by Dean Murray
Chapter 8
Jace stood and then offered me his hand, which was good because I wasn't sure I could have managed my towel and made it to my feet at the same time.
Jace picked up my clothes and handed them to me with a smile before disappearing into the sitting room. I stood there looking at his door for several seconds before shaking myself and heading back into the bathroom.
I'd almost waited too long to comb out my hair. It always looked better if I combed it out before it had a chance to dry all of the way. I ran my fingers through it a couple of times and was nearly resigned to having a mess once it finished drying when I remembered the toiletry bag that had been in Jace's—my—box.
I bit my lip and debated for a few seconds before finally deciding there wasn't any reason not to use dead-me's stuff. The toiletry bag proved to be a virtual treasure trove. It not only had a comb, it also had a full range of makeup, still in the original packaging, that was perfectly suited to my coloring. Some of it was so far past its expiration date that it wasn't usable, but most of it was actually in pretty good shape.
I snugged my towel back up and then combed my hair out before going back into Jace's closet to pick out the cutest underwear from the offering of nineties options. Once I was dressed again, it only took me another ten minutes to do my makeup and then I put everything back more or less like I'd found it and headed back downstairs.
The neckline on my sweater had tightened back up some while it had been folded up, first in my locker and then on Jace's counter. That was nice because it meant that it didn't ride quite so low on my shoulders. Maybe it was silly to be worried about that considering the fact that Jace had seen a lot more skin than that while I'd been wearing my towel, but somehow it still mattered to me.
I found the others sitting in the solarium behind the kitchen. Jace was cooking again—presumably trying to replace the stuff that got burned while I was freaking out—while Kat and Ari were watching a funny video on Kat's tablet.
Ari took in my wet hair with a suspicious glance. "Where have you been?"
"Sorry, Kat and I ditched school a few minutes before we were supposed to go in for showers, so she said that I could use Jace's shower."
Now it was Kat's turn to give me a suggestive look. "Wow, Selene does it usually take two people to get you showered?"
I wanted to punch her. Instead I managed a sickly sweet smile. "No, actually, it only takes one person to get me through the shower. Once I was done showering I called down for Jace so he could let me into your room—I hope you don't mind that I borrowed some of your makeup, Kat."
I turned to Ari and casually pointed to the kitchen door with its biometric lock. "Has Kat given you the tour yet? It's pretty crazy, they've got those fingerprint locks everywhere, even on their bedrooms and bathrooms."
Apparently my lie held together well enough. I got another raised eyebrow from Kat—apparently she didn't stock makeup in my color—but Ari seemed content to let things drop. I actually felt bad about that. I didn't like lying to Ari.
I tried to salve my conscience by telling myself that nothing had happened between Jace and me, but it didn't really seem to be helping. Maybe because I knew how much danger there had been of something happening. Even after thinking that he was some kind of stalker I'd still been ready to jump his bones just a few minutes later.
That was probably a sign that I had some deep, unresolved issues from my childhood, but as hard as I tried to believe that I needed some kind of professional help, I just couldn't quite buy it. Jace's story was crazy, but I couldn't deny the connection I felt to him. Even more than that, it was the first thing that provided a halfway decent explanation for all of the déjà vu I'd been experiencing since I'd met him and Kat.
There was just something about him that made me want to believe him. Besides, I'd known for hours that there was something unusual going on. Between the lost time I'd experienced before school and Kat's worship-me aura, I was pretty primed to believe the unbelievable.
Ari shook her head. "Nope, all I've seen so far is the great room, the kitchen and this area. Just based on what I've seen so far this place has got to be pretty spectacular."
Kat made an 'aw shucks' face and then checked her watch. "I'd give you the grand tour, but I think Jace is almost done with dinner. Let's eat first so that he doesn't yell at us, and then I'll show you the whole place."
Jace flipped the grill back open and prodded the burgers a couple of times before frowning at them. "Yeah, I think these bad boys are done. Sorry, ladies. I'm afraid these are just regular hamburgers rather than the gourmet burgers and steaks that I was planning on offering."
Kat faked a pout. "Now I'm sad. There's nothing quite as disappointing as coming home from a hard day of fighting bullies and finding out that you're going to have to settle for normal hamburgers." She looked back at me. "I blame you, you know, Selene. If you hadn't needed to 'put on some makeup' then we could have dined in the fashion to which I've grown accustomed."
Ari shot Kat a look. "Leave it alone, Kat. If Selene says that nothing happened, then nothing happened."
I winced. I appreciated the vote of confidence—although it did feed my guilt—but the last thing I wanted to do was piss Kat off. I needed her to verify all the crazy stuff Jace apparently still had to tell me.
Luckily, Kat just laughed. "Fair enough, but when the two of them do decide to get all inappropriate don't say that I didn't warn you."
Jace had used the last several seconds to good effect. Not only had he pulled the meat off of the grill, he'd also slapped one of the patties on a bun, along with a host of fixings. He walked over to Kat and shoved the resulting culinary masterpiece into Kat's mouth with an apologetic smile for both Ari and me.
"Sorry, you two. I should warn you that the only way to shut Kat up is to feed her. She claims that I enjoy cooking, but the truth is I've learned out of necessity. It's the only way I've ever been able to get any peace and quiet."
Kat held up a finger while she chewed the bite that Jace had given her, and then sighed. "Everything he's said is a lie, but I'm going to just concentrate on this hamburger so that Jace will continue to cook me good food."
Jace rolled his eyes at her, which caused us all to laugh, and then pointed at the hamburgers. "These are ready for the two of you—do you want me to fix them or do you want to do it yourself?"
Kat paused with her hamburger halfway to her mouth. "Trust me, you want him to do it. Tell him what you want on it, but let him put it together. He always manages to get the ratios just right."
Ari didn't have to be told twice. Jace was still shirtless, so he still looked like some kind of pagan god and I had a suspicion that Ari was more than happy to be waited on by a hot, shirtless, older guy. Although, come to think of it, she might not be quite so eager if she knew how much older he was. Then again, so far it hadn't slowed me down.
I watched as Jace put a massive hamburger together for my baby sister and couldn't help but smile at the way that she just kept having him add toppings. Jace had toppings I'd never even heard of, and seemed perfectly happy to stack them on however high Ari wanted. Yeah, she was definitely enjoying herself.
Once Ari hit the point where Jace told her she was going to have to add in another hamburger patty in order to keep the ratios all right, she finally told him his work was acceptable.
Jace looked at me with his characteristic lopsided smile. "So what about you? Should I start out with two pieces of meat for you so you don't have to limit your toppings?"
I pursed my lips, looked over my shoulder to make sure that Ari was focused on getting everything into her mouth without having it topple onto her lap, and decided to just go for it.
"How many of these have you made for me? Dozens? Hundreds?"
Jace nodded. "Usually I don't have to start over and skip some of the most important steps when it comes to preparing the meat, but yeah. I used to cook for you a lot."
"Then just go ahead and fix it
the way that you know I'll like the most."
That earned me another smile. I tried to get close enough to see what all he was putting on there, but he waved me back to my chair. I started to get nervous when it took him so long that Kat was almost finished with hers, but then he brought not one, but two plates over and sat down next to me.
"Here, this one is yours. Go ahead. I want to see the expression on your face when you try it."
I looked at it for a second before obliging him. Some of the ingredients that I hadn't recognized from before had definitely made it onto my hamburger, and there were at least three or four different kinds of mushrooms on it.
"You're sure all of those mushrooms are the non-poisonous varieties?"
"Of course I'm sure—are you going to eat it or not?"
The smile in his voice gave lie to the stern expression he was trying to pull off. I gave him a mock glare and then opened my mouth and took a bite.
It was more than amazing. It tasted better than anything I'd ever eaten before and I suddenly realized that hanging around Jace might be hazardous to my figure. The melody of flavors was unexpected in a couple of places, but it all fit together beautifully. Behind it all was a curiously sweet flavor that was almost like honey, but not quite.
"Oh my gosh, just kill me now. I'll never find anything else this good—life will just be one big disappointment after another from here on out."
Kat was headed back with a plate full of French fries, and Ari snagged one as she walked by and threw it at me. "Melodramatic much?"
"No more than is merited, runt. This seriously is the best hamburger I've ever had. I'm actually afraid to try the version that Jace originally planned on feeding us. I'm going to have a hard enough time going back to our cooking as it is."
Ari shrugged. "You don't have to invite her next time you cook. I'm up for trying whatever you want to feed me. I'm not scared."
"It's a deal, but only if you finish that monster burger you're currently working on."
"Gah, you were a lot sexier when you didn't sound like my dad."
That drew a gasp out of me, but Ari just shrugged. "What? It's not like we aren't all thinking it. Heck, even Kat thinks he's hot. Besides, I'm not the one he's interested in, so it doesn't matter what I say. You on the other hand should keep trying to play hard to get. I hear rich guys like that."
I shook my fist at her. "You do realize that every time you open your mouth you make it harder for anyone to like me, right?"
"Whatever. Jace and Kat both love me." She batted her eyes at both of them. "I'm totally that adorable kid sister that people invite along to everything because secretly they like me more than you, but they just don't want to look uncool because they spend all their time hanging out with someone so much younger than them. By the way, what's the plan after this? You know you have to do more than just treat a girl to a nice meal if you want to really turn her head, right?"
Kat shook some extra salt onto her fries and then popped one into her mouth like it was a cigar. "Oh, we've got a little something-something planned."
