His description made her feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside, but she narrowed her eyes at him and pointed out, “I could name ten people like that, Jordan, right off the top of my head, starting with Cousin Mindy.”
Ignoring her sharp look, he lifted his head and asked, “Is she peppy? And quirky? And does she have a cute little dimple at the corner of her mouth that shows up like yours does when she smiles?”
“No, to the dimple, yes to quirky, but I'm not sure about your third requirement.” She drew up beside her car and turned to look up at him. “Can you expound upon that one?”
He slid his hands into the deep pockets of his coat and shook his head no. “That's just your coy way of informing me Cousin Mindy doesn't have your cute dimples. I'm sorry, Kaylee, but without dimples, Mindy doesn't fit the bill. It has to be you. No one else possesses the required requisites.”
“More like peculiarities,” Kaylee pointed out drolly. She tugged her purse around to dig inside for her keys. “We've already seen everything there is to see.”
“From the outside,” he pointed out. “There are worlds awaiting us on the other side of those windows, Kaylee, and I think you know it, too.”
His teasing grin was infectious. Kaylee felt her own lips curling in response.
“I can pick a new place each day and spend the afternoon exploring on the inside, but only if you promise you'll come with me.”
She continued to give him such a dubious look, he stretched out his hands—which were still snuggled inside the pockets of his coat—making him resemble a giant, swooping bat. “What if I'm shy? I'll never meet anyone without you there to introduce us.”
Fighting back a laugh at the comic image of him standing there with his arms outspread like a vampire poised to bite, Kaylee snorted at the absurd notion of him being shy. At the same time, she knew she would enjoy every minute of exploring Hawthorne Grove's quaint little commercial district with him. It would be a rare treat she would honestly hate to miss. But there was that far-too-intimate-for-friends personal feel to the whole idea that made her wary.
She peered cautiously up at him. “No strings?”
Leaning close, he lowered his hands and whispered. “No strings.”
Then, he leaned forward even more and his lips slid lightly against hers.
She raised her hand to hold him back, to resist, but instead rested her slightly fisted hand against his chest, allowing his warm mouth to linger for a moment before she pushed away, glancing up with a mock accusatory glare to point out that he'd already broken the rules. “You just promised no strings, Jordan, and yet you're ki—”
He kissed her again, more firmly this time, cutting off her admonition.
Her fingers unfolded against his chest and her hand crept upward to the base of his neck; her fingers twisting in the hair at his nape before he broke the kiss and stepped back a half step, a brilliant twinkle in his eyes.
“I said no strings, Kaylee Dean, but I never said no kisses.”
Chapter 10
The only way Kaylee could describe the next few weeks of her life was with the word fun, but then, a whole host of brilliant, colorful adjectives would swiftly clamor to the fore in her thoughts, and surprisingly, all of them seemed to fit. She hadn't enjoyed herself this much in years—maybe ever—and it was all due to Jordan Parker.
After their day of window shopping on the square, meeting Jordan at lunch to spend a few hours with him before she had to go to the shelter became a regular activity. Some days they merely browsed through the stores on the square, and others they went a little further afield to the malls and boutiques on the more populated side of town, but always, Kaylee enjoyed herself.
Friendly teasing and lots of laughter quickly became the norm, and Kaylee had to admit, even to her friends and family, that yes, she really liked Jordan Parker, even though they weren't actually dating in the traditional sense of the word. They were friends.
“Hmm,” Jo mused from across a table at Sammy's (which was what Kaylee now called Sam Huntingdon's coffee shop) as she sipped at her steaming brew. “Friends don't usually kiss away stray dollops of ice cream from other friends lips, Kaylee, but whatever you say. I won't push it, but only because you seem so different now.”
“What do you mean different?”
“Vibrant. Alive. Happy.” Jo shifted in her chair to glance toward the back were Jordan was helping Sam put away stock. “He walks into the room and you glow, Kaylee. It's disgusting.”
Kaylee couldn't help it. She laughed.
“I glow? Oh, wait. Jordan and I did engage in a bit of glow stick tasting recently,” she teased. “Must be remnants of the halo green I had.”
Jo giggled at that and shook her head. “You see? This is what I mean. Before Jordan came, you never would have joked around about drinking poisonous substances. You'd have been deadly serious if you said anything at all. But now...”
She paused for a moment as if searching for the perfect, non-debatable way to describe the change she saw in Kaylee. “I know both of you have better sense than to actually drink the nasty goop inside a glow stick, Kaylee. I get that you were teasing, and well, that's sort of what I mean.”
Leaning forward, she peered at Kaylee, still searching for the words to clarify her thoughts. “Before he showed up it was like you had died inside, you know? You were here and you did your job, you visited with us, with family, when we finally became stern and would no longer accept your thinly disguised excuses, but—you've heard the saying the lights were on but no one was home? Well, in your case, there was a house, but no tenant. You existed, Kaylee, but you were empty inside. You weren't truly living.”
“And now I am?”
Settling back in her chair, Jo nodded decisively. “Now you are.”
Kaylee shrugged, her fingers busily picking at the corner of the napkin under her cup, and looked away from the seriousness in her sister's eyes. “I didn't think I was so horrible before, Jo, but thank you for letting me know you did.”
Jo's eyes narrowed. “Not like that, Kaylee. What you're saying isn't what I meant, and you know it. I understood what was going on with you before. We all did. Daniel really hurt you, and it was bad, and I knew the pain of his betrayal would take some time for you to get over. All I am saying now is that—finally, after four long and very dreary years of seeing you hide away and button up the wonderful, loving girl I knew you were inside—I believe you have.”
“And you think Jordan is responsible?”
Draining the last swallow of coffee from her mug, Jo stood. “Considering how you were before and how you are now, yes. But if you tell me it's something else, Kaylee, that there's another reason, a better explanation for the sparkle of anticipation in your eyes every time you see him, the glow of happiness that surrounds you when the two of you are together, and the almost youthful bounce in your steps when you hurry to meet him every time he shows up, I promise to try my best to believe you.”
“Of course there's a youthful bounce in my steps, Jo. I'm hardly ancient, after all,” Kaylee grouched, glaring up at her. “But I'm not so sure Jordan has anything to do with the rest of it.”
“You're not certain he's not, either, are you?” Jo asked. She tossed some bills and change on the table and tucked her purse under her elbow. “Maybe you should think about it. Think about those meaningless kisses you two share so often and almost indiscriminately these past few days and try to lie to yourself about how much they make you tingle to your toes.”
Kaylee gasped at the direction into which their conversation had veered, but Jo only chuckled. “Think about how natural it feels when you melt into his embrace, Kaylee. How comfortable you are when he stands with his arms around you, and how easy it is for you to simply be with him.”
“Oh, stop it, Jo. Next you'll be telling me I'm curious about the softness of the sheets on his bed.”
“Are you?” A wicked smile curved her lips, and she laughed. “You don't need to take it that far, Kaylee. Unle
ss you want to, of course. But I've seen the two of you together, and I've seen you apart, and I have to say you both practically vibrate with awareness when either of you are near the other.”
Kaylee shook her head and started to speak, but Jo waved away her protests. “I've seen it, Kaylee, so don't bother with the denial I know is hovering on your lips. The longer you two are separated, the more whatever this thing is between you intensifies. It's like barely leashed anxiety, just waiting for the moment when you're close again to relax.”
Kaylee ignored the blush burning her cheeks. She would not admit she'd thought about Jordan's sheets, or his bed, or his home, or anything other than the enjoyable time they'd spent together during the past few weeks. “You always were the romantic in the family.”
“I've always been the smart one, too, and if you'll think about it, you'll know I'm right,” she teased, heading for the door.
“I'm leaving,” she called over her shoulder, and Kaylee looked up to see Jordan standing with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the back wall behind the counter, watching them. Was he really waiting for Jo to leave?
“You can have her back now, Jordan,” she finished as she pushed open the door and stepped out. Glancing back through the glass, she saw Jordan start immediately toward Kaylee's table, and a knowing grin curled her lips. At Kaylee, she arched a brow and mouthed a single word. “See?”
Kaylee made a face and waved goodbye to her sister through the window before turning to greet Jordan with a smile. “All finished in the back?”
“Yep.” He leaned down for a quick kiss, which she offered naturally, without thought or hesitation. “Sam can safely offer coffee for another week without worrying his wares will run dry. Are you ready to head out?”
“Let me get my coat.” She finished off her mocha latte with a single sip. “Where are we going today? And where's Sarge? I know you had him in the truck earlier.”
“Shopping. Dinner. Theater,” he said with a shrug. Busy sliding into her coat and slipping on her gloves, she barely noticed he hadn't elaborated. “Not until later, though. It'll be a while before we get there. Sarge is in the back. Sammy promised to keep an eye on him for me until we get home.”
“Shopping, dinner, yes, but where? We've been through every place I know in town, Jordan. Some of them more than twice. You can't possibly want to do it all again.”
“Hey, you've spoiled me to those Annihilators and Lemon Sours, Kaylee Dean,” he said. She felt the warmth of his palm settle near the base of her spine as he ushered her toward the door. “So it's all your fault if I want to keep going back.”
“See you Monday, Sammy!” he called out as she pushed open the door.
Monday. Kaylee knew there was something significant about his answer, but she was too curious about where he planned to take her to give her mind time to catch up and figure out what it was. Five minutes later, they were cruising down the highway, the radio humming with the sound of one of the latest pop tunes in the background while they chatted about her morning. Twenty five minutes after that, Kaylee realized they were stopping, that they'd reached their destination, and it was a place she'd never been before.
Jordan parked in front of a large metal building then got out and came around the front of the truck to open the passenger side door. Reaching up, he offered a hand to help her down. Loud, rumbling noises accompanied by a whining whir buffeted her ears and she winced. “Where are we?”
“It's a surprise.”
He said the words casually if a little louder than normal, but Kaylee could sense a new tension about him in the way he avoided her eyes every time she asked a question about where they were or where they were going. She frowned. “Jordan … ”
Slipping his hand into hers, he curled their fingers together and tugged her playfully toward the front of the building. “You'll see. Come on, Kaylee. There are at least an hundred things I want you to see today, but if you insist on stalling, we'll be late.”
As soon as they walked through the door, Kaylee understood. She pulled back. “An airplane hangar?”
“Private landing strip.” Jordan pointed toward another, smaller set of double doors at the back of the building. “Our ride awaits us right through there.”
Sensing her hesitation, he paused to peer down at her, doubt and excitement warring for place in his gaze before he forced the plea in them to become earnest. “I want to share something with you, Kaylee. Something I—I can't explain. But I can show you. I want to show you and I promise you will enjoy it, but I don't want to go if you're going to feel uncomfortable about it. Will you come with me?”
Brakes, Kaylee thought. She really needed to step on the brakes for this one. Hard.
“Jordan, I—there's an airplane out there! I—I can't get on a plane!”
“Are you afraid of flying?” he teased, but when she shook her head and tried to pull her hands out of his, his expression changed to one of genuine concern.
“No, it's not that. It's …”
Kaylee felt her brow tug downward in a serious frown. How could she explain this to him? Were there even words to describe the mixed tangle of emotions she was suddenly feeling? She'd been okay with spending time with him here in Hawthorne Grove. Hawthorne Grove was home. It was familiar. But now he wanted to take her somewhere new, somewhere that required an airplane trip to see, and she didn't think she was ready for—for this. Whatever this was.
“How long will we be away?”
“I was hoping for the weekend, but if you want to come back before then, we can.”
The weekend? She needed to call her mother. She should call Jo, too, and Mindy. And Marc, just in case they didn't make it back before her shop opened on Monday morning. He could call her appointments and reschedule, and... She shook her head. “I didn't even pack a bag!”
“You won't need it. I did mention shopping, remember?” He squeezed her fingers lightly. “There is nothing to be afraid of, Kaylee. I'll be right beside you the entire time, just as you've been at mine these past few weeks. Well, except for when you're sleeping, but even then I'll be right across the hall. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise. Will you come?”
His words were innocent enough, but she knew there was really another unspoken question being asked, one only his eyes revealed; one she was terrified to answer. It was a question of trust, and the last time she had given it, she'd been burned. Badly. But what really stunned and frightened her right now, however, was recognition of her intense desire to say yes, to give in. To tentatively hand over her permission and the keeping of her heart to him…
Jo's conversation in the coffee shop came rushing back and she almost staggered under the blow of realization when it came. Some time during the past weeks, while they were jaunting around town under the guise of friendship, sharing unexpected moments of warmth and laughter and just plain fun, she had begun to enjoy his company. She had relaxed with him, grown comfortable with being by his side and having him at hers, but worse, she realized now, had been getting through the hours while he was away.
Jo was right.
She already had let Jordan in and she was suddenly afraid if she agreed to go with him now, she would be getting way over her head into something she could not easily define. She and Jordan were friends, and yet at the same time, she could not deny they were becoming so much more and she needed to decide just how much more she was prepared to allow, and quickly.
Looking up at him, seeing the eager but subdued anticipation and expectancy in his eyes while the thoughts in her head screamed at her to run away, to go home and lock herself in, to hide from the possibility of being forced to drown in a fresh new sea of pain she was scarce prepared to deal with so soon after Daniel, she opened her mouth to refuse. To say no. To ask him to take her home again, where she would be safe.
At the same time, her heart chided her for her fear, pointing out in a way she could not deny that she had never felt more comfortable, more relaxed and sec
ure in her life than she did when she was with Jordan.
“I'll go.”
Chapter 11
“Well. That was an hundred times easier than I thought it would be,” Mortianna said, a note of genuine surprise tinting her voice. “I didn't even get a chance to make her twist an ankle or fall into an unexpected faint!”
“As much as you'd like to believe otherwise, Morty, people can think and make decisions for themselves,” Serephina pointed out, smugness clearly evident in her tone. “Kaylee's got a brain in her head, you know.”
With the first round of what was sure to become a lengthy and completely pointless argument between her siblings already said and done, Esmerelda surreptitiously stepped between her sisters and their immediate view of the scrying dish.
Glancing down into the shimmering liquid, she almost cringed.
Almost.
Then she remembered her sisters couldn't actually see what was happening with Jordan and Kaylee at the moment, and she felt a rush of relief, followed immediately by a sense of urgency. If she was seriously going to do the thing, this was likely to be her one and only chance.
But—what if they figured it out? What if Serephina—eagle eyed and hyper-sensitive as she was—zoned in on the differences in her stance, her speech, her coloring? Fighting back her anxiousness over the possibility of getting caught, Esmerelda counted to ten, exhaled slowly and lifted her chin, facing her sisters with a slightly calmer sense of determination. “Wait, he's taking Kaylee to the opera, isn't he?”
“Mmm-hmm,” Mortianna said, nodding excitedly, a bright smile arching her lips. Giving her shoulders a little shrug, she quivered, ecstatic to see things were going so well between their charges. “It's so Pretty Woman, isn't it?”
“One could even say it's so cliché,” Serephina sarcastically added in response to Mortianna's romanticism while moving around Morty's chair to settle into her favorite corner of the sofa. But Esmerelda noticed she was doing a little smiling of her own.
Something Magical (Witches of Hawthorne Grove Book 1) Page 8
