Without Warning (Suddenly Us #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Daphne

“Come on, babies, let’s get ready to go,” I holler through the condo.

The quiet is broken by huffing, chuffing, and nails clicking against the laminate floor. Both of my English bulldogs come barreling toward me, bouncing at my feet.

“Do my baby girls want to take Mommy for a walk before I drop you off at daycare?” I ask.

The youngest, Buttercup, whines and barks in response.

“Shh, Buttercup. Inside voice,” I order her, and she answers with a soft whimper.

After clipping their leashes to their collars, I tighten my grip before opening the door. We step into the hallway and head for the elevator.

My phone starts ringing from somewhere deep inside my oversized bag. I fish around for it, annoyed I didn’t put it in its usual pocket instead of tossing it in carelessly.

“Well, shoot. Where is it?”

Still digging, I don’t notice the elevator stopping on my floor. The doors slide open and Buttercup, not quite trained yet, makes a mad dash, jerking my arm with her.

“Dang it,” I curse as my makeup bag falls to the floor. I bend down to grab it and shove my hip into the opening to keep the doors from closing.

“You could wait for the next elevator, you know.” A pissy voice cuts through my frantic digging and trying to calm my dogs.

“I’m sorry, just a moment.”

I look up at the woman in the perfectly coiffed jacket dress. Her hair is smooth, makeup flawless. Heat creeps into my face as I straighten to my five-foot-three height.

I’m in my work uniform of cargo khaki slacks and a long-sleeved button-up with the aquarium’s logo on the breast. Comfortable tennis shoes hug my feet, while this woman is perched in sky-high heels.

As soon as the doors close and I have the girls sitting calmly at my feet, my phone starts ringing again. This time I ignore it. I don’t want to embarrass myself further.

The woman turns her nose up at me. When she looks down at my babies snorting the way English Bulldogs do, she steps back like they might touch her or give her something. They won’t.

Dori, two years older than Buttercup, sits perfectly at my feet. Her bright pink collar and bow on the leash stand out against her tri lilac merle coat. Her blue eyes look up at me, and I can almost hear her saying, “What’s up with this lady?”

I barely hold in the snort.

Buttercup isn’t so quiet. She huffs and chuffs her disagreement. She has a fawn-and-white coat and deep, soulful dark eyes. Like her sister, she has a bow, but all her colors are lavender.

Both are my perfect little babies. My parents said I was crazy getting them while working full time and being single, but I needed the companionship. They think it’s a form of anxiety, this fear of being alone.

I’ve always had someone around me. My twin sister was there with me in the womb, but when we chose to go our separate ways for college, I was lonely.

Delphi is four minutes older than me. I’m the quiet, introverted one. She’s loud and puts herself out there. My mother says Delphi came into this world kicking and screaming and will go out the same way. I’m the wallflower, standing back, letting my sister lead the way.

The elevator doors open, and I step out into the main lobby. I set my bag on a nearby table and rummage through it until I find my phone. Two missed calls from Delphi light up the screen. I call her back immediately.

“Hey, Daphy, what took you so long?” Her voice comes through the line. I glance around to make sure the vapid woman is gone before I answer.

“I was trying to get the girls out for a walk and couldn’t find my phone. Then this woman got upset with me for holding up the elevator.”

“Did you tell her to fuck off?”

“Well, no. But Dori was not impressed with her.”

“Of course she wasn’t. How are my baby girls doing?”

“Good. We miss you.”

“I’ll be there in a couple weeks. I’m heading into a meeting, but I wanted to tell you good luck today. You’ve got this.”

I’ve been with the aquarium here in Chattanooga for only a couple of weeks. Today I’m doing a dive in their 618,000-gallon saltwater tank. This is one of the main reasons I left Atlanta and moved here.

I wanted more opportunities. I specialize in cephalopods, but here I’m being cross-trained to work with the river otters.

At my last aquarium, the staff was so large you didn’t really get chances like this, and I was never high enough in the rotation to get into the big tank.

Now that I’m a senior aquarist, I finally am.

“I’m so excited.”

“Good. Oh, by the way, I got a request to list myself as someone’s boyfriend on social media.”

“You have a boyfriend? I thought you said you weren’t dating.”

“It wasn’t for me. I love you, but sometimes you are so virginal.” I can picture her shaking her head. “It was some guy saying he’s your boyfriend. Is there something I should know?”

“No.” I huff. “I don’t have a boyfriend at all.”

“Okay. I’ll deny it for you.” She giggles. “Love you. Call me later. I have news. I’m taking a job in Nashville.”

She hangs up before I can ask what she means.

She currently works in Washington, DC, and Maryland. I slip my phone into the special pocket of my bag so I don’t lose it again.

The girls and I walk along the trails in the park across the street from my building until they’ve done their business. Then I make my way to the building parking lot.

I open the back of my white four-door Jeep Rubicon, then secure the girls into their kennels. I drop them off at the doggy daycare, where they stay while I’m at work.

By the time I get to the aquarium, it’s already almost eight in the morning. My shift starts in a few minutes.

I grab my bag with my lunch and water bottle in it, lock up my car, and head inside. There are a few more cars around than usual for this time of morning, but I’m in too much of a hurry to pay attention to them.

I’ve been on shift for a couple of hours when they make the call for those of us doing the dive. We’re needed to help guide a large green sea turtle into a side holding tank so the vet team can give him medical care.

At my previous aquarium, not only did I never get the chance to dive in the huge tank, but they also made us wear logo gear and modest clothing at all times. Here, we can wear swimsuits under our wetsuits.

I grabbed my basic black bikini. It covers enough of my butt, and the top is fairly modest. Nothing like my sister would wear.

The only issue is my bosses haven’t seen all my tattoos. I have one on each arm and leg and one down my back. Every one of them is because of Delphi. She talked me into all of them. They aren’t bad. Most are just words, except for the magnolia flowers on my upper arm that I got for my grandmother.

My sister wants us to get more, but I’m not sure I want to yet.

I slip my wetsuit up to my waist and walk out of the locker room to the main tank platform. A crowd watches us, but I ignore them. We aren’t supposed to interact with guests, and that’s something I got used to at my last job.

They filmed a reality show there that followed our daily lives working with the marine animals in our care. I was featured a few times, and I hated those days. Being the center of attention has never been my thing. That’s Delphi, not me.

I tug up my wetsuit the rest of the way, self-conscious about my bikini and body.

After pulling my hair back into a quick braid, I gear up with a full head cover before one of the guys helps me into my scuba pack.

We have to cover our hair so we don’t introduce any products into the fragile ecosystem of the tank.

Three of us are jumping in to assist the aquarist in charge of the sea turtle. My job is to help block him from heading back into the main exhibit.

When I’m given the signal, I jump in and focus on the task at hand. I always have to stay on high alert with sharks and other animals around me.

These are wild animals, not pets.

Darrell

Normally I hate these days. I’m on the board of directors for the aquarium, just like my parents were before me. Boseman Unlimited is a major donor, so unfortunately this is part of my responsibilities.

I also have to attend the Regents Gala next week. My assistant already sent the RSVP stating I’ll be attending solo. He’s good at making sure I don’t attend functions where I’m expected to bring a date. I gave up on taking one years ago.

Most of the women who attended an event with me assumed they’d be accompanying me for the entire season or that we were somehow exclusive, no matter how many times I told them it was only one date.

I don’t do relationships. More than a few pissed off women have chased after me when they saw another woman on my arm at the next event.

It’s been several years since I’ve been in a serious relationship.

Not since right after college, before law school.

These days I focus on seeing my sister whenever I can, along with my niece and nephew.

The rest of my time is spent working, hanging out with friends, or in the gym.

That’s it. I don’t ask for much out of life.

I don’t even have a fuck buddy right now because work has taken up too much of my attention lately.

My sister moved to Nashville, and ever since I decided not to offer her husband a job at our new location there, he’s done everything he can to pull her away from me.

Seeing me upsets him. I’ve talked to one of my friends from law school to see if he could make the problem disappear.

Maybe one of Brock’s guys in the clandestine unit he runs could eliminate my brother-in-law, but I don’t want to hurt my sister like that.

The aquarium tour continues to the back of the house.

I follow along, replying to emails on my phone and barely paying attention.

Movement catches my eye, and I look up to see a petite blonde.

The second she turns her back to our group, I slip my phone into the inside pocket of my jacket and focus on her.