Page 15 of Hesi-Dating
She stood. "Maybe we should get back to the car. The tow has to be on its way soon."
"Why are you dead set against us and pushing me to hook up with some random woman? Is it because I'm too old for you?"
She slid into the seat across from me and met my gaze for an instant. The cool, sensual woman of seconds ago now looked brittle. "Age has nothing to do with it. It sure as hell isn't lack of attraction, at least from my end. To me, you're pretty much the full package."
"Is it that I'm divorced and have…issues?"
"No. I've been involved with a man who's got a few suitcases of baggage in tow before. That's not it. The problem is all me. I…I just can't do this."
"Who hurt you, Joley?"
Shadows passed over her face before she locked down the raw emotion to paste on a forced smile. "We all have things in our past that affect who we are now, don't we?"
I wanted to push and find out what or who hurt her. But I didn't want to screw up whatever this was. I liked her and wanted more. "I'll wait in the friend zone for a while, but not forever."
"Maybe at some unknown point in the future, if we're still friends and there's still this thing between us, we can see if it works."
"You wouldn't be jealous if I took…" I swiped to activate my phone and scanned for the blonde's name. "Katie out on a date with plans to have mind-blowing sex all weekend?"
Her cheeks flushed as she stared at her coffee cup. She pressed her lips together.
"Not one iota of care about it?" With the way she kept checking me out I knew she was attracted to me. It was a huge ego boost being around her.
She wouldn't make eye contact. "I'd be jealous as hell. I'd hope everything about it sucked. I'd also know you needed it. Not for it to be an awful experience, but you need a successful hookup to know that you can. I can't be your one-night or one-weekend girl." Softly she added, "I don't want that with you."
Did that mean she wanted something more meaningful? Was that my poor battered heart surging?
My phone chose that moment to signal an in-coming text. Which then turned into five texts about an investigation I'd left a few hours ago. "I'm sorry, but I've got to step outside and make a quick call. Work."
She waved me to go.
While discussing minutia about the investigation and pacing in front of the convenience store, a souped-up Toyota sedan parked haphazardly, occupying the middle of two parking spots at the front entrance. A hip-hop beat shook the car before it turned off. I scanned the tattoos on the gaunt white guy in a tank top who emerged from the driver's side, recognizing the stylized skull on his wrist. The Red Crips gang was one of the most subversive drug and gambling organizations in the area. Unlike other area gangs, they kept an almost invisible profile and avoided major violence. That didn't mean they weren't involved in a lot of illegal activities. It meant their organization was smart, sneaky, and had tentacles that reached deep into government.
"Hey, I gotta go," I said, hanging up before the officer on the other end stopped talking.
When I pushed back inside, the man in the tank top leaned onto the table. Joley had backed herself as far away as possible. Her body language broadcasted:go away.
White-hot protective anger pushed me to act.Calm down or you'll make bad decisions. Deescalate this.
The fact the guy wasn't reading her body language and might be scaring her prompted me to palm the gun in my side holster to assure myself of its presence.
I stalked toward the booth. "Hey, darlin'. You ready to get going?"
Her face softened with relief when she saw me.
The guy blocking her exit from the booth twisted to face me. The reddened eyes, dilated pupils, and jittery movements meant he was high. "Whatcha want with her, old man?"
I met the gaze of Billy behind the counter. Billy nodded, which meant he had his finger on the panic button. Or might have already pushed it.
I held up my hands. "Had to take a call. We were just heading out, weren't we?"
"We were," she said, not looking as panicked as I'd expect for a girl in this situation. She gathered the donuts and put them in her purse. "If you'd excuse me, we're heading out."
Mr. Tank top didn't budge. He ogled Joley's chest, smiling a leer that showed off his yellowed teeth with a few pieces of silver on his incisors, not quite a full grill. "I'm thinking the little miss needs someone who can keep up with her." He massaged his groin, now sporting a semi, and chuckled to himself.
Joley didn't react outwardly, but her eyes narrowed. I didn't know her well enough to understand what calculations were going on inside her head. Her cool exterior suggested she'd been in situations like this. I wasn't sure if I liked that assessment or not.
I pushed back my hat. "Now, son, I'm not here to start something. I simply want to get my coffee and my lady. Then we're heading out. Why don't you get your snacks and call it a night. She's not the girl for you."
