New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (8 page)

His expression remained
attentive
and Jared didn’t seem to buy into her frantic attempt to blow the whole thing off.
“What did he want?”

“Well, he didn’t say he was interested in starting up a psychic support
group, so I’m not exactly sure,” Kate quipped.
“
He told me to contact him
after and I quote ‘realize he’s the real deal,’” she said and
rolled her eyes
for added effect
. Jared didn’t look amused in the s
lightest and she decided
to change the subject
straight away
. “Let’s talk about normal things tonight, please? Can
we table the paranormal nonsense
just for the evening?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Julie said sensing Kate’s discomfort.
Jared hesitantly nodded and stuck his hands in the pockets of his dress pants.

“Well then…” Gage started breaking the uncomfortable silence
. After an awkward moment, he
gave Kate a long look. “How’s thirteenth grade going at the community college?” he asked with a chuckle.

Before Kate could unleash a string of expletives, Julie intervened by pinching Gage’s arm hard. “Stop being a jerk.”

Jared shifted from side to side and cleared his throat. “
I think the waitress is signaling us that ou
r
table is ready.”

The foursome moved towards the hibachi table
with seating for ten
and Kate hoped they wouldn’t be stuck with any of
Franklin
’s degenerates. She once got stuck next to this guy with the worst body odor ever. Luckily
,
when they arrived at the table they only saw a couple who seemed too busy making googly eyes at each other to be too much of an annoyance.
Gag
e went for the end seat, but Kate
elbowed him out of the way to score it first.
From the gleam
in
his eye, she guessed he was contemplating his payback. Jared sat next to her while Julie and Gage sat parallel.

After the waitress took their orders, Gage turned to her and
Jared with a patronizing grin. “I’m
glad to finally meet you, dude. Katie isn’t exactly one to date.”

“Gage…” Julie
began
in a warning tone.
Julie
gripped his arm, but Gage’s expression never wavered.

“I’m just saying, Kate will probably be a lot less uptight now that she has a man around,” he said with a smile.
His emerald eyes scanned the menu with practiced nonchalance.

“I’m
not uptight, I just have a low tolerance for general douchieness,” Kate replied in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Gage leaned back in a chair and let out a guffaw.
He put down the menu and studied her.
“You still seem
tightly wound,” he addressed her before turning to Jared. “You’re making sure our Katie is satisfied, right?”

Jared looked
momentarily
flustered and opened his mouth to reply, but Kate beat him to it.
“Only you
,
Gage
,
would think my sex life is appropriate dinner conversation.”

“Sorry Katie, but I can smell your sexual frustration from a mile away,” he laughed.

Throwing down her palm hard against the table, she noted the whole table jump.
The couple across the way had to pick their jaws off the floor as they began to take note of the interaction.
Picking up her chopsticks, she pointed them
maniacally
at Gage. “One more word and I swear I’ll shove these chopsticks so far up your…”

Jared turned to Julie who had a far away look in her eyes. “Are they always like this?” he questioned in an alarmed tone.
Jared
shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked on the verge of bolting for the nearest exit.

Shaking her head, Julie
gave
him a faraway
smile. “Sorry, I didn’t notice if they were still at it.
I
usually
tune them out when they’re fighting and replay old episodes of
T
he Vampire Diaries
in my head.”

Kate took a deep breath and lowered the chopsticks. She figured it was best to calm down
. It was hard not to notice
the alarmed look on the faces of
the couple across the way
. The man
seemed to be signaling the waitress about switching tables. Gage slapped Jared heartily on the back. “Dude, I was totally kidding. I just get a kick turning Kat
e into a complete spaz.”

Jared gave him a tight smile and turned to her. He
clutched
her hand and shot a full blown grin her way. Any tension she felt was relieved as she began to giggle
at the silliness of the situation
. Maybe Gage was right and she was sexual
ly frustrated. It was
absurd that a few off color remarks had sent her in a tizzy
.

The rest of the dinner went surprisingly
well. Their
hibachi
chef
was hysterical and he was
generous with the
saki
.
After a few shots of the alcohol
, she was even finding Gage tolerable and actually laughed at a few of
his jok
es. Before they parted ways, Kate was in high spirits and suggested
they make this a regular thing and make plans to all go out together soon.

Kate leaned content
ly into Jared as they walked to his car. “Are you being affectionate or am I helping you stay vertical?” he laughed looking down at her. At least he had no problem being her designated driver for the night.

“You smell delicious,” she sighed into his shirt.

Jared
laughed loudly before helping her get into his car.
He lingered in front of her after buckling her seatbelt.
“Remember the last time you were
drunk and I drove you home? Same rules apply.”

“Does that mean you’re going to take me to get coffee again and refuse my advances?
It’ll be just like old times,
”
she said
flippantly
.
He shook his head and closed her car door.

After settling into his seat, Jared tilted towards her.
“When I do take advantage of you, I’d like you to be fully conscious.” He pecked her on the lips before throwing
the car in reverse. “We
’
ll stop for
that coffee though
.
I
thought we could maybe take a ride somewhere if you’re up to it.”

“I’m up for anything, baby,” she said huskily
followed
by a fit of laughter.
Tucking a loose wave behind her ear, s
he
thought about how she
made a horrible seductress.
“You probably have serious doubts after tonight about
dating someone like me.”

“No doubts at all,” he said and she could tell he honestly meant it. The time she got to spend with Jared made her irrationally happy. Not only was he kind and handsome, but he put up with her immaturity and quirky sense of humor.
Plus, she thought as he handed her a warm cup after stopping at Dunkin Donuts, he knew exactly how she took her coffee without being prompted.

Kate
knew that what she felt towards Jared
was strong and her life had
completely changed since the moment he rang her doorbell months ago. She
understood that the smart thing would be to
take things slow. Kate
hadn’t dated anyone since high scho
ol and Jared had
just got
ten
out of a long-term rel
ationship. Yet to tone down the intensity of her emotions was impossible
.

Kate
hadn’t noticed wh
ere they were headed until he
parked the car. It was dark,
but a few spotlights shone
on the walkways and the parking lot
. After a couple
of seconds, Kate recognized
the
local park where Jared had taken her last month when they worked together to find Cori.

“Our lake!” she cried hopping out of th
e car and running towards the path
. She almost tripped, but luckily her boyfriend had quick reflexes and caught her.
His arm wrapped around her waist and he embraced her in a way that left her faint.

“Slow down the
re
champ. Remember the geese weren’t the biggest fan of you last time,”
Jared
said
dryly
. It was his
favorite thing to joke about.

He took her hand and led her towards the lake’s edge. She had never been inside the park at night.
Long shadows were cast from the trees and the bugs created a loud symphony of chirps and rattles.
It was equally parts romantic and creepy.
“You didn’t take me out here to kill me, did you? I hope you’re not that
furious over not mentioning the other psychic sooner
.”

He put
a
finger to her lips to silence her. She was about to come
up
with a witty retort to the condescending gesture, but decided against it when she noted the seductive gleam in his eyes. As flattered as she was over his intense stare,
Kate
hoped this wasn’t the special night he had talk
ed about. She imagined
her mortification if a park ranger caught them getting it on. Looking around, she guessed they could always get friendly with each other in the gazebo. But that didn’t exactly scream romance. Plus, who knows what kind of crawly things made their home in that thing at night?
Feeling pressure on her mouth,
Jared’s kiss silenced her inner monologue.

His hand worked his way through the soft waves of her hair. Pulling her into his body, she could feel the firmness of his muscles. Kissing him back, she ran her fingers through his hair and sighed into his mouth. Breaking the kiss, Jared let out a little laugh. “I love when you do things like that.”

“What?” Tilting her head, she gave him an inquisitive look.

His hand rested on her cheek as he looked deep into her hazel eyes.
“Sigh when you’re kissing
me. It
makes it hard for me to ever be upset with you.”

“Good to know. I’ll have to kee
p that in mind if I end up
doing anythin
g that really will make you mad,
”
Kate teased.

“About the whole new psychic thing…”

She interrupted him. “You’re not going to say anything that ruins our happy place, are you?”

“No,
but I want you to realize you can
talk to
me about the psychic stuff. Things are getting hectic
at work, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have time for you.
” He paused and said thoughtfully,
“
That vision of Max must still be bothering you.”

The mention
of Max was instantly sobering.
Closing her eyes, she could envision the boy’s tortured brown eyes as Max listened
to the woman say
his parents were dead. “It’s been tough,” she conceded. “
But I’ve seen
nothing else si
nce that one night. I’m
hanging my hopes partially on this other psychic. He didn
’t elaborate, but he hinted that he could
help me with my visions
.
”

Jared didn’t reply which encouraged her to continue talking about Declan.
“His caseload was impressive. I can’t imagine he’s gotten this successful without having
some way to control his gift
,
”
Kate said thoughtfully.

He hugged her and gave a quick kiss on the
top of her head. “It wouldn’t
hurt hearing him out
. We should’ve figured there were more actual psychics
out there. Just be careful,” Jared cautioned.
“
People are bound to try and take advantage of you.”

“Like
Franklin
’s best-looking detective?”

“You know it.”

Max
didn’t like this place. He missed his mommy, daddy and his dog
Molly. He didn’t like the weird lady who kept asking him to call her mommy.
Even if his mommy was
in heaven now,
she
wasn’t his mo
mmy.
She could be so nice to him, but then be really mean too. She hit him hard twice already for not listening to her rules.
She spanked his
bottom hard enough that he cri
ed for hours afterward when he sat down
.
His mommy and dadd
y never hit him, even after the
time he poured all the red paint on Molly.