfriend.
“Viktor has a meeting tonight with the local nest, but we’re free tomorrow.”
“You could come over without him.” Ruby didn’t have anything against Viktor. He had saved Trixie’s life after all, but he had the whole alpha jerk attitude that Ruby was trying to get
away from.
“You know it’s still not safe to be alone with me. I would never forgive myself if I hurt you.”
Ruby couldn’t stop her long, frustrated sigh. She missed her sister and was tired of being the third wheel.
“It’s not forever. My control is getting better every day.”
“I know. I just miss you.” They’d always been together since Trixie had been born. This was the first time they’d ever lived apart. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Ruby disconnected the call. She would have to remember to invite Nick to join them. He was so much fun to have around. Nick was the only thing making her life bearable.
Who would’ve thought a gargoyle could be so sweet? And, where was he? She hadn’t a clue when he’d return. Ruby had been home for at least an hour and still no sign of him. Maybe he’d found work.
She scanned the empty apartment before gathering her meager tips into her wallet. Inside, she spotted a black glossy business card. Plucking it out of her wallet, she fingered the thick, expensive paper. Home Delivery Blood Professionals was printed across the front. HDBP for short.
Vampire existence was not common knowledge. Ruby had been sworn to secrecy. She suspected the only reason she was still alive was her relationship with Trixie. However, there were other enterprising humans who knew of the vampires. This company was one of them.
They delivered blood to vampires. Kind of like pizza delivery, but better dressed. Viktor had used their services the first night he’d brought Trixie home as a vampire. The HDBP representative had offered her his business card and hinted at a job. She’d been so wrapped up in the sudden change in her and Trixie’s life that Ruby had forgotten.
She flipped the card over and read the name. George Moir. His phone number was listed below. She assumed the job was blood-related and shuddered. Needles and she were not friends so she’d imagined fangs wouldn’t be much better.
Not Her Gargoyle: Shifter Romance (Not This Series Book 4) Page 7
