by Leigh, Jena
“You can stand there and argue with me all you like, but that won’t change what happened, Kenzie. The man jumped,” said Declan.
At that point, Connor and Cassie both turned to Alex wearing identical masks of confusion.
“Explanation,” said Cassie. “Now.”
— 14 —
“Anybody ever tell you your bedside manner sucks, Kenzie?”
“Anybody ever tell you that you need to grow a pair, Nate?” she countered. “Seriously, son. Suck it up. I’m trying to help you here.”
Kenzie applied another butterfly bandage to the gash on Nathaniel’s forehead. He hissed in pain and gripped the edge of the dining room table.
“Baby,” Kenzie mumbled.
Declan’s gaze slid past them and out the bay window.
Alex and her friends were still seated in the adirondack chairs on the patio, awash in the orange glow of the exterior lights, talking. They’d been out there for nearly half an hour.
He’d been waiting for them to come back inside so that he could get Alex alone long enough to tell her what a colossally stupid idea it had been for her to try and meet with Brandt alone. If he and Nate hadn’t found them, she and her friends might all be dead right now.
Declan felt Alex’s emotions surge again.
It seemed to be happening every time the meathead seated to her right opened his mouth. He should do them all a favor and just keep it shut.
Honestly, though. What could Alex possibly have seen in that guy? He gave new life to the dumb-jock stereotype.
The day before, Declan had been forced to suffer through Alex and Cassie’s hour-long discussion about Connor while he’d watched over them sunbathing at the beach.
The view had been excellent. The girl talk had been torture.
Declan now knew more than he ever wanted to know about the relationship between Alex and Connor.
Cassie was right. Connor was a dick.
So why was Alex getting so worked up over having him here?
Up until tonight, she’d been doing a much better job at controlling the extra energy being generated by her fluctuating emotions. Now, for whatever reason, Declan had once again found himself having to be the one to handle the excess current.
Outside, Connor’s mouth was moving again.
He really ought to look to that.
Declan sighed and siphoned off a bit more energy. Alex noticed that time. She turned to look at him through the window, the lines of her face painted in a frown. Whatever they were discussing, it had her upset.
He nodded toward the front door in an attempt to get her to come inside. She held up a finger.
Hold on, she mouthed, and then turned to say something to Connor.
Declan was trying hard not to take that personally.
It wasn’t going so well.
“Pizza’s ready,” Brian said from the other side of the pass-through window. “You guys want a slice?”
“You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar,” said Kenzie as she closed the first-aid kit with a snap. “I would love one.”
“Nate?” asked Brian.
“When have I ever said no to pizza?”
“What about you, Declan? … Declan?”
“What?” He looked around. Brian was handing Kenzie a plate through the window. “Oh. I’ll grab a slice later, kid, thanks.”
It was obvious Alex wouldn’t be making her way back inside so that they could have that conversation any time soon. Declan got to his feet and made for the front door.
Guess he’d just have to bring the conversation to her, then.
Declan stepped out onto the patio and approached the trio. “We need to talk,” he said.
“I’ll be inside in a minute, Declan,” said Alex, sounding tired.
“Now would work better.” He came to a stop beside her chair.
She shifted in her seat to look up at him. “You have less patience than a three-year-old, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” Declan bent down, snagged her by the elbow and teleported them to his bedroom.
Alex—who had been in a seated position when they jumped—landed hard on her backside.
“Would you please stop doing that?” she snapped.
“Doing what?”
“Teleporting me someplace without warning me first.” She put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a cold stare. “Once in a while, a little heads up would be nice.”
What had her knickers in such a twist?
He was the one who ought to be angry right now.
“And in case you hadn’t noticed, I was in the middle of a conversation,” she added.
He raised an eyebrow at that. She hadn’t looked to be enjoying that conversation very much. Really, she ought to have been thanking him for providing her with an exit.
“What was that pinhead saying that had you so riled up, anyway?” He crossed his arms. “I was getting tired of having to control the excess currents you were calling up every two seconds.”
Alex opened her mouth to say something and then snapped it closed again. “It was nothing,” she said finally.
“Riiiight. You realize you were summoning more energy talking to Connor tonight than you did in the bookshop? Apparently, for you, talking to that guy is more stressful than the threat of being burned alive.”
And yet she’d been the one to insist on bringing him here.
Women.
“He’s been wanting to talk for a couple of days now, so I decided to hear him out,” she said, looking everywhere but at Declan. “Apparently he broke up with Jessica last week. He was trying to give me some half-assed apology for cheating on me with her back in January.”
Declan felt the currents surge again, but this time Alex took care of it.
“He wants to get back together,” she finished.
“And you said…?” he tried to keep his tone disinterested.
Surely she wasn’t stupid enough to get back with him. Not that he cared, he reminded himself.
“I haven’t said anything,” she said. “You interrupted me before I could answer him.”
He congratulated himself on his excellent timing.
“And after everything that’s happened today,” she said. “Well, it hardly seems like the time to be discussing failed relationships.”
“See? You are grateful I hijacked your conversation.”
Alex sighed and looked around, finally realizing where they were. “What are we doing in your bedroom?”
He shrugged. “Wanted someplace private to talk. It’s cold by the lake right now, so it was either this or one of the bathrooms.”
Alex sent him a look that walked the line between amusement and exasperation. She appeared to be struggling to keep her lips from curving into a smile. “What did you want to talk about, Declan?”
The hint of her smile had drained away the last of his anger.
Suddenly, Declan was at a loss. Lecturing her for being so reckless seemed kind of pointless in light of what had happened. Her classmate was dead. What more was there to say?
“You scared the hell out of me, you know. If Brian hadn’t had that vision…” Declan swallowed and stared at the hardwood floor beneath Alex’s feet. He wasn’t sure what he’d planned on saying, but that definitely hadn’t been it.
He glanced up. She met his gaze.
“Declan, I—”
A knock sounded at Declan’s door.
Declan couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed, or grateful for the interruption.
“What?” he called.
The door opened and Cassie walked in.
“I’ve come to reclaim my friend. You have this nasty habit of stealing her away from me when I least expect it.” Cassie’s voice was light, but Declan didn’t miss the hint of accusation hiding in her words. “C’mon, Alex. That wonderful smell coming from downstairs is pizza. Trust me. You want some.”
Whatever Alex had been about to say before Cassie knocked died unspoken on her li
ps as she followed the blue-eyed blonde out into the hallway.
* * *
“This… is so not good,” said Cassie as she peered through the kitchen’s pass-through window.
Kenzie, standing next to her, couldn’t agree more.
Connor had Alex cornered at the bottom of the staircase. The hunky moron was talking to her in a low voice. He looked determined. Alex, on the other hand, looked as though she wanted nothing more than to flee.
“I think she could use a well-timed interruption,” said Kenzie. She started for the living room, but Cassie grabbed her by the wrist and brought her up short.
“She has to do this on her own,” she said. “Trust me, I’d like nothing more than to save the girl from herself and tell Connor exactly what a cretinous, pond-scum-sucking loser I think he is… But if she doesn’t stand up to him now, she never will.”
“Is the guy really that bad?” Nate asked from his spot at the island in the center of the kitchen. He’d poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and was nursing it slowly.
Earlier, he and Declan had decided that, until the boss got back, one or both of them would be awake at all times. Just in case.
Nathaniel had drawn the short straw. He’d wake Declan in another four hours.
“Yes, gorgeous,” said Cassie. “He really is that much of a lowlife.”
Kenzie liked this girl. She had spirit, style and just the right amount of attitude. Alex appeared to have excellent taste in friends. In guys, however, Kenzie was starting to think the dark-haired beauty could use some assistance.
Assistance she would be more than happy to provide.
Returning her attention to the living room, Kenzie found only a frustrated Connor glancing around in confusion. “Huh,” she said. “Alex seems to have disappeared.”
Cassie whipped back around to see for herself. “Crap! She still didn’t tell him no. I can tell just by looking at him.”
“Which means, wherever she is, she’s probably upset,” said Kenzie, an idea forming. “I bet she could use some consoling.”
Cassie seemed puzzled. Kenzie jerked her head in Nate’s direction and the other girl’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah,” said Cassie, catching on to her plan. “Someone should really go talk to her. Make sure she’s okay.”
Nate glanced back and forth between them.
“Oh no,” he said. “No, no, no. I told you that wasn’t going to happen, Kenzie.”
“And I think the boy doth protest too much,” she said, slipping onto the barstool next to him.
Nate’s jaw clenched. It was obvious that he was having one hell of an argument with himself right now.
What Kenzie didn’t understand, was why.
Alex was a sweet girl. He obviously liked her. So what was the hold up? Surely this wasn’t about Declan. Her brother had never stood in the way of Nate going after a girl in the past. So what would make Alex any different?
He seemed to relent. But judging from the look on his face, he hated himself for doing it.
For Pete’s sake… When did he get so emo?
“Alright, fine,” he said. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Kenzie gave Cassie a high-five.
Cassie nodded to Nate. “I’ll handle Connor and keep him from looking for her. You handle Alex.” Under her breath she added, “God knows she’s in desperate need of some good handling…”
With that, Cassie disappeared into the living room. It was so nice having someone around to help her in her scheming.
“I’m assuming this means you know where Alex went when she jumped?” said Nate.
“Sally forth, fair prince,” Kenzie smiled. “Your princess awaits you on the patio.”
He disappeared into the walk-in pantry.
“Uh, Nate,” said Kenzie, leaning out of her chair to peer into the darkened storeroom. “I think you’re mixing up your ‘p’s’ there, kiddo. Didn’t Sesame Street teach you anything? I said pa-ti-o…”
“Needed to grab some supplies,” he said, reemerging with a red bag in his hands. “Can’t show up to an emotional rescue empty handed, now can I? I’d make a pretty piss-poor prince if I did that.”
“Excellent use of today’s letter of the day, Nate,” she said with a grin. “He can be taught!”
“I try,” he said as he made to leave. “Wish me luck?”
“Nah. You don’t need it, Charming. Just go put a smile on the girl’s face. I know you can do it.”
He would totally thank her for this later.
Kenzie was sure of it.
* * *
“Twizzler for your thoughts?”
Alex smiled. Nate appeared next to her, leaning against the wooden railing that lined the patio.
“And here I thought they’d only fetch a penny,” she said.
He held up a cord of the candy.
“My favorite. How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.” He set the bag on the railing. Alex could just make out his grin in the darkness. “How you holding up?”
Her expression was wry. “I’m holding up?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly and turned to look out over the lake. “Guess today’s been a little rough.”
Now that might just be the understatement of the century, she thought to herself.
She followed his gaze. The placid waters of the lake below glistened in the dazzling glow of the full moon as tendrils of low-lying fog stretched out from the lake-shore like misty fingers reaching out from the darkened edges of the forest.
Up above them, the murky haze that had swallowed the cabin earlier in the day had given way to a perfectly empty expanse of sky, covered only by a blanket of twinkling stars.
Where Alex lived, so close to the city, only a few dim constellations were visible on any given night. Here at the cabin, there were more stars shining brightly in the sky above her than she could count in ten lifetimes. She recognized the Milky Way, stretching out just to the right of the moon—a shining, cloudy belt marked by pinpricks of light, and lined on either side by bright strips of swirling white indigo, and a haze of red ocher close to the horizon.
Alex smiled. This view was fantastic. The company wasn’t so bad either.
Maybe this day wouldn’t be a total loss.
After everything that had just happened, she couldn’t believe her ears, at first, when Connor had told her that it was their relationship he was hoping to discuss.
But that was Connor, for you.
He wasn’t all bad. He could be a little self-centered at times, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care.
Alex had said as much to Cassie the day before. Her friend had merely sighed and said, “I swear, Alex, if you tried hard enough, you could find the bright side of a black hole. Just promise me you won’t spend so much time looking for the good in people that you ignore all the bad, okay? I’m sick of watching people walk all over you. And that little toad has done nothing but take advantage of your kindness since the first day you met.”
Only… Alex was finding it difficult to take Cassie’s advice this time.
Every lick of common sense she possessed was telling her to send Connor packing… but her heart was having none of it.
She was torn. And it was written all over her face.
Which was probably why Connor had cornered her after she’d finished her slice of pizza, once again eager to discuss where they stood.
She couldn’t figure out how to answer him.
Instead, she’d snagged the only coat hanging on the coat rack—Declan’s—and jumped… all the way to the patio. Let Connor think she was in Bora Bora somewhere. Just so long as she didn’t have to look into those big brown eyes again tonight.
Just so long as she didn’t have to be strong enough to say “no” for a little while longer.
Alex climbed up to sit on the railing. “Never did get that tour.”
“First thing in the morning,” Nate smiled. “I promise.”
Something in the pocket of her borrowed
jacket began to vibrate. Alex reached inside and pulled out Declan’s cell phone.
“It’s ringing,” she said.
Nate took the phone from her, checked the caller ID, and answered it.
“Monty,” he said. “It’s Nate.”
Monty’s Brooklyn accent reached her loud and clear through the stillness of the night.
“Hey, kid,” he sounded angry. “You know I don’t mind flying the old girl back solo, but the next time you decide to have Declan pick up Grayson, you’ve got to give me a heads up. I’ve been waiting on the tarmac for almost an hour.”
“Whoa, Monty.” Nate pushed away from the railing and offered Alex a hand. She took it and hopped down. “What are you talking about?”
Still holding her hand, Nate led Alex around the left side of the house. They came to a stop at the end of the flagstone path and Nate fixed his attention on one of the darkened upstairs windows
“This afternoon Grayson called and told me to prep the jet and we’d leave for New York at ten,” he said. “Then he never showed. I just figured you’d come and got him.”
The window they’d been staring at shuddered open. It took Alex a second to realize that Nate had been the one to raise it.
“Yo, Decks!” Nate shouted.
“Ack!” Alex could hear Monty grumbling on the other end of the line. “Christ, kid, cover the mouthpiece when you do that. My hearing’s bad enough as it is.”
Nate pulled the phone away from his ear. “Decks!” he shouted again.
“What is it?” asked Alex. Nate seemed to have forgotten that he was still holding her hand.
“Something’s wrong,” he replied, and then shouted again. “Dammit, Declan, get your ass out of bed!”
A light flicked on and Declan stumbled into view through the open window. He looked to be only half awake and was missing his shirt.
Alex, on the other hand, was not missing that shirt in the slightest.
“What?” Declan snapped. His voice held that same low, rumbling quality that it had carried that morning. He squinted down at them, first zeroing in on their joined hands, and then on Alex. “Hey. Is that my jacket?”
“Did you pick up Grayson?” Nate asked before Alex could attempt an answer.
