Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (7 page)

A muscle under Alex’s eye pulsed as he smiled in a way that said he wasn’t at all amused. “Guys like that don’t deserve someone like Evie. In fact,” he paused, as if considering whether or not to continue, “if I’d been there, I would have dumped a glass of lemonade on his head.”

My mouth fell open a little. I looked at Jasmine to see her wearing the same shocked expression as me. After a few seconds, Jasmine regained her composure. “Actually, that’s exactly what Evie did,” Jasmine said. “Only she was drinking Sprite at the time.” Jasmine assessed Alex warily. “How did you know that?”

Alex’s mouth slid into a sly smile. “Lucky guess,” he said, picking up his glass and taking a drink. When he finished, he put the glass on the table and continued his explanation, “Throwing your drink on a guy isn’t a new concept. Girls do it all the time in movies and TV shows.”

Still stunned, I flicked my eyes back and forth between Jasmine and Alex. Jasmine clearly wasn’t convinced. Alex leaned on the table and laughed, “Or maybe I’m psychic,” he said, waving his fingers to lighten the mood.

Zach snorted. “If so, I need your help with my Fantasy Football team roster.”

Alex put his fingertips to his temples like he was divining the answer. “Can’t go wrong with Drew Brees,” Alex said. He grabbed the check the waiter had left and went up to the counter to pay for our food. Zach started to follow him but Alex told him not to worry about it, he was buying everyone’s dinner.

As soon as Alex was out of earshot, Zach said, “I like him, Evie.” He nodded to indicate Alex had passed some sort of man test. “He’s a good guy.” Zach leaned back in his chair. “I’ve never heard that story. Did you really dump Sprite on Luke’s head?”

“Of course she did! He deserved every drop,” Jasmine answered for me, waving Zach off. She put her elbows on the table, directing her attention back to me like Zach wasn’t even there. “Don’t you think it’s weird Alex mentioned that?” she asked.

I shrugged, still trying to make sense of it myself.

Jas kept talking, “I mean, it’s strange he’d say something so close to what actually happened.”

Before I could answer, Alex was back. “Are you ready to go?”

“Sure.” I got up from the table. Jas and Zach followed me. Alex held my hand and we walked in silence to the parking lot.

“Thanks, for going to dinner with us,” I said to Jas and Zach. “I had a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to do it again soon,” Alex suggested.

“That sounds great,” Jas answered as she opened the door to Zach’s Grand Cherokee.

“I’m adding Brees to my team as soon as I get home,” Zach said. He waved and hopped into the driver’s seat.

Alex once again opened my door for me, and I got in the Audi. Alex made his way to the driver’s side, started the car, and we drove in silence for a few minutes until I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “It was lemonade, not Sprite.”

Alex slid a glance toward me, his expression giving nothing away. “What are you talking about?”

“I dumped lemonade on Luke’s head, not Sprite. Jasmine was wrong. But you weren’t.”

Alex gave a short laugh. “Really?” he asked, paying more attention than usual to his blinker as he pushed it down. “That’s a funny coincidence.”

I widened my eyes. “A coincidence? That’s your explanation?”

As we rolled to a stoplight, he draped his hand over the steering wheel and pegged me with a hard stare. “What else could it be, Evie?”

I put my hands out in front of me, palms up. “You tell me.”

Alex shifted his eyes away from mine. “Maybe you told me about it and forgot.”

I knew I hadn’t. Unless I was mocking him with Jasmine, Luke wasn’t a subject I cared to talk about. “I have an excellent memory. And I never told you that story.”

Alex snorted. “It’s not like you remember every second of every conversation we’ve ever had.”

I lifted my shoulders, looking at him in challenge. He watched me and gave a humorless laugh. “Memory is a complicated thing. You’d be surprised at the things you forget.”

“Try me,” I dared.

Alex clenched his jaw and seemed to be thinking, but didn’t say anything. We pulled into the driveway of my house. Alex opened the car door for me—again.

We walked up to the front door and, like always, he held out his hand for my keys. Alex opened the door and flipped the living room light on. I stepped into the house; he followed me, still silent. He sat on the couch as I went to the phone to check the voicemail. I put my purse down, my back toward Alex, and played the messages. There was a call from my mom, of course—she must have gotten my email—and another from someone looking for Jasmine. I wrote the message on a pad of paper next to the phone and hit the erase button.

I stood in front of the phone, wondering if Alex would continue our conversation. I took a deep breath, then turned around and gasped. Alex was inches from me, waiting. I hadn’t even heard him walk over. I should have at least felt that he was behind me. I was generally so good about knowing when someone was in my personal space.

I looked into his eyes—they seemed to be on fire, not with anger, but something else. Suddenly our lemonade / memory discussion seemed a lot less important. Alex grabbed me around my waist, slowly guiding me until my back was pressed against the living room wall. He placed his hands palms down on the wall next to both of my shoulders. Even if I had wanted to move, and I didn’t, it would have been impossible. I could smell his rustic cedar scent as he shifted his head toward mine and moved his right hand to the back of my neck. As he leaned into me, he whispered something that sounded like, “Let’s see if you remember this.” Before I knew it, his lips, the lips I had dreamed about every day since we sat together at the mountain lake, were on mine, pressing hard against my mouth, merging with his. The kiss was aggressive, but still gentle, his lips soft and warm, and my back tingled with a familiar heat that was quickly getting a lot hotter.

He pulled me closer and our mouths opened. My heart pounded, blood racing through my veins, the electricity was frightening. The way our mouths moved in perfect harmony was like we were made for each other.

I was breathless and the desire was so strong, I wanted every part of him as fast as I could have it. Alex was still kissing me as he dipped me down and laid me gently on the floor. He knelt next to me, one leg wrapped around both of mine. One hand cradled my head, the other one started tracing the lines of my neck, his touch like a current. He continued kissing me as he moved from gently brushing my neck to my collarbone. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to take this. Then, I felt him move off of me and lay down next to me.

“What?” I asked, lifting my head up to look at him. “What’s wrong?” My voice was staggered, the breaths shallow.

“We can’t do this.” Alex’s breath was coming more swiftly than mine. He tried to move away from me, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back so he was still lying next to me on the floor.

“Why not?” I asked, searching eyes that had melted to a dark green.

He sighed and he looked . . . conflicted.

“I want to keep kissing you,” I assured him.

“You’re not the only one,” he said, frustrated.

I studied his expression for a moment and decided to take charge. I sat up and moved my legs around him until I was straddling his hard stomach. I leaned down close to his face and whispered, “Then what are we waiting for?” I met his lips with my own and kissed him, my hands clutching at the shirt covering his chest. The kiss became more intense. He held his arms tightly around my back, his hands moving and my shirt scrunching up. My back seemed to be on fire, but my whole body felt that way. The stroke of his fingers on a part of my skin no man had ever touched sent shivers from my head to my toes.

I couldn’t help but think about where I wanted this to go. I started running both of my hands through his hair, tugging at the roots as I kissed him even harder. He quickly grabbed my hands, moving them to my side.

Before I knew it, I was on my back, my arms pinned down by his. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to start kissing me again, but instead, I felt his hands slide slowly off mine. I heard the floor creak as he scooted toward the wall next to me and leaned his head back against it. He appeared defeated, but determined.

I sat up, smoothing my hair and rearranging my clothes. “What’s wrong? Did I do something I shouldn’t have?”

He ran his hands through his hair. “No, I did,” he said. “I let that get out of control.”

I was confused. “We were making-out. I thought getting out of control was kind of the point.”

He gave a tired smile. “In most circumstances, it probably is.”

“What’s different about this circumstance?”

His expression made me feel naïve for some reason. “It’s not the right time, Evie.”

I wrinkled my brow. “Not the right time for kissing?”

He snorted. “Not just kissing, though we shouldn’t be doing that either, but I couldn’t help myself anymore.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “We need to take things slowly.”

My voice rose in aggravation, “We were kissing!” I took a deep breath and continued in a calmer tone, “Just kissing.”

He stared at me in disbelief. “You
know
where that was heading.”

I looked away. At some point, I knew I would consider having sex with Alex, but I didn’t want to confuse the relationship by moving too fast. I wished Alex would give me some credit; I wasn’t completely void of self-control. But maybe it was Alex who would have lost control? The thought made me strangely euphoric.

Alex spoke again, his voice was soft and the words seemed difficult for him to say. “What I mean is that there’s a lot going on right now. I don’t think we should take that step yet.”

I scowled at him. “What could possibly be going on that has anything to do with this?”

“More than you realize.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t think we should be going that far yet either. But you’re making such a big deal out of kissing, I wonder if you’ll ever want anything more with me.”

Alex looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Don’t be ridiculous. I am
absolutely
sure I want this as much, no more, than you do. You have no idea. . .” He mumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t hear and gazed at the blank white wall across the room. He shifted his eyes back to me. “I promise; I want to be with you more than anything—but not yet.”

At least we were making some progress. “If not now, when?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. But I hope it will be sooner than later.”

I frowned. “That makes two of us. So, now kissing is off-limits?”

“No. We—
I
—just need to be more careful.”

He moved closer and reached for me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into his chest. He gave a happy sigh as he pressed his lips to my neck whispering in my ear, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for that kiss.”

Chapter 5

It didn’t take long for Alex and me to realize that we needed to keep ourselves busy or we’d end up on the living room floor again. Over the next week, we watched every movie playing at the theater, washed both of our cars, baked cookies, and even toilet papered Jasmine’s bedroom. By Saturday, we’d exhausted our activity database. Instead, we decided to drive downtown and get ice cream—in Alex’s Audi, of course. We pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream parlor and Alex opened the car door for me. The action, courteous or not, made me feel helpless and I didn’t like it.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as he closed the door.

He smiled as he placed a hand on my lower back, guiding me to the front of the shop. “You’re welcome,” he said, adding, “even if you don’t mean it.”

I reiterated my opinion, which he already knew. “I appreciate the gesture, not the meaning behind it.”

“The meaning is a matter of interpretation,” he said as he opened the ice cream shop door for me too.

After several tastings, we placed our order. I got mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone and Alex decided on dark chocolate in a bowl. I stepped to the cash register to pay for the treat, but Alex cut me off, handing the guy at the register fifty bucks and telling him to keep the change. I squeezed my lips and pulled my eyebrows together in a scowl; once again, Alex wasn’t letting me pull my own weight. In my mind, his trust fund wasn’t an excuse for him to pay for everything we did together. As we walked out of the store, I turned to him. “You realize the tip you gave that guy was enough to buy fifteen ice cream cones?

He shrugged. “He was doing a good job. Plus, I doubt many people tip them.”

I licked my ice cream and arched an eyebrow. “Not like that I’m sure.” We were approaching Alex’s Audi, but I didn’t feel like going back to my house. “Do you want to eat at the park?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said, reaching for my hand. It still sent tingles through my body and heat over my lily birthmark every time he touched me. I hoped the feeling would never go away.

We walked in silence until we came to a secluded park bench surrounded by trees and flowers. Across the street, I could see ducks swimming around a small pond, feathers shimmering in the moonlight. I thought we were alone until I noticed a man walking around the perimeter of the pond. From our vantage point on the bench, I could see the man, but we were hidden from him by the trees. He was tall, maybe as tall as Alex, with wavy blonde hair. As he stepped under a park light, I saw that he had a strange red mark that resembled a spider web circling his arm. The web seemed to wrap up his bicep and down his forearm almost like the pattern of a candy cane. I snickered, thinking the guy would seriously regret that tattoo when Spiderman wasn’t popular anymore.

Alex noticed my laugh and followed my gaze. He glimpsed the man briefly, a mix of anger and panic crossing his face as he gripped my hand. Alex’s eyes darted around the park. He immediately grabbed my arm and we were moving. I stumbled, unprepared for the sudden location change, and dropped my ice cream.

“Hey! What are you doing?” I asked. He had ruined the serene moment and made me drop my dessert.

“Shhh!” The noise he made was harsh. “Follow me and don’t say a word,” he whispered, shooting me a stern look. Alex pulled me behind him and we were almost sprinting. I looked back and couldn’t believe how far we’d already run. The pond was out of sight. We wound our way through a grove of trees on the outskirts of the park where the leaves obscured our presence. We stopped for a moment while Alex’s eyes flashed back and forth.

We were only there seconds when Alex grabbed my arm again, directing me down a darkened alleyway. It seemed the street would have been a safer choice. Whatever Alex thought he saw, it would be better to be in a place we could get help if we needed it instead of winding through broken alleys of cracked asphalt, the moon providing the only available light.

But, in record time, we reached Alex’s Audi. He grasped the handle and almost pushed me into the passenger seat. Within seconds, he was next to me, turning the key in the ignition.

“What’s going on?” I asked, out of breath and a bit panicked. “What happened back there?”

Alex stayed silent.

“Alex,
tell
me why you dragged me three blocks and are now doing eighty miles an hour down a road you should be going forty on. Jeez! And you say
I
drive like a bat out of hell.”

His usual cocky smile and relaxed demeanor had been replaced with tight lips and a serious expression. “I saw something,” he said, “that’s all.”

“Saw what?”

He took a breath. “There was a man walking by the pond. I thought I recognized him.”

“So you reacted like a maniac?” I asked. “Most people say hello when they see someone they know; they don’t run away.” I couldn’t understand what would prompt a response like that.

Alex’s temples pulsed. He was holding the steering wheel with such force that I was sure the shape of his fingers would be embedded into the wheel when he released his grip. This was definitely a side of Alex I hadn’t seen before. This side was enraged. Once we were out of Gunnison and driving through the canyon, Alex calmed down and said, “Some acquaintances are not the kind you ever want to see again.”

Now that he was talking, I was going to get some answers. “Who was he? Why did you run? I felt like you were the Secret Service or something!”

Minutes ticked by without a response. I was starting to wonder if he would answer me at all when he said, “He’s not a good person. I didn’t want him to see me, or you—and I especially didn’t want him to see me
with
you.”

I thought about it for a second. “Well, maybe he’s changed,” I suggested.

Alex’s face was strained and his voice hard when he spoke. “He. Has. Not.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“I just know. I need you to trust me on this.” There was a warning in his tone that made me shiver and the concern in his eyes became more pronounced with each glance in my direction. “He is extremely dangerous,” Alex said.

Alex’s reaction and the feeling that I had something to do with his concern was disturbing, to say the least. We sat in silence again, Alex looking at me every few seconds like he was checking to see if I still existed.

Finally, I broke the silence. “So what now, Alex? We can’t drive all night.”

I was sure he’d been thinking the same thing, but I was completely unprepared for his response. “How do you feel about moving?” he asked.

I searched his face for the familiar smile indicating he was joking. My chin dropped to the floor when I realized he was serious. “Are you crazy?” I asked in disbelief. “I have work, friends, a lease! And that’s not even addressing the level of hysteria my parents would hit if I were suddenly gone.”

“Those are all things that can be taken care of.” He said it like he made people disappear every day.

“Taken care of?” My voice was getting louder. “No. No
way
, Alex. This is your problem, not mine. There’s no chance I’m
moving
because you saw someone who resembled a person you might know who may or may not be dangerous. That is the
dumbest
thing I’ve ever heard.”

“No, Evie. Dumb is not listening when you’re told you need to be careful.”

Though he hadn’t said it directly, he had questioned my intelligence, infuriating me even more. “Take me home, NOW.”

Alex tensed and I could see the veins pound in his neck. “Why do you have to be so damn stubborn and independent?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Why do you have to be so damn arrogant and controlling?”

Alex gave a hint of a sigh. “I
can’t
take you home. Not until I figure out what to do.”

“Figure it out when you get back to your house. Despite what you think, I don’t have anything to do with this.”

He turned, his eyes blazing. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. After a couple of seconds he said, “You have more to do with this than you realize, Evangeline.” I wanted to argue with him, but didn’t know how many times I could explain that whatever was happening didn’t involve me. “The fact that he might have seen me and might have also seen you in the park with me—that is incentive enough to be concerned,” Alex warned.

I wanted to know what this guy had done and why Alex was so worried and adamant that I had something to do with his reaction, but I knew I wouldn’t get those answers. I turned away, watching the trees drift by outside the window. I had no way to get Alex to pull over and stop. I contemplated opening the door and rolling out of the car. I’d seen it done in movies, but imagined it would hurt a lot more in real life. After about ten minutes, the car slowed and Alex pulled near the side of the road making a wide u-turn. He started driving back the way we had come. Once I knew we were going back to Gunnison, relief flooded through me.

“I will take you home,” Alex said, his voice reserved, cautious. “I need to find out what’s going on, figure out why he’s here. I can’t do that from another state or country.”

I stared, astonished. Another country? He was really taking the appearance of this guy seriously. I didn’t say a word. I was just glad to be going back to my house.

“There are conditions, however,” he added, looking at me severely.

Why did he always think he could tell me what to do? Sometimes he made me feel like a kid and that made me mad. “What in the hell would those be?” I was still angry but Alex ignored my tone.

“First of all, I need to stay at your house every day and night until I have more information.” I lifted my eyebrows, surprised. He had been so careful not to do anything that could be considered morally dubious in the past. “It’s for safety purposes,” he said, reading my expression. “I’ll sleep on your bedroom floor.”

The request didn’t seem bad so I nodded my head in acquiescence. “Is that it?” I asked.

“Hardly,” he said. “Until I figure this out, I don’t want you to leave the house or talk to anyone you’ve never met.”

That was completely unacceptable. There was no way I was being held prisoner because of Alex’s lunatic assumptions. “Absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head back and forth at his stupid demand.

“It’s not a request,” Alex said. “I’m giving you a choice. You can do what I ask until I find out what’s going on, or you can leave tonight, right now, and go far away where you can start over. Honestly, the second choice is by far safer and preferable, but since you seem to be more stubborn about this than you have
ever
been about anything, I’m willing to compromise and see what I can learn first.”

I was furious. This was not a choice, it was prison. I knew Alex was concerned for my well-being, but still didn’t understand why he felt the situation was so perilous.

“The decision is yours,” Alex said.

I clenched my fists as rage boiled under the surface of my skin. “You haven’t given me a choice,” I said, seething. “You told me I can be a prisoner in my house, or become a missing person, drop everything, and start over somewhere else.”

Alex looked at me with hard eyes. “If you don’t listen to me, you won’t
just
be a missing person.” The implications of his statement sent another shiver up my spine as he turned his Audi into my driveway and maneuvered it into the backyard where it couldn’t be seen from the street.

“Stay here,” he said, locking the car doors. He was gone in a flash and back before I had time to really think through his missing person statement.

“It doesn’t look like anything here has been disturbed,” he said, opening my door. “Let’s go inside.”

“You know,” I said, as I got out of the car, “I think there’s at least an eighty percent chance you’re out of your mind.”

He slid his eyes to me with a reproving look. “Let’s hope you don’t get proof that I’m not,” he said, taking my keys and unlocking the deadbolt. I was still mad as I stomped into the kitchen. Alex went around the house double checking the door and window locks, and closing all the blinds and curtains like a dutiful security guard.

I clean when I’m angry and the dishes in the sink seemed like a good place to take out my aggression. I turned on the hot water, poured some dish soap in the sink, and watched a mountain of bubbles explode over the dirty dishes. As steam started rising, I pushed open the curtains and unlatched the lock on the window that Alex had closed so I could get some air circulating—and also to piss Alex off.

I grabbed a washcloth and started to scrub, lost in thought. Despite knowing each other for weeks, Alex still seemed to be laboring under the incorrect assumption that I’m one of those girls who does what she’s told. Ordering me around and telling me that I can’t leave the house is
not
okay. The fact that he left so many questions unanswered was frustrating too. I also couldn’t figure out why he was constantly pulling the superior act; like he knows more about everything in the world than I do. Men with egos are trouble. I sighed and rinsed a pan, then got another and scrubbed harder. He was hot. That was my problem. He was really, really hot. And the fact that he liked me made me more willing to let things slide. I needed to stop doing that.