Eyes Turned Skyward

by Rebecca Yarros

  “I think I’m going to head home.” She batted her eyes at me and trailed her fingers down my chest. Nothing stirred below. “Maybe you’d carry me?”

  “Carry?” Josh about spit out his beer.

  “Southern for ‘take,’” I explained, and held up my beer. “Sorry, Marjorie, but I’ve had a few too many of these to get behind the wheel. I can call you a cab, though.”

  She pouted. “Well, if I can’t convince you tonight…” She reached behind me and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. A few clicks and her number was stored. “Give me a call sometime. I’m a lot more fun than any of the girls”—she threw a pointed glance back at our table—“you’ll find round these parts.”

  On her tiptoes, she brushed her lips across my cheek. It was almost worth it to see Paisley turn a mottled shade of red. God, she was cute when she was pissed. “Good night, Jagger.”

  “Night, Marjorie.”

  She swayed out of the bar, and I carried our drinks to the table, sliding Paisley’s water toward her. “Lemon water, as ordered.”

  “Maybe you should keep it,” she drawled. “Seems you could use a cooldown. Or were you planning on using that number she gave you?”

  “Lee,” Will snapped.

  At least she paid attention. “I’m not the one perched in my boyfriend’s lap,” I countered. “So, if I want to call a lovely young southern lady, I think that’s my prerogative, right?”

  “Damn straight!” Montgomery answered, reminding us that we weren’t as alone at the table as we felt.

  “Poking the bear, Jagger,” Grayson said under his breath.

  “‘Lady’ is the last term I’d ever use in conjunction with Marjorie Jenkins,” Paisley said, “and that’s being kind.”

  “Lee, bad-mouthing people doesn’t suit you,” Carter added.

  “Don’t defend that piece of trash just because you belonged to the Marjorie-got-me-off club in high school, Will,” Morgan interjected, pulling a chair over to sit next to Paisley. “It wasn’t very selective.”

  “Really, Morgan?” Carter flushed.

  Morgan raised her eyebrows. “Don’t act all surprised. I don’t mind calling out truths, and I’m happy to ruffle your feathers.”

  Carter fidgeted. Holy shit. She did ruffle him. Not in the pissed-off sense I usually saw, but in a more unsettled kind of way.

  “Can we please stop discussing Marjorie Jenkins?” Paisley asked.

  “Sure, as soon as you tell me why you had to drag her through the dirt,” Carter answered. “You’re better than that, Lee.”

  My breath hissed out through my teeth.

  “You know what?” She turned in his lap. “If you’ll kindly excuse me, I need some air.” She stood, taking her purse from the table.

  “Lee—” Carter stood.

  “Don’t you dare, William Carter.” She pointed her finger at him and marched out of the bar, the picture of gorgeous indignation.

  “You dated her sister first?” Josh asked, his eyebrows arched.

  Carter shook his head, and Morgan answered for him. “They never dated, but they were best friends. He and Lee got together last year after Peyton died.”

  Her sister’s best friend. Pieces started clicking together in my head, and it wasn’t a pretty picture.

  “Could you maybe not give out details on my relationship?” Carter barked.

  “Could you maybe not treat her like she’s five? By grace, twenty minutes with you and I need a drink.” Morgan’s chair squeaked as she pushed away from the table and headed to the bar.

  I took another sip of my beer for fortitude and looked at Carter as I stood. “You’re an idiot.”

  His glare went arctic. “Go ahead, chase after her. It won’t end well. She needs space because she doesn’t like confrontation. How do I know? Because, unlike you, I’ve been in her life more than five damn minutes.”

  “You really think it took me five minutes to understand Paisley? It took me less time to save her life. I knew what kind of woman she was the moment her eyes opened. She’s a fighter.” I leaned over the table toward him. “And funny, that first breath she released? It was mine.” I didn’t waste another second, just weeded my way through the crowd until I got outside.

  Finally, Alabama had reached a moderate temperature. I pushed up the rolled sleeves of my blue button-down. It didn’t take long to find her, leaning on Will’s truck, only one empty space away from where I’d left Lucy. Her hair hung in soft waves past her shoulders, the gold catching the light from the street lamp. Leave it to Paisley to make a parking lot off Rucker Boulevard beautiful.

  “Don’t ask me if I’m okay.”

  I leaned against the cool metal frame next to her, tucking my hands in my pockets, mostly to keep them from touching her. “Okay.”

  Her head swiveled my direction. It didn’t matter how many times I’d looked into her eyes; I was lost, spun out of control. “You’re really not going to ask?”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. “You’re kind of fun when you’re pissy.”

  “I am most certainly not…that.”

  “You can say it, you know.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m more than aware of what I can do. It’s not about the ability.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “Restraint, and knowing when to use it.”

  “Restraint has never been my strong suit.” My gaze flickered to her lips, pale but shiny from her gloss. Stop. Friends, only friends. Shit, I even sounded weak in my head.

  “Yeah, I could tell that with Marjorie perched on your lap like a baby bird waiting to be fed.” Her chin came up, and damn if that wasn’t sexy.

  “You’re my only Little Bird,” I promised her.

  “Why do you call me that?” she bit out through clenched teeth.

  “Well, you did kind of fly at our first encounter. Why don’t you tell him that you hate when he calls you Lee?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. “I don’t hate it.”

  “Yes, you do. I just can’t figure out why you don’t tell him. He’s an ass if he hasn’t figured it out by now. Hell, he’s an ass, period.” Shit. I hadn’t meant to blurt it out.

  “You don’t know the first thing about him.” She pushed off the car, and I quickly took hold of her wrist.

  “Don’t go.” Shit, was that desperation leaking into my voice? “I’ve missed you.”

  She shook me off. “I can’t be here with you. I can’t do this.” She gestured between us, like there was an invisible string tying us together. “Whatever this is.”

  “You can’t have a friendship outside your relationship? It’s that weak? Worth turning away a friend? You act like I don’t know him, but I’m with him every day! He’s completely wrong for you.”

  Because I was right for her. I wanted her—wanted to be with her. Admitting that was as thrilling as it was terrifying, and I had no idea what to do with it. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her think Carter was her only option.

  She took another step back. “Will knows me in ways you don’t—you can’t. He knows every scary, damaged part of me, and he still loves me. That’s the kind of man he is.”

  “Damn it, Paisley, listen to yourself. You act like you’re some charity case! You think I can’t handle those pieces of you?” I moved forward to close the distance between us, and her eyes widened, like she’d felt the shift in our relationship that I had. “I know you from your soul to your skin. Just being friends with you…” I flicked the stud in my tongue across my teeth, trying to find the right words. “I’ve never been more intimate with a woman, and that includes every girl I’ve ever had sex with.”

  She retreated until she bumped into Lucy. “This conversation is over.”

  I didn’t stop until my toes met hers, my chest nearly brushing the rise of her breasts. “Why, because it suddenly doesn’t fit in your neat and tidy friendship box?”

  “We are friends, and you d
on’t get to make judgments on my relationship.” Her head bumped the glass of the window as she craned her neck to look at me.

  I braced, then tested my theory. “He treats you like a little sister.”

  “You hush.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Damn. I’d been right.

  I lifted her chin, but she still wouldn’t open her eyes. “He sure as hell didn’t stand up for you against Marjorie.”

  She swallowed but didn’t speak.

  The need to reach her clawed through me, to make her see what I did—that she was worth so much more than anything Carter or even I could offer her. I dragged my eyes away from the delicate arch of her lips. Rather than backing off, I caged her in, leaning my forearms on the glass on either side of her perfect face.

  “Tell me, when he touches you, kisses you, does your skin sing for him?” I could barely choke the words out. Just thinking about Carter holding her, touching her, made my stomach churn. “Does your blood rush, your lips part just thinking about his kiss? Does your body vibrate when he’s close, remembering every orgasm he can wring from you?” I crossed the friendship line, sliding my fingers along her collarbone to rest inside her shirt, above her galloping heart. Her eyes flew open, and her lips parted. I wasn’t near her breasts, but I was still too close. “Your heart doesn’t pound like this for him, does it?”

  “That…that is none of your business.” We were so close her breath hit my lips in little bursts.

  “Does he treat you like a little sister in bed, too? Is that really what you want? A platonic sex life with a guy who uses you as a replacement for your older sister?”

  She sucked in her breath and jerked away from me, escaping my arms. Her eyes narrowed. “Go to hell, Jagger.” She walked off, leaving the parking lot silent but for the cars going by.

  I hit my head lightly into Lucy’s window. “I’m already there, Paisley.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Paisley

  7. Go completely off course.

  I slipped the Steinbeck novel into place and made sure the row was even. We were just shy of—wait, I checked my watch. No, time to close up now. I’d avoided Jagger this whole week, and their project was finished, our storage room a model of organization and access. Dang, I hadn’t even seen him leave. Now if I could decide if I was pleased with that decision or not. I ran my fingers along the spines as I turned the corner of the bookshelves.

  “Does he treat you like a little sister in bed, too? Is that really what you want? A platonic sex life with a guy who uses you as a replacement for your older sister?”

  Jagger’s words ripped through me again, shredding the pretty paper my relationship with Will had been wrapped in and revealing the banged-up truth beneath it.

  Ugh, I hated him for seeing our weakness by watching us for twenty minutes.

  I shooed out a couple of guys studying near the doors. “I’m so sorry, gentlemen, but we’re closing up for the evening.” I gave them a friendly smile and walked them to the doors after they gathered their things.

  I hadn’t finished Alice’s routine, but I wasn’t a fan of leaving the doors open past closing, so I turned the key and locked myself inside. Beep, beep, beep. The alarm sounded on my cell phone as I slipped off my ballet flats. Once I choked my meds down, I locked the front door, too. One more to go.

  I turned the doorknob to the storage room and opened the door. “Dang! Jagger, you scared the living daylights out of me!” My hand clutched at my chest in reflex.

  He slung his black messenger bag across his body and gave me an icy smile. “Sorry. I was just packing up.” His jeans hung low on his hips, and when he hooked his thumbs in his pockets and stretched his shoulders, his worn concert tee rose above the waistband, giving me a peek of what had been burned in my memory since Florida.

  “We’re closed.” One day I would not say the most ludicrous things around this man. Today was apparently not that day.

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t lock me in. That probably would have screwed my weekend.”

  “Big plans?” Please say no.

  “Yeah, I thought I’d have a party or two. There’s this really cute brunette two houses down, and Josh and Masters are both gone for the weekend. Nothing like having the house to myself.” Anger washed off him in waves, and it was all directed at me.

  Well, I could sure as sin give as good as I got. He wasn’t the only angry one here.

  “Then I guess it’s too bad you’re not done working here.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” He looked around, trying to find the flaw that wasn’t there. “We finished. We did everything your daddy told us to, and now we get to go back to our real lives.” Fire flickered in his blue eyes, and my breath caught. He looked primal, raw, and I wasn’t sure I was capable of handling him.

  “Those shelves are a disaster.” I laid my palms on the huge wooden worktable in the center. “Nothing is organized, and I’m pretty sure that table over there”—I pointed to the corner—“is fixing to fall apart at any second.” I looked over my shoulder. “Is this really the best you can do?”

  His eyes narrowed dangerously as he crossed the three steps that separated us. I counted them with my heartbeats. “First, you’re the one that did the organization, and second, this room is perfect. We’re done. Josh, Grayson. Me and you. All done.”

  Ouch. “How do you expect to become a pilot with this lack of attention to detail?” I needed to draw his blood. “You’re blind.”

  “Yeah? Well, at least I can see what’s right fucking in front of me.” He spun me around, and as I gasped, his lips landed on mine.

  He took the opening, sliding into my mouth as his hands did the same with my hair. He held me to him, stroking the roof of my mouth, pulling away just to dive back in.

  My shock lasted a heartbeat. Maybe two. Then I rubbed my tongue against his and pressed closer. His groan vibrated through his chest, and I was swept up in everything…Jagger.

  He pressed me into the table, bringing our bodies flush. He was massive, surrounding me as he drove me breathless with soft lips and hard kisses that tasted like peppermint. Need ripped through me like a shock wave, and I heard a moan. Oh, God. It was me. Yes, those were my hands at his back, fisted in his T-shirt, pulling him closer. That was my body arched into his, and the friction felt so good. He consumed me, owned me, and I loved it because in that second, I owned him, too.

  I took his hair in my hands as his fingers drifted to my waist. On tiptoe, I tried to get a better angle, to feel more of him. Kissing Jagger was as necessary as breathing. He lifted me by my rear, setting me on the table. Yes. That’s exactly what I craved—a better angle. I drew his lower lip into my mouth and sucked on it, then ran my hands down his chest and under his shirt to finally caress the lines of muscles there. Perfect. Every line of him was carved, tight, and trembled under my touch. He growled, pushing me down onto the table as he slid over me, dragging his chest across my breasts.

  More. I locked one of my ankles behind his thighs as he settled over me, pressing his hips into mine. He was hard against me, and I rocked into him, aching.

  His kisses drugged me, taking my mouth again and again, and I lost myself in every touch, every sensation as my heart beat as wildly as I felt. He kept his hands on my face, bracing his weight on his elbows, his mouth never leaving mine, and his tongue ring didn’t disappoint. Hunger rushed through my veins, all stemming from the magic he worked with his kiss. My whimpers mixed with a moan or two from him.

  “Paisley,” he whispered against my lips. “You’re so damn sweet.”

  His words sent heat rushing through me, pooling low in my core, desire inflaming every nerve ending in my body. I arched into him, kissing him with the same urgency that was unraveling me.

  BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

  Stupid watch! I took my hands off his back long enough to press the silent button, unclasp it, and toss it to the side. It skidded along the table before falling to the floor. Who the hell cared about my heart ra
te when Jagger was kissing me? The world could burn down before I formed a logical thought. There was only Jagger on top of me, surrounding me, anchoring me.

  My heart raced, pounding in delight, and I reveled in the utter abandon of kissing him. Will would never let me take off my watch, or kiss me like this. He was too focused on my heartbeat.

  Will.

  Oh. Hell.

  I ripped my mouth away from the heaven of Jagger’s. “Stop!” I gasped.

  He jerked his head away, his eyes flaring wide. “Paisley?”

  “Jagger, we can’t.”

  He pushed up, caging me in his arms. “Why the hell not?”

  “Oh my God.” I covered my face with my hands. “What have I done?” I sat up slowly, tucking my hair behind my ears with shaky hands. In less than five minutes, I’d become something I loathed, abhorred.

  I’d become a cheater.

  He stood at the edge of the table, a breath away, and pulled me gently, bringing me to the edge of the table. “Don’t do it. Don’t you dare say his name. Not now when I can still taste you.” His voice was sharp, but there was something underneath it I couldn’t bear to hear—hurt.

  My fingers lingered on my lips swollen from his kisses.

  Will. Will, whom I loved. Will, who didn’t deserve what I had just done with Jagger.

  I cried out, unable to hold in the pain of my own betrayal. Tears pricked my eyes, welling and falling in quick succession.

  Jagger wiped away the tears with this thumbs. “God, Little Bird. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry.”

  I didn’t even deserve Jagger’s hands on me.

  I pushed, and he retreated enough for me to slide out. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I ran for the first time in two years. If it caused my heart to stop, then it was only what I deserved.

  I slid my key into my front door, on autopilot, and turned the handle. It was still locked. I turned it again, and it opened. Ah, it had been unlocked. Will was here.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

  I dropped my keys into my handbag, where they chimed against the unused set from the library. Ugh. Alice left me in charge for one night, and I couldn’t even get the library locked up right. No, I’d just left…him…standing there. I leaned against the wall, the back of my head hitting it with a thump, and closed my eyes, trying to blink away the tears.