Chapter 1
I moved to Santo Padre about six months ago and seems all I do is work. Finally getting another off day from work, I walk into the bookstore that seems to be about the only place I seem to go these days. Browsing the shelves to see what jumps out at me that I don't already own, I see a couple that I don't have and grab them. Walking to the front counter, I pay for my order and walk out the door.
Walking down the street, I look down at my phone and feel myself walk into a mass of muscle. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry." I say, apologizing. His hands are on my arms, holding me steady. "It's okay chica. You good?" he asks. I look up at him and he has these soft chestnut brown eyes and a sexy smirk. Shit. "Yeah." I say as I back away. "Sorry again." I say as I try to walk past. "You at least gonna give me a name?" he asks and I stop in my tracks. I turn to look at him and see him and his two friends smirking at me. I cock my head to the side a little and say "You got one?" He looks at his friends before stepping towards me. "Angel." he says, holding out his hand. I look at it and then back at him, holding my books closer to me. I take his and shake it and say "Ivy." He looks back at his friends and says "That's Coco and Gilly." before looking back at me. "Nice to meet you guys but I gotta go." I tell him before turning to walk away. "Yeah. Wouldn't want your old man seeing you talking to another man huh?" he asks. "Whoever said I had one?" I ask before walking away and hear his friends laughing.
I walk home and as soon as I walk in the door, my cell phone rings. Looking at it, I see it's my ex, Jake, so I don't answer. I really need to change my number. I make something to eat before showering and heading to bed, knowing I have work tomorrow. I hate my job. Being the new one, seems I'm the one that gets the shit work and I really don't know if it's even worth it but at least I can pay my bills.
It's Friday and I keep thinking about the man I met on the street. Angel. He was beautiful and he just had that swagger. Damn. Sitting at my desk, my office mate looks at me and sees me in thought. "What are you smiling about?" she asks. "What?" I ask. "You're sitting there smiling and I know it's not because you love your job." she tells me. "Oh. I was just thinking." I say. "Did you meet someone?" she asks. "Sort of. It was just brief. I literally ran into this guy on the street, not watching where I was going." I tell her. "Was he that hot?" she asks. "You have no clue." I tell her before we hear a knock on the door. I look up and see my boss standing there. "We're having a get together after work and I need you to go get the meats." he tells me. "Where am I going?" I ask as I stand and get my bag. He hands me a piece of paper with the address.
I walk into the shop and the bell over the door dings. "Can I help you?" the man behind the counter asks. "I'm picking up an order for MiaSatos Industries." I say. "Give me just a minute. You're going to need help putting this in your car." he tells me and I nod. "Thank you." He heads to the back and I look over at the book collection to the side. "Like to read mija?" the man asks. I look at him and smile. "I do. I have a ton of books that I've read a million times. I think I'm running out of room. Would you take donations?" I ask. "That would be appreciated mija." he says. I reach out my hand. "I'm Ivy." He smiles before shaking my hand and saying "Felipe." I smile and say "Nice to meet you." We hear someone come in and I look up to see a very nice looking man walk in. He smiles softly and he has a beautiful smile, soft eyes, amazing arms.
I look back at Felipe and he says "This is my son Ezekiel. He's going to help carry this out to your car." he tells me. "That would be great Felipe. Thank you." I tell him and he just nods. Ezekiel follows me out to my car and I open the back door for him to put it inside. Closing the door, I look at Ezekiel and say "Thank you." He smiles softly and says "No problem Ivy." We stand there for a minute and he says "I heard you say something about donating books?" I smile and say "Yeah. I have a lot of books that I need to figure out what to do with before I run out of room on my shelves." I tell him. "Give me your phone." he says and I hand it to him. He puts his number in and says "Give me a call when you're ready and I can pick them up." he tells me. "Yeah. Okay." I say before looking back at my car and saying "I better get these out of here." He nods and steps back as I get into my car and I drive away.
Pulling up at work, one of my coworkers comes out and gets the box and heads inside. Carla walks up and asks "How did you lift that?" I look at her and say "Oh he had his son carry it out." I tell her. "Which one?" she asks. "Ezekiel." I say. "He's a good one." she tells me before walking away, leaving me confused.