Page 3 of The Protector’s Heart
Someday.
CHAPTER TWO
Nila hated being late. Dr. Kimmi was very understanding about Nila’s situation, but her good nature could only be stretched so thin before Nila would be finding a new place to work. She shoved her purse into her locker and raced to Dr. Kimmi’s office. Knocking on the open door, she said, “I’m sorry.”
Dr. Kimmi looked up from the computer and smiled. “It’s okay, hon.”
“No, it’s not.” Nila shook her head. She felt like crying. Hell, she’d felt like crying just about every day as she’d battled against her ex, Damien, and his desire to make her life a living hell.
Dr. Kimmi pushed her chair away from the desk and stood, coming to Nila and giving her a hug. “I’ve been where you are. You have my support and Frank’s. Would it help to change your hours so you can come in less often?”
Panic tightened Nila’s chest. “I need the money. Damien isn’t giving me a cent in support and the daycare is expensive. I’m sorry I was late this morning and that I’ve been late a few times recently. Ever since Damien made that scene at the daycare, Jack has been terrified to be left there. It breaks my heart every day.”
“I wish I could do more for you. Would it help to change daycares?”
“I can’t find anyone nearby that will take him, and I’m afraid that if Damien causes another scene Little Tots is going to let us go, anyway.”
Nila closed her eyes and tried not to let the weight of her problems settle heavily on her. She didn’t need to break down right now, even though she would probably feel a little better if she had a good cry. The problems would still be there after she was done crying, though. They always were.
“I’ll be more careful of my time in the future. Thanks for understanding.”
“Of course.”
Nila brushed at a stray tear that had slipped through her defenses and walked out of Dr. Kimmi’s office. She stared down the hallway to where the reception desk lay. The desk had a tall counter on the side facing her, and she could see Brynn, the receptionist, checking in a patient. Even though she didn’t want to look at him, her eyes couldn’t help but see Malachi Slattery, Brynn’s personal security guard, who was sitting behind her at the reception desk. Ever since Brynn had joined up with her mate, Acksel, Malachi had been coming to the office every day. He never said anything to Nila outside of “good morning,” but she was very aware that he wanted to say more to her.
It had only been a few weeks since the day that he opened the door to the supply room and found her crying after Damien had beaten up one of the teachers at the daycare. She’d been so startled by him that she nearly fell off the stack of paper boxes she was sitting on. His strong arms had caught her and he’d pulled her close, the dark, spicy scent of him making her stomach flip and her mouth water.
She mentally shook her inner slut and pushed the unwanted thoughts of the sexy wolf into a dark corner of her mind. Wolf was exactly why she didn’t want anything to do with Malachi. He was a wolf shifter, and wolf shifters were bad news. Just ask Damien, his father the alpha, or any of the other males in his pack who hadn’t lifted a hand to help her. It didn’t matter if Malachi had the most amazing blue eyes, or that he’d felt rock hard when he’d pulled her against him in the closet. There was nothing but trouble where that sexy wolf was concerned. For everyone’s sake, she needed to remember what being with a wolf had been like. Shivering internally, she ignored Malachi entirely and put her hands on the top of the counter.
Brynn smiled. “Hi, Nila. How’s your sweet little boy?”
“Great, thanks. How was your weekend?”
As Brynn talked, Nila could feel Malachi’s eyes on her, and she managed to not look at him but only by sheer force of will. All day long it would be the same. She’d come up to get the next patient and Malachi would watch her like a hawk.
Realizing she’d missed most of what Brynn said while she was trying not to think about Malachi, she froze when Brynn stopped talking and smiled at her expectantly. Nila felt put on the spot and she blinked and tried vainly to figure out what Brynn had just asked.
Brynn’s eyes darted toward Malachi and she said, “I asked if you’d like to go to lunch with me this week.”
Oh damn. Malachi drove Brynn everywhere.
“Sure,” she said, not wanting to disappoint her friend.
Don’t look at him.
“Cool, how about tomorrow?”
Brynn pushed the first patient’s folder across the counter and Nila said, “Sounds good.”
Counting it as a victory that she didn’t look at Malachi even once as she opened the door to the waiting room and called the first patient’s name, she smiled at herself, greeted the little girl and her mother, and led them to the exam room.
They were fairly busy that morning, and she’d had to wait to take her lunch until later. By the time she made it to the breakroom, she was starving. Malachi was sitting at one of the tables, a tablet in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She almost turned around and left, and then she felt like she was being an idiot. Going to the fridge, she opened it and reached for her insulated lunch sack. She gripped it and turned, looking at the only table in the breakroom, which currently held a very large wolf.
She stared at him. He was so sexy, she had to force herself to remember that he was a wolf shifter and that meant he was off-limits. Her self-imposed sanction on wolf shifters was for her own good. It wasn’t just about finding a good guy to go out with, she had to think of Jack and find a father for him who’d treat him well. None of the wolves in Damien’s pack seemed to have a paternal bone in their body. The females were treated like toys and breeding machines.
Malachi stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the linoleum with the motion. He walked near her to throw away the paper plate his sandwich had been on, and then he stopped and looked at her.
“What?”