4. Lorenzo

FOUR

LORENZO

I waited by the taco truck parked next to Last Drop Bar for Mia to show up. The new spot had been drawing in crowds of people lately with their amazing tacos, and tonight was no exception. My gaze drifted to those standing around, keeping an eye out for not only Mia but also Lucius and his minions.

Thankfully, I hadn't seen the latter at all.

While normally I'd take that as a good sign, at this point, I knew better. Lucius was sneaky. He always seemed to be watching and waiting to strike again.

Damn snake.

Tonight, I hoped he stayed the hell away, though. I needed a break from patrolling and all his drama.

I needed time with Mia.

The woman captivated my panther. I felt a strong desire to understand why.

As the chatter of those around me and the sizzle of food cooking filled my ears, I replayed the moments in the diner with her earlier. She was a cute little thing. I couldn't deny that. With her shoulder-length brown hair, big brown eyes, and freckles dusting her cheeks, she had a natural beauty that was hard to miss.

When Mia arrived, my panther knew she was here way before I did. He could sense her.

Interesting.

Glancing around, I searched for her. When I finally spotted her, she was walking toward me, passing under a bright string of lights that crisscrossed above the makeshift outdoor seating area near the taco truck.

Damn if she didn't look like an angel.

"Hey," she said, her gaze sliding past me to the menu plastered on the side of the taco truck. "Everything smells amazing. I'm starved." Her hand pressed against her stomach, and I heard a grumble.

"I can tell," I said, stepping closer to her and turning to face the menu. "What are you in the mood for?"

"The carne asada tacos sound good," she said after a moment's thought.

I cracked a grin. "Those are my favorite." I shifted my attention to Miguel inside the truck. "Two of the usual, please."

He nodded and then got to work preparing our order.

"How was the rest of your shift?" I asked, trying to make conversation while we waited.

"Slow, but I made some decent tips."

"That's good," I said as Miguel passed us our taco baskets.

I handed him my debit card to pay, and then after we moved to one of the open picnic tables beneath the strings of lights.

"How long have you worked at the diner?" I asked. While my panther seemed content to be near her, I still felt an urge to understand the reasoning behind his reaction to her.

"A little over a month, I think," she said after dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "It's not a bad place to work. Mariam is amazing, and so are the rest of the staff. Plus, it's nice seeing some of the regulars' familiar faces every day. They've become family in a way."

"I can understand that. We have regulars at the Sporting Goods store, too."

She made a face. "Really? I figured it would be more of a one-time shopper kind of place."

"You'd be surprised." I took a bite of my taco before continuing. "A lot of people come in for hiking equipment, but mainly our repeat customers are there to book tubing trips down the river during summer."

"Interesting," she said. "How long have you worked there?"

"A few months now. It's a decent place to work. Keeps me busy and pays the bills."

She lifted the candle in the center of the picnic table and brought it to her nose.

"Citronella," she said. "I actually love that scent."

"Too bad I don't have any way of lighting it for you."

She blinked, and then shifted her attention to her purse. "What about these?"

She pulled out a book of matches and held them out to me.

"Where did you get those?" I asked, wondering who even used them anymore.

Everyone carried lighters around now, not matches.

"An old woman gave them to me." She took another bite of her taco.

I arched a brow. "An old woman?"

I'd heard of an eccentric elderly woman in town who gave random things to people, sometimes even advice, that they would need soon. While I hadn't heard anyone say for certain if the woman was magical, I liked to think that she was.

"Yeah, she was waiting for me outside the diner this morning. It was weird, but who am I to judge? Besides, they came in handy." She nodded to the candle.

I struck one of the matches and lit it. The flame danced in the gentle breeze and a smile twisted my lips because this moment between us couldn't get any better than this.

Candle light. Tacos. Her.

It was almost fucking magical.

We talked more about our daily routines and jobs before finishing our tacos. Then, I decided to keep the evening going.

"Want to grab a drink at the bar?" I suggested, nodding toward Last Drop.

"Sure, sounds great."

We made our way inside the bar, music and the sound of muted conversations greeting us. I placed a hand against the small of Mia's back and steered her toward an open space I'd spotted at the bar. Ivy, the bartender, noticed me immediately.

"Well, look who it is!" She grinned. Her gaze shifted to Mia. "Bringing in a fresh face, I see. Can I see some ID, sweetie?"

Mia laughed, fishing for her ID from her wallet. "Even though I turned twenty-one months ago, I still get nervous every time I'm carded."

She was barely twenty-one.

I scratched my brow. Her age hadn't been something I'd noticed. Hell, I hadn't even thought about it. All I'd been focused on was my panther's odd pull toward her.

"You're all good," Ivy said, handing her ID back. Her green eyes snapped to me. "Robbing the cradle, aren't you?" she teased, a playful smirk twisting her lips.

The age difference wasn't that vast between us.

Was it?

"Whatever." I laughed and then ordered us each a beer.

Worry built in the back of my mind, though. She was twenty-one. I was thirty-one. That was ten years. A whole decade.

That seemed a bit much.

My gaze drifted back to Mia, and my panther made a noise. He didn't give a shit about the age gap between us. All he cared about was her. She called to him like no other, and to say she intrigued me too was an understatement.

We were both adults. What was the saying people always used—age was just a number.

I took a swig from my beer and glanced around the bar. Out of habit, I was searching for Lucius and his minions. When I didn't spot them, my gaze drifted to the dartboard hung on the opposite wall. I nodded to it.

"You play?" I asked Mia.

"Actually, I do. My brother taught me when I was a teenager," she explained, walking toward it.

Which wasn't long ago , a voice in my head reminded me. I shook the thought away and followed her to the board.

"Let's see what you've got, then," I challenged, flashing her a grin.

She smiled in return and then moved to line up her shot. The dart almost hit the bull's-eye with effortless precision. She went again, and this time nailed it.

"Guess I've still got it." Her eyes locked with mine from over her shoulder in a coy way.

"Damn," I said, thoroughly impressed. "I guess you do."

She flashed a proud smile. "Don't look so shocked. I warned you that my brother taught me how to play."

"You never said he was a pro," I countered, stepping up to take my turn. "Now I have to really try."

"We'll see if you can keep up," she teased, her eyes twinkling with challenge.

Oh, she was a feisty little thing.

I liked it.

I lined up my shot and released. The dart landed near the center, but not quite a bull's-eye. "Close, but not quite your level," I admitted.

"Well, we can't all be dart prodigies," she joked, bumping into me lightly with her shoulder.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, a smile spreading across her face as she read the text message.

"Speak of the devil. It's my brother," she explained, typing a quick reply.

"Oh?"

"He's having a cookout tomorrow and invited me. It's sort of a last-minute thing."

"So, I guess that means I can't ask to see you again tomorrow night, then?"

She locked eyes with me, and I spotted a slight amount of surprise swirling through their color. It disappeared quickly, replaced by a playful look.

"I guess not. I'm not available," she said with a shrug.

Even though it was time spent with her brother, my panther detested the idea of her spending time with anyone besides us. He was being overbearing, but I understood why.

Something about her drew me irresistibly to her side as well.

"Maybe another time, then," I said, trying to mask my disappointment. "How about another round?" I moved to retrieve our darts.

"Can you handle losing again?" she teased.

"Who said anything about me losing again?" I asked, glancing back at her. "Maybe I was taking it easy on you during my warmup."

She laughed, and I loved the sound of it.

It centered me. Grounded me. Honestly, it felt like home.

We played a few more rounds and drank a couple more beers before she decided to call it a night. Even though I was older, somehow she was the more responsible one.

"I have to be up early for my breakfast shift, and I'm not going to lie, mornings aren't my thing." She made a face.

"Not a morning person, huh?"

"Not by a long shot."

I liked knowing this little detail about her. It felt good. "Well, in that case, let me walk you to your car."

She nodded, a grateful smile spreading onto her face.

I tossed our empty bottles into a trash can on our way to the door. As I held the door open for her and we stepped outside into the cool night air, I heard her inhale a deep breath.

"It was stuffy in there, wasn't it?" I noted.

My panther preferred the fresh air, too.

"Yeah." She lifted her gaze to the stars. "This feels much better."

I couldn't take my eyes off her. "It does."

"I parked over here," she said, drawing my attention back to the moment. "Hopfully my car starts. She's been unreliable lately."

I smiled, but all I could think was: When was I going to see her again?

When we reached her car, she spun to face me. The streetlamp made her expression seem soft.

Damn, this woman was beautiful.

"I had a great time tonight," she said.

"So did I," I admitted. "I know you said I can't see you tomorrow night because of the cookout, but I'd like to see you again sometime soon."

Her eyes lit up. "I'd like that, too. Here, let's exchange numbers," she suggested, pulling out her phone.

I rattled off my number and she inputted it into her phone, then sent me a text. All it said was hey , but it was enough to make me smile.

"I'll talk to you soon," she promised, before popping the driver's side door on her car open and sliding behind the wheel.

"Tell your brother he's lucky I'm not crashing his cookout to see you sooner," I teased, but all joking aside, the thought had definitely crossed my mind more than once. "Have fun. Reach out to me when you're free. We can set something up."

That earned me a smile. "Goodnight, Lorenzo," she said before closing her car door and starting her car.

It wasn't lost on me that the thing started up without a hitch tonight. I'd hoped it wouldn't so I could give her a ride home.

Damn, I wasn't ready to say goodnight to her yet, but I did.

"Goodnight, Mia," I said, watching as she drove away.

The taillights of her car faded into the distance, and I was left with my panther stirring with an indescribable restlessness.

One thing was for certain: it was because of her.