by Tiya Rayne
I roll my eyes. “You raised me without a man and I turned out fine.”
“Me and you aren’t the same person,” she retorts. “Besides, your grandfather was the only man for me. When he died, I knew there would never be another like him, so I didn’t even try to replace him.”
I glance over to the picture on the mantle of him and Grams at their wedding. Grams was all smiles as she peered up at her husband. Granddaddy was handsome with his dimpled smile.
He passed away when my mom was only fifteen-years old. I only know him from stories told by Grams. He was an incredibly loving husband who could build anything and doted on his wife and child. All my life I’ve searched for a man like him and my father. And either they were the last of a rare kind or as I’m starting to believe—I’m not the right woman.
“Emory is fine and well taken care of and I’m happy. I’m not looking for anyone. One divorce is enough.”
“There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t have to talk myself out of putting a bullet in that man for what he did to you.”
I laugh, but I’m not a hundred percent sure she isn’t joking about killing my ex-husband.
“I told you, if you go to jail for murder, I’m not coming to visit,” I joke.
She huffs at my comment and rolls her eyes before getting serious again. Her brown eyes burrowing into me. “You know, you never did tell me why all of a sudden you took this new stance against relationships? I used to not be able to keep you from an old dirty neck boy.”
I look away to keep her from seeing the truth. She wouldn’t understand.
“I don’t want to right now,” I reply quickly.
We sit in silence for a moment, me fighting to keep her from figuring out my embarrassing truth and her watching every signal I give off. That’s what she does. Needing space, I stand to my feet. Stretching my arms over my head, I yawn.
“I’m heading to bed.”
Grams nods her head, giving me the reprieve I need. “Go stop by Munchkin’s room so she will go to sleep.”
Pausing in my exit I ask, “She’s still up?”
“You know she won’t go to sleep until she knows you’re home safe.”
I sigh. “I don’t know who worries more about me, you or her.”
“We have our reasons, baby girl.” Grams’ words follow behind me as I leave the room.
She always says that, she has a reason to worry about me so much. I never figured out the reason, seeing as I live a mostly boring life. Well, since my divorce anyway.
I climb the stairs heading to Emory’s room. When I open the door, I find my child sitting up in bed playing with the rabbit Grams got her. When she sees me, her face lights up, she places the rabbit down beside her and picks up her tablet off the nightstand. I make my way into the room as the computerized voice greets me.
“How was your date?”
I chuckle at her question.
“It wasn’t actually a date. I had a conversation with a man.” A very attractive, attentive, and funny man.
“If it wasn’t a date, why are you smiling so hard?”
I hadn’t even realized I was smiling. Sitting down beside her, I place my back against the headboard and pull my feet up.
“Maybe I’m happy to see you.” I pull her in and plant a kiss on her head.
She gives me a look to suggest she doesn’t believe me. We both laugh before growing silent. Emory taps away on her tablet again.
“Grams is right. You need to find a boyfriend.”
I gasp and look sideways at her. “Despite what you and Grams think, I’m not that desperate.”
“We know,” she signs, instead of using the tablet. “We want you to be happy.”
I swear, sometimes I can’t tell who the mother and daughter are in this situation.
“I’m happy with you and Grams.” My reply brings a smile to her face. I fix her bonnet on her head and drop a kiss to her nose. “Okay, what book should we read tonight?”
She swipes a few times on her tablet and hands it to me. “The Return, again?” I ask.
She nods. I swear I can recite this book with my eyes closed, she loves it so much.
“All right, let’s read about a half vampire and half angel.” I get comfortable, Emory wraps up with her rabbit and lies right beside me. I start reading. “The smell of moss and damp wood is strong as I run through the forest.”
Twenty minutes later, Emory is sound asleep. I place her tablet down and climb out of the bed. I cut off her lamp and place a kiss on her cheek before heading to my bed.
* * *
***
My phone pings the moment I’m out of the shower. I pick it up and smile.
Unknown Number: I can’t wait to see you again. I can’t believe I finally got to meet you.
Malia: Same. I enjoyed your company.
I take a seat on my bed, watching the dots on my phone appear. I can’t believe how giddy I am waiting for him to reply. A flash of light outside my window causes me to look up.
I stand and walk over to my window that faces the sidewalk. There’s no one there. The street is pretty vacant this time of night, one of the reasons I love this house. The ping of my phone draws my attention back down to the screen.
Unknown Number: Get some sleep, beautiful. I don’t want you falling asleep on me tomorrow. LOL.
I laugh out loud before replying back.
Malia: I promise I won’t. Goodnight.
Movement catches my attention outside, this time I scan the area. Across the street from me, where there’s a break in the brownstones, a shadow lingers. I have to squint to make it out. Suddenly, a figure steps out onto the sidewalk.
It has to be a man, tall with broad shoulders. His hair is covered by a beanie and his hands are stuffed in his pockets. It looks as if he’s facing my window, but I can’t be certain. After what feels like an eternity, the man seems to turn and head in the opposite direction.
I once again get that odd feeling, but I quickly shake it off. It’s late and I’m overreacting. I climb into bed with dreams of beautiful eyes and soft lips.
Chapter 7
Her
Seth
* * *
The card I found in my brother’s pocket this morning draws my attention again. How long has he had it? What the hell is he doing with it? And more importantly, why the hell is her name on it?
“She doesn’t want to be kept,” my brother, Hawk says, pulling my attention back to him and his gorgeous redhead.
The hard set in his jaw and the stunned look on Rose’s sister’s face tells me they are both playing a game of denial. Neither of the two are any good at it. After all the shit we pulled to get these two married, their asses better be fucking forever.
“Priest was right, this is going to be good.” I have no doubt my brother is going to fall hard for the beauty sitting across from me.
Hawk finding love makes sense. He was never made for this lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, he’s good at it, but it isn’t for him. If not for his disability, I have no doubt he’d be a natural family man. Me, however, I’m not made that way. Neither is Lucien.
I turn back to the window, gazing across the street at the bookstore. Why would he have that card in his pockets?
“How soon can Lucien have this back to me?” Again, Hawk pulls me back into the conversation.
I lean back in my chair, running a hand though my hair. I’m not my brother’s fucking keeper. Instead of showing my frustration, I tamp down on my anger. “I don’t know. You know the computer shit is all him. I’m just the tactical part of the team.”
“Well, how soon can you find him?”
Now that question I could answer, but I won’t. I can hear my brother screaming at me now. “What the hell are you doing, Seth? Stay away from her.”
Too bad he can’t stop me. I smile as I think of the reply to Lucien’s whiny plea. “You tried to keep her away from me. Not cool, brother.”
“Not long,” I say with a smir
k. “I have a feeling he will be looking for me very soon.” Especially when he realizes I found the card.
“What have you done, Brother? And how many bodies are there?”
I laugh. Hawk was always good at making me laugh. All my brothers played pivotal roles in my life. I’m the most like Beast. I work the best with Many, and Zel is good about calling me on my shit.
“No bodies, Brother.” I don’t add on the yet. “But I may have found something my dear little brother tried to hide from me.”
This time when my attention is pulled to the little bookstore, she’s there, and that feeling comes back. The one I haven’t felt since I was a nine-year-old child, standing behind the shed on the playground with a little girl who reminded me of candy. At the time, I had no idea what the feeling was, but I understand it now. Rose pointed it out to me. It’s desire.
From the moment I found the card with her name on it in my brother’s pocket, I became restless. When the hell did she give it to him?
Lia turns toward the shop I’m sitting in and the breath in my lungs stall. My heart beats an erratic rhythm. Exactly like the very first time I met her; I’m drawn to her. Standing, I stop and drop a couple of bucks on the table.
“I have to go. I’ll deliver your flash drive to my brother along with the hotel number.” I’m halfway to the door before I turn to him and say. “Hawk.” I wait for him to find my voice. “If you change your mind… you already know Luc and I are with you.”
I don’t have to explain what I’m saying. He knows the Church won’t let him keep her, I don’t care if he is retired. Despite me having this card in my pocket, I know we don’t get happily ever afters.
Hawk nods and I head out of the coffee shop. The sun beams down on me as I have one goal in mind—her. I need her.
I cross traffic, not waiting for the cars to stop. A horn blares, but I barely register it. The closer I get to her, the more I can feel that burning in my chest. My skin seems to come alive with an electrical current. I step on the sidewalk near her shop and the phone in my pocket goes off.
“Fuck,” I growl at the interruption.
I turn my back to her and answer my work number.
“Hello,” I say even though I know the person on the other line won’t say it back.
“Your order is ready.” The line goes dead and an alert comes through. I pull the phone from my ear and glance down at the screen.
I have a new assignment. I replace my phone in my pocket and turn back to the little bookstore. She isn’t there anymore.
The call helped clear my mind a little. I can’t storm into her store. Besides, I only needed to see her, to know the card he tried to keep from me belonged to her, my long, lost Candy Girl.
My anger rears back up. I pull out my phone to call my brother. It takes a few minutes for him to answer.
“Why are you calling me?” he asks before pausing. I don’t reply right away, I’m giving him time to make assumptions. “Where are you?”
A smile lifts my lips at the suspicion in his tone. “Did you think I wouldn’t find the card, Brother?”
“I swear, if you fucking go near her.”
“And who might her be?” I say only to annoy him further.
His growl comes through the line. “Stay away from Malia.”
Even the sound of her name sets off that feeling in me again.
“When did you get this card?” I bellow.
“Does it matter?” he counters not matching my furious tone.
“When?” I seethe.
“Last night,” he replies calmly. “She gave it to me then.”
I rake a hand through my hair, fighting off the fog.
“She isn’t yours to keep.” I don’t realize how angry the words come out until the guy walking nearby turns toward me then quickly scrambles away.
“I saw her first.”
“I talked to her first.” My voice raises. “She was supposed to be mine. You and Priest took her away from me.”
“You can’t have her, you know that. You ruin everything you touch.”
My breath grows heavy and the fog starts to cover my vision. It isn’t an actual fog, just the cloudiness of my mind that makes me focus on one thing.
“This is why you can’t have her, Seth. Walk away.”
I close my eyes, drowning out his voice. The need to have her makes electricity shoot through my veins. I take a step toward the glass storefront.
“I don’t think I will this time,” I taunt.
“You will ruin her, like you ruin everything else.”
“I would never hurt her,” I shout so loud spittle flies from my mouth.
In my fury, I bump into the person next to me nearly knocking him on his ass. With one hand still attached to the phone at my ear, I reach the other inside my coat and pull the Bowie from the holster at my back. Before the stranger can offer up a single apology, the blade is pressed to his neck.
“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?” the guy says, holding his arms up as if I’m a wild animal needing to be tamed.
I look around me, people are staring at me. Their eyes wide and frightened. I move away from the guy, replacing my Bowie. Then I take a step back from the bookstore and from her.
Reality starts crashing down on me. Lucien is right. I destroy everything I touch.
“Go home, Brother,” he says a lot calmer now. “We have a job to do.”
The phone goes dead and I drop it away from my ear. I take one more glance at the storefront where my Candy Girl is. I shake my head and walk away.
I can’t have her. They won’t let me keep her, and I wouldn’t let her go. This is for the best. I turn away and head back to my car. I need to kill something.
Chapter 8
Ready to Date
Malia
* * *
“Put those books over in the contemporary romance section,” I say to Emory as I hand her a stack of new arrivals.
We’re in the back-storage room going through the new boxes of books. She smiles and takes the books, heading toward the front of the store. I lift the stack of books by KT Adler, one of my favorite Rom Com authors and sniff. There is still nothing better than the smell of a fresh book.
“Lia, you have some trash out here,” Tiana says at the door.
“Very funny, Tiana.” Stepping into the room as if he owns the place is my ex-husband.
No one can ever say Trenton Brooks isn’t an attractive man. Tall, tanned skin, a goatee, dark blonde hair, and gorgeous blue eyes with lashes that would make a woman jealous. His body is trimmed and fit due to all the time he spends at the gym.
It’s been two years since I last saw Trenton, not since the divorce was final. There was a time the sight of him would have had me wet as a river. Now, though he’s still gorgeous, all I feel is pain.
“Hello, beautiful,” Trenton says with a smile. The one that had my panties around my ankles the first night I met him.
I climb to my feet smoothing a hand down my cut out skinny jeans. I picked my outfit out with careful deliberation today. Knee high brown leather boots.
The best damn jeans in the world. They mold to my thighs and ass with perfection. A plum colored low-cut top that looks great with my complexion and a black cardigan.
I look sexy casual. I wasn’t planning on running into my ex, but thank God I’m looking good doing it. I mentally scold myself. Why should I give a damn what I look like around him?
“Trent, what are you doing here?”
“Leeching again, probably,” Tiana says, folding her arms over her chest.
I give my best friend a pointed look, hoping she won’t get started with him.
“You know, Tiana, this is a place of business. Why don’t you conduct yourself accordingly, if you even know how?”
Before Tiana can reply and start the fight I know is coming, I go ahead and cut in. “Tiana, can you please help Emory?”
She narrows her eyes at me. I give her a pleading gaze that will hop
efully get her to drop it. These two can never be in the same room with each other without wanting to physically harm one another.
Her arms drop to her sides and her chin lifts defiantly. “Sure, boss lady. The faster we get those books done, the quicker you can get ready for your date tonight.” She looks directly at Trenton when she says the last part before walking out.
I’ve told her and Grams plenty of times, Lucien is only coming by for pie tonight and they both refuse to accept that.
Trenton immediately turns to me. “You have a date?”
“I’m a single woman.” I turn my back to him, picking up the now empty box on the floor and place it on the cart with the others.
I don’t feel the need to explain to him about the whole not a date thing.
“That you are,” he says. “I didn’t realize you were ready to date again.”
I turn back to him, leaning my hip up against the cart. “Well, I wouldn’t absolutely say I’m ready to date, but you know, a girl has needs.” I shrug nonchalantly.
He watches me with those hooded dark blue eyes, his nostrils flare, and he rolls his tongue over his bottom lip. “Trust me, I remember those needs, love.”
All right, what the hell is going on? First, sexy Lucien walks into my life, wanting to take me out and now Trent is back, trying to sweet talk me. I have definitely walked into the twilight zone.
“What do you want?”
He chuckles. “I’m moving back. The company is expanding and they’re asking me to open up a new gym.”
“That’s great. I know how hard you worked for your own franchise. I’m happy for you.”
And I’m happy. I spent seven years of my life in love with this man. It wasn’t until the last two years things got messy. Despite how we ended, I still want him to be successful.
He takes a step toward me, his towering height causing me to look up at him. Even though he’s tall, standing at six feet, he has nothing on Lucien’s height. Trenton grabs my hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth. The action is so bold it takes me a minute to figure out what he’s doing.
