Puck’s Property by Monique Moreau

ChapterEighteen

Ava gathered her hair in her hand and cast a look over her shoulder, a furrow lodged between her brows. The hairs of her nape stood on end, and a small shiver coursed down her spine. Shifting on her stool at the counter of the small burger joint where she waited for Abby to meet her for lunch, Ava couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She should feel safe in the middle of a restaurant packed with the lunch crowd.

The place was a hole in the wall, with one narrow aisle lined with small tables on either side and a counter in the back. At a table near her, a man rustled the newspaper in his hands. The upper corner of the paper flopped forward. Her eyebrows arched as she recognized the top half of the face behind the paper. It took a moment for his eyes to flicker up and focus on her. Derick’s serious eyes remained on her as he slowly folded the newspaper and tucked it beneath the empty plate on the table.

Getting up, he slid into the seat she’d been holding for Abby.

“Hey Derick, how are you?” she asked with a smile. It had been a while since he’d stopped by her office during his coffee break. Too wrapped up in Puck, she hadn’t realized until now that she hadn’t seen him in some weeks.

He gave her a grin. “Been a while,” he said, his gaze moving down her figure. An eyebrow curved up as he deliberately paused on her bare thigh, exposed from the high slit of her dress. Since Puck moved in, she’d been dressing differently on the days when she worked from the Agency office. Not that it was by any means provocative, but she loved the way Puck’s eyes followed her in the mornings as she got dressed. How he grabbed her butt, gave her a searing kiss, and told her to behave herself just before she left for work.

“Wow, gotta say I like how you dress when you’re not working at Duchess County.”

Laughing nervously, she covered her thigh with the clingy material of her dress. “Yeah, I’d never dress like this at the jail.” She gave a little shrug. “It’s different when I’m at the Agency.”

“Sure is,” he replied, his gaze dipping down one more time before crawling back up to her face. “Never thought you dressed like this. Period.”

“Trying to change things up a little bit. Can’t let life get too dull, you know?”

Derick chuckled lightly. “Sure thing.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked curiously.

“Oh.” His eyes darted through the large window behind her and then back to her. “Had a doctor’s appointment and came to grab lunch afterward.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied with a small, sheepish chuckle. “Annual exam. My sister’s always pressuring me to go get checked out. My mom was diagnosed with diabetes a few months back, and she’s been hounding me. You know the kind. You have a stable job with health insurance, and if you knew what was good for you, you’d use it,” he said in a nasal voice. “Older sisters,” he mocked with a roll of his eyes.

Ava laughed. “Oh, I know all about older sisters since I am one. Definitely always listen to your older sister.”

“You have a younger sister?”

“Yes, much younger than I am. I practically raised her,” she replied with pride. It struck her that Derick didn’t know her that well if he didn’t know about Kat.

“Didn’t see you come in. I was focused on the paper someone left on the table when I ordered. You here with someone?”

“Actually, a work friend is supposed to meet me any minute now.” As if summoned, Abby pushed through the front door, Loki following close behind. Pointing, Ava said, “Oh, there she is. With her boyfriend.”

Derick’s posture stiffened as he took in Loki, who pressed Abby behind him to pave a path through the busy aisle leading toward the counter.

“Hey, Ava,” greeted Loki. Abby poked out from behind him and jabbed him with her elbow until he moved far enough for her to get in front of him.

“Bossy,” she huffed out in irritation.

“I was trying to help. Anyone could bump into you and hurt the baby, Pixie,” he explained.

“God forbid. Loki, it’s a pregnancy, not a handicap, but I’ll handicap you if you keep up with the pushy attitude,” she snapped. Shaking her head, she gave Ava a hug. Derick got out of his seat and gestured toward the empty stool. Abby looked at him and then at Ava.

“This is a colleague from Duchess County. Derick, this is my friend Abby and her boyfriend—” Loki coughed out, “Husband,” in his fist, and Ava adjusted, “I mean, her fiancé, Loki.”

Derick moved back suddenly and bumped into the waiter, who shoved past him with a scowl. Loki inspected Derick carefully and gave him a silent chin lift.

“I’ve got to get back to work. See you tomorrow, Ava. Nice to meet you,” he muttered without casting a look at Loki and backed away.

“Oh…okay. You’re not taking the day off?” she asked politely to ease Derick’s nervous energy. Eyeing Loki, she figured he might seem threatening with the nasty scar on his face, but it’s not like Derick was one to cower in front of rough-looking men.

“Nah, with our shortage of COs, we can’t take full days off unless we’re sick or something,” he mumbled. With another goodbye, he gave Loki a silent nod and hustled through the narrow aisle toward the exit.

Watching his retreating back, Loki noted, “Strange guy. Nervous.”

“Yeah, it’s you, Loki. It’s not the first time you’ve scared someone off with your broodiness,” huffed Abby.

Loki’s eyebrows slanted downward. “So be it, Pixie. I don’t like strange men around you anyway, even law enforcement.”

“You do realize there’s such a thing as overprotective?” she taunted.

One side of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Is that right?” he drawled. “Never heard that theory before.” He let out a grunt. “Sure as hell not gonna follow it.”

Slipping into the empty stool, Abby tapped her fingers on the countertop and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you staying, or did you just follow me because you’re insane?”

He dipped his head and dropped a kiss on her nose. “Could be I missed you.”

Abby’s eyes melted. Her face went slack and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “Darn these pregnancy hormones.”

He gathered her into his arms and rocked her. “Enjoy your lunch with Ava, and I’ll see you tonight, alright?” Looking at Ava, he said, “I’m not a stalker. I had business in the area, so I stopped by to check out how my woman was doing. Is that a crime?”

“Not by me,” piped up Ava.

“God forbid anything happens to you, Ava, because Puck will be just as bad.”

Picking up the greasy menu that had been left by the waiter on the countertop, Ava looked at it and mused, “I highly doubt either of those things would happen. This is your special hell.”

“Tell me about it,” Abby grumbled.

“You’re dreaming if you think Puck will be any better,” Loki warned Ava. He loitered beside Abby until she threw her hands up in exasperation and gave him the kiss he was waiting for. Raising her eyebrows, Ava was surprised the building hadn’t scorched down to the ground from the heat coming off them.

Loki wished them a good lunch and left. The waiter stopped at their end of the counter, mechanically scribbled down their order, and rushed off.

“It should be here soon,” said Ava with a pat to her friend’s hand.

“Thank God, I’m so hungry. I think that’s why I was short with Loki. Eating for two is not as fun as it seems.” Leaning against the back of her stool, she asked, “Who was the guy? He seemed into you.”

“Derick? No, I don’t…well, maybe. He’s a CO at Duchess County and used to stop by my office during his coffee break a few times a week, but he stopped coming around.” She shrugged. “He actually asked me out at one point, but then backpedaled, which is for the best now that Puck and I are together.”

“Speaking of Puck, how are things?” she asked with a saucy wink.

Ava ducked her head. “Good,” she mumbled, suddenly a little shy. “Great. Better than the first time around, honestly.” She cleared her throat. “He…uhm…he kind of moved in with me.”

Abby’s lips spread into a bright smile and she grabbed Ava’s hand. “Welcome to the club, Ava. I knew that time we stopped by your house when you were sick that he was serious. He’s never been interested in a woman to the point where he went out of his way for them.”

“You were right. I didn’t want to acknowledge it at the time, but we’ve come a long way.”

Two plates with burgers surrounded by the shop’s famous hand-cut french fries slid in front of them.

“Mmm, time to eat,” declared Abby, and they dug into their meals.