Josie hated the smug feeling she got every time Presley whined about the man not falling into her arms. Pettiness was beneath Josie. Instead of dwelling on things that didn’t matter, she called in an order for dinner and got back to work. When Josie looked up, it was a little after nine. Damnit. This was getting old. Just because she didn’t have someone waiting at home didn’t mean she wanted to live at the office. If she had only her father’s cases to deal with, she could go home at a decent hour, but he insisted she work for Presley as well when her sister couldn’t keep her own paralegal. Instead of her father telling Presley to be nice, Josie had to endure her sister’s attitude, and that made her workload double what it should have been. Josie grabbed the files she was working on and shoved them in her leather bag.
As she drove, Josie let the sounds of Cyanide Sweetness occupy her thoughts. The hard-pounding rock matched her mood. She probably should have listened to classical, but she needed something with grit.
POP!
Josie looked around to see if someone was shooting at her. It was downtown NATL after all, but people were going about their evening, strolling down the sidewalk. She turned onto the street leading to her apartment complex when her car began to shimmy. Josie pulled over next to the sidewalk under a streetlamp and turned the car off. When she got out, she found the passenger side rear tire blown.
“Fucking great!”
Kai’s attention wasn’t as focused as it needed to be. Between Presley flirting with him and his thoughts on her sister’s photo, he knew someone else should be leading the class. Mason taught a few of the self-defense classes, and he would be taking over this one as well when Kai left to open his own gym, but the younger male had gone home for the day. Lor was currently keeping an eye on the front counter while walking through those customers using the various weights and cardio machines.
Kai breathed easier when class was finally over. He told the ladies, “Good job today. I’ll see you all next time.” These particular classes were held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Since it was Friday, he had the weekend to focus on the floor and showing Lorenzo the ropes. Kai worked seven days a week so Frey could focus on his family. Lorenzo was also without a mate and had agreed to the same schedule.
Kai was headed to the office when Presley caught up to him. “Elise and I are headed to Bishop’s tonight, and I was hoping you would join us.” Bishop’s was an upscale club which required membership. It was like most regular clubs with too loud music, but the drinks weren’t watered-down, and the clientele were some of the most affluent in New Atlanta. Kai had never been there. He’d only heard about it from some of the gym members talking about going there. Kai had no desire to step foot in the place. He owned exactly one suit, and he only wore it when absolutely necessary. He preferred hole-in-the-wall dives where he could drink domestic beer from a bottle, eat greasy appetizers with his fingers, and wear his faded jeans with holes in them.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”
“Hot date?” Presley ran a manicured nail down his bicep. He stepped back, putting a couple feet between them.
“Something like that.” If she only knew he was scoping out her sister’s house, she probably wouldn’t be as friendly.
“I’ll leave your name at the door in case you change your mind.”
“That’s not going to happen. Bishop’s isn’t my scene.”
“Oh? What is your scene? Because I like to dress down as much as the next girl.”
Malakai seriously doubted that. He couldn’t see the high-profile lawyer chugging beer and shooting pool. “It doesn’t matter because I have a girlfriend.” While that technically wasn’t true, he did have a mate out there. He needed to get away from this woman for a couple reasons. One, she smelled good, and two, he needed to find out who the scent was coming from.
“Kai, there’s a phone call for you,” Lorenzo said from the doorway.
Nodding his ascent at the male, Kai told Presley, “Enjoy your evening.”
“I’ll get him yet,” Presley muttered to her friend. If it weren’t for his shifter ears, he wouldn’t have heard her.
When he reached the desk, Lorenzo grinned. “I hope I didn’t overstep, but I thought you might like a save.”
Kai smiled back. “Thanks, Brother. No wonder that female wins all her court cases. She’s tenacious.”
“Is that going to be a problem if it turns out her sister is your mate?”
Kai shook his head. “Nah, I don’t mind a little heavy-handedness when it’s from the right person. But Julian sent me a photo of Joselynn, and the two sisters are as different as night and day as far as looks go. I bet their personalities are as well. If Joselynn turns out to be my mate, Presley will just have to get over it.” Kai had stared at Joselynn Pierson’s photo several times during the day. The female was just as pretty as her sister, but instead of being blonde and tall, Joselynn had long, black hair, and was average height. They both had startling blue eyes, but Joselynn’s seemed brighter. That might have been
