Shadow of Time (A Sample) - Page 2/41

Humming happily to herself, Hannah parked her car next to gas pump number two. "It's raining men!" she sang-shouted, blaring along to the song on her car stereo.

The guy standing next to pump number three was just done getting gas for his motorbike. He looked sideways and his mouth curled up in a smile. The Datsun's roof was down, so he'd caught her shouting her lungs out.

Hannah bit her lip. Damn. Her neighbor turned out to be a total hottie. She shot him a look that lasted a tad too long, then blushed, rummaging through her bag to find her money and pretend she'd already forgotten about him. As if. Furtively, she looked him over again as he was strolling off to pay, helmet in one hand and sunglasses on. Yup, this was typically her - scaring off the local hunk by being a total retard. She rolled her eyes at herself.

The motorcycle driver was clearly a Navajo from the reservation. His red-brown skin was dark and offset by the white of his sleeveless shirt. He had a small hair braid on one side, a turquoise bead and a red feather decorating the bottom. That feather had to be the symbol for one of the local clans. Her once-best-friend on the reservation, Emily Begay, also belonged to the Feather Clan. Emily should be about twenty-one by now, just like Ben. Hopefully she'd run into Em this summer.

Or into him, perhaps. She kept staring at the Navajo motorbike owner as he entered the small building of the gas station. He had an absolutely divine body.

Oh well. She'd better stop drooling and daydreaming about meeting him again. In all likelihood, Mister Local Hunk was going to stay far away from her, her incompetent vocal chords and her desperate stares.

Just to make sure, Hannah completely filled up her Datsun so she wouldn't be short on fuel anytime soon. When she was done, she went into the building and got in line for the pay desk.

There. The Navajo guy had just paid for his gas. He stuffed the receipt into the pocket of his jeans and sauntered to the exit, passing the shelves with chewing gum and candy bars. And then, out of nowhere, he looked her right in the eye.

"Hi." His voice was deep and beautiful and just as impressive as his looks. He stared at her through his tinted sunglasses, a hint of a smile on his face, like he was amused by some private joke.

Hannah looked up at him dumbfounded. Wow. He wasn't blanking her. He was still talking to her. So maybe she should talk back.