Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (2 page)

Alex stopped, turned, and locked eyes with me. He slowly moved forward until he was standing less than a foot away. “Do you know someone who might be interested?” His eyes grew dark and he was suddenly intimidating in a way that had nothing to do with fear.

I could feel my face turning various shades of crimson. I tried to cover for myself by turning away from him and said, “I know a lot of girls who would be interested.”
Like every girl who has ever set eyes on you.

He walked around me until he could once again see my scarlet cheeks. His dark gaze roamed over me as he searched my expression. “Are you one of them?”

That was direct. Why in the world would he want to know that? He could literally have any girl he wanted, and probably had. This conversation was getting way too serious, way too fast for my comfort level. I felt my blushing face had already betrayed me, but I wasn’t going to embarrass myself further by saying it out loud. Before I had to come up with a response, I noticed the Black Canyon parking lot and breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re here! Thanks for keeping me company, Alex.”

He frowned. He seemed bothered that I hadn’t answered his question, but he didn’t say anything.

“Where did you park?” I asked.

He nodded toward a bright blue Audi TTS convertible on the other side of the parking lot. Of course it was an Audi. It surprised me that it wasn’t a Lamborghini.

“What about you?” he asked.

I pointed to a dark purple 1966 GT Mustang, two white stripes running along the bottom of the doors, and a matching white vinyl top with white leather seats. Some people like the scent of cookies and cakes baking; I love the smell of a classic V8 muscle car. A group of guys were standing around the car, ogling it.

“Is the fan club yours?” he asked in a tone that seemed almost irritated.

I lifted a shoulder. “It comes with the car.”

I pulled my keys from my pocket and Alex followed me to my Mustang.

“Hey,” I said to the group of guys. There were six of them and I noticed they were all wearing long-sleeved dark grey fleece jackets like they were on some sort of team. They looked at me, the car, and back at me again, in shock.

“Nice car,” a tall guy with auburn hair said.

“Thanks.”

“Is the engine a 289?”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I loved when guys tried to test me, like I was driving a car I knew nothing about. “Most 1966 Mustang engines are.”

“Standard?” he asked.

I was sure he’d already looked in the window and could tell what kind of transmission it had. “It’s an automatic.”

The auburn-haired guy watched while I unlocked the car door. “Did your dad or boyfriend let you borrow it?” he asked. The other boys snickered waiting for my answer.

I glared. I hated when people assumed the only way I could have a classic muscle car was if a man in my life had let me use it. I was done being nice. “I built it, but you probably don’t understand something that complicated. I’m sure you have a difficult time figuring out the toothpaste cap.” The rest of the boys started laughing.

The auburn-haired guy smiled, but the look of defeat I was hoping for didn’t register on his face. “I’d like to see you sometime,” he said. The invitation was so abrupt that I almost laughed.

I could see Alex standing a car length back. His face was tight like he was upset. There was no way he could actually be jealous—was there? I just met him! The guy noticed where my gaze was directed and saw Alex, then seemed to appraise him. Alex returned the look with a hard, confident glare.

I turned back to the guy. “Sorry, I don’t date idiots.”

Instead of answering, the guy took a paper out of his pocket. Another boy with long, mousy blonde hair handed him a pen and I watched as he wrote. When he finished, he folded the note. “My number, and a question,” he said, handing the paper to me.

I took the note and scowled at him in return, but he had shifted his focal point and fixed his eyes sharply on Alex. Alex ignored him.

The guy turned back to me. “Let me know if you change your mind,” he said.

I watched them walk away and ripped the paper up without looking at it. I put the remaining scraps in my pocket.

I glanced up and saw Alex approaching. When he reached me, he leaned his back against the Mustang crossing his legs in front of him. “
They
certainly seemed interested in you,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You’re a guy, Alex. You know they were only talking to me because they were hoping for the chance to drive my car. Believe me; I’ve had plenty of experience in this area. If guys could ask my car out instead of me, they would.”

Alex gave me a long stare. “The fact that I’m a guy is exactly how I know that your car has little to do with their interest.”

I blinked, slightly stunned. What in the world did he mean by that?

He interrupted my thought by asking, “You restored this?” He seemed impressed as his eyes traveled from the front to the back of my car.

“Not all of it. Some of the work was done by a body shop, but I did as much as I could. My dad helped.” The restoration project was one of the few things my dad and I had ever bonded over.

Alex ran his hand over the white vinyl top. “You’re definitely not the average girl.”

I gave him a bold smile. “I pride myself on it.”

He was thoughtful for a second. “Is there anything else I should know about you?”

I realized this might be my opportunity to get to know him better. I decided to take a chance. “Come with me next weekend and find out.”

He didn’t hesitate as he answered, “Okay.”

Chapter 2

I pulled into the driveway of the house I shared with my best friend, Jasmine, and got out of the car. Jasmine and I had grown up together. Even though she was a year older than me, we had always been close. We knew we wanted to go to the same college, so we picked Western State and Jasmine got here a year before me.

When I opened the back door of the house, I was greeted by the slightly burned smell of microwave popcorn. Jasmine and her boyfriend, Zach, were watching a movie when I walked into the living room. They were cuddling on the couch and her skin, the color of melted chocolate, was the perfect complement to Zach’s tan arms. Jasmine’s brown hair fell in curls to her shoulders and sweetly framed her heart-shaped face.

Jasmine and Zach met while playing volleyball almost a year ago and they’ve been dating ever since. He’s funny, nice, and treats Jasmine like a queen. The truth is I’m a little jealous. My experience with men put the majority of them in the Loser Luke category. I figured the Awesome Zach group was on the verge of extinction.

“Hey,” I said. “What are you two doing here?” Jasmine spent most of her time at Zach’s apartment, so it was always a surprise to find them hanging out at our place.

“Hey,” Zach said. He grabbed some popcorn from the bag in his lap and threw a kernel in the air, trying to catch it in his mouth.

Jasmine blew a huge pink bubble with the gum she was chewing. She had a bubble gum habit the way other people have drug habits. When the bubble popped she answered my question. “One of Zach’s roommates was having a party so we decided to come back here where it was quiet. How was your hike?”

“Good. Weird.” I put my keys on a side table and went into the bathroom to get some anti-itch cream and cotton balls for the rash on my leg. “I got lost and wandered around for a while. Then I met a guy who helped me get off the mountain.” I sat down on the couch and began rubbing cream on the red splotches near my knee.

I saw Jas bolt up from Zach’s lap where she’d been lounging and the bubble she was blowing exploded all over her face. The questions came at me like machine gun fire. “Who is he? What’s he like? I want details!” Jasmine said, pulling gum from her cheeks and chin. She was ever-vigilant about the state of my love life.

I lifted my head, my brow raised. “Hello? Did you hear me?” I asked. “I said I got lost and wandered around for three hours. I could’ve died!”

Jasmine gave me a disbelieving look. “Obviously, you’re not dead. Did you get hurt?”

I wrinkled my nose and relented, “Aside from the poison ivy, no.”

Jasmine smiled. “See, you’re fine. Now, who is he, what’s he like, and give me all the details about how you met?”

I sighed as the cream started to take away some of the irritation. “That’s the weird part,” I answered, leaning back into the couch cushion. “He showed up in a random clearing while I was trying to figure out how to get back to my car.”

“What’s his name?” Jasmine asked.

“Alex.” At the mention of Alex’s name, Zach ran his hand through his light brown hair and turned up the volume on the TV. I was pretty sure the men in my life ranked right up there with shoes on Zach’s list of interests.

“Was he nice?”

“In a cynical way,” I said.

“What did he look like?”

I relayed my first impressions of Alex to Jasmine. Zach continued watching the movie and eating popcorn as I detailed Alex’s Adonis-like qualities—and the ego that went along with them.

“Are you going to see him again?” Jasmine was so excited I thought she might start bouncing on the couch.

“Yeah, next weekend. I dared him to come with me for an adventure. Speaking of that, Zach, can I borrow your four-wheeler, trailer, and Jeep?” I asked.

“Sure,” he answered absently, still watching the movie. After a couple of seconds, my question must have sunk in because he turned and glanced at me. “Wait. Has this guy ever ridden a quad?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t tell him what we’re doing.”

“Huh,” Zach paused, thinking. Finally he said, “You can use it, but you have to promise you’ll make your boyfriend drive
your
quad in case he crashes it,”

I threw a cotton ball at him. “He’s not my boyfriend! I just met him. But I’ll make sure he rides my Honda and I’ll ride your Suzuki.”

Zach laughed—the cotton ball didn’t even make it to the couch. “Okay, you can pick everything up on Friday.”

“Thanks,” I said, walking toward the stairs. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“You
have
to tell me everything that happens next weekend,” Jasmine said.

I started climbing the stairs to my room. “If anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.” I was still thinking about Alex while I cleaned out my pockets. I found the scraps of paper from the note the guy in the parking lot had given me and dropped them on my dresser before I stripped my clothes off, eager to take a shower. As I reached for my robe, I glanced over my shoulder in the mirror and noticed that the lily-shaped birthmark between my shoulder blades seemed darker than normal. Usually it was pale pink and barely visible, but today it had more pigment—like the color of bare hands bitten by winter frost. I thought it was strange, but shrugged it off as some sort of skin reaction from my hike. I grabbed a towel and headed for the shower.

I’d gotten a part-time summer job in the Western State College communications office. The job mostly consisted of filing, sending emails, and playing on the computer until someone needed my help—so it wasn’t difficult. After I finished work on Wednesday, I called Alex to give him the details about our excursion. We agreed to meet in the parking lot of the sporting goods store at eight o’clock Saturday morning.

I pulled into the parking lot at seven-forty-five listening to
Wicked
the musical, singing along with it when I could hit the notes. I didn’t see Alex’s Audi anywhere, so I ran across the street to a coffee shop for a caramel latte. I hated mornings, but it gave me an excuse to drink sugar and cream-filled coffee with only a little bit of guilt.

When I came out of the coffee shop, I saw Alex standing by the trailer assessing the two four-wheelers. He was dressed in jeans and a light blue T-shirt, a backpack slung over his shoulder. I stood there for a minute staring at him and wondering what in the world I was thinking. Alex was perfect, and I’m ordinary. I’m not ashamed of my curves—though I have yet to find a guy who feels the same way. I’m 5’9” and don’t know how much I weigh. I think scales were invented by the devil and only doctors and masochists own them. I judge my weight by my clothes size, which fluctuates between twelve and fourteen depending on how much hiking I’ve done and how many cookies I’ve had. Alex turned and saw me staring. I shook off my feelings of inadequacy and waved at him as I crossed the street.

“I didn’t know if you’d show up,” I teased.

He arched an eyebrow. “Considering how your last solo adventure went, I thought I should probably be here.”

I didn’t find his commentary about getting lost last week amusing and considered leaving him in the parking lot. Okay, I really wouldn’t have, but it was nice to at least think the threat. “I do most things alone and I usually manage fine,” I said, taking a sip of coffee. “Do you want anything?” I gestured to the coffee shop.

His gaze never wavered from me. “I think I have everything I need.” His tone was filled with innuendo and there was a glint in his eye.

I gave him a smile that probably looked as awkward as it felt. I silently wondered if Western State offered a class in flirting—I could use all the help I could get. “Okaaay. Let’s go.”

I opened the door to the Jeep and hopped in. Alex climbed in the passenger side and threw his backpack on the seat behind him. He put his water bottle in one of the cup holders. We pulled out of the parking lot, the
Wicked
soundtrack still playing in the background. Alex choked back a laugh.

“Muscle cars and Broadway musicals?” he said, motioning to the radio. “You just keep getting more fascinating.”

I glanced at him. “It’s good to be interested in a lot of things.”

“I know. You intrigue me.” I felt blood rush to my cheeks and could see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I was glad my long hair gave me a screen between the two of us. I was relieved when he decided not to pursue the issue. Instead, he grabbed my coffee out of the cup holder and took a sip.

“Help yourself,” I said, not believing he’d taken a drink of my coffee without even asking.

He scrunched up his face. “What is this?”

“A caramel latte with whipped cream and extra caramel.”

“You could get diabetes from that. You can’t even taste the coffee!”

I shrugged. “I like my coffee enhanced,” I said. “Since it’s my drink, I don’t really care what you think.”

He studied the cup for a minute before putting it back in the cup holder and smiling at me from across the seat. “I think I’ll call you sugar. It fits.”

I scowled a little. “Or you could call me Evie, since that’s my name.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Sugar is cute, like you.” Great. Now I was cute. Babies, puppies, and kittens are cute. Cute was
not
how I wanted Alex describing me.

“I’ve been called a lot of names, but I don’t think cute has ever been one of them.”

The corner of his mouth hitched. “Then I’m your first—” he paused deliberately, “to call you cute I mean.” My face flushed instantly. Alex’s grin shifted from mischievous to amused as he grabbed his water bottle. “So are you going to tell me what we’re doing today?”

Still embarrassed about his insinuation and my blushing, I decided to respond with sarcasm. “Oh, did you miss the trailer?” I asked, feigning sincerity. “Because I thought it was pretty obvious.”

He took a swig of water. “All I know is that we’re towing two four-wheelers. I assume we’ll be riding them at some point, but I don’t know when, or where we’re going.”

“We’re driving to the mountains where we’ll park the Jeep, unload the Honda and Suzuki, and follow a trail.”

He didn’t seem opposed to the idea, but he wasn’t as excited as most of the guys I usually went riding with. For a minute, he almost seemed anxious, but the look passed and the mocking smile I was acquainted with reappeared.

“I hope you don’t usually go four-wheeling alone,” he said. “I can only imagine the disasters you’d get yourself into.”

I glared at him. “I’m not a kid, Alex. I don’t need a babysitter.”

His response was lightning fast. “Don’t you?” he asked. The light tone had vanished from his voice.

I shifted in my seat, surprised at the sudden attitude change. “Wow. You’re off to a good start this morning. I hope you brought your trusty compass, because I might leave you in the mountains.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” he said, his lips curved almost like he was taunting me, “that I would make it back to the car before you did.”

“Only because you’d turn around before you got halfway up the trail,” I shot back.

“I guess we’ll see who’s right.”

“Yeah. I guess we will.”

Annoyance from our argument lingered and the SUV was silent for about five minutes until Alex turned to me, the look of amusement back on his face. “Let’s bet on it.”

“Bet on what?” I asked, trying not to growl.

“I bet that today you’ll get in some sort of mess and need my help to get out of it,” he said with unwavering sureness.

“You’re on,” I said, determination ringing in my voice. “What are the terms?”

He gave me a slow stare from across the seat. “If I win, you come out with
me
next Saturday—no questions asked.”

That seemed simple enough. Truth be told, I wouldn’t turn down the chance to spend more time with him. Even though he had a talent for frustrating me, being with Alex made my heart race in a way I wasn’t used to.

“Okay,” I agreed, thinking for a moment about what I would want when I won. “And if I win—”

He snorted. “That’s unlikely.”

I continued as if I hadn’t been interrupted, “You have to honestly answer any question I ask.” I figured that would be a good way to get to know him better.