Whispers and Wishes (Untouchable Book 4)

by Heather Long

  “Yes you are.” I hugged her. It was an impulsive act, and Rachel returned it easily. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” She loosened her grip and stepped back. “So, about that kiss…”

  “Ahem,” Archie said, clearing his throat. “We talked about this, Manning. No making moves on my—our girl.”

  Archie looked fantastic. He was dressed in a suit that was black with a charcoal gray shirt underneath it. The dark colors were doing wonders for him, giving him that air of sophistication and mystery.

  “No promises, Standish,” Rachel retaliated. “But since it is your birthday, I’ll give you a free pass tonight.”

  He snorted. “Thank you.” But his gaze was on me, not her. “You ready, babe?”

  “Thank you for my necklace.”

  “You are very, very welcome.” He had a jacket for me—not Jake’s letterman this time, but more a wrap which was easier than a real coat. “Coop’s ordering pizza, Rachel, if you two want to bond and play video games.”

  Coop’s outraged yelp from the front room made me laugh, and Rachel just rolled her eyes. “Sorry, he’s going to have to survive without me. I have a date of my own.”

  “Oo, Skylar?” I was oddly hopeful. I liked her.

  “Could be,” Rachel said, all coy as she gathered her stuff together. “Call me tomorrow, and I’ll confirm.”

  “Are you bringing her to the Halloween party?”

  “Eh,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Undecided. I might swing that one stag. We’ll see.”

  “Find us if you go with or without her?”

  “Promise.” She brushed a kiss to my cheek. “You two have fun tonight.”

  Coop made us take pictures before we left. He also gave me a lovely pinned to the wall kiss with great care not to wrinkle my dress. He did, however, succeed in removing nearly all of my lipstick. A fact that made him particularly cocky when I had to duck back to the bathroom to fix it.

  Thankfully, it also gave me an excuse to grab the small purse for my phone and keys. “Don’t wait up for us,” Archie called as we left. “I might not bring her back until tomorrow.”

  “Have a good birthday, man,” Coop said. The guys had gone in together and gotten Archie a new sound system for his Ferrari. It was an upgrade on what he already had, and it would get installed this weekend. Archie and Jake would do the work themselves.

  Of all of them, Archie had always been the toughest one to get presents for. He had everything. So the gifts I got him always had to mean something. I’d found a couple of concert shirts for him from his favorite classic bands, but those were more like what I would give him at random than as presents. I’d actually saved one to “give” him later after I’d worn it, naked, in his bed. I figured he’d appreciate that.

  Once we were in the car though, I put a hand on his arm. “Before we go, can I give you your presents here?”

  “Right here?” he said, eyeing me. “’Cause the seats aren’t the best for it, but I’m totally game to try.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not that and not here, perv.” The insult slipped out easily.

  He grinned. “Damn. Though after the other night, you’re really going to need to work it to match that as a present. I still get hard thinking about it.”

  Okay, now I was hot. “Archie. Let me give you your present.”

  “Fine.” He gave a mock sigh before he mimed zipping his lips. Then looked at me expectantly.

  “Thank you.” I pulled out my phone. “Do you mind if I pair this with your car?”

  He reached forward and hit a couple of buttons while I pulled up Bluetooth. It was paired in nothing flat, then I opened the music app and took care not to show him the screen as I queued up the song.

  “Have I mentioned how hot I find it that you’re giving this moment a soundtrack?” The cocky grin on his face just made me laugh.

  “Hush.”

  Leaning back in his seat, he tilted his head so he could watch me. The first strains of piano and guitar came across. Ian had played both when we were at the studio, mixing one with the other. It was a little on the ballady side and not quite what Archie liked to listen to, but I was already half-in-love with it and over the moon that I’d gotten to help do it.

  “The first step was the hardest one. You walked in and I invited you to sit and talk. I smiled at you and you joined in. You were a stranger then you were a friend.”

  I bit my lip at the sound of my own voice. Ian had worked with me on every line recording it until I hit every single note. Archie’s eyes widened.

  “The second step was harder still. You wanted me and I was blind. Whispers and wishes, so many misses. Dancing. Playing. Laughing. Crying. You were the one who wanted to take my dreams flying.”

  He reached over to catch my hand as the music played. It was awful.

  It was cute.

  Did I sound as terrible to him as I did to me?

  I mean, it wasn’t as awful as that karaoke night, but the beats were there.

  “The third step and we fell off. My whispers became shouts and my wishes so many doubts. You were there every step of the way and when I tumbled you had to have your say.”

  Archie raised his hand to my cheek and stroked it.

  “But here we are, crash and burn, rise and fall, song and singer, friends and lovers…” The last word trailed off. “If I have my way, this is where we’ll stay but I want your whispers and your wishes every day.”

  The music rose again and then trailed off.

  “Happy birthday, Archie. I always want your wishes to come true. So whisper them or shout them, but this song? It’s just for you.”

  Then it ended, and I sank my teeth into my lower lip, alternately horrified and delighted at the raw expression on his face. He kissed me. No room for thought or hesitation, just a kiss that stole every ounce of my breath.

  “God, I love you,” he admitted, and my heart did a fist bump with my ribs. But before I could say anything else, he was kissing me again.

  We were late to dinner.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When You Need Someone to Lean On

  We were late, but Ted—or Grandpa, as he kept insisting I call him—had been more amused than annoyed by our tardiness. As soon as we were seated, a waitress brought over drinks. Wine for the whole table, and I cut a look at Archie. We drank at his place…

  “Don’t worry,” Ted assured us both. “They aren’t serving you, and Mary would have wanted me to toast your birthday, young man, and she would have wanted you to toast along with us.”

  “A sip won’t hurt,” Archie told me. I hadn’t taken any pain meds today, so I nodded. Once Ted had poured the wine, he set the glasses in front of each of us. The restaurant we were in was expensive, exclusive, and we didn’t sit out in the main dining room, but had this private room to ourselves surrounded by tropical plants and artwork.

  The place didn’t even have a name. You couldn’t walk in off the street. It was just the kind of reservation-only exclusivity for people with more money than I would know what to do with.

  Archie and his grandfather fit right in, but they were both including me, which helped to ward off the sensation that I didn’t belong.

  Lifting his wine glass, Ted said, “I’m proud of you, Archie. You made it to eighteen, but you remember what you said at eight?”

  With a groan, Archie said, “Grandpa, are you really bringing that up?”

  The older man laughed. “Damn straight, my boy. Mary laughed for a week after you proclaimed at your eighth birthday that you were of the right age to be Pharaoh, and by eighteen…”

  “I’d be a real god.” Shoulders slumping, Archie actually looked moderately embarrassed. Even the tips of his ears had gone red. I’d never seen him so self-conscious. He was almost always the picture of confidence.

  It was adorable.

  “Exactly,” Ted continued, extending his glass. “Welcome to your godhood, Sprout. May it be everything you dreamed of.”

&nbs
p; We clinked our glasses together, and I was grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. “A god, huh?”

  “Don’t.” Archie shot me a pleading look. “Please.”

  “Oh, I won’t share it. But if I’m dating a god, I think I have the right to at least tweak you a little.”

  Chuckling, he rubbed his hand against my thigh below the table. “You can do whatever you want.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” I promised, and he chuckled.

  Grandpa Ted nodded. “A keeper that one. All right. Have a drink. Let’s order, and then we’re discussing your birthday present, Sprout.”

  “Grandpa, I’m good. Really.”

  “Nonsense,” the older man continued. “Your trust has been there for you since you were born. That’s fact. Presents are supposed to be fun. And I have one for you…” Amusement glimmered in the man’s eyes. “You’re going to let me give it to you, Sprout.”

  Archie raised his hands in surrender. “Yes, sir.”

  I liked this side of Archie—the openness and warmth he shared with his grandfather. This was the side so few got to see. I did. He’d been like this with me from the beginning.

  If I’d known him better, it might have clued me in to his real feelings long before I got there. Looking back, it was a lot clearer to me now.

  We took our time picking out our meals. The waitress appeared as if summoned by magic when we’d decided. She also brought sodas for me and Archie. The wine was nice, but two swallows had already left me with a warm buzzy feeling, so probably better to dial back on that.

  After she left, Archie’s grandfather focused on him. “All right, I’ve done some research. Your father might be engaged, but he’s not divorcing Muriel. At least not yet. He hasn’t filed papers anywhere. I also checked with the attorneys to go over a copy of the prenuptial they signed. He may not have to worry about that much longer. Either of them.”

  “How so?”

  “After twenty years or their youngest child reached his or her majority, several of the clauses would fall away.”

  “And I just turned eighteen.” He scoffed and shook his head.

  I covered his hand on my thigh with my own. “I’m sorry.”

  “You know,” he said, cutting a look at me. “I don’t really care beyond the crap they’re pulling with you. Let them get divorced. It might make them happier.”

  Leaning forward, Ted considered Archie. “I have friends on the board still, it wouldn’t be that hard to oust him. You’re a bit young to take his place though.”

  What were they…?

  “I’m good, Grandpa. No offense, not really into running Standish.”

  Ted shrugged. “I could take over for a few years for you. Serves him right after he shoved me out the door.”

  Were they…?

  “Grandpa, really, I appreciate it. And I know you built that company. But I don’t want it. I want… I want to make my own mistakes. Build my own future. I want to build things, period.”

  “Sprout, I respect that, but you also asked me to deal with your father. Now it sounds like you want me to back off.” Ted glanced at me, but the reality of Archie running the family company had never really sunk in before. I mean, sure, I knew they had one. But I didn’t picture him in suits—no matter how good he looked in them—wheeling and dealing, and doing whatever it was his father did.

  Honestly, I had no idea what “Eddie” did, except date my mother and apparently, have affairs. So maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t picture Archie in that role.

  “You’re already moving forward with your emancipation, young lady?”

  I nodded.

  “Then that’s one thing we can take care of. As for your father, neutering his power reduces his ability to threaten any of you.” Ted paused as our first course arrived.

  This was not the conversation I pictured having on Archie’s birthday. Through most of the appetizers and the entrees, they debated it back and forth. I fought a silent battle with myself. A part of me wanted Ted to just stop and let Archie enjoy his day, but each time the conversation lulled, Archie would bring up another point and they’d be off to it again.

  So maybe Archie did want to have the conversation.

  When dessert arrived, Archie cut a look to me. “We’re boring the hell out of you, aren’t we?”

  “Not boring me so much as worrying me.”

  He raised his eyebrows, and for a moment, we were back in the car again and he said those three words that had rattled around me as he kissed me and buoyed me through most of this meal.

  “How so, babe?”

  “It’s your birthday, and Eddie makes you miserable. I’d rather you were having fun.” Try as I might, I couldn’t help a bit of a reproachful look at Ted. “You two are together again, surely there’s something else fun you can talk about.”

  The two men shared a look, then they both chuckled. Lifting his wine glass, Ted said, “I told you she was a keeper. She lasted about as long as Mary did when my father and I had this debate.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Archie covered my hand. “Grandpa likes to test people.” There was a glimmer of apology in his eyes. “If you haven’t noticed, my family is filled with hard heads and stubbornness.”

  “No?” I deadpanned. “Really?”

  Chortling, Ted dabbed at his mouth with his napkin before setting it aside. “Blame me, pretty girl, not Sprout. I did this to Muriel and she failed it abysmally, but Junior wouldn’t listen to me. Thank God for that now, though then I was pretty cross.” He lifted his chin. “Don’t get me wrong, Muriel was a good woman, and she gave us Archie here. But she and Junior were ill-suited from the beginning. You’re good for Archie. You look out for him, but you’re also trying to support him. I see him doing the same thing for you.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “He’s one of my best friends,” I finally said. “I’d pretty much do anything for him.”

  “Ditto, babe,” Archie replied, dropping a kiss to my bare shoulder before he pressed a kiss to my ear and whispered, “Just another reason I love you.”

  Shivers chased up my spine. It was one thing when he said it in the heat of the moment over the song in the car. This was different.

  “It’s a good thing. Hold on to that. But enough with the business talk. I heard there are congratulations in order for you.”

  Archie grinned. “I told him about your acceptance letters…and mine.”

  “Yours?” I gaped. “You didn’t tell me about yours.”

  He ducked his head a little as he twisted his glass on the table. “Mine aren’t anywhere near as amazing as yours. Really, they aren’t.”

  Before I could argue, the waitress returned with a cake topped by lit candles along with a host of the other servers. They sang a beautiful a cappella version of a birthday song as they set the cake in front of him. Archie blew out the candles as they applauded and squeezed my hand. When he turned to me and slanted his mouth across mine, I sank into the feverish kiss, half-forgetting we even had an audience.

  Soft chuckles popped the bubble around us, and Archie lifted his head with a smile. Heat rushed to my face, but I didn’t really care so much. It wasn’t long until we had slices of tiramisu cake in front of each of us.

  “Don’t tell Jeremy,” I admitted two bites in. “But this is amazing.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” Archie told me with a wink.

  “Okay, now spill. Tell me where you got in.” My stomach knotted. I was over the moon that Jake had gotten accepted to the same schools I had so far. We still had more to hear from. Coop hadn’t gotten his letters, and neither had Ian. But that didn’t mean they weren’t coming. Maybe they got them today, and we just hadn’t heard yet.

  “It’s really not a big deal, babe,” Archie said, cutting into his cake.

  “How can you say it’s not a big deal?”

  “Because he’s a legacy,” Ted said bluntly. “And he has money. Most schools are going to leap at a chance to
take him, thinking it will get them endowment money from the family.”

  “Which it probably will,” Archie admitted. “You getting in is way more interesting to me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re important to me.”

  “Sprout just means you getting in is a reflection of your hard work and merit, Frankie-girl. He’s very proud of you.”

  “Well, I’m proud of him, too.” Pointing my fork at Archie, I said, “So tell me. I want to know.”

  “NYU,” he admitted. “Fordham. MIT. Harvard.” He ticked them off one after another, and when he got to the last two, pride surged through me. I dropped the fork to turn and hug him. He wrapped his arms around me.

  “That’s so cool!”

  I didn’t know about Harvard for me yet. “But you got them all.”

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “I did. It’s the STEM programs.”

  “I’m so proud of you,” I told him. “Don’t dismiss it. That’s awesome. We’re just one step closer to all being up there.”

  I had mental fingers crossed for Coop and Ian, too.

  That called for another glass of wine, which both Archie and I turned down, but we did toast. By the time we wrapped the meal with his grandfather, Ted had regaled me with the most delightful stories of Archie as a kid, and he’d taken it all like a champ.

  We walked out to the cars together, and the two shared a hug, then Ted surprised me by giving me a kiss on the cheek and clasping my shoulder gently. “Sprout’s going to make sure you have my number. You call me if you need anything. Don’t worry about your mother or Junior. We’ll get you clear of any fallout. And I still expect you two out at the golf course.”

  “Promise, Grandpa.” Archie slid his arm around me. His driver arrived with his car first, and he gave us a little salute before he slid into the back.

  Once we were in the car, he said, “Sorry about the test thing.”

  “It’s fine,” I promised him. “Now that I get it, it’s almost funny. Annoying, but funny.”

  “He just worries, but he really likes you.”

  “I’m glad. I really like him, too. It’s hard to believe that…”