“No, no, no, no, no!” I groaned. “I can’t afford this!” I looked around, as if I was expecting to catch the perpetrator.
“You,” I growled, spotting Zeus sitting in his convertible a couple spots away.
I stomped over to him; my fists clenched and smoke practically billowing from my nose.
“Did you really pop all my tires over those stupid roses?!” I spat, raising my hands to fight. “You are such an a—“
“Whoa, hold on there!” He held his hands up in defense, innocence plastered on his face. “I didn’t pop anything.”
“Really? Then why are all of my tires flat?” I wanted to literally rip his ear off and readied every swear word I knew, preparing an arsenal to loose on him.
“I thought something was wrong with the valves, so I fiddled with them a little. I guess I accidently let the air out.” He was still the picture of innocence, but I caught a slight twitching of his mouth.
“I cannot believe you!” I screamed. “Do you know what this means?! I’m going to be late to class because I have to fix them! It’s only the second day of school. What will my professor think?” I grabbed the top of his door and leaned over, right into his face. “If I lose my scholarship, so help me, I’ll—“
“Hang on baby,” he crooned.
“Ugh. Do not call me baby.” If I had a knife I would have been slicing things off, Bible style.
“Chill out, will you? That’s why I stuck around; I’ll drive you to school. Look,” he grabbed a cup and held it out to me. “I even brought coffee.”
I stared at the cup dumbfounded.
“You flattened my tires so I would have to hitch a ride?” I raised an eyebrow, folding my arms.
“Get in the car,” he sighed. “You said yourself you’ll be late if you don’t come with me.”
“I did not say that.”
“You implied it.” He smiled at me, lowering his designer sunglasses so I could see his eyes.
“I did not! I—whatever. But I’m not drinking the coffee.” I walked around to the other side of the car, hating that he was right. I needed the ride.
“Touchy,” he joked.
“I don’t drink coffee before art class,” I shot back. “It makes my work jittery.”
“Art huh?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
I fumed through all of my classes, struggling to maintain focus. Zeus agreed to have my tires aired back up and my car dropped off, so I wouldn’t have to find a ride home. I could only hope he’d hold up his end of the deal.
I couldn’t believe he’d come to my house. Twice. Especially after the way he treated me at the club. He’d still been as handsome as sin, his maroon shirt and jeans practically painted on . . . .I needed to focus. This guy was going to make my life miserable! Maybe I should have forgiven him when he brought the flowers. Then I never would have had to see him again and life would have been great.
I tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. It was my last class for the day, and I was supposed to be taking notes for a quiz next week. I gripped my pen and started writing furiously—leaving ink blots on the page.
What if my parents were right and this was the start of a stalking? I could end up dead in a dumpster—or worse! Several worse case scenarios started to run through my mind, many depicting my bones being used as decoration in his resort. So much for concentrating.
I hated him! He thought he could have whatever he wanted—whoever he wanted. Well he was in for a trip if he thought he was getting anything from me. I drummed my fingers on my desk, scowling. Maybe he’d get the picture if I burned his resort down. Running my hands through my hair, I sighed. I was really worked up and couldn’t shake it. Something about Zeus just drove me up the wall.
I was one of the first people out of the room when the professor dismissed us, heading straight to the parking lot to see if my car was there.
It wasn’t.
Cursing under my breath, I headed to the campus student center. At least they sold food there, and I didn’t need my car to go get any.
I tried to calm myself again over lunch. I needed to remember everything I’d learned in the library yesterday. Being mad wasn’t going to help me at all. I put some headphones on and jammed for a couple of minutes then headed to work.
Surprisingly, I was remembering everything well. Everyone I’d worked with was very nice and patient. It felt much more comfortable than it had the day before. I must have had the first‑day jitters.
I was shelving books next to the window that overlooked the parking lot and rolled my eyes when I discovered my car still wasn’t there. I was off in two hours and didn’t even know who to call to pick me up, other than a cab. At least I’d know who to tell the cops to go after for grand theft auto.
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Zeus’s voice in my ear made me jump and bump into him.
“What is wrong with you?” I demanded. “And where is my car?”
“I parked it in the lot, like you said.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
The nerve.
“It’s not out there, I looked.” I let venom course through my voice.
“Oh, you meant this one? I parked it next to the math building.”
“That’s clear on the other side of campus,” I groaned. “I told you to park it here, next to the library!”
“I guess I’ll have to walk you across campus then—just to make sure you find it alright.” He smiled brilliantly at me, and I wanted to knock his teeth out.
“Fine,” I ground out through clenched teeth. Turning my back, I went back to shelving books.
“Need help with anything?” I glanced over my shoulder and saw him holding a couple of books from my cart, a goofy grin on his face.
“Don’t touch those!” I hissed. “Just leave me alone, okay?” I grabbed the hardcovers from him, shoved them on the cart, and stormed away with it.
A few aisles later, I went to place some manuscripts on a shelf, and my heart seized when Zeus’s face appeared from the other side.
“Hey,” he said in a flirty tone. His countenance was still one of conquest. I was pretty sure I’d become a prize for him to win and that was all.
I shoved the tomes in his face.
When it was finally almost time to go home, and I was behind the help desk with one of the assistant librarians, he came up to me again.
“Excuse me, miss. Can you help me?” His voice was pleading, and he held a novel in his hand.
I rolled my eyes and turned to pass him off, but the librarian nodded in encouragement to me. I faced him again, my fists clenched under the counter.
“Yes, sir. What may I assist you with?” He grinned like an idiot as I spoke.
“Well, you see, I have this book here,” he began in his pleading voice again. “And I wanted to get the whole series while I was here. Could you help me find it?” He held the volume out to me like a child trying to show a parent the picture they’d drawn. Snatching it from him, I quickly jotted the required information into the computer.
“Excuse me, sir.” I had to bite back a sneer; my boss was watching. “This novel isn’t part of a series.”
“Oh, my mistake.” His eyes sparkled. “Thank you for your help,” he said with a seductive smile as he took the book back.
I was going to kill him.
I hurried to grab my things from the library office and then peered out to see if he was anywhere in sight. I made a mad dash to the door when I didn’t find him. Victory surged through my veins as I hurried across campus, glad to be rid of him.
“Hold on there!” A rock-hard arm shot out and caught me around the waist, almost knocking the air out of me.
“How did you catch me,” I groaned as Zeus released me.
“I figured you needed your keys to start your car.” He dangled them in front of my face, and I made a grab for them, but missed.
“No, I don’t think so. You can have them when we get to the car.”<
br />
If looks could kill, he would have been dead on the sidewalk. And I may or may not have danced over his body.
He tried to talk to me for the rest of our little walk but I ignored him. I figured all of the rudeness in the world wouldn’t ever equal what he’d done in the club. When we reached the car, I held my hand out for the keys.
“Can I have a ride?” he burst out suddenly. “I don’t have my car because I drove yours here.” He flashed me a sheepish grin.
“Give me the keys,” I demanded. He pulled them from his pocket and dangled them in my face. My glaring finally got to him, and he handed them over. I unlocked the doors, muttering, and got in.
Immediately, I could tell something was different. Not only did the car now smell like Zeus, but there was a shiny new stereo in place of my old one. I investigated the rest of the interior. It appeared to have new speakers as well.
“Nice, right?” Zeus nodded his head as he climbed in and reached over to turn the system on. I slapped his hand out of the way.
“No, not nice! What did you do to my car?!” I looked at him with unbelieving eyes.
“I got you a new sound system. A thank you would be nice,” he said as he cradled his hand, pretending to be hurt.
“No! Not thank you! I bought the old system myself! I saved my money for months—every single penny I had during high school! I even installed it myself so I would know how to take care of it!” My fists balled on the steering wheel and I could feel the angry tears filling my eyes.
“I just thought—“
“You thought wrong,” I said simply. “I can’t be bought. Not with flowers, not with coffee, and most definitely not with a sound system.” He seemed shocked. “Please just get out of my car. Call a cab. You obviously have the money for it.”
I was shocked when he did so without saying a word. I practically flew out of the parking lot in my haste to get away from him, the tears finally spilling over. I was so irritated, but I was more hurt. It was upsetting that he thought he could buy my attention.
I ran inside when I got home. Zeus’s car was still parked in the lot, which meant he would probably be arriving soon.
“Oh my gosh, Karly, what’s wrong?” Jessie jumped up from the couch where she’d been watching a movie. “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” I admitted, wounded tears falling anew.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she said softly.
“Not now, if you don’t mind.” I hiccupped as I headed to my room.
There was a soft knock at the front door, and I heard Jessie answer.
“Is Karly here?” It was Zeus.
“I don’t think she wants to talk to you right now.” Jessie was soft but sure. I silently thanked her even though she couldn’t see me.
“Okay. Um, could you tell her I’m sorry? I won’t try to buy her things anymore.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell her.”
“Thanks.”
The entrance clicked closed and Jessie came down the hall.
“You hear that?” she asked when she saw me leaning against the wall.
“Yeah.”
Chapter Seven