Once I was safely seated in the driver’s seat of my car, I felt a small sense of relief. That was short lived as I tried to crank mycar up only for it to cough like hell before stalling out. As I made a second attempt at starting my car, I could see the man, who I still couldn’t place, stroll out of the store from my side mirror. He was way too sexy to be a stalker, but in my line of business, I knew it was naïve to think that way.
I tracked his movements until he showed up at my driver’s side window. My shoulders dropped as I turned the key back and let the window down to hear what he had to say. It wasn’t like I could burn rubber on him. I was stuck.
“You sure look like you’re in a hurry to drink that black top,” he said, brandishing a boyish grin that made my stomach flutter.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked, lifting my brows.
“I was going to ask your name before you dashed out of there like somebody was chasing you. Now it sounds like you might need some help out here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously, you already know my name.”
“I’m a lot of things, but psychic isn’t one of them.”
“Well, explain how you know my name is Jameela,” I demanded.
That made him laugh, but I didn’t find anything funny. If this was some kind of setup, I wasn’t going to be the only one having a bad day. My car not cranking didn’t mean that I was vulnerable. I made sure to be armed and dangerous at all times. You never knew what kind of crazies were out lurking these days.
He squatted down so that we were eye to eye. Over the years, I stared down some of the hardest criminals in the city, but for some reason, this man’s gaze intimidated me. I had to fight not to avert my gaze. What the hell was going on? I didn’t get intimidated.
“Jamila is also Arabic for beautiful, habibti. It was only a coincidence that your name suits you so well.”
I was briefly disarmed by his response but quickly recovered. He took the pregnant pause between us as an opportunity to speak again.
“Are you OK, Jameela?”
“Uh, sure. I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed before I left,” I said, hoping he would move the hell on so I could figure out what I needed to do.
“Turn your key again. Have you had someone to check your fuel injectors?”
“Are you a mechanic?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“No, I’m actually a proprietor and an investor.”
“Humph, let me guess. You invest in trap houses.”
“Oh, wow. So, you just automatically assume that I’m a criminal?” he asked, placing a hand on his chest like he was offended.
“No, I don’t have room to make assumptions. That doesn’t mean I don’t have enough sense to ask if you are. I’m from this area. I know where all the drug holes are.”
He found that comical. I wasn’t sure if I would have. I was trying to encourage him to go away, but that didn’t seem to be working so far. I didn’t care how handsome he was or how his eyes made me want to look deeper and turn away at the same time, I wasn’t getting involved with some thug that I met at a liquor store. The only thing I wanted him to do was get out of my face so I could figure out if my car had finally put me down.
“Turn the key, Jameela,” he ordered.
Instead of continuing to protest, I rolled my eyes and sighed for the hundredth time before turning the key again.
“Do you have a mechanic in the area? I have a guy that’s not too far from here.”
I shook my head. “No, thank you. I can handle it.”
“Do you have someone on the way?”
“I literally just found out that it wouldn’t crank. I haven’t had the chance to call anyone.”
“Give me a second,” he said, standing to his full height and taking a few steps back.
“No,” I fussed as I pushed the door open and stood toe to toe with him.
“Hold on, Jameela,” he said, holding up one finger like I was interrupting him.
