I smile down at her and the little boys who are gathered at the fence. “I don't know, Mr. Rafe and Mr. Deke are very busy. Do you want me to ask them?”
A chorus of excited yeses rises up from the kids. A few jump up and down.
“What’s next week?” Scott asks. I ignore him and say to Rafe, “We do a career day every Tuesday. We had the fire department last week. Could you guys come and talk about your service?”
The corner of Rafe’s mouth quirks up as if he’s amused by something, but all he says is, “Sure. Here.” He hands me a white business card. “My email and cell are on that. Call anytime, and we’ll set it up.”
“Will do.” I nod to him coolly. I’m still miffed about the no mixing with civilians rule that made Deke’s biker friend interrupt our moment last night.
“Sadie,” Scott says, but the bell rings.
“Got to go. I can’t take those,” I tell Scott, waving a hand at the rose bouquet. “One of my students is allergic.” I turn my back on him and smile up at Deke. “See you next week. Rafe, nice to meet you.”
The back of my neck tingles as I walk away. I stand against the wall by the door, and my kids fall into line. I know Deke’s watching, and it puts a big smile on my face. Fate brought us together today, and if everything goes well, next week, I’ll get to see him again. I already can’t wait.
Deke
“Gotta admit,” Rafe says as we watch Sadie guide her students back toward the school, “Your little human’s got a backbone.”
“She’s not mine,” I mutter. “Per your orders, as I recall.” My wolf howls at my denial. I don’t bother giving Sears a second glance before heading off to the school entrance.
Rafe falls into step beside me. “Once you saw Sears with her, you couldn’t get over there fast enough. Is he bothering her?”
“Yep.” I don't say anything else, but Rafe can probably hear my teeth grinding.
“You didn’t punch him in the face. Pretty impressive restraint.”
“Yeah, I should win a prize.” I rub a hand over my face. Seeing Sears with Sadie made me want to shove the guy’s head in his trunk and slam the door down on him. Repeatedly. And then throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to my place, caveman style. For protection.
And orgasms. I want to give Sadie Diaz all the orgasms. Enough pleasure to make her forget that guy ever was in her life.
“You wouldn’t really visit her classroom, would you?”
Rafe shrugs. “Why not? It’s community service. We have to give something back to Taos.”
“Do you think that’s smart?”
Rafe turns to me. He tilts his head. To his credit, he takes the question seriously. “What do you think, soldier? You think your wolf can behave around a bunch of five and six-year-olds?”
I swallow. I think I can keep my wolf reined in but don’t want to promise anything. “Probably shouldn’t risk it.”
“Objection noted. But if we go, you’re coming with us. I won’t let your wolf get out of line. And I think it’d be good for you.”
I nod, shocked.
Then my alpha points a finger in my face. “But stay away from Sadie Diaz. That’s an order.”
My wolf growls, and I stifle it before the sound can rumble out of my chest. “Yes, sir,” I say stiffly.
“It’s the right thing to do, Deke. Humans aren’t for us.” He searches my eyes before nodding and walking away. I follow more slowly.
Humans aren’t for us.
I could argue with him. There are a few wolf shifters we know who have mated humans. Not that I’d ever call them up and ask them how it works. It doesn’t matter, not in my case.
I’m too feral to ever be trusted with a human female. Especially not one as gentle as Sadie.
Sadie
As soon as I’m home, I take out Rafe’s card. Black Wolf Security. It lists his name, Rafe Lightfoot. There are two numbers, office and cell. After a second of hesitation, I call the office. A recorded woman’s voice invites me to leave a message, so I leave my name and number and the details of the career day.
A minute later my phone vibrates with a text. “This is Deke.”
I grab my phone and clutch it to my heart. This is exactly what I hoped would happen when I left a message on the office phone instead of calling Rafe directly. I know Deke gave me his number, but after the way we left things last time, I wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear from me.
“How did you get this number?” I type out and send before I get nervous and delete it.
No answer.
“Just kidding. I was teasing. I’m glad you texted,” I type quickly.
Still no answer.
And then my phone rings. I fumble with it and almost drop it before I answer.
“Hello?” My voice is breathless like I’ve just run a marathon and then up a flight of stairs. Which is exactly what I’ll tell Deke if he asks why I’m out of breath—that I just got back from a run.
“Babe,” he drawls, low and deep, and I feel it in the pit of my belly.
“Hey,” I say with a smile in my voice and collapse slowly backwards onto my bed. “You got my message.” I’m too excited to tease him about it.
“Happened to be in the office.”
“I hoped you’d get it.”
He makes a low rumbling sound. A chuckle? I can’t tell. I bite my lip before I blurt out that I’ve selected him for my rebound fling. So much for playing my feelings close to the chest.
“Thought you were calling Rafe about a career day not me,” he chides gently.
“I was. But maybe I wanted you to get my number.” My insides scrunch with my boldness. It’s not like me. It’s like I’m braver around Deke. Or my feelings are too strong to hold in.
After a pause, he says in a rougher voice, “I already got your number. The night I gave you a ride.”
“Oh right, you’re one of those tech guys who can figure everything out.” It’s my turn to chide. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“You didn’t give me your number directly. And you’ve already got a stalker.”
“You’re not a stalker,” I say quickly. I don’t like the dark, almost painful tinge to his voice. “So, I get the feeling your biker peeps don’t like me.”
“What?” Deke asks after a pause.
“Your peeps. Friends or posse or whatever.” I dance around calling them a gang. They seem tighter knit than friends, more like family. Brothers. I remember what Charlie said about them being in the service together.
“Why do you think they don’t like you?”
I squint at my ceiling fan, thinking back over the last two meetings with Deke’s buddies. One case of clam-jam, one of flirtus interruptus. “They seem to have a problem with me.”
“It’s not you they have a problem with.” Deke clears his throat. “We’re not supposed to mix with civilians, that’s all.”
“Why not? You’re not even in the military any more, right?”
“We’re still in a dangerous business. We go out on missions a lot. Dating isn’t really allowed.”