Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Simbel
I was in the middle of trying my most winning smile—I had a few of them, this one was halfway between my sexy How you doing, babe and my I’m trustworthy, and you should tell me your problems one—when Rissa paled and reached for the insulated tumbler on the desk next to her.
Well, shit, I guess that didn’t work.
Usually, females liked my smiles, but this one looked nervous as all the hells, and the back of her hand smacked the water bottle, so it went flying.
Luckily, I had almost four decades of quick reaction time, and I lunged forward, halfway over the counter, and scooped it out of the air before it could do more than splash a few droplets of water.
When I straightened, she was gaping at me .
“Hi, Rissa,” I said as smoothly as possible, handing over the water bottle. “Here you go.”
“Uh…thank you?” She hesitated only a moment before reaching up to take it from me, and I noticed how careful she was about not letting her fingers brush mine. “Thanks,” she repeated, pushing it against the backside of her desk and standing, as if she didn’t like the fact I towered over her.
I was familiar with that, so I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the counter, trying to make it look as casual as possible. “That was some meeting huh? I hope I didn’t interrupt it too much by being late?”
“Uh…No.” She’d scooped up a pen from the desk and was fiddling with it in both hands, her gaze locked on my chin. “No, it was fine. Dr. Johnson was…just getting to the good parts.”
I hid my doubting snort, but not the way one brow rose in response. That staff meeting today was just a way for a manager to throw her weight around; I’d seen it plenty of times from my sergeants and lieutenants over the years. It didn’t bother me—I was easygoing, and liked being around people, unlike my twin, so I never complained.
Again, unlike my twin.
But I’d also spent enough time around humans to know when one was lying, like Rissa was now. So I took a chance. “Still, it could’ve been an email, yeah?”
Her blue gaze flicked to mine, then away, but not before I saw the surprise there. Then, slowly, I allowed my grin to show as her gaze crept back to my face, and I saw a little smile tugging at her lips.
Success !
Quick, follow up!
“I didn’t mind the meeting, though.” I leaned more weight on my elbows, like I was trying to share a confidence. “It let me get to know more of my coworkers.”
To my surprise, Rissa snorted, the tension going out of her shoulders as she met my eyes with a raised brow of her own. “Yeah, I saw. Kelly was talking about how you’re going to work out together.”
I blinked, confused. Then, “Oh, yeah, Kelly! She’s, uh…nice. A little intense, huh?”
“She’s really pretty.” Rissa’s weight went to one hip and the pen dropped clicker-end-down on the desk as she rested against it. “Outgoing. She’s really proud of the cheerleading team.”
“She should be.” Why was Rissa going on about someone else? “They keep winning all those tournaments.”
“The state tournament is in a few weeks. They’re training hard for that.”
“Uh…yeah.” A little confused now, I pushed myself off my elbows, eyeing her, trying to figure her out. “And the basketball team isn’t bad either, although I’ve never been to a game.”
“You should.” Click-click, click-click . “A lot of the island comes out for them, and the nachos are good. ”
I tried another smile. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She seemed much more at ease with me now for some reason. Maybe because she was pushing Kelly on me? “I’m a sucker for nachos. Especially with extra-salty tortilla chips.”
I couldn’t help it; the joke blurted out of me: “That was my nickname at the academy.”
“What was?” she asked, her brows drawing down.
“ Extra-salty tortilla chips .”
She snorted, her lips tugging upward almost reluctantly. I resisted the urge to pump my fist and yell Yes !
Follow up, follow up !
“Hey, Rissa, speaking of nachos—or food in general, I guess—help me win an argument with Memnon. What’s the best restaurant on Eastshore Isle?”
She leaned over and plopped the pen in a holder on her desk that was made from a toilet paper tube and painted popsicle sticks, something a kid might make. “Memnon is your brother?”
“My twin brother.” I grinned. “He’s uglier.”
With another snort, she sank down into her chair. I guess she was done feeling uncomfortable around me. “I guess it depends on what you’re in the mood for. The diner has amazing fish tacos and burgers, Waterfront is known for its fried flounder, Pastabilities is the fanciest, the taco truck is the best deal…” She shook her mouse to turn on her monitor. “Patrick always likes the ice cream shop, and I’ve heard good things about the Asian fusion place. ”
Well, one thing for certain: Eastshore Isle, which apparently had one restaurant per type of food, was nowhere near as diverse as New York City.
“Do you like Asian fusion?” I asked eagerly. “I haven’t been either.”
Her attention on her computer, Rissa said flippantly, “Oh yeah, I love sushi.”
“Wanna try it? Together, I mean?” When her gaze slammed upward, her mouth dropping open in what I really, really hoped wasn’t horror, but looked like maybe it was, I hurried to add, “I mean, whenever you’re free. Doesn’t have to be now. This week.” I winced, knowing I was digging myself a hole.
Computer forgotten, Rissa slowly stood once again. “You…what?” she rasped.
She didn’t sound angry, just disbelieving. I tried to take stock of the situation. “Would you like to go out to dinner with me, Rissa?” I asked carefully. “Sometime. Whenever you’re comfortable?”
Her skin had paled again, which made her wide blue eyes seem more prominent, and she was gripping the edge of the desk as if it held her upright. “You’re…asking me out? On a date?”
“Yeah.” I tried for a nonchalant shrug and that charming grin again. “I think it’d be fun.”
Judging from the fact she fastened her gaze on the wall over my shoulder, she disagreed. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Ah .
I’d done my homework; I’d asked subtle questions about Marissa Gray, the school administrator who took no shit from anyone. I knew enough to know she wasn’t married and not in a serious relationship. But the way she was looking at me told me she’d never considered I would ask her out.
Well, maybe she wasn’t into dudes. Maybe she wasn’t into orcs.
Maybe she wasn’t into me .
“Okay,” I managed, hoping my smile didn’t slip too much. “It’s okay, I get it.”
Her eyes flicked to mine, then away again. “No, you don’t understand—”
I’m not sure how she would’ve explained it, because at that moment, the door to the front office opened again, and a teenage boy stomped through. I recognized him as the reason I’d been late to the staff meeting today.
“Hey, Trick,” I called, grateful for the distraction. “Did you get that water fountain working?”
The kid, who wore his brown hair too long around his brows and ears, had stopped short at the sight of me, and I’ll admit I got a little bit of schadenfreude at that. “Uh…hey, Officer Simbel.”
“ Trick ?” Rissa repeated in what sounded like exasperation. “You’re really going with that?”
“Yeah, so what?” the kid asked mulishly, lifting his chin. “Sounds cooler than Patrick .”
“And what was wrong with the water fountain? ”
I can’t believe it took me this long to put it all together: The way Trick was glaring at her like she’d personally offended him, the way Rissa had her hands on her hips and was practically tapping her foot in exasperation. She was his mom, wasn’t she? When I asked around if she was married, I remember hearing she had a kid at the school, but I didn’t realize it was this kid.
I hurried to explain, “The reason I was late to the staff meeting was I found Trick and one of his friends at the water fountain in the back hallway. They said it wasn’t working, so I stopped to help.”
I mean, I wasn’t an idiot; the two of them had clearly been up to something, but I played the overly helpful dumb cop and showed them which button to press to make the water come out.
To my surprise though, Trick now glanced at me gratefully. “Yeah, that’s it.” He relaxed a little. “Officer Simbel, uh…helped us. We got it working again.”
No shenanigans here , his body language was screaming.
But Rissa didn’t seem to buy it. She sighed, “Was it Jaxon?” she murmured. Then, holding up a hand, “No, never mind. I’m glad you…got it working again.”
There was something else going on here, something that sounded like a long-time issue, judging from how defeated Rissa suddenly sounded. So I, being incapable of keeping my nose out of other people’s shit, apparently, tried to cheer everyone up.
“So, Trick, you’ve done your good deed for the day.”
“Uh…yeah, bro.” He shuffled his feet, and I wondered what kind of mischief they really had been planning before I caught them. “Anyhow, what are you doing? Up here, I mean. I’m getting a ride home with Mom.”
“Oh…” I shrugged. “Just trying to get your mother to go out to dinner with me. She turned me down.”
“What?” the kid blurted, grabbing the edge of the counter, suddenly looking way more animated than he had. “Mom, what ?”
“Patrick, my business—” she began, but her son turned incredulous eyes on me.
“Bro, are you going to let her get away with that? She needs some excitement in her life!”
Ah, a teaching moment. I glanced at Rissa, whose cheeks were bright red, and whose hands had curled into fists at her sides, and exhaled. I turned slightly, so my shoulder was facing her, as if I was speaking privately to Trick.
“ Bro, that’s not how these things work. If a woman says she doesn’t want to go out with you—”
“You’re a good guy, Officer Simbel!”
That tripped me up. “I—uh, thanks. I mean, I know I’m a good guy, and I’m glad you think so too, but it doesn’t matter what you and I think.”
“No, bro, I mean, you just have to convince her—”
“ Patrick ,” she hissed, and I pretended to ignore her, keeping my attention on her son.
“Trick, if a woman says she’s not interested, it’s not up to you to convince her otherwise. I shot my shot, and she’s stated she’s not interested. I have to trust that she has her reasons—and knows her own mind—well enough not to try to convince her otherwise.” How to explain? “I need to respect her enough to listen to her when she says no the first time.”
The kid just shook his head and huffed out a breath. “Whatever,” he mumbled, straightening and hitching his bag higher on his shoulders. “She’s not interested in anything anymore.”
It was almost painful to have to glance back at Rissa after that.
She was looking at her son with anguish in those lovely blue eyes, and I positively ached to reach out and gather her in my arms and assure her everything would be okay. But…I couldn’t. Because she’d said she wasn’t interested, and I did respect her enough to listen.
It’s just that…there was something about Marissa Gray. Something I hadn’t been able to figure out in the two months I’d been working here. Something that called me. I knew nothing about her, but I wanted to know more.
Deep within my chest, my Kteer —that primitive part of my soul that urged me to hunt claim conquer taste claim —throbbed, and my senses all seemed on overdrive around her.
But she’d said no.
So I stifled my sigh and tried to smile, only to see her expression suddenly shift to a careful blank as her son looked up at her. Interesting. She wanted to hide her pain and embarrassment from him instead of talking about it?
“Whatever, Mom,” Trick muttered. “I’ll be in the car. ”
“Yeah.” She suddenly turned and reached for her purse, which was sitting on top of the printer behind her. “I’ll finish these emails at home. Let’s head out.”
And I was left standing there, feeling certain she was avoiding me.
I scrubbed my hand over my face with a sigh.
What had I done wrong?