Page 14 of Coyote
“The sandwich shop directly across the street is fabulous. They even make calzones.”
“That’s good enough for me,” he replied lightly.
As I came closer, his eyes slid appreciatively over my body. Having his attention on me after so long felt amazing. Whatever spark we’d had before I took off was still burning bright. If I were being honest, I would admit there was still a Coyote-shaped space in my heart that only he could fill.
He waited patiently as I shut everything down and locked up. I had almost forgotten how he hovered protectively around me when we were in public. There was something about how he stood between me and road with his body bladed slightly to side, like he was ready to pounce on anyone who messed with me. God, I missed this, how he made me feel so sheltered and safe.
He glanced down at the planning book and then back up to my face. “I see you brought some work with you. Do you have to work from home often?”
“Not usually. My boss doesn’t like us to worry about work during our off hours. I brought my planning book to show you the ideas I’ve been working on for your grand opening.”
His eyes lit up with genuine curiosity. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with. I’ve sunk about every cent I have into this business and I’m hoping this grand opening will draw a lot of people.”
We walked into the eatery, placed our orders, and grabbed a seat in a corner booth. Setting my purse aside, we both squished over into the corner part, and I held my planning book close to my chest. It seemed rude to launch into my ideas without some small talk, so I asked about his sister. “How has Callie been doing?”
“She’s doing fine, now her youngest is a little older she’s working on her dream of becoming an interior designer, I’m her first client. Callie’s happy, and Breaker is really good to her. That’s all that matters to me.”
“That’s great. How about yourself? Since you’re wearing a cut instead of a prospects vest, I know your dream of being patched into the Dark Slayers MC must have come true.”
He nodded, “Yeah, I honestly love the Slayers. Being part of the brotherhood has been good for me. Being part of something bigger than myself gives my life purpose, you know?”
“Yeah, I remember how you used to look up to the brothers when you were prospecting. Even I could see that they were great role models.”
“Breaker took me under his wing when I had nothing and helped me become the man I am today.”
“I know. You seem so much more confident and are opening your own business. That’s a huge step.”
The server brought our drinks and when she walked away, he said, “Enough about me. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t thrive after leaving Griffinsford. I drifted aimlessly for a bit, worked odd jobs, and ended up getting pregnant.” That wasn’t quite true. I got pregnant first though didn’t realize it, until I’d run off after the rape, but phrasing it this way would make him think there was no possibility she’s his. I felt awful lying to him, but I couldn’t be honest about paternity if I wasn’t a hundred percent sure myself. I believed in my heart that he was her father, but I couldn’t know if she belonged to the man who forced himself on me. What an ugly situation this was, I thought to myself. It made my heart ache.
As for Coyote, he froze and just stared at me blankly as though he was struggling to process what I just told him. I rushed ahead with my story to cover the awkward silence. “I had a really hard time keeping a roof over our head and food on the table. Reginald, that’s my boss, Mr. Archibald, saw me wandering around the grocery store, feeding Nessa from samples they were offering and took pity on us. He offered me a job and let us stay at what he calls a mother-in-law suite on his property. Truth be told, I think it was a pool house at one time. That was about eighteen months ago.”
His hand drew into a tense fist and his jaw locked for a brief second before he spat out, “What kind of fucker is this Reginald? Does this asshole take advantage of your vulnerability? Make you do things to for him to earn your keep?”
I reached out to cover his fist with my hand. “No, of course not! He’s an older man who never had a family of his own. I believe he sees me as the daughter he never had or something along those lines.”
“Old men can be the worst,” he grumbled.
“My boss has been nothing but nice to me. Only someone with a kind heart would see a mom struggling to feed her toddler on free samples and offer her a safe place to live and a job. Plus, I’m not his type.”
Coyote frowned, “Not his type? You are a beautiful woman, to not see that he’d either have to be blind or—”
He stopped as the penny dropped.
“Reggie’s got a boyfriend, that’s who he’s with in Vegas right now,” I added.
“Still, even if you didn’t want me, you could have to come back to the Slayers’ clubhouse. Storm would have taken you in. Grit would have probably given you your old job back at the gym. There was no need for you to suffer that way.”
“I know the Slayers have a creed when it comes to protecting women, but I didn’t want to be anyone’s burden, they’d already helped me so much.”
“You were never a fucking burden, Bethany. Everyone loved you. Any brother would have considered himself lucky to have captured your notice.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get that. The problem is, how would I ever know if that brother was with me because he cared about me, or because he pitied me?”
He opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off. “There comes a time in every person’s life when they have to pull themselves up and start making decisions that spin their lives in the direction they want to go. Once I ended up pregnant, my all-consuming desire was remake myself into a mother my little daughter could be proud to call mom.”
He swallowed thickly and I could see his Adam’s apple slide up and down his throat. “I saw the goodness in you all along and would have helped you without any strings attached. You could have gone to college, look how Callie’s managed to juggle everything.”