Geek Chic (12 page)

“Looks like he got out on parole a few months back. Prison overcrowding. He was in on a non-violent drug offense.”

“Yikes.”

“Funny thing, his address listed with the department of corrections is a place over in South Tampa, nowhere close to Nami’s listed address. So I don’t think he’s staying with her.”

“Back to good?”

“She doesn’t have any outstanding tax liens, and I don’t see anything massively wrong on her credit reports. Looks like she’s been working for HART for over fifteen years, and she reports income from a dress shop. She was married once and divorced several years ago. No children of her own, that I found. And she’s a Leo, for what it’s worth.”

Dewi let out an amused snort. “Poor Beck. He’s screwed.”

“I’m assuming the reason you wanted all that info tonight was for background to hand to Beck in the morning?”

This time, she outright laughed. “Nooo.”

“Then why did you have me run background checks on her tonight?”

The pack had subscriptions with all the major services out there, including ones that swept the DMV and Social Security records. It wasn’t any magic hacking mojo on Ken’s part. Just greenbacks buying information based on providing a little bit of data to go by. They routinely used them to run checks on packmates causing trouble, or to check on humans having run-ins with packmates.

Only Peyton, Trent, Dewi, Beck, Badger, and now, of course, Ken and Martin, knew about it.

It was more impressive if it seemed they could almost magically conjure the information out of thin air.

“Because,” Dewi said, setting the papers aside on the bedside table, “
I
said
I
wanted to know what we were dealing with. If Beck is determined to do things the hard way, then he can do them the hard way now that I know she seems to be a good person.” She snapped her light off and turned to him, snuggling into his arms. “Good job on the ragey sex distraction earlier, tiger.” She leaned in and kissed him.

“How’d you know about that?”

“It’s a TMI.”

He seemed to consider it. “Might as well tell me. I don’t feel jealous of Beck.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“There have been plenty of times over the past couple of years when I’d get pissed off, Beck would distract me with training, or sex.”

“You know, I don’t consider that a TMI. I thought you were going to get graphic. I know about you and him, and it doesn’t bother me.”

“Okay.”

“You’re going to torture him, aren’t you?”

“Oooohhh, you’d better believe it.”

“Remind me to never piss you off, sweetheart.”

“You could never piss me off.”

“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 brain 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.