Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite (14 page)

Carly shook her head to herself. “The whole thing is stupid.”

“It’s not,” I growled. “How could you even think I’d have done something like that? First of all, I have never shown so much as one ounce of interest in your sister. To be honest, she annoys the shit out of me! Secondly, she’s what, ten, eleven years younger than me? The last time I was interested in teenage girls is when I was a fuckin’ teenager! And lastly—this is the part that really pisses me off— is that I’ve done nothing but bust my ass trying to get your attention. Why the hell would I throw that all away by not only going for your sister, but under your roof, and mere hours after you’d been assaulted?”

I threw my hands up when Carly didn’t immediately back off her argument and concede my points. “Fuck, Carly! You really don’t get me at all, do you? You think I’m some piece of shit guy like your ex, who’s just gonna fuck you over, huh? Is that it? I can’t even believe you’d think I’d do something so goddamned stupid!”

As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them. And when my eyes flashed to Carly and watched her face crumple, I wanted to throw myself off a bridge.

“Listen, Carly, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“No,” she interrupted, wiping at her eyes. “You’re right. I don’t trust you, because I don’t know you. At least not enough to know what you’re capable of. So yeah, there was a part of my heart that told me there was no way in hell what Alesha said was true, but I held onto that sliver of doubt. And do you know why? Because I will never be someone’s bitch again. The kind of girl who gets pushed around, walked all over, and taken for granted. If—and when—I ever decide to let my guard down, it will only be for a man who I have no questions about. That I know—without a shadow of doubt—that he would never do anything to hurt me.”

“And you think I would?” my voice dropped an octave. “You think I’d hurt you?”

Carly’s eyes locked on mine, her lips protruded in a defiant pout.

“Carly, answer me.”

She blinked and her eyes dropped to the counter. “No. No, I don’t.”

I reached over and tucked a finger under her chin, bringing her face back up to mine, our eyes locking back together. “I would never do anything to hurt you. I hate that you’d think that.”

“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m sorry that I didn’t give you a chance to explain,” she replied, her voice barely higher than a whisper.

“I get it. You’re right about the part where we don’t really know each other. Not as well as I’d like to in any case.” My fingers started to slide up her jaw, desperate to weave into her hair and bring her lips to mine, but she stiffened and I pulled away. I was just reeling her back in. I couldn’t risk a bold move. Not yet.

“What do you say we fix that?” I continued, pocketing my hands.

A flicker of a smile lit her face. “Back to the random trivia game?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Nah. Not unless you want to do that over dinner sometime. I know you don’t want to get tangled up with some guy you just met right now, because of Alesha and your fears and all that, but come on, we didn’t do so bad the other night at the bar. I still don’t know my way around here all that well. What do ya say? You say where, I’ll drive?”

Her lower lip disappeared in between her teeth for a moment and my entire body pulsed with heat. Her eyes lit up, and I wondered if she’d spotted my skin flush. Not that I’d care.

“All right. Tomorrow? After I finish up here?”

“It’s a non-date, date,” I agreed quickly.

Carly’s eyes sparkled with the smile that grew across her face. “Or…”

“Or?”

“It could be a date, date.”

I leaned in closer and grinned down at her. “Is that so?”

She looked at me and then nodded slowly. “If the offer is still open…”

“Oh, it’s open. Tomorrow night.”

“Okay.” She shifted her weight back into her heels, putting a fraction of an inch more space between us and my heart slammed into my chest, wondering what she’d been thinking before deciding to put some distance between the two of us. “I’ll see you then.”

“You’ll see me sooner. I had some pretty serious caffeine withdrawal this morning since a certain someone wouldn’t hook me up,” I teased.

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile. “Drama, drama.”

I turned to walk toward the door and stopped short. “Let me take you home. I don’t want you here alone.”

“I drove here this morning. My car’s outside.”

“Then let me walk you to your car. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“Oh my gosh, Nick. I’ll be fine.” She smiled and lowered her face. “Really. I’ll be fine.”

“I’d feel better if you let me walk you out,” I protested.

“Okay, I give, but I have to lock up first.”

“What can I do to help?” I offered, walking back toward the counter where she was standing by the register. “Take out the trash? Clean something up? I’m all yours.” Her eyes lit up and a wicked grin crossed her lips.

Damn.

“All mine? We’ll see,” she teased. “Let’s get you started with something nice and easy.” She pulled the trash from beside the sink over to the middle of the space between the front counter and the back room. “There are extras in the bottom.”

“You got it.” I pulled the trash bags out of the can and tied a knot in the plastic. As I took it out the side door and around to the dumpsters, I wondered what she was thinking. If it was anything like the thoughts running around my head, we were in serious trouble.

We worked together to close the shop down and after she flicked off the last set of lights and set the security alarm she turned to me. “Okay, Mr. Bodyguard. Let’s roll.”

I chuckled and held open the door for her. She turned and locked it and then pointed at her car across the lot. I walked her over, fighting the urge to reach for her, and after she kit the button to unlock the doors, I pulled open the driver side door for her.

She hesitated at the door. “Thanks, Nick.”

“Anytime.” I reached for her and set my hand on her waist. Before she could say a word, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. I wanted to linger and deepen the kiss, but I held myself back and pulled away after a heartbeat. “Goodnight,” she whispered.

“Night, Carly.”

She slid into her car and I closed the door softly. She started up the engine and offered a small wave before throwing it into reverse and maneuvering her way out of the small lot. Once she pulled out onto the main road, I crossed to my truck, jumped inside, and wore a shit-eating grin all the way home.

Carly

My thoughts stayed locked on Nick and the little kiss on the way home, but as I turned onto my street, they shifted to Alesha.

She’d come in for a few hours to help combat the lunch rush, but had been in an obvious hurry to get out around three. When I pulled into the driveway, I braced myself for the fight that likely lay in waiting on the other side of my front door. I didn’t want to keep arguing with her, it was like beating my head on a brick wall, painful and repetitive, but I was still filled with anger over the lies she’d told about Nick. Lies that were not only hurtful—but had far more serious implications than just silly teenage drama.

“Alesha?” I bellowed, not two steps inside. I dropped my messenger style bag on the entryway table and deposited my keyring in the decorative bowl shaped like a giant seashell. The clang of the keys echoed through the too-quiet house.

Where the hell was she?

“Alesha! Get downstairs!” I stormed into the kitchen and started up the stairs, before I heard the sound of her door shutting. She appeared at the top of the stairs, bedraggled, like she’d been napping away the entire afternoon and evening.

Which, I supposed was better than partying, but it still pissed me off.

Alesha looked me up and down. “What the hell? Is the house on fire?”

I finished the climb and positioned myself against the railing, squared off against her. “You lied to me. About Nick.”

A smirk crossed her face. It took every ounce of self-control not to slap it right off her face.

“Alesha,” I growled.

She snapped to attention at the harsh sound of my voice. “What? I was just messing with you. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal? Alesha, what the hell is the matter with you? Do you just have no concept of right and wrong? No conscious? Not only is it a big fuckin’ deal, but what you accused Nick of is illegal! What if I’d gone to the cops?”

“For what?” She wrinkled her brow as though I’d suddenly launched into a complicated math equation. “I never said he forced me. God, Carly. Why are you blowing this up?”

I lurched towards her, raising a finger between her eyes. “Because it’s a big deal, Alesha! You were toying with a man’s reputation. And for what? To get back at me?”

She took a half step back, out of my range. “God. It was just a joke, okay?”

“Why? What part of you fucking up a man’s reputation is supposed to be funny? You came traipsing down the stairs this morning, half naked, in some sleazy lingerie in hopes of seeing Nick. This is obviously not a joke to you.”

“Why do you even care?”

“Because Nick doesn’t deserve this!”

She rolled her eyes. “Why can’t you just admit it? You like him. That’s why you’re flipping out about this.”

“This isn’t about me. This is about Nick, so stop trying to turn the tables.”

Alesha threw her hands up. “Fine! I’ll apologize to Nick. God…this town is so boring. Everyone is too busy being uptight to take a joke.”

I opened my mouth, ready to breathe more fire down her neck, but stopped short. It wasn’t going to make a bit of difference and I was tired. “You can apologize to him tomorrow morning when he comes by. Also, I’m going to tell you this, and it’s the last time I want to talk about it, but Nick asked me out and I said yes.”

“Of course…”

“Alesha,” I sighed.

“What?”

A lightbulb went on in my head as I watched her defeated, far off gaze down at the grains of wood in the flooring. “I understand that you’re upset about what happened with your boyfriend back home. Is that why you said what you said about Nick?”

Her eyes went wide, confirming my suspicion. But she shrugged it off. “No. Jeeze, Carly. I told you. I was just bored. Okay?”

“Okay.” The rest of my anger started to dissipate as I watched tears well up in her eyes.

She blinked and scoffed at herself. “Am I excused?”

I nodded and without another word, she turned and stomped back into her room.

So, that was it. Nick’s attention—real or made up—was some kind of scapegoat for her unresolved heartache. I stared at her closed door for another minute, wrestling over the idea of knocking and trying to talk to her, but in the end I decided it would be best to leave her alone. In reality, it hadn’t been that long since I was a teenager, but it felt as though a lifetime had passed since those days, and I’d lost sight of how tumultuous and chaotic it could be. Nick was a distraction. Nothing more. I just wished he hadn’t been the subject of her stupidity.

With a new perspective, I trudged down the steps, hating the way I’d treated him that morning. Everything had been fresh and confusing. I should have given him a chance to explain the situation. I shook my head. Sometimes I didn’t act all that much different than Alesha.

In the kitchen, I spotted the note he’d left for me by the coffee pot and a sad little smile pulled at my lips. I picked it up by the corner and tucked it into the odds and ends drawer at the end of the counter and set to work making a dinner that would smell so enticing that Alesha would dare to come out of her room. I don’t even know why I cared anymore, but I did. Poor kid was going through a lot—maybe even more than I knew. I just hated that I had to be such a bitch all the time. I still hoped we could fix things and maybe get our sisterly relationship back on track.

Maybe.

* * * *

My plan worked, and just as the final kitchen timer rang, my ears perked up at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. I craned around and flashed a welcoming smile at Alesha. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her hair looked even more frazzled than it had an hour before.

“Hungry?” I asked, turning back to drain the water from the ravioli’s I’d whipped up.

“Sure.”

“All right, well sit down and I’ll dish you up a plate.” I carried the hot pot of ravioli back across the kitchen to the stove where the sauce was simmering.

“Do you need help?” Alesha asked, her voice small and timid. Drained.

I smiled over at her. “Uhm, sure. I’ll take an iced tea if you want to get us some.”

A few minutes later, we were both seated at the kitchen table, a plate of steaming pasta and a frosty glass of tea on each side. Alesha took her first bite and then started shoveling in food like she hadn’t eaten in months. I laughed softly. “Any good?”

She flashed a thumbs up and swallowed the bite in her mouth. “This is amazing. I forgot how good of a cook you are.”

A little prick of guilt stung me. Since she’d arrived, I’d relied heavily on cold cut sandwiches left over from the cafe, with some occasional takeout sprinkled in as needed. “Thanks, Leash.”

“This reminds me of when we’d be home, waiting for Dad to get back from work…” her words trailed off, but the memories they invoked hung between us.

After our parents’ divorce, I’d taken somewhat of a motherly role in the house. Alesha had barely started school and our dad worked round the clock at his high powered finance job. I had a driver’s license, car, and access to my dad’s credit card. It had fallen on me to make sure the cupboards were stocked and that there was something for dinner for me and Alesha every night. My cooking and baking skills hadn’t been born from pure interest—but from necessity. It wasn’t until later in life that I’d learned to love it.

I nodded. “Who knew it would turn into my whole life.”

Alesha smiled. “
The Siren
is a really cool place. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that.”

I stopped halfway to my mouth with my next bite and returned her smile. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“I wish I knew what I wanted to do,” she said glumly, staring down at her next bite before popping it into her mouth.