Chapter 4

Chapter Four

CALVIN

I was pathetic. That was the only explanation I had for practically stalking the woman. I mean, I didn't follow her home or anything, but whenever she showed up to the store, I couldn't drag my eyes away. She was gorgeous. And I was pretty sure more nerdy than she let on. She went with the nephew lie, but who bought something for their nephew every day of the week? It seemed to me like a convenient excuse for her to explore her interests a little. And I was definitely eager to help.

Who wouldn't be, though? Golden brown skin, long dark brown hair that was always pulled up into a tight ponytail and looked soft as silk. She had the muscle tone of an athlete, which was hot, and a no nonsense attitude that made me want to pick at her to figure out how to make her smile. Her brown eyes were narrowed a lot, almost suspicious, like she was worried I'd give away her secret. She had serious tomb raider vibes with the tight tank tops and cargo pants she preferred. Which didn't help my pathetic crush in the slightest. She just had to look like a video game character. She made me want to get on my knees and worship her.

I would kill to see her smile, just once. She didn't come off as entirely uninterested, at least if you counted the fact that she kept coming back. She didn't avoid me either, asking questions as she looked around the store. I just needed to figure out how to get her attention. Everett suggested asking her out outright, but that was met with a major veto. I could be pretty confident, but I wasn't that cocky. I needed an in first.

While scribbling down some ideas, I almost missed Dev showing up. He hadn't been here most of the week, so it wasn't like I was expecting him. I might not have even noticed him if he didn't snatch the list I was working on out of my hands.

"Hey!"

"What the hell is this? It better not be another damn request," he growled.

I glared at him, but I wasn't about to admit what I was working on. My pathetic-ness was already a source of entertainment for my friends. I wasn't going to let it become entertainment from this douchebag.

"It's not. Can you give it back?"

He sneered at me, looking over the list. One of his buddies stood behind him, his arms crossed over his chest. I'd seen him before, back when Dev worked here part time. Kind of older, maybe middle age, didn't really seem the type to hang out with a college age guy. The guy screamed criminal, but it wasn't like I had any actual proof. He just gave off the bad guy vibes.

Once Dev decided the list wasn't worth his time, he crumpled it up and tossed it at me. "You're supposed to be working. Do your nerd shit at home. And stay out of my office. Jasper and I are having a meeting."

I gave him a flat look. He was throwing his weight around, trying to make himself look important, and it wasn't working. Not even his friend believed it. I spent as little time as possible talking to Dev, so it wasn't like I was going to go back there unless I absolutely had to. Besides, I was pretty sure he was doing criminal shit, and I didn't want to go down with him.

Once they wandered off, I smoothed out the list and frowned at it. Okay, so maybe the ideas were a little nerd centric. A lot of it assumed she'd get the references, and while I suspected she was interested in the stuff in the shop, I couldn't be sure she had any idea what it was about. Crumpling the list again, I tossed it in the trash, nearly jumping out of my skin when she appeared out of thin air in front of me.

"Who was that?"

Looking around, I frowned. "Who… What?"

She flashed me an irritated look, tipping her head towards the door to the back, where Dev and his buddy had gone.

"Oh. That was my boss and his friend. Don't worry about him. He doesn't come out here much. He's ‘in a meeting'," I explained, making quotes with my fingers.

"Did he say who his friend was?" she demanded.

The line of questioning was oddly specific, but like I said. Pathetic. I wanted to answer her just so she'd give me the time of day.

"Said his name was Jasper. Hey, you never told me your name, by the way." It was a lame way to ask, but whatever. I found false bravado worked for me in most situations.

"Does Jasper come here often?"

Okay, she was fixated on this guy and ignored my question completely. My spirits dimmed a little. She seemed more interested in him than me. Maybe that guy was more her type. He was taller than me, and he was wearing a nice suit. Too old for her, in my opinion. She didn't strike me as the gold digger type, but she gave me very little to go off of. I almost didn't want to answer her, because it meant my chances of getting her attention were dropping by the minute.

"Not often, no. Last I saw him was in the early summer. He, uh… He kind of strikes me as not a great guy, though, so–"

She didn't give me a chance to explain, wandering over to the model car display by the door. She never showed any interest in that before, but I knew better than to think she was actually looking at the display. She glanced towards the back door every once in a while, like she was waiting for Jasper to come back out. My shoulders slumped. Should've seen that coming. Few women liked a guy shorter than them. Adding nerd on top of that didn't really help much.

It was just me and her in the shop for the longest time. People came and went, but mostly it was her pretending to look at models and me pretending I wasn't looking at her. She finally got fed up with waiting and came over to the counter, but I didn't get my hopes up that she was there to talk to me.

"Can I talk to your manager?"

With a dejected sigh, I nodded and headed for the back. Dev's office door was shut, so I knocked and leaned against the opposite wall to wait for him to answer. It took a second and when he finally cracked it open, he looked pissed.

"What the fuck do you want?"

I tipped my head towards the front. "Pretty girl wants to talk to you. Maybe bring your friend because I'm pretty sure she's more interested in him than you."

He made a face, staring at me like I'd said something crazy. I kind of agreed. No one would be interested in Dev. And while the guy's suit was nice, his friend didn't strike me as a guy who could pull hot women, either. But part of that was just me feeling petty.

Dev's friend appeared behind him, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did she say her name?"

"Nope." Not for lack of trying on my part. Whatever. I had a job interview the following day. I should've been focusing on that.

I didn't wait around for them to make a decision. If they wanted to turn down a chance to meet a gorgeous woman like her, that was their issue. Hell, it might even help me out if they decided not to give her the time of day. She was hanging around before Jasper showed up. Maybe I still had a chance?

When I stepped out of the back, she was waiting, her posture tense. She raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged.

"They're busy, I guess. If you want, I can–"

The door behind me opened, and it felt like the tension in the room racked up a thousand degrees. I didn't have time to even turn to see who came out before someone grabbed me and I felt the pressure of metal pressed against my temple. My hands flew up in surrender and I watched, wide-eyed, as the gorgeous tomb raider pulled a gun out of a holster I hadn't seen hiding under her jacket.

"Let him go, Jasper. You're already in trouble. You don't want to add murder charges to your rap sheet."

"Should've known they'd send you, kitty . Do they really think you'd have any more luck just because of your animal?"

The conversation didn't make any sense, but it seemed to bother the woman and her gaze flicked to me for a second before locking back on Jasper.

"There are civilians present, asshole. Let him go and we'll talk."

Jasper huffed out a laugh. Yeah, I didn't think he'd go for that, either. And if I wanted to get out of this with my head still attached, I didn't think waiting around for this stand off to end was going to help me out. I looked around at the shelves closest to me. Legos, no. Model planes, too light. There was a statue figurine of Green Lantern on the next shelf over that was kind of heavy, but it was out of reach. With Jasper's grip on the back of my shirt, I wasn't going anywhere without his permission.

"You know, I've heard about you. The mighty huntress, never misses her mark. Tell me, kitty, how many of those marks are our people? Because chasing down humans isn't an impressive feat."

Great. This guy was a wackjob. I was definitely going to die.