Page 25 of His Other Half

That would be better than letting herself accept that he'd used her, and she was only a one-night stand.

Slipping the coins into the slot, she looked over the selection, knowing to leave the Snickers for the men. Every single one of them enjoyed that candy bar the best.

Buying a Pepsi, a pouch of peanut M&M's, and a bag of Doritos, she loaded everything up in the crook of her arm and headed back to the office.

"Hey, Josie. Slick's heading over to Dairy Queen in a few minutes. Do you want anything?" asked Banks.

She looked down at the snacks and then met Banks' gaze. "No, thank you."

He chuckled. "Suit yourself."

Returning to the office, she dumped the items on the desk. She sat down and popped the top on the can. Every time she had a pop, she missed the pull tabs that she remembered while growing up on the Rez. Somewhere in her childhood bedroom, there was a ten-foot chain of pull tabs she'd made from all the tops she'd found on the ground around the casino.

Like everything else she'd owned, someone probably dumped that too in the garbage. Once she left, and there was no one to live there, they would've sold the house to another family.

She was dead to her people.

Not everything the elders permitted to happen was right. Some of the laws worked against the people. The reservation was meant to be a temporary stepping stone. Those who remained were there to better others' lives, helping them achieve a sustainable living anywhere they wanted to go.

She had no other option but to leave her home after her father sold her to Askook and was murdered. She was never going back, even if the council sent her a personal invitation to return.

Opening up the M&M's, she picked out a red one. She popped the candy in her mouth.

It was strange that Paco never returned to the apartment. She would've thought he enjoyed himself.

But it was like he'd evaporated into thin air.

After having sex throughout the night, she'd fallen asleep in his arms. When she woke, he was gone. The only sign that he'd broken into her apartment and spent time with her was the used condoms in the wastebasket in her room.

They'd hardly said two sentences to each other, and yet because she'd enjoyed him sexually, she felt like she knew him better than when they started.

Drinking from the can, she checked the calendar spread out on the top of her desk. The shop would be closed after work until Tuesday. They had Saturday off to celebrate Memorial weekend. She'd have three days off.

A perfect time for Paco to visit. If that was his plan, and she hoped he'd come to the apartment again.

Unfamiliar with how men and women had relationships off the Rez, she found it odd he'd approach her at night in her apartment. He'd broken into her place, and she almost stabbed him with the knife she kept for self-defense.

It was frightening, especially after dealing with Askook holding her captive at the casino and being paranoid he'd try to kidnap her or Cami again.

A loud bang came from the garage. She looked to the window and spotted more people inside talking to the employees. She tossed the empty wrapper and stood, carrying her pop to the other side of the room. Going off the schedule, there was no one scheduled to come in during everyone's lunch hour. The guys liked to use that time to eat and get caught up on the jobs that took longer.

The new arrivals all wore black leather vests with Tarkio Motorcycle Club on the back. Adrenaline filled her, and she looked for Paco in the group. Disappointed that he wasn't one of the members in the garage, she blew out her breath.

Deciding to cut her lunch hour short, she worked on filling out the insurance claims and had the box on the corner of her desk emptied by one o'clock.

She glanced into the garage. It appeared the employees weren't going to work and instead stood around talking to their friends. Checking the schedule, she frowned. They were supposed to be working on installing a new transmission on a Ford Ranger for Kip Michaels.

It wasn't her job to keep them on task. The only thing she was responsible for was scheduling and taking care of billing. Banks would have to explain to the customer if the job took longer.

The door opened, and Chrischris walked into the office. She looked back at the ledger in front of her, letting him do whatever he came to do.

After several minutes, she looked up and found him sitting on Banks' desk, watching her.

"Do you need something?" she asked.

He removed a can of chew from his pocket and thrummed his thumb against the lid. "What are you doing tonight?"

She pressed her back against the chair. Rarely had one of the men asked her questions regarding her personal life away from work. From the first day she got hired, they'd all kept their distance, which she appreciated. It was hard enough to acclimate to living off the Rez with men she wasn't familiar with and being afraid she'd mess up on the job.