“This is borrring! I want ice cream. You promised, Leilani.”
Jeremy smiled at the sound of Sammy’s voice. He looked around, listening out for Sammy. It appeared to be coming from the center of a crowd surrounding a stage of dancers.
“Just one more,” he heard Leilani say as he made his way through the crowd.
He was about to say hi to Leilani when he saw the intense expression on her face. She was watching a girl dancing. There were several girls dancing, but everyone seemed to have their eyes on this particular girl. He could see why. The girl’s long hair sat in thick black waves on her shoulders. The pink flower tucked behind her ear highlighted high cheekbones on a lovely face. Her curvy hips swayed to the music. It was almost hypnotic the way they moved back and forth. And with every move she made, Leilani’s jaw grew tighter and tighter. He could almost see steam coming from her ears.
He gazed curiously at the girl, wondering what she’d done to make Leilani so mad. The girl seemed to be the leader of the group of dancers. In the middle of the song, they called out to some tourists, gesturing them to join them in the dance.
“Hey, Jeremy,” Sammy said, taking a step back to join him.
“What’s up, buddy?”
“We’re giving Candy Hu the stink eye. Right, Leilani?”
“Sammy!” Leilani whirled at the sound of her name. Her eyes widened when she spotted Jeremy. He grinned.
“I’ve heard of the evil eye, but stink eye is a new one for me.”
“We’re not giving her the stink—”
“But you said—”
“You misheard me, Sammy. I said Candy likes to drink virgin Mai Tais.” She smiled widely, speaking in a sugary-sweet voice through gritted teeth. It was pretty impressive . . . and a bit scary.
“We were just watching Candy give hula lessons to the tourists,” she added.
Leilani was a bad liar. She was jealous of this girl, Candy. It was written all over her face. The question was why.
“Are you thinking about getting lessons?” he asked.
“Leilani already knows how to hula. Auntie Anela taught her,” Sammy said.
“Really?” He looked back at Candy moving her slender arms gracefully. “You can do that?”
“And what makes you think I can’t?” she snapped.
“Whoa.” He took a step back, placing up his hands in defense. Leilani’s brown eyes were boring a hole through him. He was obviously touching a sore spot with her. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”
Sammy tugged on his t-shirt, curling his finger for him to bend down. When he squatted, Sammy whispered in his ear, “The change. Remember?”
“Yeah, right.” He chuckled.
“What are you two whispering about?” Leilani asked.
“Nothing.” Jeremy winked as he stood back up.
“Oh, God,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Let’s go and get you some ice cream, squirt, before you share my life story with everyone in the market.”
“Come on, Jeremy,” Sammy called back to him as he took Leilani’s hand. “You can have some—what? He’s my friend.”
Jeremy looked at Leilani, who was shaking her head frantically to Sammy.
“That’s okay, Sammy. Maybe another time.” It was probably time for him to leave anyway. For some strange reason, a lump decided to form in his throat.
Leilani tilted her head, and her long lashes blinked as she gazed at him curiously. He squirmed under her scrutiny.
How did she do that? He’d never been uncomfortable around any woman except for Naomi, and he had a history with her. Leilani was just a child, yet she seemed to be able to read him. He didn’t like it. Not at all.
“You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” she finally said.
“Yeah, Jeremy. Hot fudge sundae on me.” Sammy beamed.
Before he could turn them down and take himself and his crocodile boots out of there, he suddenly found himself sitting at a small table next to a plumeria tree with a loaded banana split in front of him.
A breeze blew through the trees, sending a few of the flowers fluttering onto the table. He inhaled, loving the smell of the ocean air mixed with the flowers’ jasmine and coconut scent. As they ate, Sammy chirped on about school. Keeping her eye on Candy, Leilani silently swirled a spoon around the Styrofoam bowl, turning her ice cream into a chocolate blob.
“Ooh, there’s my friend, Kevin.” Sammy waved at a boy sitting with his parents several tables away. “Can I go talk to him? Can I, Leilani?”
“I thought you were talking to Jeremy.”
Sammy’s eyes darted back and forth between Jeremy and Kevin. Jeremy laughed. “Don’t worry about it, buddy. I’m cool if your sister’s cool with it.”
“Please, Leilani. I never see Kevin.”
“You saw him at school yesterday.”
“Yesterday was a long time ago. Please.” Sammy stuck out his bottom lip and widened his baby blues. Jeremy shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, trying not to laugh. The kid was a natural. The boy was going to have to fight off the ladies when he grew up.
“Ugh! Fine, but don’t run off.”
“Yay!”
When Sammy was gone, Leilani turned to Jeremy. “You can leave now.”
“What makes you think I want to leave?” He dropped his spoon into his empty bowl.
“Don’t you have some hot chick waiting for you or something?”
“No.”
“Look, you’re a nice guy, and Sammy thinks everyone he meets is his friend,” she said as she focused on stirring her ice cream, which by now looked like chocolate soup. “Thanks for being sweet to him, but you don’t have to hang around a couple of kids all day. I’m sure you have better things to do.”
He leaned back against his seat, placing his hands behind his head, and grinned. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No. I’m just giving you an out.” She looked back at the dancers. He wasn’t ready to leave. He was enjoying himself. And to tell be honest, he was curious about why Leilani couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of the dancer.
Dropping his hands down, he leaned forward. “So what’s with you and Candy?”
“Candy?”
“Yeah. Is she a friend of yours?”
“Uh-huh. You could say she’s a friend.”
Jeremy arched an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you.” She flicked her spoon, pointing it in Candy’s direction. Brown liquid flew through the air.
“That girl stole my job. I’m the one who should be dancing out there, not her. I heard about the gig first. I only told her about it because she’s a senior and has her driver’s license. She was supposed to be my friend. She was supposed to give me a ride to audition for the job. I’d been practicing for months. I don’t want to work at the shack anymore. So she goes with me and she auditions too. Can you believe it?”
“And she got the job.”
“Well, of course she got the job. Look at her. I can’t compete with that!”
He gazed over at Candy. She was a pretty girl, but there was something missing. It was a special spark, similar to the one Naomi had. He looked back at Leilani, who looked like she’d just taken a shower in chocolate. It was on her cheeks, on the corners of her mouth, and in her hair. Beneath the mess, her brown eyes held that special spark, too.
“She’s alright,” he said.
“Seriously, then you need glasses or something.”
He chuckled. Even in his human form, his vision was far superior to a human’s. From a distance, he could read the fine, detailed expression on anyone’s face, including Candy, who kept looking over at their table. From the expression on her face, Candy was just as jealous of Leilani as Leilani was of her.
“My vision is perfectly fine.”
“Yeah, well, you thought I was a dude.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it. She was right. He had thought she was a boy.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Ca
ndy’s all girl with the curves and the boobs. Look at me.” She gestured to her chest. “No boobs. We’re talking flat-o-rama here.”
Jeremy’s eyes darted in the opposite direction. It would look bad, really bad, to even look in the area where she was pointing.
“Let’s get real, Golden Boy. Someone like you would never look at me the way they look at Candy. Everybody loves Candy. With her around, it’s as if I don’t exist.”
The wistful sound of her voice tugged at his chest.
“That’s not true, Leilani,” he said, gazing into her soulful brown eyes.
Taking a napkin, he gently wiped the chocolate from her face as he spoke.
“You’re a very pretty girl, and not everybody likes candy. I’m a salt guy.” Winking, he plucked a flower from the table and tucked it behind her ear. “There. Very pretty.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice,” she said.
“Nope. I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”
“Really?”
Her eyes grew soft as they gazed up at him. Dark lashes blinked slowly as she leaned closer to him.
Oh, shit! What did I do?
“Leilani . . . I, uh . . .”
What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this without hurting her feelings?
“Uh, oh, look at the time.” He looked down at his bare wrist. “I have to do . . . uh . . . thing.” He jumped up from his seat and waved goodbye. “Thanks for the ice cream.”
He rushed out of the market, his chest aching. He wasn’t sure what pained him more—the hurt expression on Leilani’s face, or that he had to leave even though he wanted to stay.
13
“Thanks, PJ,” Jeremy said, tucking the speeding ticket into his pocket.
The police officer gave him a blank stare.
“Oh, do you prefer being called James? I thought since this is the third ticket you’ve given me today, we could go on first-name basis. It is James, right?” He gazed at the officer’s name, P James, embroidered in yellow over his right front pocket. Over his left pocket, the officer’s badge glinted under the bright sun.
The officer pressed his lips and slapped his black notebook shut.
“Just keep it within the speed limit,” the officer said as he headed back to his patrol car.
“You bet, fifty-five.”
“Forty!”
“Gotcha. Forty.” He smiled. The officer shook his head as he drove away.
Well that wasn’t nice. Flipping up the kickstand, Jeremy released the clutch and got back on the highway. This time he made sure to pay close attention to how fast he was going.
He’d been riding around for hours lost in thought, letting memories filter through his mind like pages in a photo album: watching Lash drive Naomi across Texas, Naomi’s stolen glances at Lash when she thought he wasn’t looking, how he’d driven Naomi’s bike to New Mexico and waited for them, how he’d convinced himself he was doing it to help Lash. He wasn’t. The fact was, he was jealous.
He gritted his teeth, frustrated that he still couldn’t get rid of his feelings for Naomi. Diversions like going to the farmers market or even buying his crocodile boots took his mind off Naomi and Lash only for a while. As soon as it wore off, he was back to thinking about Lash and their fight. He still couldn’t believe he’d punched his brother. And what was worse, he’d wanted to hurt him. He’d wanted Lash to feel the pain he’d been feeling—and still did.
He missed flying. There was nothing like flying to help him clear his head. Since he wanted to stay in his human form, he didn’t want to risk taking to the sky. Flying at night wasn’t an option, either. It was too risky. So he was stuck with driving the motorcycle. This way-too-slow-a-turtle-just-passed-me motorcycle.
What the hell? Was this bike even moving?
He glanced down at the speedometer and groaned. He was going forty. He accelerated a little more, daring to go a mind-blowing forty-five.
This was a new kind of hell for him. He wanted to feel the wind biting his face, hear white noise wash over his ears, and feel his stomach dip as he plummeted down the sky in a freefall.
The drive wasn’t helping anymore, so he decided to pull the motorcycle into a small parking lot near the beach. As he got off the bike, a couple of bikini-clad girls walked by. Their eyes widened as they scanned his body, taking in khaki shorts and fitted white shirt.
He forced a grin, flashing his dimples. He thought a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach would help. It’d been days and he still couldn’t shake the numb feeling. He looked carefully at one of the girls, trying again to make himself feel something for the slender beauty. She moved gracefully, raven hair blowing wildly in the wind. A short yellow skirt was wrapped around her tiny waist, showing off her long tanned legs. The girl paused, her dark eyes holding his. Ruby lips curled into an inviting smile. She was pretty, maybe even prettier than Naomi. Then why couldn’t he feel anything for her? There was nothing there. No attraction. Only emptiness.
He sighed and turned away, walking in the opposite direction. He didn’t mean to encourage her. All he wanted was to be his normal self again, to look at a pretty girl and flirt a little. Was he always going to compare them to Naomi?
He gazed out to the ocean. There were about a dozen surfers riding the frothy waves. He thought about taking up surfing. It didn’t look too difficult.
“Hey, Jeremy!” Sammy called to him, waving from the center of an impressively large sand castle. Next to him was an empty beach chair.
Jeremy looked for Leilani. Was he alone? The taco shack had to be at least a couple of miles from this part of the beach.
“Is Leilani with you?”
“Yeah, she’s out there.” Sammy pointed to the water.
Jeremy stared out into the ocean. His jaw dropped when he spotted a small figure in a turquoise rash guard paddling far out. A large wave rolled to her. He tensed.
What the . . .?
The crazy girl was heading straight to it. He was about to call out to her, when she jumped up on the surfboard. She looked so small as the wall of water came for her. Crouching with arms lifted slightly, she rode the wave.
She’s flying.
He watched Leilani, spellbound. It was like a fire was lit up inside of her as she danced on the water. Her hips swayed gracefully as her legs guided the surfboard. As she soared over the wave, water spraying her pretty face, she let out a squeal of victory. She was amazing.
“Do you surf?” Sammy asked.
“No. Do you?” He gazed down at him.
He frowned. “Leilani says I’m too little. But you’re not little. She can teach you if you want.”
Leilani’s happy squeals turned to cursing and he snapped his head back in her direction.
A boy with long, sandy hair came too close to her. Leilani cursed and swerved out of the way. She lost her balance and fell off her board. Wipeout.
He waited, staring at the spot where she’d fallen, counting the seconds, waiting for her head to bob out of the water.
Where is she? Come on, Leilani. She was taking too long, wasn’t she? How long could a human hold their breath under water? He looked around the beach. No one seemed to be concerned that she hadn’t come up yet.
“Stay here,” he said to Sammy as he dashed to the edge of the beach. Pulling off his shoes and tossing his shirt aside, he dove into the warm water.
He jetted through the water. Looking for any sign of her. The current pushed against him. It was strong. There was no way Leilani could swim in this. Even with his angelic strength, he was having a difficult time.
Then he saw her struggling as she fought against the current. Using all his strength, he propelled himself forward, his legs moving so fast they were a blur. When he grabbed hold of her arm, she slapped his hand away. Ignoring her continuous slaps and underwater cursing, he managed to pull her to the surface. When they reached the top, he held her for a moment while she gasped for breath.
“You’re okay. I’ve got y
ou,” he said, holding her tight against him.
“Let go of me.” She coughed, slapping his muscled chest. “I’m not Candy Hu, and I don’t have your imaginary watch.”
“Knock it off, Leilani. I’m trying to help you,” he growled impatiently.
She stopped. Her breathing came out in short spurts as she kept her head bowed. Her heart pounded wildly against his. Ever so slowly, she lifted her head. Spiky hair brushed against the bottom of his chin. Through wet lashes, doe eyes gazed at him with a dreamy expression. She was so close he could smell the sweet bubblegum scent on her breath.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” he said.
She jerked back, blinking. The dreamy look disappeared and was replaced with a scowl.
“I shouldn’t be here? I shouldn’t be here? Let go, Golden Boy.” She slapped his chest. He let go, relieved the awkward moment passed.
She cursed under her breath as she tugged on a leash attached her ankle, bringing the bobbing surfboard to her. When she climbed on it, he tried to help her. She cursed again, swatting his hand. He couldn’t help chuckling. She looked cute pissed off, trying to throw him crude hand gestures while paddling at the same time.
“Stop following me. I know what I’m doing,” she snapped.
“Are you sure about that? It looked like you were drowning.”
“I was not. And I wouldn’t have wiped out in the first place if that idiot hadn’t stolen my wave. That jerk!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be this far out. The current is pretty strong.”
“I know what I’m doing.” She trudged through the water. Her wet feet slapped against the hardened sand as she headed back to Sammy. There were a couple of boys with surfboards standing next to Sammy. He was showing them his sandcastle when Leilani walked up.
Jeremy (Broken Angel #4) Page 7
