So, I went with the plan.
“All right, I’ll take it,” I said. “Lead the way.”
“Excellent!” she said and started walking in the direction I was heading in the first place.
On the way we shared in bits of small talk.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“Denver,” I said.
“Wow. That’s a huge place,” she said.
I nodded. “Very.”
“What do you do there?” she asked.
“I’m a preschool teacher,” I said and smiled. “I’m taking a vacation for my birthday.”
She settled her brilliant green eyes on me and smiled wide. “Well happy birthday!”
“Thank you,” I said through a laugh. “What about you? Where are you from?”
“Kansas,” she said and rolled her eyes. “And it’s every bit of the stereotype you are thinking of.”
“I wasn’t thinking of a stereotype,” I said, confused.
Her eyebrows formed high arches on her forehead. “Oh. That’s different.”
“I’m getting the feeling you’re not used to people being unassuming?” I asked.
She settled her gaze on me. “I’m used to people being people.”
A pinch formed in the center of my forehead as I tried to figure that out. I assumed she had plenty of negative experiences she had to deal with in her life and those had formed some unkind opinions about people in general.
Our conversation died down a bit as we neared another building from the Wild West days. This one had been painted a bright teal color. The shop front on the bottom floor was covered by a porch that acted as a deck for the top floor. I could tell by looking at the windows, an apartment filled the space upstairs.
“You live here?” I asked.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “And work here too. This is my shop!”
I stood on the sidewalk and stared up at the building, rather impressed. The window held a sign in flourish writing which read “Fortune Teller” and “Psychic,” and I suddenly had a better idea of what she was referring to when she suggested giving me a reading. I had never bought into anything like that before, but I wasn’t sure about stepping inside.
“Come on in,” she said and disappeared through the doors.
I stared after her and sighed. What was the worst that could happen?
4
DALLAS
I showed up, purposefully hours late for my shift. My tardiness was my little power play against Charlotte. My way of making her aware that I had learned of the things she was doing, and I, for one, wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.
After all, she was the one who placed the rules on us to never mate. At the time, it seemed understandable. We all wanted a job, and no one knew what we were missing when it came to giving up sex. Now it just seemed like a cruel and unusual punishment.
And now that I had a taste of Cassidy, I knew exactly what I was missing.
And I wanted more.