Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
RAVEN
I really should've thought it through before I accepted a day job and a night job. I got a few hours of sleep before I had to be up to get ready for the library. At least I can take Noah with me to this one.
Florence has a hard exterior, but I’ve seen her with the kids who come into the library. She’s like a grandma waiting to spoil her grandchildren. When I told her that I needed to bring Noah with me on Saturdays, she almost seemed excited.
Noah and I had a quick breakfast and then headed out. I made him bring his backpack, which he did begrudgingly. After all the work we did catching him up with the other kids, I don’t want him falling behind again.
At the library, Noah went straight to the kids’ section and curled up in a beanbag chair with a book he randomly pulled from the shelf, while I got to work shelving books, sending emails about overdue fines, and so on.
Rolling my sore neck, I turn in my computer chair to Florence. “I’m finished with?—”
“Shelve those books next,” she interrupts me while staring at her own computer a few feet away. I’m pretty sure she’s playing solitaire.
Instead of barking back, I push the rolling cart out in front behind the circulation desk and start with the romance novels.
As I replace these books on the shelves, I make note of the ones that look intriguing so I can add them to the list of books I want to read.
Gifts by Brynne Asher, Find Me by Ashley N.
Rostek, Cuervo’s Carnival by N.J. Weeks, and The Diavolos by Nouha Jullienne.
Looks like I’ll have something to do in my downtime.
“Got any good recommendations for me?” a voice says from behind me.
Jumping, I let out a yelp as the book I’m admiring drops from my grasp, and a hand covers my mouth. My heart picks up speed.
“Shhh. Don’t want to get in trouble with the fossil that is Mrs. Baker.” The man behind me chuckles.
I whirl around with my fist at the ready, but I’m met with familiar sunset hair. I relax my hand at my side as he smirks and bends down, picking up the book.
“ Ice Planet Barbarians ,” Jed reads the title to me and follows with a questioning raise of his brow.
“Gotta keep it interesting,” I defend sarcastically.
“And blue ETs with horns and bizarre dicks is what does it for you?” he teases but his voice has an edge that is off-putting.
“I’m trying to broaden my horizons.” I shrug, adding the same edge to my own tone.
Jed places the book on the cart. “There are other ways to do that.”
I take a closer look at Jed. His shirt is slightly rumpled, and his hair is disheveled under his cowboy hat. The dark circles under his eyes are faint, but I can still spot them. He doesn’t have the same flirty demeanor as the first time we met.
“What can I do for you, Jed?” I fold my arms and lean onto one leg, attempting to appear calm, but I'm observing his every move.
His eyes wander the shelf behind me as he answers, “Would it be cheesy if I said I just wanted to see you again?”
“Yes,” I respond immediately, all playfulness gone.
A switch flips, and he brings back the man I met the other day. “Then let me prove it to you.”
Keeping my face passive, I respond, “And pray tell, how might you accomplish that?”
“Come to dinner with me tonight.” His gaze looks eager, like he’d eat me up if I let him.
Would I?
Maybe.
Still determined to give him a hard time, I don’t let him off the hook so easily for his judgmental comment. “That didn’t sound like a question.”
His forehead scrunches. “Huh?”
“If you want to take me to dinner, then you need to ask. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.” Toward the end of my reprimand, my lips curve.
Jed’s smile matches my own. “Raven, may I please take you to dinner tonight?”
“I have to work, but I might be free on Monday.”
He makes his confusion known again. “You’re working at the library at night?”
“No, I have a second job.”
“Oh. Where? Maybe I can come see you tonight.” Understanding dawns his face.
“The Wandering Raven,” I answer, and continue before he can crack the joke. “I know, I know. Raven working at The Wandering Raven. Ha ha. Trust me, you’re not the first person and you won’t be the last to think it.”
A muscle in his jaw ticks, but he smooths it out before I can address it. “I may not be able to make it there, but I’ll see you Monday.” He turns and stalks back down the aisle. His shoulders are tense, and his boots hit the carpeted floor harder than necessary.
“Wait,” I call out, but he either doesn’t hear me or he’s ignoring me.
Great. The first time a guy asks me out and I’ve already been rejected.
Welcome to life, Raven.
“Fuck!” I kick the right rear tire on my car as rays from the sun heat my skin, only furthering my frustration.
“Mom, you shouldn’t say ‘fuck,’” Noah reminds me as he pokes his head out the car window.
I give him my back as I take a deep breath.
On our way home from the library, one of my tires popped.
I was supposed to buy a jack and a tool kit before we even drove to Mystic River from New York, but I had other things on my mind.
So now, here I am with a spare tire, but no way to change it.
We live about twenty minutes outside of town, which in an area such as this is quite the distance.
We were halfway there when I both felt and heard the tire practically explode.
I don’t want to make Noah walk in this heat the rest of the way home, and somehow, I don’t have fucking service in this one damn spot.
I can’t leave Noah here by himself. I may be new to full-time moming, but I’m not dumb.
And I haven’t seen a single damn car drive by.
This is just for a moment. It’s not forever. I’m going to breathe for a minute, then I will figure out a solution. I always do. I have no other choice.
I can do this.
With renewed determination, I turn back to Noah. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”
“If I can’t say ‘shit’ then you can’t say ‘fuck,’” he tells me very seriously.
The laugh that comes out of me is an uncontrollable reaction. I wipe away tears that I’m not sure are from laughing or frustration or a mixture of the two. “You’re right. If I won’t let you say ‘shit’ then I can’t say ‘fuck.’ You’re very right about that.”
Noah looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.
The crunch of tires on gravel coming from behind me reaches my ears. Relief and terror flood my system.
This better not be some asshole.
When I turn around, I find a disarming smile that I recognize flashing at me from inside a dark green Ford F-250, a car that I’ve seen in the parking lot of The Wandering Raven. I’m not sure if my boss coming to my rescue is worse or better than an asshole being my Good Samaritan.
Griffin hops out of his lifted truck, and his work boots hit the rocky pavement.
His arm naturally flexes as he shuts the door, and I feel my panties grow wet as I witness the movement.
I didn’t think I had a type. I’ve never been able to explore that, but I’m quickly realizing that I crave a man with strength.
As he approaches me, Griffin’s look of concern as he eyes my shattered tire punches me in the gut.
When was the last time someone looked at me like that? Like they cared for what my situation was.
“What happened to your tire?”
I nibble on my lip, unsure of how to feel about all the emotions this man brings out of me without even trying. “I’m not sure. It decided it didn’t want to be my tire anymore when we were almost home, and I still haven’t bought a jack,” I joke.
“Mom?”
My eyes widen in alarm. I haven’t introduced Noah to many people. I’m not ashamed of my son. I’m just used to people using his existence against me, something I can never let happen again.
I run to Noah’s car door and get him to put his head back inside the car. “Just wait here, okay? Stay in the car until I say it’s safe to come out, little king.”
“Moooom,” he groans.
I ignore his protest of his nickname and turn my attention back to Griffin. My arm rests on Noah’s open window.
“You’re a mom,” he states. It’s not a question.
“That I am,” I confirm, all playfulness gone.
Griffin’s eyes assess me, and not in an appreciative way. He looks like he’s determining how to best approach a cornered animal, and I’m sure that’s what I look like.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Raven.”
He says it so matter-of-factly. I know it’s meant to reassure me, and it’s said in a way that makes me feel like he doesn’t mean just now. He’s telling me that he would never hurt me.
How long has it been since anyone said that to me?
Never.
Clients didn’t care to calm me down or put me at ease. They paid for their time with me. They could do whatever they wanted. Even when I was locked up, I was never told I wouldn’t be hurt.
Part of my brain is screaming at me to grab Noah and run. Fuck my plan and what I came here to do. Noah’s safety and well-being will always come first.
But a much louder part of me is telling me that I can trust Griffin. He may ruin my panties every time he gets close, but he would never raise his hand toward me with the intention to do harm.
Letting out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I nod. If he opened his arms right now, there’s a ninety percent chance that I’d run right to him and welcome the embrace. I’m so damn tired, but I can’t let that be the reason I let my guard down completely.
“Let me help you, please,” Griffin pleads.
Bringing back some of my sarcasm to ease the tension, I quirk a brow. “Do you magically have cell service?”
He scoffs, feeling my apprehension begin to deflate. “No, but I have a hitch, a tow bar, and chains so we can get you and your son out of this heat.”
His mention of the sun reminds me that I’m probably already sunburnt.
Great.
“Do you have what we need to change the tire instead? I think that would be easier,” I suggest.
“I left my jack at home.” Griffin shrugs.
I sigh. “Okay. A tow would be great. Thank you.”
Even though I’ve calmed down, Griffin still walks toward me with caution. When he gets to my side, he peers inside. Noah looks at Griffin like any curious child who has been through a shitshow would. Skeptically.
“Who are you?” Noah’s distrust is obvious.
Griffin’s eyes soften as his gaze roams over Noah. I suddenly know what he sees. Noah’s scar. I stiffen, waiting for the shameful comments.
Instead, Griffin holds his hand out to Noah. “I’m Griffin. What’s your name?” Each muscle in my body slowly melts.
Griffin Montgomery, everyone. Sexy as hell and good with kids.
Lord, help me and my panties, please.