Pivotal Moments (In Time #1) (29 page)

“Aislinn!”

I jumped when my mother yelled. I lost my balance and I ended up sprawled out in the hallway. I glared up at her when she finally stood over me. “Seriously, Mom?”

She crossed her arms and glowered down at me. “Yes, seriously! Do you think it’s easy for me to make an appointment and print out information for my daughter to choose birth control? Just in case you’re confused, let me clear it up for you. It sucks, okay? It’s embarrassing and it also reminds me you’re not the little girl who came to me for scraped knees anymore.”

I scrambled up until I was standing and glanced around, half convinced that someone stood around and was listening. “Jeez, Mom! Could you have said that any louder?”

She stared at me for a moment before she threw her hands up. “Are you for real right now?” she demanded, incredulous.

“I—” I broke off as movement on the street caught my eye. I dashed over to the door and I felt my heart suddenly skip a beat when I heard the sound of a vehicle pulling to a stop in the driveway.

“Mom?” I looked back her, pleading. “Can we finish this tomorrow?”

She shook her head with a smile. “Yes! Go on!” I barely saw the shooing motions she made as I already had the door open and was stepping out the door.

“Thanks, Mom!” I yelled out behind me as I bounded down the walkway toward the red SUV that was now parked at my house. Teagan looked out his driver’s side window, and when he saw me he broke out into a huge grin.

Yes, people, I did come to a stumbling stop at that moment. You would too if you could have seen the effect his smile had. Especially when you knew it was all for and because of you. When you realize the impact that someone has on you and vice versa, it’s an amazing feeling.

He opened his door, got out, and reached back in to toss his sunglasses onto his seat. He faced me again and I blushed as his eyes roamed over me and his lips slowly curled into an appreciative smile. “C’mere, baby,” he ordered as he opened his arms. I didn’t waste a second; I just launched myself at him. He caught me full speed and his arms encircled me.

I enjoyed being there for a moment before I pulled back and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “You do realize it’s after four?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Traffic was a bitch, baby,” he explained as he rubbed a hand up my back. “I thought Zver was going to drive me crazy. I’m pretty sure he knew we were coming here. The second we hit the traffic, he started whining.” He turned and glared at the SUV. “He hasn’t stopped since.”

I giggled. “What can I say?” I stood up to tiptoe and peeked over his shoulder to where he’d just been looking. “I’m fabulous. He knows it.”

He bent his head down and gave me a smirk. “Is that so?”

“Absolutely.”

He chuckled and shook his head. He started to say something in response when a sharp bark could be heard from the vehicle. Teagan snapped his mouth shut and scowled and I couldn’t hold back the laugh. This earned me a look that had me swallowing it back with a grin. His look got even more stern and I schooled my features into one of studious seriousness. He watched me with a suspicious look on his face.

“What?” I asked innocently.

He narrowed his eyes. “I have a feeling you’re not taking my annoyance here with an appropriate level of seriousness.”

“I assure you I am,” I replied with a somber nod.

He snorted and gave me a quick kiss. “I somehow doubt that.” He let me go after giving me another quick squeeze. “Let’s get asshole and head in. I need a shower.”

I raised a hand and placed a palm against his jaw. “Do you think you could do me a favor?”

“What’s that, babe?”

“Um…” I blushed and glanced down at the ground as I dropped my hand. “You know what? Never mind,” I said as I chickened out.

He frowned at me before he took my hand in his. “No, sweetheart, what is it?”

I sighed. I just didn’t know how to ask him. I quirked my lips to the side as I debated how to proceed.

“Hey, whatever it is, you can ask me,” he insisted.

That wasn’t the problem. The problem was how to ask without wanting to sink into the ground. I knew he wouldn’t let it go, however. Therefore, I took a deep breath, straightened and looked him in the eye, and just asked. “Teagan, do you think you could maybe not shave tonight?”

“What? Why?”

That was the part I had wanted to avoid. I shuffled my feet and looked down at where he held my hand, and shrugged. “Just ’cuz.”

“Just ’cuz, huh?” he repeated. I could hear the smirk in his voice. I didn’t even need to look up and see it.

“Yes.” I peered up at him through my eyelashes. “So…will you? Not shave, I mean?”

“Tell you what,” he replied. “You tell me why and I’ll make sure to bypass that step.” There was no mistaking the teasing glint in his eyes.

“You can’t just do this for me?” I argued.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because, I wanna know why.”

I shot him a dirty look. “You can’t just not be a butthead and do me this favor?”

“Nope.”

“God! Fine! You look hot when you have a little bit of scruff, okay?” I glowered at him. “Happy now?”

His smile was smug and I gave a silent groan. “Does my gorgeous woman think I’m sexy when I look a little rough?”

There was absolutely no way in hell I was going to reply to that. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would never hear the end of it if I said anything. If I wanted to maintain a little sanity, I knew I needed to keep my mouth shut. The man loved to tease me way too much. There was just one small detail I’d overlooked.

In the time we’d been together, Teagan had learned to read me like an open book.

“Yeah,” he drawled, “she does.” He chuckled, stepped closer, and dipped to give me a kiss that left me dizzy and spinning. He lifted his mouth from mine and whispered, “All right, babe. I’ll leave the scruff.” He then lowered his head a bit more and ran his nose along my jaw, up to my ear where he placed a soft kiss. “I love you.”

I shivered and smiled. “I love you too.”

“C’mon,” he said as he stepped away from me. “It’s time to get ready.”

***

I was definitely having a déjà vu moment, at least it felt like it. Teagan and I were in his SUV, sitting in the parking lot outside of the hotel where the prom was being held. I was a nervous wreck, and once again, he was just allowing me to get myself together. It was just another example of why I loved the man so damn much.

I looked over at him and admired the beauty of what sat next to me. Teagan was in a black tux that fit him impeccably. He wore a deep red rose boutonniere that matched my dress perfectly. I smiled at the memory of the look on his face when I walked into the living room after I had gotten dressed. When he turned and saw me, he’d made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. The fact that he had not been able to speak had done amazing things for my confidence.

I had initially been a bit apprehensive about coming down in my dress. It was unlike anything I had ever worn. It was a floor length red strapless gown that flowed over my curves beautifully. It hugged in all the right places and slid smoothly over areas that had always been issues for me. It was paired with silver jewelry that had garnets on it and silver strappy heels.

The salon had styled my hair so that it was piled up in loose curls so some tumbled down around my neck and onto the top of my shoulders. Mom and I had done my makeup in a way that was understated and tasteful. All in all, I felt elegant and confident.

Mom had been teary-eyed and taken about ten million pictures, having us shift into pose after pose. She took so many that we ran late and almost missed our dinner reservations. It had taken several good glares and threats of not allowing any pictures at graduation to get us out of the house. Teagan had been amazing through all of it, patient and good natured, and I was grateful to have him.

Now, I sat in his truck watching everyone I went to school with enter the building and tried to fight off a case of anxiety. I shifted in my seat, nervous, not sure if I could do it. I really didn’t know if I could get out of the vehicle and walk in, and quite likely run into Tracey and Brody.

Teagan reached over and took one of my hands and squeezed it gently. “I’m not going to do this very often, but I’m going to tell you now, babe…we’re going in there.”

I looked over at him with a frown. He returned it with a blank stare before he raised an eyebrow. My frown deepened. “I thought you said you wouldn’t make me do something I didn’t want to,” I grumbled.

“And I won’t,” he returned. “But in this case, I think it’s more of a situation of nerves, to be honest.”

I sighed and looked back out the windshield to the people steadily entering the front entrance of the hotel. As much as I hated to admit it, he was probably right. It was time for me to just accept that my boyfriend was kind of smart sometimes. “Okay. Okay, you’re right. Let’s go.”

He grinned. “It’ll be fine! And I’ll be with you the whole time,” he promised.

“You better be,” I warned while I pointed at him.

He let go of my hand and got out of the SUV, walked around to my side and opened the door. He held out a hand and I took it, smiling as he helped me out. Once I stood in front of him, he snaked his arms around me and pulled me close. My breath caught as he lowered his head and captured my lips with his. All too soon he pulled away, rubbing his nose against mine. “Okay, woman, let’s get you inside. I’m ready to show you off.” He then turned, took my hand in his, and began to lead me to the entrance.

I might have felt a great deal of satisfaction at the shocked and envious looks being shot my way by the girls I went to school with.

Teagan handed over our tickets and we entered the event hall, which had been transformed into an elegant old-style Hollywood for the dance. I had to admit, I was impressed. The prom committee had done an incredible job.

After much debating, the senior class had voted on a retro Hollywood theme for the evening. As I looked up when we entered, I saw the decorating committee had used black and white streamers and ran them from one chandelier to the next. The round tables situated around the room alternated with black, white, and deep red-colored table cloths. Candles and flowers of opposing colors were on them as well.

They had massive arrangements of black and white feathers in vases sitting around and had commissioned life-sized ice sculptures of Oscar awards. Here and there were large framed black and white photos with splashes of red color of famous golden age actors. And naturally, there were the requisite film reels strewn about.

It was, in a nutshell, gorgeous. The guys were all in tuxedos and the girls were all in dresses fit for a walk down the red carpet. Everyone looked elegant and tasteful, and they all appeared to be having a good time.

We made our way over to the bar so we could get something to drink. Teagan once again displayed how awesome of a boyfriend he was when he already knew what I wanted and ordered it. He handed it to me then wrapped an arm around my waist and guided us to a couple of empty seats. We had no sooner sat down than Amber showed up out of nowhere. I jumped when she appeared at my elbow, breathless and with excitement shining bright in her eyes.

“Oh, wow! You made it!” She leaned down and gave me a little hug. “The way you had been acting, I didn’t think you’d be here.” She gave Teagan an appraising look. “Who’s this?”

I gave her a flat look. “This is Teagan, my boyfriend.” I gestured toward her, saying, “Baby, this is Amber.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he quickly stood up. I smiled at him when he glanced down at me and gave me a wink. Yes, my man had manners and it was sexy as hell.

Amber must have thought so as well. She stood there and twirled a piece of hair around a finger and gave him what she probably thought was a seductive smile. She resembled a constipated monkey. It was time she left the table.

“When do you need me to start monitoring the ballots?” She was annoying me. When she didn’t answer, I started to get pissed. “Hello? Amber! When do you need me?”

“Hm?” She looked at me, distracted. “Oh! Um, in about twenty minutes or so?”

“Great. So, I’ll come find you when it’s time then,” I said, dismissing her. That I was less than pleased at that moment would be a huge understatement. She must have gotten the point, however, because she gave a little wave and hurried away. Teagan hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he said hello and now sat there with an amused look on his face. I shot him a sideways glance and he started to grin.

“What?” I snapped.

“Nothing,” he replied as he shrugged. “She seemed nice.”

I gave him a dirty look to which he began to grin even more at.

“Oh, shut up!” I sat back in my seat with my arms crossed. He twisted toward me and rested a hand on my neck, his thumb stroking over my pulse gently.

“You know what, though?” he said in a low voice. I just shrugged and saw him hide a smile. “She’s nothing compared to you, baby.” Then he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss right below my ear. “You outshine them all,” he whispered to me and sat back.