Chapter 1
Bodi
Moving is a pain in the ass.
Doing it twice in a twelve-month period sucks even more. Especially when you move to a different state both times. Get new roommates both times. Have to get a new freakin’ driver’s license both times.
The only thing I hate more than moving is going to the driver's license office. Every state calls it something different. Here in Georgia, it’s the DDS—Department of Driver Services—and even in this small Atlanta suburb, there’s a line. A really long line.
I’d leave and come back tomorrow, but there’s no guarantee that tomorrow will be any better and there’s a summer thunderstorm raging that makes me yearn for California.
I’ve been in Georgia for a week, and I’m already over the heat and humidity. I’ve spent most of my life in California and Arizona so walking outside and breathing in air so thick you can almost see it is new to me.
“—I’m getting my learner’s permit. Whether you like it or not. Stop babying me, for heaven’s sake.” A girl with a tousled, curly ponytail and tortoise shell glasses is on the phone, and she whirls, running right smack into my chest. “Oh! I’m so sorry.”
I reach out a hand to steady her, peering down into a pair of huge golden-brown eyes.
Wow. She’s pretty. Really pretty.
And blinking up at me in surprise.
I assumed she was a teenager from behind but the woman staring up at me apologetically is older than that. Not by a lot, maybe early twenties, but she’s not a kid either.
“No worries.” I smile.
Whoever’s on the phone is still talking to her, and she sighs, tapping her foot. “Fine… then I’ll find someone else to teach me. I’ll be home in an hour or so, okay? But I have to go.” She turns and stalks toward the elevator without another word.
Too bad.
I’m curious about what the person on the other line was saying, even though it’s none of my business.
Apparently, I’m more than a little bored.
Before I can decide whether or not I want to follow her—because she’s kind of cute, in a buttoned-up academic kind of way, and I could use a distraction after my week of moving hell—
“Forty-seven!” someone yells out and I realize that’s me.
I head to the desk, turn in my paperwork, and wait as a harried-looking employee types frantically into her computer.
“Hmmm.” She frowns.
Uh oh.
“You’re going to have to go upstairs to get your picture taken. Our system is down.”
Great.
I glance over to where the pretty lady with the golden eyes is still waiting for the elevator.
Cool.
“Okay,” I say amiably, taking back the papers she proffers.
“Station four should have an operational camera.” She huffs again. “All the computers keep going down and I can’t finish anything. This damn storm is really messing up my day.”
“Yours and mine both.” I give her an understanding smile—she can’t do anything about the weather so there’s no reason to be a jerk.
But my goal now is to catch up with Gold Eyes before she disappears.
So, I hoof it to the elevator where she’s tapping her foot again, impatience and annoyance practically pouring out of her. I’d go out on a limb and venture to say that her day seems worse than mine, though I can’t possibly know that for sure.
“It’s like nothing is working,” she mutters, throwing up her hands. “Maybe I should take the stairs and—”
The elevator doors slide open with a soft creak and we step inside.
“That doesn’t sound reassuring,” she says under her breath. “Just my luck. Par for the course, I guess.”
“Rough day?” I ask gently.
She rolls her eyes. “Rough year.”
“Ouch.”
“You’d think I was fifteen, trying to get my license before I’m ready. Jesus. I’m twenty-three years old. There is no reason I shouldn’t learn to drive. Right?!” She glares at me like I’m the one keeping her from achieving her goals.
“You should,” I agree patiently, trying to hide my amusement.
She’s adorable.
Not my typical type, but really cute with a touch of sass, which is something I like.
Especially when she’s all fired up like she is now. Her cheeks are flushed, eyes sparking with irritation, chest heaving. Her very ample chest, I might add. Though I force my eyes away from there and up to hers when I realize she’s watching me watch her.
Her entire demeanor suddenly changes.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t even know you. I apologize for snapping like that. It’s been a long couple of weeks moving, getting settled, and dealing with a million things. None of which are your fault.”
Damn, she’s really adorable, with those striking eyes and bow-shaped upper lip.
If I had the opportunity to kiss her—
Oh, knock it off, Michener. You’re not going to pick up a girl in the elevator at the DDS.
Mind out of the gutter, buddy.
You’re not on the prowl at the DDS.
That’s not really a rule, though, is it?
“I just moved here this week,” I say, forcing a shift in my thoughts, before I say something I shouldn’t. “Believe me, I get it. And sometimes it’s just easier to snap at a stranger.”
She smiles back, dipping her head just a little, like she’s suddenly shy. “Yes, maybe, but it’s impolite.”
I wink. “Don’t worry about it. We’re all impolite now and again.”
She sighs again. “My dad still treats me like I’m a teenager. I don’t know why he doesn’t want me to get my license. I mean, we just moved here. Where does he think I’m going to go?”
I wince, recalling my recent behavior with my younger sister. Who’s only a year older than this woman. I cringe every time I think about how I treated her up until a month or so ago. When she finally put her foot down and gave me an ultimatum.
“I think parents sometimes get overzealous in how much they want to protect the people they love,” I say softly. “It probably isn’t intentional.”
She wrinkles her nose. “There’s overprotective—and then there’s my dad. Trust me, those two things are miles apart and it’s absolutely intentional. Unfortunately, until I finish my master’s, I’m stuck living at home and dealing with it.”
“How much longer do you have?” I ask.
“I just started my final year. And I can’t wait to be done. I don’t care if I have to work at McDonald’s and live with ten roommates—I’m moving out the second I have my degree.”
“My sister felt the same way,” I admit quietly. “She couldn’t wait to get away from home.”
She cocks her head. “How come?”
“I think she wanted to find herself as an adult, gain some independence.”
“Sounds like it put a strain on your relationship.”
“It did. But we came out on the other side of it.”
Mostly.
Except it took her threatening to cut me out of her life completely if I didn’t stop trying to control every aspect of her life.
“Where’s your sister now?”
I sigh, despite trying to keep things light. “Back in L.A. Living with her boyfriend and getting her MBA.”
“What does she plan to do with it?”
“She’s an assistant manager at a popular restaurant and she and her boyfriend are talking about buying a franchise.”
“Oh, how exciting.” She almost sounds wistful. “I’m in library science. Nowhere near as interesting but I guess it’s fitting for a plain jane like me, right?”
That gets my attention.
I arch my brows. “Did you just call yourself a plain jane?”
She chuckles. “Sorry, it’s my own inside joke since my name is Jayne and I’m…plain.”
She’s the furthest thing from plain.
At least, from where I’m standing.
I don’t want to be inappropriate, though.
“I think you’re beautiful,” I say casually, staring down at her.
Her lips part, her cheeks flush pink, and she blinks a few times.
Like she doesn’t understand.
Almost like no one’s ever said that to her before.
“I don’t—” She’s cut off as the elevator begins to make a loud squealing noise, like a train coming off the tracks.
“What’s that?” she gasps, reaching for my forearm and squeezing it—hard.
“I don’t know.” I look around.
There’s a crack of thunder, the sound of something sizzling as the lights flicker.
Then the elevator lurches, grinding to a rough stop and throwing both me and Jayne against the wall—with her pressed firmly against my chest.