“Yes, Ma’am,” they chorused as they scrambled out of the office.
Outside in the corridor, Skye giggled. “Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Vanessa called!”
“Marina must have been really pissed off.”
They looked at each other then burst out laughing.
Nick and Thea were waiting for them anxiously. Cian and Skye quickly filled them in. They both laughed as they too knew Marina didn’t suffer fools. Vanessa would have been no match for her.
“That will teach the cheating skunk!” Thea said satisfactorily.
Skye couldn’t help giggling at Thea’s description of Vanessa. It was a little funny coming from Thea, since she was one of the nicest persons she’d ever known and never had a bad word for anyone. In fact, she never even swore. Not like her. She smirked at Cian as she told Thea how Marina had called Vanessa, ‘Cian’s douche-bag girlfriend’.
Cian chuckled. “I’ve since ‘seen the error of my ways’,” he quoted Marina’s words, “and come up in the world and found a much better one.” He stared pointedly at Skye.
Skye’s breath caught in her throat and she coughed as she looked away from him. What was he doing to her?
She cleared her throat. “Right. We better get to work.” She turned to her laptop, ignoring Cian’s knowing look.
CHAPTER SIX
The next day, Friday, Skye dragged herself into the office, eyes gritty and looking half-asleep. Nick and Thea were already there. And of course, Cian looked all bright-eyed, Skye thought sourly.
“Mornin’,” she grumbled, as she dropped her bag on her desk.
“Hey, Skye.” Nick smiled at her.
“Hi,” Thea said.
She and Nick looked like they had color-coordinated today. Nick had on a long-sleeved dark blue shirt over black trousers which went well with his dark good looks and Thea was wearing a beautiful knee-length navy dress, with short sleeves, and small bright blue embroidered flowers at the neckline and on the hem. Their dark clothes were a soothing balm to her sore eyes.
“Hi, Skye. How are you this beautiful day?” Cian flashed her a wide smile. Of course he was wearing a blinding white shirt that brought out his light eyes and hurt hers. Light gray trousers completed his outfit.
“Aren’t we all bright and chipper this morning?” Sarcasm dripped from her words.
Cian bit back a grin at her snide tone. She would probably punch him if he told her how cute she looked when she was being surly. Nick gave him a questioning look. He just shrugged.
“I have a feeling I’m going to regret asking this, but why do you look so sleep-starved?” Nick ventured reluctantly.
“Ask that—that moron!” Eyes narrowed to slits, Skye pointed a finger at Cian, a murderous look on her face. “It’s all his fault!”
“What? I’m innocent.” Cian looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.
Nick sighed. He should have known. He and Thea exchanged glances. “What did he do now?”
“He kept me up all night talking on the goddamn phone and talking and talking and talking.” She made claws of her fingers as she rambled off. “I don’t know why we have to talk on the phone every night when we’re just going to meet at work. Why do couples have to talk every night? And all night? Don’t they have to go to work the next morning? Don’t they have things to do? How do they do it? I don’t get it. What’s the big freaking deal? But noooo, I had to listen to his annoying voice all night until the damn alarm clock blasted my damn ear off!”
She rooted around her drawer for her large mug which was a pretty dark blue with the words, “COFFEE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF BED, BUT CHOCOLATE MAKES IT WORTHWHILE” emblazoned in a beautiful white script on one side of it. It had been a gift from Kiera, who had told her the words suited her perfectly. She sent Cian another vicious glare and headed for the small common break room on their floor.
For a moment, there was silence and then Thea giggled. Nick fought not to smile, but lost the battle and laughed out loud. Cian chuckled.
“Does she know that it’s not a must to talk on the phone every night and that she could have just turned off her phone?” Thea stared pointedly at Cian.
“Do me a favour, don’t tell her that,” Cian said wryly.
“She’ll catch on to you sooner or later,” Nick warned.
Cian grinned and rubbed his hands in diabolical fashion. “Oh, but think what fun I’ll have in the meantime.”
Thea shook her head at him. “You are so bad. She’ll get you back for this.”
Cian smiled in anticipation. “I can’t wait.”
STILL STEAMED UP, Skye trudged to the break room, which was equipped with a table, chairs and a kitchen counter holding a microwave, coffeemaker, a kettle and a sink. There was a refrigerator in one corner of the room. She headed straight for the coffeemaker, hoping that the coffee would make her feel alive at least, if not more awake.
She was staring at it with bleary eyes, willing the brew to get done soon when Ash sauntered in. He was his usual gorgeous self, with his dark hair and green eyes and his blinding white shirt.
Oh my god, not another freaking white shirt! Skye thought as she pressed her hand to her eyes. Looked like she was doomed to see white everywhere today.
“You look like shit,” he greeted cheerfully.
“Thanks a lot,” Skye returned sarcastically.
He laughed. “Hey, you’re welcome.”
Skye pulled her hand away from her eyes and glanced at him. He looked so much like Ian Somerhalder that she’d been surprised he didn’t have a big head. He actually hated it that he looked like the actor. He’d told her once that with his looks, he was never going to meet someone who actually wanted to know the real him.
To her bewilderment, they’d bonded somehow. Skye was still puzzled how they’d managed to become friends. She scowled. It was all Nick, Thea and Cian’s fault. You became friends with those three and now there were all these people she cared about in her life!
“Earth to Skye! Earth calling to Skye! Come in please.”
Skye blinked to find Ash snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Don’t do that! It’s annoying!”
Laughter burst out of him again. She sent him a disgruntled look.
“I saw you come in. Came to say hi.”
Ash leaned back against the counter and watched her as she poured coffee into her mug. She blew on it and took a sip, closing her eyes in pleasure. The coffee gave her the much needed kick to start the day.
“So what’s going on between you and Hunter?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it true about you two dating?”
She sighed. “Unfortunately yes. Does everyone know?”
Ash smirked. “Pretty much, yeah. About damn time too.”
“What do you mean?”
“The sparks between you and Hunter could light up the whole building.”
Skye could feel her cheeks firing up with color. “What?”
He gave her a knowing look. “Seeing how thickheaded you are, I thought either he’d figure out you had the hots for each other or he wouldn’t and you’d eventually kill him.”
“That’s ludicrous! I don’t have the hots for him.” Did she? She couldn’t deny the sparks between her and Cian.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Very mature. I’m leaving now.”
“Wait, wait. You’re too easy to tease.”
“Hardy har har. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, when your new boyfriend lets you.”
“Like he could stop me,” she drawled as she left, his laughter ringing in her ears.
WHEN SKYE GOT back with her coffee, Cian held out a white unmarked box to her. She stared at it, then regarded him suspiciously.
�
��Don’t worry, it won’t bite,” he reassured, trying not to grin at the look on her face.
“With you, who knows?” She set her mug on her desk and sat down.
Cian sent Nick a pointed look when he chuckled. Thea tried not to smile.
“C’mon, you know you want to open it.” Cian waved the box temptingly in front of her.
“I don’t, I really don’t,” she told him warily.
“You know you do,” he differed.
She sipped her drink, brown eyes full of suspicion, staring at him as if any minute now he was going to sprout horns. It made him grin. She was so cute.
Skye gave him another distrustful look, then with a sigh, took the box. Her eyes widened with surprise and greed when she opened it. The box was full of half a dozen chocolate donuts.
“Donuts,” she breathed. “Oh my god, Chocolate Donuts.” Her mouth watered. She absolutely loved chocolate donuts.
Cian grinned as he watched her reverently take one out. Oh, he definitely knew the way to her heart.
Skye took a bite, then moaned as the flavor exploded in her mouth. “Oh… my… god.”
Cian inwardly groaned. If she knew how much that look on her face had him wanting to kiss her… . She opened her eyes and their gazes met. What she saw on his face put a blush on hers. Or maybe she did know, he thought as she quickly looked away. Interesting.
Nick watched them both, and then shared a smile with Thea. This was going very well. “So, can I have one?”
Skye eyed him owlishly. “Mine.”
“Aww, come on, you know you can’t eat all of them,” Nick protested.
“Says who?” Skye inquired.
“Says me,” Nick said.
“I don’t have to eat all of them today. I can eat them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that,” Skye replied.
“Seriously?” Nick said in disbelief, though he shouldn’t have been surprised. When it came to food, Skye wasn’t known to share.
“I’m not sharing,” Skye declared.
“You’ll get sick, you know,” Nick pointed out.
Skye only pulled the box closer. “Mine. Get your own.”
“Com’on, don’t go all Gollum on me. It’s just one doughnut,” Nick justified.
In reply to that, Skye wrapped her arms possessively around the box and in a dramatic voice, quoted, “Precious, my precious.”
Nick gave her a mock grimace. Thea giggled.
“I thought you’d be like that,” Cian drawled in an amused tone, “so… . .” He pulled out another box from his drawer, this one with Dunkin’ Donuts written on the side. He had gotten an unmarked box especially for Skye so he could surprise her. He handed it to Nick, who smiled at Skye with glee.
Skye’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t!”
“I did,” he confirmed, gray eyes glittering with humor.
Skye eyed the other box thoughtfully and wondered if she could grab it from them. Accurately guessing her thoughts, Cian smirked. “Not a chance in hell, sweetheart. I wouldn’t try it if I were you. You’ve got yours.”
She huffed and gave him a look of betrayal. Cian laughed. “Aw, come on, you know you don’t share.”
“I’m not talking to you.” Finishing off her donut, she stashed her box into her drawer and took another gulp of coffee. With the sugar and caffeine rush, her system was more awake and ready to work.
“That’s okay, we don’t have to talk,” Cian acceded.
“There’s glazed and chocolate and… .” Nick noted around a mouthful of doughnut.
Skye looked at Cian warily. It wasn’t like him to give in so easily. “What do you mean ‘We don’t have to talk’,” she ventured cautiously.
“Yummy. I better take only one.” Thea took out a sugar-powdered one and daintily took a bite.
“Just that,” Cian stated.
Okay, he was up to something, Skye thought. “And ‘that’ means what exactly?”
Cian relished the coming explosion. He said casually, “Oh, just that there’s a lot of other stuff we can do that doesn’t require speaking.”
“What stuff?”
Nick and Thea hid their smiles. They knew exactly what Cian was getting at.
“For example, kissing is an action that doesn’t require speaking. We can just do that. I’m very agreeable to it.”
Skye’s face went red. She remembered the kiss all too well. Nick coughed and Thea slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Skye shot Cian daggers with her eyes. If looks could kill, he’d be dead on the spot. He shot her a shit-eating grin in return. Before she could come up with a comeback though, there was a knock on the door, and Marina stepped in.
She watched them with a sharp glance. “Good morning. I see you’re having a party.”
The four of them hustled to look dignified as they wished her a good morning.
“We were just discussing the schedule for today,” Nick started.
Marina gave him a pointed look, then smiled. “You’re not in any trouble. Skye, your half-day leave for today was approved. You may leave at lunch. Just let Nick know if you have any pressing work that needs to be attended to.”
“Thanks, Marina. There’s nothing urgent so I can get to it on Monday,” Skye told her.
“Alright then. See you on Monday.” Marina turned to leave.
“Doughnut?” Nick held out the box.
Marina thought about it, then said, “Why not? I might as well live dangerously.” She took out a sprinkle-covered one and left.
Cian turned to Skye. “Half-day?” he asked in a tranquil tone that to Skye brooked trouble. Was he pissed-off she hadn’t told him? He sure didn’t look it.
Cian was pissed-off. When had she planned on telling him?
“Uh, yeah,” Skye replied nervously.
“When were you going to tell me?” he said, still in that same tone.
Nick and Thea wisely kept their mouths shut and turned to their work.
“Um, now?”
“I see.”
Skye was annoyed. It wasn’t like she had been planning to keep it a secret from him. “Look, I wasn’t hiding it from you. I was going to tell you. Kiera called me last night. The school she was teaching at let her go because they said they had too many teachers they couldn’t afford and she was really down in the dumps about it. So I’m meeting her for lunch and we’re going to hang out. Hopefully it will cheer her up.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Cian told her.
“Yes I do. We’re dating, aren’t we? And sulking doesn’t become you.”
“Yes it does. I look very good at it. When did she call you? I thought I was the only one who called you last night.”
Shit. He had to ask that question, of course. He never let her get away with anything. “She called before you.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me last night, when I talked to you right after she called?”
“Honestly? I was exhausted and didn’t think of it. And then I fell asleep,” she said apologetically.
Cian relented. “Okay. Did you tell her about us?”
An uh-oh look slipped over Skye’s face.
“You didn’t tell your best friend about us?” Oh, he knew damn well she hadn’t. She was so going to owe him. He thought about what he could get out of her.
“I, uh, forgot.” No, she hadn’t. How did you tell your best friend you were dating your nemesis? The one you were always complaining about?
“You forgot? So the news wasn’t important enough to tell her?”
Flustered, she denied it. “No, that’s not it. I’m sorry. I am going to tell her. Last night was just a bad time. She was really down.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” No way was she getting out of this so easily.
“But I
am sorry,” she protested.
“Not good enough.”
He was really milking this for all his worth, Skye thought disgruntledly. “Geez. Okay, what can I do to make it up to you?”
Now she was talking. Cian mentally rubbed his palms together in anticipation of their negotiations.
“It’s Friday today,” he began.
“So?”
“So couples usually go out on dates on Friday nights.”
Uh oh. “Is that what you want? A date?”
“Yep. Dinner and a movie.”
“I don’t want to dress up and go out tonight. I want to stay in.” A date with him? She wasn’t ready! How was she supposed to act on a date with him?
“We’ll have to go out sometime.”
Skye got a mutinous look on her face. “I don’t want to go out tonight.”
“Fine,” Cian conceded. But she wasn’t getting out of their date. “I’ll bring the food and we’ll watch a movie at your place.”
Skye blinked, startled. “My place?”
“Yeah. Since you want to stay in,” he pointed out.
Mutiny slipped back on her face. “No.”
“I got the DVD for Underworld Awakening.” Cian dangled that carrot in front of her.
He knew that Skye had already watched the movie with Kiera when it came out, not to mention she already had the DVD. But she had the cheaper version, not the high quality one like he did. He knew she couldn’t afford high-quality stuff and it made him want to shower her with gifts. But her pride would never allow her to accept stuff from him.
It amazed him when he thought about it now, how much he was always unconsciously placing her in most of his thoughts and actions. Just take the DVD. She always got the DVDs for the movies she found cool so she could watch them over and over again. And Underworld was very close to her heart. She was almost fanatic about the saga. She had even read the novelizations for both Underworld and Underworld Evolution.
He didn’t much care for the movie—except for how hot Kate Beckinsale looked in it—but he’d gotten it anyway and kept mum about it because he knew there would be an opportunity when he could dangle it in front of her. Like now.
Holding Out For Skye Page 8
