Zia… The Diner Parking Lot

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11: 47 am

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She hadn’t been this pissed in forever. Zia had lost every bit of mojo she’d ever thought about having. Her only recourse had been to flee before she made things worse. The last thing she’d wanted to do was appear wanton, needy, and desperate, yet that’s what she’d done. Zia was pissed at herself for acting like a brazen hussy.

The bright mid-morning sun of The Diner’s parking lot wrapped her car in a spotlight of accusation. She sucked at dating. Always had when it had been up to her to show initial interest. With Greg, that suckage became exponential.

Throwing herself at the man like a stalker fan at every turn, he’d shot down every attempt at her invitation. He made her crazy. Zia could swear when she was around him, her lady bits went into hyperdrive hijacking thought and reason. She adjusted herself on the seat of the car at the thought of how wet her panties were.

Hussy to the Nth power, Zia be thy name, was the badge of disgrace she could see blazing above her head as she’d walked the walk of shame to her car. Based on his hospitable and gentlemanly actions, Greg Griffin appeared to be only interested in the friend zone where she was concerned.

Damn it.

The one man she went cuckoo over in every way was the one who couldn’t care less about her feelings of attraction one way or the other. This sucked to high hell. And to think she’d driven for days to get back here—for that pitiful excuse of a big showdown. Everything her mother had ever taught her either did not affect him or went out the window. Thankfully, the shame and embarrassment to come were still hidden under the seething anger of how badly she’d blown any chance of being with him.

Not only had that big Zen Hulk of a man refused to take her up on her many hints to step up and show his interest, but she’d received the politest, most chaste tour of the Lair. Hell, Miss Connie could have done that for all the lack of interest Greg showed.

True enough, she’d loved the charm of the brick building. The open space of the roof and Greg’s rooms spoke to her need for minimal decor to breathe. But, she’d wanted him to make his move. Zia needed Greg to confirm any attraction he had or her. Their time together was over she wasn’t sure if he'd been making a show of interest for his friends or toying with her.

When she’d taken liberties to walk close to the edge of the rooftop and grabbed his strong arm, he'd led her back to stand at a safe distance. Greg hadn’t taken the opening or made a move. Was she crazy? Was the man was into her in the least bit? He ran counter to anyone she’d ever been around before.

That was the thing. He wasn’t fully a man, was he? Zia fought too many times to count how her hand reached out to touch him of its own will.

The masculine scent of him threatened to drive her to bum rush him a few times too. When they’d made it to his rooms, she’d almost jumped him in lust-drunk passion. If he hadn’t managed to get her out of there as fast as he did, she was sure he’d be able to press sexual assault charges. Frustrating as her want for him was, the best thing for her to do was leave before she did something criminal to him.

Now, she sat alone in the rental car across the street from the one guy she’d wanted to make a move on her.

The bright blue blinking light from her cell phone in the neck of her open purse toyed with her annoyance to be checked. Sure enough, there were four calls and as many messages from her mother. This wasn’t the best time to talk with her. In her current state, Zia wasn’t sure how much her mother would manage to guilt out of her. It was best to give it a little time before tackling that set of drama.

Her senses were magnetized to the man in that building across the street. The rental car sat facing the Lair from the Diner’s parking lot. Now she could clearly make out the building. Even from here, it had a commanding presence and personality. There was definitely something about that place that no one was letting on about.

In the gleam of the early spring day, the red bricks popped against the backdrop of the beginning punches of green from the surrounding trees. It was a little before lunch and took everything she could do not to run back over there and beg to change her mind to stick around. A hole the size of Texas of what she didn’t get from Greg gnawed its way through her.

After it looked like she was on the museum version of her tour with Greg, she’d begged off staying for lunch. Being inside that place made it hard for her to think. No, it was hard to strategize and think like her mother had drilled into her when it came to men.

“Never be too eager. Men walk all over being eager. Be confident and quick with clever wit. Take control of the conversation without its appearing that way. And for heaven’s sakes don’t be too smart about everything. Make him think he’s calling the shots. Men can’t handle smarts, but they love attention from a witty and clever woman,” had been her mother’s evergreen advice on dealing with men.

So far Zia had followed it to a tee, except her last boyfriend had pulled the okie doke and kidnapped her. There was that.

Greg seemed to be immune to any charm she used. So much for that grand advice. Here she was still trying to use it on a clearly uninterested golden Viking giant. The sigh that filled the car’s interior was pathetic even to her ears. Might as well get calling her mother over with—after a quick bite at The Diner.

A good hour plus later and back in the car, none of Zia’s worries had disappeared. The flashing light on her phone continued to blink with a few more missed calls. Greg was still across the street taunting her need to be around him.

She’d had the most incredible lunch by herself in The Diner. The gusto in how she’d devoured the brimming plate of food had been fueled by her anger.

One good thing had come of it. Her belly was full, happy with the food she’d inhaled, and her anger dissipated. Back to normal levels of sanity, she sat continuing to skewer herself for being so brazen with Greg.

The sly thought crept in as slick as you please. Maybe she’d been hasty in her need to show Greg how much he didn’t affect her when he didn’t respond to her overt hints? Yeah, right. He hadn’t missed a beat showing her to the door and continuing his day. She needed to get a clue and do the same.

Running through what she needed to do besides moon over Greg, it was obvious. She had to face her crap, both literal and figurative. Zia needed to go to her apartment. The only thing on Zia’s agenda for the rest of the day was to go back to her old apartment and start packing.

She put the key in the ignition to start the car as guilt slammed her hard. Zia didn’t want to be an ungrateful brat. Being a good daughter was the least she could do. Zia relented and hit the number that would connect her to the one person who wouldn’t stand for her not wanting to be bothered.

Not two minutes into the conversation and Zia wanted to kick herself for being such a sucker for punishment.

“Mami, don’t do this,” Zia said, pleading with her mother. She turned the vehicle’s ignition and prepared to drive out of the parking lot of The Diner.

“I don’t know why you do this to us. You’re killing your father, killing him,” her mother said, heaping on the guilt through the phone.

“If that happens, I’ll come back home for the funeral. I—”

“Don’t you dare play like that, mi hija. You said you would be coming right back. My heart can’t take much more of this. First, you come home and refuse to talk about what happened to you, even though you’ve been through something terrible. Then you say you have to go back to Atlanta to finish up some quick business. Now, this? You say you’re staying for a week or so. Si, me estás matando.”

Oh boy, her mother had slipped into her native tongue. Zia didn’t know why her mother was so worked up about this. She didn’t usually speak so much Spanish. Zia was rusty at best with it. This was going to take a while.

“Mami, don’t say that. I’m not killing you,” Zia whined. Her mother was wearing her out with this victim mode. The woman had seemed fine with her coming back to Atlanta when she’d left. Now she was on a tear with the guilt. Zia would suffer through it. “I’m doing what I need to get some closure on things before I leave Atlanta.” Deciding to flip the script for a change, she added, “You don’t want me having issues for the rest of my life because I didn’t take the time to do what I needed here, do you? Maybe, if I don’t rush, I’ll be able to open up more, and we can have that talk you’ve wanted?” It was wrong to stoop to her mother’s tactics, but she was her daughter. “You want me to get better fast, yes—si?”

“Ah yes, my baby. You know I do.”

“Then what I need from you, Mami, is support and understanding. Can you do that for me? Please?”

There was silence. In all her twenty-nine years of living, Zia had always given in when her mother gave her the silent treatment. Today was different. The woman was on twenty with the emotions.

More than her need to make peace with her mother about when she’d be coming home, Zia needed to find peace within. Somewhere between spending time getting to know Greg and working through exactly what happened to her, Zia had to find her way back to wholeness. That monster, Patrick, had taken a piece of her with his sadistic torture. She aimed to get it back and some.

A short exhale floated through the phone connection coaxing Zia’s smile up and out. Her mother was coming around.

“Yes, fine. I’ll give you time to work out what you need to. But—you have to promise you won’t shut me out. I need you to give me updates. Zia Carter, don’t ignore your mother.”

“Mami! I don’t ignore you!”

“Put that base right back in your pocket because I’m not having it. If I say you ignore me, you do. There, I’ve said I’d give you time and space, but you have to keep me updated. Baby, I don’t mean to smother you. It’s that you’re so far away and with everything going on with your father, I don’t have the strength not to worry about you too.”

It was time for Zia to shut down. Her mother had brought up the thing with her father. It was something they didn’t talk about. The last thing Zia wanted or needed was to have that hanging over her head too. With a quick reset to ignore it, she forced her next words to be as bright and sunny as the day surrounding her in this parking lot.

“I promise to keep you in the loop. Love you.”

“Love you too. Please call back later tonight when your father gets home. Let us know where you plan to stay while if you won’t be at your place, too. I’m sure he’ll want to hear your voice and know you’re all right. I’ll tell him you made it safely, but don’t try me, mi hija. If you go silent like you used to, I’ll be over there faster than you can make one of your delicious cupcakes. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Now go before I start crying.”

Zia’s finger hovered over the disconnect button about to press when her mother added in, “Oh! Before I forget, I gave Jeremy your number. He wanted to be able to check on you. Zia, he’s a good man. He even said he’d be willing to help you with your move back.”

“Mami, why did you do that? You should have asked before giving him my number.” Pissed was too nice a word to describe the betrayal and anger rising.

“Do what, you a favor? Zia, I swear you’re an ingrate. Sometimes I don’t know what goes on in that head of yours. You act like I never taught you good home training. You should have been the one to give him your number when he drove all that way to see you.”

This was another one of the countless ways her mother usurped her freedom to live her own life. Fussing about it would only prolong the conversation. Diplomacy was the best course of action. If Jeremy called, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. She never answered unknown numbers anyway. A beat to regroup and the seething rage had simmered down to grumbling passive aggression.

“You know what? You’re right. Fine.”

“I know you’re still mad at me. But, trust me. In the long run, you’ll see that I was right. The man wants to be with you. You see the lengths he’s willing to show you. Zia, baby girl, you can’t get that from most men out here today. They all want you to do all the hoops jumping. Take it from me; you could do a lot worse than Mr. Jeremy.”

“I said fine.” Sensing a new bout of anger bubbling up, she had to end the call before exploding. “I need to go. Got to get organized and my bearing straight on how to get it all done.”

Taking the hint, her mother relented. “Okay, but please talk with Jeremy when he calls. You need some healthy male attention.”

“Mami, I said I’ve got to go.”

Her mother was hesitant to speak. Great, that meant she’d hurt Leila’s feelings. That might come back to bite her with a guilt trip to remember in the near future.

Finally, her mother spoke. “Okay, I love you mi hija.”

“Love you too,” Zia said more garbled than she’d meant for it to sound.

With her mother agreeing to give her a few days breathing room, Zia could think straighter. If only she didn’t have a giant Viking hijacking her thoughts, she’d be able to get it together. One more look over at the Lair and she was back to where she started.

“Shit!”

Everything wanted him, her body, mind, and soul. A new usual sensation invaded her somewhere deep and unknown to blossom into safety. Yeah, she felt safer with him. The idea of going to her home alone was a bit frightening. She hadn’t gone back since the kidnapping.

That was it.

If he were the gentleman she believed him to be, she’d get him to go with her to her apartment. With determination reminiscent of her former glory days, Zia drove out the parking lot. She crossed the street and parked the rental car next to the other various vehicles in front of the Lair.

She didn’t expect it, but Greg opened the door when she knocked. He wore the barest amount of loose-fitting athletic gear. His primal and magnetic presence snatched the composure she’d mustered up out and tossed it back across the street. Before she could coordinate her body to obey the signal to retreat, he spoke.

“Come in,” was all he said, as he moved that gorgeous body aside to allow her to enter.

The room buzzed with activity. Hildy, Quinn, and Wren were in the matted area closest to the door. Behind them, she could see Matt, Wren’s boyfriend. If she were to believe Miss Connie, he was the father of her pregnant friend’s child. Closer to those magnificent huge windows, he grappled with three other fine as fuck guys. One was Ajax. The other two? Their names escaped her. One of them looked like he was related to Matt with the other a version of Lucien and Ajax.

“Nolan, I swear to the Goddess. I’m going to rip your asshole wider if you sneak attack me again,” she could hear Ajax saying to the one who looked like him.

“Shut it, Jax, and do your damn job. You have to work at this. There won’t be redos at the portal. This is my last time to hand you your ass before I go down for my deep sleep. Pay attention to this master class I'm giving you in ass-whipping. School is in session,” the other one named Nolan said.

As she moved into the space, everyone’s activity waned, coming to a stop. All eyes were on her again. Great.

Taking a bit of gumption she must have inherited from Leila Carter, she said loud and proud, “Hey Greg, I was about to leave, and it hit me that I could use an escort. Are you available? I’m still not that keen on going to my apartment alone.” A form of honesty would be the best policy approaching him. That was becoming clearer as she dared to hold his penetrating gaze.

Like her father, Zia could see the strength of his soul in his brilliant, but stormy blue eyes. He took his time as if he sized up her request before answering.

“Yes, I’ll escort you. Hold on, let me grab a set of keys.” Nodding to an area full of folding chairs and simple long plastic looking dining tables, he offered, “Take a seat over there, away from all the training. Give me a few to clean up and change. Then we’ll be off.”