Page 16 of Bewitching the Dragon
Pacey was the only person she ever really leaned on, and she sure as heck wasn’t calling her aunt, who would definitely come rescue her and then lecture her for the next ten years about the dangers of moving out on her own.
She considered calling Charlotte, who had an older brother who was pretty tough. Except Leroy was living in Shreveport with his new wife, so never mind.
If only she had Rahu’s number. He’d come swooping in to save her. She hated the fact that she even needed saving, but honestly, she hated more that the two of them hadn’t exchanged numbers yet.
He’d hung out at the store yesterday for hours. Like he had nothing better to do than to spend time with her. Or, better yet, like he’d wanted to do nothing more than hang out with her.
They’d flirted, too, although mildly. It had felt like he was trying not to flirt, to be honest, which only made the experience sweeter. And, yes, she shouldn’t be thinking this way about a guy who was only in town for the next two weeks, but damn it, those few hours had been better than any date she’d ever been on.
Except he’d walked her to her car and ensured she was inside with the doors locked before he’d sent her on her way. No phone number, no promise to see each other again, no way to contact him if, say, she needed him to come rescue her from a small deli near the lower Garden District.
Somebody knocked on the door. Becca jumped away from the smooth surface and threw back her shoulders. She couldn’t hide in here forever—obviously, since somebody needed to use the facilities—so it was time to face her, er, demons.
Nah. It was time to go to the older guy behind the counter who was manning the grill and ask him for help with the three guys who were making her uncomfortable. He wouldn’t think she was weird for asking, would he?
Only one way to find out.
She opened the door and stepped out. The three guys were still there, hovering near the entrance. Clearly, they knew she had no choice but to eventually head their way.
Something else caught her eye, the glint of sunlight on a pair of aviator sunglasses, a man walking down the sidewalk outside.
Rahu? Holy cow, seriously? What were the odds?
She shouldn’t feel so damn relieved that he was randomly in the same area of New Orleans at the exact same time she was, but she was too busy feeling exactly that way to care.
And then something strange happened. Stranger even than Rahu showing up right when she needed him.
One of the three big, burly guys nudged the other two and nodded at the window. They all glanced at her again, at Rahu, then they all ducked their heads and filed out of the deli, turning left and heading in the opposite direction from Rahu’s approach.
Weird.
Rahu stopped and stared at the guys’ retreating backs, and for a second, she was certain he was about to chase after them, which was crazy because he surely had no earthly idea who they were and what they were doing here, and he certainly didn’t know they’d been making her severely uncomfortable.
But then he glanced into the deli and caught her eye, and a wide smile spread across his face as he waved and stepped inside.
“Hey,” he said as she approached.
“Hey yourself. What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “Nothing, until I spotted you here. Did you already eat?”
She nodded. “And I’d really like to get out of here, actually.”
“Good, let’s go.” He wrapped his hand around her bicep—there went that sizzle, the good one—and tugged her toward the door. Once outside, he hung a right and began hurrying down the sidewalk like they were late for something.
“My car.” She pointed at the ancient sedan in front of a meter that was ten minutes from expiring.
Rahu glanced both ways and then crossed the street in the middle of the block. He motioned for her to give him the keys, and he unlocked the door and held it open for her to slide into the driver’s seat. Once he was seated next to her, he said, “Head back to your house.”
Not her first choice, but she was shaken enough at this point to do as he said.
Neither one of them spoke for several long minutes, until Becca finally said, “Thanks.”
“For what?”
She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “That sort of felt like a rescue,” she admitted.
She could actually feel him studying her as she drove. She stole a quick glance. Yep, he was staring at her like he was expecting something. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he knew she needed him, and that’s why he’d shown up when he did.
