Alpha Me Not by Jianne Carlo Page A

find a note saying he’d had an emergency and would be out of the office for the rest of the day. Figured.
    Not a breeze stirred the humid air when she meandered to the admissions building and to the residence placement section. Turned out that the dorm she’d stayed in the week before was scheduled to undergo termite proofing and extended repairs for the spring, hence the reason for its emptiness and seeming availability.
    Gritting her teeth, she studied the cork notice board with the meager listings of available off-campus housing. Five in total, two at least forty-five minutes away and not on a regular bus schedule. Stomach sinking, she wrote down the numbers of the other three and trudged to the bus stop.
    A skinny boy no older than nine or ten struggled to get a football helmet into a worn canvas gym bag resting on the bench. He appeared too frail to play the game and had pinched features and mousy, matted brown hair.
    Susie sat on the bench opposite the kid, set her burdens down, found a rubber band in her purse, and scraped her hair into a ponytail. The poly-blend suit stuck to her skin, and beads of sweat trailed a tickling path between her breasts. What she wouldn’t have given for Terri’s pool right then.
    Another kid entered the stop, this one scruffy and sour smelling, and wearing a torn, long-sleeved shirt and pants with a camouflage design. The top of a cigarette packet poked out of one of his pockets. From his short stature, Susie figured he couldn’t be over eleven. Whoever sold him those smokes should be tarred and feathered.
    The bus arrived with an ear-splitting shriek of brakes. She and the two boys boarded the vehicle. Susie sat in the front, the football player at the back, and the hooligan-in-training in the middle. Ah, voluntary segregation, it happened everywhere. The burgeoning headache behind the sockets of her eyes mushroomed. She leaned her head back and promptly dozed.
    During the forty-five-minute ride, she kept her eyes closed but absorbed all the sounds and scents as passengers entered and departed and the bus started and stopped along its route.
    Why did Charlene dislike Joe with such venom? And why did Grant like him? How did Joe know Petey and his parents?
    She knew Grant and Charlene had been born in Hallie. Had Joe? Tonight she’d do some research and find out more about her new roomie. He hadn’t given her an inkling of his mood. Had he heard what she’d been about to admit to Charlene and Grant? Thank the Lord he’d interrupted before her declaration that she was sleeping with him.
    The bus shuddered to a halt, and a muted hiss told her someone was about to board. A vaguely familiar male voice greeted the driver.
    “Do you sleep, Susie mia?”
    The Italian-accented English startled her fully awake, and she blinked when Azzo’s face came into focus. “Azzo?”
    “ Si , Azzo. We are near the stop for you and Mama Maria’s.” His even, sexy smile proved irresistible.
    She grinned. “Thanks for letting me know. It was a long, hot day, and I dozed off. Are you working tonight?”
    “I am. Do you and Joe dine at Mama’s this evening?”
    “Since I don’t know what’s in the refrigerator—probably. But first I’m going to go for a long run. Work out these knots in my muscles.” Susie massaged her neck.
    Azzo waggled his brows. “I have the talented fingers, Susie mia. The magic touch. After your run, you go in Joe’s hot tub, no?”
    “He has a hot tub?” The notion of sinking into hot, bubbling water and kneading jets had her muscles twitching.
    “A beautiful wooden one. I have not been in it, of course. But Mama asks me to check on his house when he’s away. You know? To make sure nothing has happened.” Azzo wouldn’t meet her gaze. She had a hunch the young stud had not only been in the hot tub but utilized it often when Joe was out of the country. How did one disinfect a hot tub?
    She’d bet her last dollar Joe only went in there nude. All those jets.