Bonded by Nicky Charles

Turning her head this way and that, she
relented a bit. Okay, she was a bit more than passable, but
definitely not beautiful. That term belonged to the Tabithas of the
world. Short, curvy girls were ‘cute’ or ‘cuddly’ but that was it.
Another critical look had her poking her belly and resolving once
again to lose weight and work out, maybe even retake that
self-defence course like Reno had suggested.
    Her alarm beeped
and she checked the time. Darn, she’d have to hurry. She had a
meeting scheduled with her faculty advisor to go over the results
of her final exams. With any luck, she’d passed and would be on her
way to a new job before the week was out. Excitement curled in her
belly at the thought of finally starting her career.
    After showering,
she dressed and grabbed her purse off the top of her desk. A piece
of paper fluttered to the ground and slid under the bed. She almost
ignored it but then hesitated for a moment, some inner voice
telling her to get down on her hands and knees to look for it. It
probably wasn’t important... Feeling around with her hand, she
finally managed to locate the page and got to her feet.
    A quick glance
revealed bold male writing. Reno’s phone number! And he said to
call!
    She pressed the
paper to her pounding chest, unable to believe her luck. If she’d
ignored the paper she’d never have known he wanted to see her
again. Offering up a quick ‘thank you’ to her lucky stars, she
carefully folded the note and tucked it into her pocket. There was
no time right now, but she’d contact him as soon as she had a
chance. Almost skipping as she left the apartment, Brandi couldn’t
believe how perfect everything was working out. School was over, a
possible job was in the offing, and a fantastic guy wanted her to
call.
    As she crossed the
parking lot to her car, she heard the squeal of tires and turned
just in time to see Tabi slam her car into park and then storm out
of the vehicle.
    “Hey, Tabi! How
was your—”
    “Don’t you dare
ask me about last night. All men are assholes!” Tabi stomped past
without even a backwards glance.
    Brandi sighed.
This wasn’t the first time Tabi had made that pronouncement. The
problem was the girl was just too impulsive when it came to men.
She was always flitting from one to the other without really
getting to know them first. If she’d just take some sound advice
and set some goals, her life wouldn’t be such a constant
rollercoaster of emotion.
    Well, she wasn’t
going to let Tabi’s mood spoil her own. Humming under her breath,
she climbed in her car and drove off to her meeting.

    A few hours later,
Brandi was leaning against a tree near the edge of the campus
anxiously listening to the ringing on her cell phone. She was
calling Reno and her fingers had actually been shaking as she’d
pressed the numbers.
    Call me. That’s
what his note had said, yet she still felt anxious. What if he’d
changed his mind? What if it had just been an impulse on his part
and he hadn’t really meant it? Or maybe he just wanted to ask her
something; after all, she had fallen asleep. Perhaps he
wanted her to split the bill for their drinks! She worried her lip
and clutched the phone tighter, the fluttering in her stomach
taking on a more ominous rhythm as doubts began to bombard her.
    “Smith.” Reno’s
deep voice rumbled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
    For a moment she
couldn’t seem to think of what to say and simply stood there with
the phone pressed to her ear breathing quickly.
    “Hello?” His voice
sounded irritated now which did nothing to quell the nervousness
plaguing her.
    After swallowing,
she finally managed to squawk out a hello.
    There was a pause
and then he responded sounding doubtful. “Brandi?”
    He remembered her!
Some of the tension eased from her body. She cleared her throat.
“Yeah. I mean, yes. It is. It’s me. Brandi.” Oh God. She rolled her
eyes at her own blathering; now he’d think she was a