Eternal Ever After (2 page)

Meow.

I awoke to warm beams of sunlight shining on my face and Mystic sitting on my chest. He purred loudly, awaiting his morning treat. I groaned. Rolling over, I glanced at my alarm clock; its red digital numbers displayed the time as ten o’clock.
Perfect… I still have time for a nice long soak.
I scratched Mystic behind his ears and stretched lazily, making him jump off the bed.

“I guess it’s time to get up.”

It was good that no one could see me talking to my cat as he sat on the floor waiting expectantly. Mystic meowed before turning and leading the way to the kitchen. I stumbled sleepily behind his gray tail, which twitched from side to side as he sauntered to his dish.

“Here you go, boy.”

Placing the food in the bowl, I gave his head a quick pat. Yawning my way across the cracked linoleum, I set about getting the coffee brewing and toasting a poppy-seed bagel. As I ate my bagel, I promised myself that this weekend I would do something about the drifts of laundry on my bedroom floor and organize my closet. I kept my small apartment relatively clean, but knickknacks cluttered the living room and books overflowed the bookcase to occupy almost every surface. But it was mine and there was nothing better than having my own space.

My mind wandered to the weird clouds and the threat from the night before. I’d seen lots of strange things with the Sight, but nothing quite like that. I took a sip of coffee, reassured by its warmth as I pushed the nagging feeling in my gut aside. Instead I thought of Arie’s reassuring presence and him changing my tire. I hoped to see him during my shift.
Arie… Now there’s someone who could hold my interest.
Heat rushed to my cheeks as I fantasized about running my fingers through his dark curls. Kissing his mouth, running my hands over his shoulders and more—there was much more I wanted to do to him. I only hoped he would stop by the Coffee Grind later. Mystic jumped on the table, meowing at me. “Oh here,” I said distractedly.

Swiping a finger through my cream cheese, I offered him one of his favorites. He adores and loves anyone willing to give him dairy. Mystic lapped up the cream cheese before begging for more, but his pet human had to be at work in a little over an hour, so I headed to the bathroom with a sigh. I wished there was enough time for me to hop on my laptop and do a little research about the odd atmospheric changes yesterday, but I’d be late if I did that. Besides, I had a feeling that an Internet search wouldn’t be able to tell me anything useful to rationalize what I thought was pretty much impossible. Well, at least today I had something other than Marshall’s constant stream of demands to look forward to.

CHAPTER 2

The dinky little caf
é
where I worked stood on the South Side of Chicago, just below Cermak Road. Rain trickled off the awning outside the window and my sullen mood matched the abysmal weather. I hoped Arie would stop in, but he’d done the same disappearing act as the morning sun. Very few customers filled the uneventful day, which wore on without his scrutinizing presence at the counter. He usually stopped in toward the end of my shift, and it had become a routine that I looked forward to. Finally we had talked, and more than that, he’d helped fix my flat. I really wanted him to ask me out and I decided that if I saw him today I would summon the courage to do the asking if he didn’t. I wanted him, in the worst way.

On top of that, Marshall had been in one of his moods all day. I heard him shuffle out of his office and turned toward the stale stench of cigar smoke that jogged me out of my daydream.

“Hey princess, are you going to mop that floor or am I paying you to stare out the window?”

I felt my jaw clench as I resisted the urge to tell him to stop being such a prick. “Yeah, I’ll do it now.”

He lumbered back into his office, shutting the door as I grabbed a mop from the storeroom. The bell above the entrance chimed and my heart leapt into my throat. I raised my head with a hopeful glance toward the door and felt disappointed when it wasn’t Arie. Trina, with her broad smile and caramel-colored skin, entered the café for her shift. She plopped her oversized handbag under the counter and grabbed an apron. A heavy sigh escaped my lips and I began mopping the grimy tile.

“Hey, Holly!”

“Hey.”

“Uh-oh,” Trina said as I grimaced at the mop bucket. “I know that look. I guess Marshall’s giving you a hard time. He’s been awful since Connie…well, you know. I just feel terrible for that man.”

God knows cancer is a hard thing to talk about, but I cringed when Trina couldn’t bring herself to say it. Sometimes she treated cancer like it was a dirty word. “I guess. But that doesn’t mean he has to be insufferable. It’s been more than a year.”

“Honey, when my mamma lost her battle with breast cancer I felt like I’d lost my whole world. It takes time, and there’s no telling how long. We just have to give him space and time until he’s ready to move on.”

I shifted uneasily and looked down at the mop, wringing out the grayish water.
Shit,
I forgot about her mom.
“I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just been a long day.”

“Trust me, baby girl, I know how frustrating it can be.”

“Hey, do you think it would be okay if I left ten minutes early, since you’re here now?”

“Sure thing, honey.”

“Thanks, Trina. I have to stop at the bank and pick up some milk. And the bank will be closed when I get out.”

“No problem. You’d do the same for me.”

“Trina, have you ever seen a guy in here with dark hair and a ‘V’ tattooed on his arm?”

“Good-looking guy who wears a leather jacket?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure. Why do you ask?”

“What do you think of him?”

“Well, he’s always polite. He has a nice smile and he leaves really good tips. That’s probably why I remember him. Why, do you have a thing for him?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Really? Positively. Definitively. Yes. Yes, I wanted him. Every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I finished up, tossing the mop and bucket into the storeroom. A few droplets of dingy water splashed over the side as I grabbed my satchel and headed out the door. The purple-tinged sky cast a peculiar light on the pavement. Dense clouds still threatened from above, but it had stopped raining during my boring shift.

He stood huddled under the awning attached to the weathered building and I almost didn’t see him in the shadows. I stood staring at him for a long moment in awkward silence, listening to the slushing sound of tires pass through a puddle in the street. He was undeniably sexy. I wasn’t on cloud nine. I was on cloud ten.

“Hi,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Hello.”

“What are you doing here? I mean… Arie, I wanted to thank you for fixing my flat, but you took off before I had the chance.”

A goofy grin curved his mouth. “Sorry.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re stalking me. You know…you should just ask me out already.” There. I’d said it. And I held my breath as I waited for him to say something.

His eyes widened infinitesimally. “You want me to ask you out?”

“Uh…I dunno,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe. At least it would explain your lurking. Otherwise it just comes off as creepy.”

“Trust me—you don’t want to go out with me.” A pained sort of expression mixed with something else…longing? I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like the idea appealed to him even though he fought against it for some reason.

I shoved my hands in my pockets, feeling dejected by his reaction. “Fine. There’s a reason why I’m alone. I’m comfortable that way. And I think it would be a lot easier if we just forget this conversation. You can find somewhere else to stop for coffee while you’re at it.”

He grabbed my arm when I started to brush past him. I looked up into his eyes, embarrassed but unwilling to pull away. “Don’t be that way. I’m just trying to save you from a mistake that would cause you infinite pain.” His hand dropped to his side and pain etched his face.

“Oh, please. Just stop already. You grin and go all smoldering eyes on me and then choose the lamest, most ineffective move. If playing games is your idea of flirting then just forget it.”

He took a step toward me. “Is that really what you want?”

I bit my lower lip while looking into eyes that were like fire and ice combined. The same familiar dizziness I felt when he fixed my tire pressed down on me as he leaned forward. I felt my knees buckle beneath me. Images of my face smashing into the sidewalk, which ran through my mind, seemed a likely conclusion. Within moments strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me steady.
Take slow, deep breaths.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t eat lunch. I guess my sugar is a little low,” I said, pulling away. Although, I didn’t think blood sugar had anything to do with it. It seemed like a reaction to him or the way he looked at me. As much as I wanted him, I didn’t think it explained the powerful response that I felt sometimes with Arie.

“Are you headed home?”

I looked down at my leather cuff watch and sighed. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough after his humiliating rejection. It didn’t help my pride that I still wanted him anyway. “Well, I was going to stop at the bank but I probably won’t make it. I guess I just have to stop at Save-A-Lot on the way home. Why do you ask?”

“Why don’t you let me drive you to the store? And then I’ll drop you off at your house.”

I shook my head. “I feel fine now. Really. And no offense, but I don’t even know you.”

“You nearly collapsed. I’m not so harmless, but I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

My breath caught in my throat. Maybe he did want me. The way he looked at me and his words were sexy as hell. “I can’t. I drove my car to work and I won’t be able to get to work tomorrow if I leave it.”

“Then I’ll drive your car.”

His logical responses wore me down. I felt confused and muddled when I was around him. The way he looked at me made me feel dizzy—like he was persuading me somehow. Not that I minded being persuaded. Even though my better judgment screamed I shouldn’t go anywhere with someone I’d just met, I sensed that he wouldn’t hurt me. And my desire overruled my logical protest. His voice seemed hypnotic. Sure, he was good-looking. I thought him hanging around the Coffee Grind, fixing my flat, and then waiting outside was because he wanted me. I don’t like games and don’t make it a habit to drive off with strangers. Except every time I tried to form an objection in my mind it felt like I’d drunk too much wine without ever touching a drop. My response to him surprised me. Even though I wanted him, I couldn’t figure out why I felt like such a dizzy mess when his eyes shined like quicksilver rather than their typical gray.
Wait…did his eyes just change color or am I hallucinating?

“Why not? It’s not like the Bug is worth very much whether you wreck it or not.”

“Good. Consider this my way of making up to you for not asking you out.”

“Yeah, well it’s not like Save-A-Lot is my idea of a date,” I said with a laugh.

“Trust me,
when
I decide to take you on a date you’ll know it.”

The dizziness had passed and his eyes looked just as gray as they did before, but the way he looked at me provoked images of his hands roaming my body and his cock inside of me. And it had been a really long time. Testing my own plumbing didn’t quite count. “
When
you take me on a date? Well aren’t you confident,” I said with a smirk. I couldn’t help the sarcasm, still feeling slightly wounded from my failed attempt at flirtation. Especially when he looked at me like he wanted to press me against the brick front of the Coffee Grind and take me right then and there, despite his rejection.

“I think knowing someone who is certain of themselves terrifies you. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Your keys?”

I plunked the keys into his outstretched palm. His skin felt cold and hard, like he had sleet inside his bones. And I wondered what those cool fingers would feel like trailing up my inner thighs as he…
Stop it, Holly.
“Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t know what else to say as I pulled the hood of my cargo jacket over my head to shut out the misty air and slid into the passenger seat.

We drove in silence and I chanced a sideways glance, unable to ignore his pearlescent skin, high cheekbones, and gray eyes. I had an overwhelming urge to scream “Freedom,” at the top of my lungs just to break the stillness.
Then he’ll definitely think you’re a crazy nut job. Say something—say anything.

“You have an odd accent.” I said with a cough. “So where are you from? I’ve always wanted to travel. I really want to go to Italy and ride in a gondola. I think it would be really romantic, except I heard that there’s really big rats in Italy. But I told my co-worker, Trina, that I wouldn’t mind because Chicago has lots of rats too. So I’m used to it.”

He looked over at me but then fixed his eyes back on the road.

“And I keep trying to place your accent but it’s really very faint…”

“Do you always talk this much?” he asked very matter-of-factly.

“I know. I’m sorry. When I get nervous, I get this sort of verbal diarrhea.”
Yup, he thinks I’m nuts.

Pulling into an empty parking space in the grocery store lot, he turned to me with a serious look. “Isn’t it enough to just be with someone?”

I swallowed. I wanted to lean forward and kiss him, but one rejection was enough for today. It would be inappropriate for me to answer his question with what I was really thinking—that at that moment I didn’t want to be with anyone else. “I just have to grab a few things. I’ll be right out.” I slammed the car door and dashed across the parking lot before he had a chance to respond.

Grabbing a basket, I turned down aisles, cursing myself for my stupidity. It wasn’t fair for someone to possess such earth-shattering beauty. It made me into this tongue-tied blubbering mess. When I reached the cash register, I emptied the contents of my basket onto the belt. I felt distracted and wasn’t even sure at this point what I’d grabbed.