Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (40 page)

He brushed her off with a grin. “It’s okay - I understand. I wouldn’t want to start a riot at your wedding.
We might all wind up in some YouTube video.”

“Ugh…can you imagine?” She giggled. “My mother would be in hysterics.”

“Yours…what about mine?”

“She’d probably lock you in your room until your own wedding day!”

“Yeah. Probably.” As if his mother would ever be able to control him anymore. A strange, panicky feeling suddenly surged up within him. Why did the idea of absolute independence scare the hell out of him? At first it had seemed like a dream come true, but for some reason now it just made him feel completely alone. Alone, and afraid. He desperately needed reassurance of some kind. “Hey, Eva…where do we go from here?”

Seeing
his lost look, she reached out to affectionately brush the unkempt hair away from his eyes. “I’m not a hundred percent sure myself. Maybe all we can do is take it one day at a time until we figure it all out. And I’ll be here to help you along the way. I have a lot going on right now with the wedding coming up, but as soon as all the craziness dies down I plan to start teaching you everything I know. You’re going to be fine. Trust me.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay then. One day at a time.”

“Well…I guess I should be heading back. We have a conference call with my mother and the wedding planner at one.” She slid down off the tree. “I’ll come back by in a few days to check up on you. But you have my number. Oh, that reminds me - I brought you a new cell phone. I left it with your mom. Told her I accidentally dropped yours and broke it.”

“Oh. Well…thanks.”

“So if you ever need anything or just want to talk, give me a call. Okay?”

“All right. I’ll see you.”

“See you.” She began to walk away, then paused for a moment to toss one more thing back at him. “By the way…just so you know, the stake-through-the-heart thing is a myth.”

Shaking his head with a wry
grin, he flung the wooden stake into the brush.

~*~*~*~

“I just texted her. She’s on her way up.”

Jetlagged and
cranky, Tristan kicked off his shoes and collapsed wearily across the pristine white sofa. “I still cannot believe you thought it was necessary to bring me all the way down here just to play chaperone for a girl. And a human one, at that. What’s going on with you lately?”

“Nothing,” was the
benign reply. “I just want you to keep an eye on her, that’s all. In case she decides to run.”

Tristan furrowed his brow. “What makes you think she would take off?” Catching Asher’s innocent look, he groaned. “
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. She
knows?
”

“I may have let slip a thing or two.”

“A thing or two,” he muttered. “That’s great. Real nice. Let me guess - you have no intention of adjusting her memory to make her forget either.”

“Nope.”

“I suppose you expect
me
to somehow make sure she keeps her yapper shut?”

“She won’t say anything.”

“Good. I’m glad one of us is sure.”

“
Well damn, somebody’s wound up tighter than a broken clock! Would you chill out…you want some shade?”

“No…and I
really wish you’d lay off that junk. Sometimes I worry about you. One of these days you’re gonna be tripping at the wrong time, like when some disgruntled fanger with a vendetta decides to pay you an unscheduled visit...”

“
Meh. I hardly ever do it anymore.”

Tristan crossed
both arms over his forehead. “Tell me something, man. What is up with you and this chick?”

“
Oh, you know me. Just having a little fun.”

Unbelievable. He’d just left his assistant in charge of the restaurant for a week and flown
over two thousand miles so Asher could
have a little fun.
It was so typical of him to pull something like this. Nobody else’s commitments were important. Nothing mattered outside his own selfish needs. God only knew what his motives were.

He moved on to a different topic.
“What are your plans for the Chandler kid?”

“What do you think?”

Right…stupid question. Of course the adrenaline junkie in him would jump at the opportunity to spill some immortal blood - the temptation was too much to resist.

“I don’t know why you didn’t just summon him here. It would have made things a lot easier on everyone.”

“Ah, now…where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I think I left it back at the baggage claim.”
Closing his eyes, he stifled a yawn with one hand.

There was a light rap at the door, and as Ash went to open it Tristan wondered what he could expect. He fervently hoped he wasn’t about to spend the next few days playing nursemaid for some bubbleheaded nitwit with
poofy hair and overinflated implants. The very thought was repulsive. Was it any wonder he preferred the company of men?

“Well, here she is,” Ash was saying. “My latest acquisition. I’m leaving her in your capable hands until I return.”

The young woman, an attractive brunette with the spark of intelligence in her eyes, gave Ash a look of surprise. “What - he’s not going with you?”

“No. He’s staying behind to look after you.”

“
Look after
me?” The woman seemed less than pleased with the prospect. Tristan watched their exchange with interest.

“Oh…where are my manners?” Ash said. “Sami, this is Tristan Kendall, an old and dear friend of mine.”

Sami responded to his cool nod with an awkward, “Hi. Um…someone wanna fill me in on what’s going on?”

Asher was already heading into the bedroom to retrieve his overnight bag. “We’ll talk when I get back, babe. I have to get going.”

Hopping up from the couch, Tristan followed behind him. “What am I supposed to do with her?”

Ash grabbed a light jacket out of the closet. “Don’t do anything with her. Just
watch out for her until I get back.”

“Watch out for her?” Something about this reeked of more than just petty games. Th
e human in the next room obviously meant more to him than he was letting on. Struggling to crush his rising jealousy, he said, “I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d see the day.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have a thing for this girl!”

Asher’s oh-so-mature response was to change his physical form to mirror Tristan’s. “
You have a thing for this girl!
” he mimicked.

“Dammit, you know I hate it when you do that!”

“
You know I hate it when you do that!
”

An almost inaudible gasp came from behind him, and he turned to see the girl standing in the doorway with her mouth open.

Reverting back to his own form, Asher slung the bag’s strap over his shoulder and laughed. “All right, enough playing around. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can get back. Tris, take good care of Sami for me. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Be careful, man.” He watched as Ash walked over to Sami, gave her a lingering kiss and then whispered something to her. She smiled at whatever he’d said, nodding. He touched a finger to her chin, then
turned to leave.

And they were alone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

From the start, Tristan made it clear that he intended to keep to himself.

Which was fine with Sami. Judging from the frost that formed in his eyes whenever he looked at her, it seemed apparent that he resented her, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe he didn’t appreciate getting stuck with bodyguard duty. Maybe he just wasn’t the sociable type. But the link he shared with Asher was an irresistible pull, so when she spotted him sitting alone outside the Renegade on Tuesday she seized the opportunity to speak to him.

Without waiting for an invitation, she plopped down
in a seat across from him with her tray. Fried shrimp basket and a Coke - not exactly a vitamin rich lunch but hey, she wouldn’t have to worry about clogged arteries for much longer so what the heck. “Hello again,” she said.

“Miss Porter.” On the surface he was
all cool politeness, but she suspected his altruism was probably only for Asher’s benefit. Despite his aloofness, she got the impression that he was a nice person in general. There was kindness behind those soft gray eyes. He was a good-looking guy too, with delicately angular bone structure and sandy dreadlocks that hung almost to his waist. Maybe it wasn’t politically correct to call a man “pretty”, but that’s exactly what he was. Pretty.

“Have you by any chance heard from Ash today?”

“No. I would imagine he’s busy.”

She
took a sip of her Coke. “Mm…I guess. He texted me last night from the hotel after his flight got in. At least I know he got there okay.”

Tristan
gave her a blank look. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“I don’t know…just making conversation.”
She dunked one of her shrimp in a container of cocktail sauce and bit into it. “So, San Francisco…that’s where you’re from, right? I’ve never been to the West Coast. What’s it like there?”

“Sunny.”

“So not that much different from here.”

“Not a lot.”

“Less humid, I bet.”

“Usually.”

“What do you do there?”

“About what?”

Stymied, she examined his face for a clue to his evasiveness. There was no deliberate spite in his eyes, just faint annoyance. He obviously found her aimless barrage of questions pointless. Well, he wasn’t wrong. She’d never been one to beat around the bush before - why was she doing it now?

“Have I done something to offend you, Mr. Kendall?” If he didn’t want to be on a first
name basis, then fine, she’d comply. But he could at least tell her
why
he found her company so objectionable.

He
had enough decorum to look guilty, anyway. “No. You haven’t done anything.”

“Am I keeping you from something more important?”

“Not particularly.”

“Do I
smell
bad or something?”

“Uh…no…”

“Good. Well, since we got
that
cleared up, maybe you can stop treating me as if I had the fucking plague.” She smiled sweetly.

B
efore she got the chance to hear whatever explanation he was willing to offer, they were interrupted by a bubbly voice calling
yoo-hoo
. Patsy trotted up to their table, her arms laden with a huge white cardboard box.

“Your candy’s here!” she announced cheerfully.

“My what?”
Candy?

Dropping
the box on the edge of the table, Patsy rummaged around inside it. “You ordered it from me last month, for my daughter. Remember, she was selling it for her cheerleading group’s fundraiser?”

“Oh…I had forgotten all about it.” Sami accepted the
two small boxes of raspberry caramels. “Thanks. They look yummy.”

“No…thank
you.
Katie and I appreciate your support.” The woman’s shrewd eyes darted to Tristan, then back to her. “Well, I better go deliver all this chocolate before it starts to melt. Got any idea where Stuart might be? I have four boxes for him. The man either has a raging sweet tooth or he’s tryin’ to butter up some gal.”

“He
has the day off. Had an appointment with the optometrist. It would probably be okay to just leave them in his office. I think Logan’s in there.”

“Alrighty then
, I’ll do that. Bye, sweetie!” Hefting up her box, Patsy scampered off.

Sami returned her
attention to Tristan, who was quietly watching her. “That’s the gossip grapevine of Vestal Sands. If there’s nothing spicy to spread around, she’ll just fabricate something. So I warn you, the entire staff will probably be planning our wedding before the day’s out.”

To her surprise, he
actually cracked a smile at her facetious comment. “My goodness. And all this time I thought I was gay.”

“You’re gay?”
God, Sami, now that was a stupid thing to say
.

“Yes.
You think Ash would have trusted me with you otherwise?”

“I don’t know. Never really thought about it.”
She offered him a box of caramels. “Take some. I don’t need all this sugar.”

“
No, thanks. They stick in my teeth.”

Which ones?
she wanted to ask, then thought better of it. He might not find it funny. “How long have you known Asher?” she asked instead.

“
Since the summer of 1929.”

“
Wow! Long time then, I’d say. Where’d you two first meet?”