Knox’s size had scared me at first, but I wish he were walking beside me. I feel nervy on the street, wary and on edge. But I make it to my apartment with no problems, using my key to letmyself into the building and quickly locking the door behind me before I make my way up the stairs.
The one-bedroom apartment is above the flower shop, near the bottom of Lincoln Road. Without Nico, I’d have been sleeping in the motel or maybe even in my car.
I’d been finishing my sandwich at the diner when Nico mentioned, offhand, that he was looking for a waitress. A voice in my head had told me it was meant to be, a happenstance that the one place I wanted to stay came with a job and a chance to earn some much-needed cash. Gas isexpensive. Motels, even cheap ones, can be ruinous if you stay in one long enough.
The apartment belongs to Nico’s niece, who’s studying for a master's degree at the University of Arizona and living on campus. Her college apartment comes fully furnished, so she left most of her stuff in Rios for the two years she’ll be living down there.
Nico hadn’t been able to find anyone to take over the apartment, since tourists stop in town for a night or two, and Nico had no interest in taking on a second job by turning the apartment into an Airbnb.
It came fully furnished, with knives and forks in the drawers and sheets in the linen closet. All I needed to do was stock up on toiletries, and it was move-in ready. It was perfect. I spent the first day changing the bedding and bringing the few clothes I had from the trunk of my car.
I’d left Nevada in a blind panic. Derek had found me six months into my brand new life as a cocktail waitress in an off-the-strip casino. I’d walked through the front door, exhausted at two in the morning, to a punch in the face, swiftly followed by a hand wrapped around my neck and my back slammed against the wall.
For six months, I’d lived a quiet, normal life. The go-bag I’d always kept beside the front door became an object I trippedover rather than something I actively needed. So I emptied the two changes of clothes, spare cash, a small first aid kit, along with two bottles of water and a couple of protein bars. Essential things I would need if I had to run in a hurry. That had been a mistake I don’t intend to make again.
At the front door, I shrug out of my denim jacket and hang it on the coat hook above my black duffel. In it, I have just enough to see me through the first couple of days if I have to run again.
As always, I check the doors and windows carefully. I’m on the second floor of the building, but Derek is determined. He found me in Nevada, which means he could find me in Iowa. If he wanted to get into my apartment, he’d get in. All the windows I locked carefully before I left for work are still locked. There’s no sign anyone moved any of my things.
Only after I’ve confirmed that everything is exactly how I left it do I head to the bathroom to shower and wash off the smells from being in the diner for the last nine hours. I eat my breakfast and lunch for free, but dinner is my responsibility.
This is my favorite part of the day, and it delays the worst part for a little longer.
Thirty minutes later, I leave the bathroom in a cloud of steam, my skin pink, in baggy PJs, my hair left down to dry, ready to relax. Now for food.
Walking to the kitchen, I stand in front of the empty refrigerator for five minutes, then shut it with a sigh. Moving to a nearby cabinet, I pick out a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter from the cupboard next to the sink.
I eat my simple dinner standing up in my quiet kitchen, only because it feels too sad to eat it at the table for four on my own. Finished with my lazy meal, I clean up the crumbs and switch off the lights on my way to the bedroom. It’s too early to go to bed, barely six o’clock, but I borrowed a book from Lina, a fantasy that I’ll read for an hour then turn out the lights.
After all the excitement of today, I want to climb into a new world with dragons and knights. A world that won’t have anything to remind me of jerks like the guy from the diner.
Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting upright in bed with the book open. The words are right in front of my face, yet all I can think about is Knox shaking my hand.
That ordinary moment felt like the start of something new. Wyatt came in earlier than usual just to talk to me. He’d never done that before. It’s as if they’ve decided to stop keeping their distance and want something more from me.
Do I want something more from them?
Chapter 4
Maisie
As the week rolls on, more locals smile when four certain alphas continue making regular stops at the diner. They sit at one of my tables, and they always tip big.
And more importantly, no more guys try to grab me.
In the morning, Wyatt stops in for a coffee and a slice of pie, lingering to tell me a little more about New Orleans and a big family that grows larger every year.
After my parents passed, and then my grandma followed a year later, it was only my big sister and me. I look forward to Wyatt’s childhood stories, and the idea of having a big, loud, and fiercely loving family appeals to me more with every word.
Knox has started coming in for the odd cup of coffee and pie at random times during the day. He walks in and casually glances around, then heads to the counter to grab his hot drink and pie to go. Lina told me he must walk up from the construction site during his break. I asked her why, and she smiled and said she didn’t know.
I could be wrong, but Knox’s glance around the diner is never casual. He’s looking for someone, and he only relaxes when he doesn’t find them. I think Knox keeps coming back to the diner at random times to make sure the guy who tried to grab medoesn’t come back. To protect me. It seems stupid to say it to anyone, so I keep it to myself in case it’s a foolish thought.
“Are you sure you don’t want to switch sections again?” Lina asks sweetly at the start of lunch on a new week.
Which is how I know they’re back again.
I glance over at table five, catch Wyatt’s eye, and smile shyly as he settles into his regular lunchtime booth. He returns the smile with a wider one and points to the menu in what has become our regular habit.
