by K.N. Lee
Cailyn nodding, only half listening. She turned to see who was playing. Her eyes locked with the musician the moment she found him. It was as if he’d been watching her.
“Whoa,” Cailyn said under her breath. She couldn’t look away.
Something about him left her frozen in place. He had a familiar face, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen him before.
He strummed the guitar strings with grace. His voice made the hairs on her skin rise as he sang along to the guitar. She couldn’t look away. It was as if he held her captive in a spell.
With striking green eyes, tanned skin, and hair cut low on both sides and long on the top he looked like a model from a magazine. Within seconds, she imagined herself running her hands through his rich red colored hair while they kissed in the rain.
Cailyn felt her cheeks flush and turned away.
Where did that come from?
She’d never even dream of cheating on Asher.
Warnings flashed in her mind. Her skin started to feel hot. Her palms started to sweat.
Her eyelids flickered closed for a quick second, long enough for her to get a read on the stranger.
Nothing.
She opened her eyes to see him looking at her.
That’s odd, she thought.
She could always read others, with minimal effort...or magic.
Something was definitely up with the stranger.
She grabbed Tessa by the forearms. “Get me a mocha latte. I need to run to the bathroom.”
Tessa nodded, a thinly arched blonde brow raised. “Sure. You all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said before retreating to the bathroom at the back of the coffee shop.
She made it a point to avoid looking at the handsome musician who she’d never seen before. He was definitely new, which meant soon every single girl in town would be batting her eyelashes at him.
Cailyn shook her head.
No. No. No.
Her mind recalled the stranger’s tattoos. A dragon stretched across his chest. She now knew where she’d seen him before.
Inside the bathroom, she went to the mirror. She checked her reflection. Her cheeks were still pink. She grabbed a paper towel and wet it under cold water. After patting her cheeks, she dug into her satchel for her lip balm. She dabbed it on her lips and looked at herself one more time.
Someone knocked on the door, breaking her from her thoughts.
“Okay,” she whispered to her reflection. “Just keep calm.”
She turned and opened the door to leave.
She audibly sucked in a breath.
There he was. He stood before her and smiled, leaving her unable to speak or move. He was taller than she’d remembered from her dream and smelled as if he’d just eaten apple pie.
Silence passed between them as she stared into his eyes.
What do I do? What do I say?
“Hi,” she squeaked.
“Hello,” he replied. He looked over her shoulder. “Are you done?”
She nodded, wishing Kittie’s Coffee would create another bathroom so situations like this wouldn’t occur.
“Excuse me!”
She sidestepped around him and hurried to the table Tessa picked out by the bookcase in the corner. Once she sat down, she buried her face in her hands and groaned.
The smell of the citrus bathroom soap wafted into her nose as she breathed in. “Dear God, I made a fool of myself. I just stood there!” Cailyn buried her face in her hands, smearing her glasses with oil from the palms of her hands.
Tessa paused the chewing of her croissant. She raised a brow. “What?”
Cailyn took her glasses off and wiped them with her shirt. Her shoulders slumped. She reached for her mocha latte and took a cautious sip.
“Nothing,” she said.
Tessa chuckled. “Okay. Whatever.” She leaned in, her eyes bright. “Did you see the new guitar player? Tattoos, a great voice, and killer hair.”
Nodding, Cailyn took another sip, letting the warm liquid soothe her nerves. She closed her eyes.
Guitar player.
He was a musician. That explained the music notes from the dream.
“And what a face,” Tessa continued.
“Listen to you. You sound like you’re ready to give it up to a stranger.” Cailyn said, forcing a smile even though her heart was racing.
“Everyone can’t get a catch like Asher Fox,” Tessa said. She scrunched up her nose. “And don’t act so high and mighty. You just lost yours this year.”
Cailyn drank more of her coffee.
“Shush, Tessa,” Cailyn kept her voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t need everyone in the coffee shop to know she was once a twenty-one-year-old virgin.
“So, he asked you to stay with him for a few days? Is that the beginning of moving in together? Spill the beans.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She didn’t want to reveal that he had asked her to move in yet. Tessa was a good friend, but a jealous one.
Tessa pursed her lips. “Oh. I see. That’s all you’re going to give me?”
“I can’t focus on that right now. There’s too much on my mind. But sure, it sounds nice. It will be a nice change.”
“Well good for you. I’m glad you guys are together. Even if you have less and less time for your best friend.”
Cailyn reached a hand across the table and placed it on Tessa’s. She smiled warmly. “You’re always going to be my best friend. No matter what. We will always be close.”
“Promise?”
Cailyn nodded.
“Good,” Tessa said. “Or else I’d have to move Wendy up to best friend...and she’s nowhere as cute as you are.”
Cailyn laughed. Her smile faded as she sat back in her chair.
She watched the musician leave the short hallway that led to the bathroom and enter the main room. He paused a moment and looked around the room. When he saw her, his eyes brightened, and he started to head their way.
Cailyn sat up straight, praying that she could keep calm and act as though everything was still normal. Tessa saw her expression and glanced over her shoulder.
“He’s coming,” she said.
“I know,” Cailyn said, barely moving her lips.
She watched him come to their table and pull a chair out for himself.
Cailyn’s face flushed as she watched him sit next to her.
Both girls were silent as he sat back and draped an arm around the back of his seat.
There was an awkward silence for a moment.
He looked at both of them and sat up quickly as if he hadn’t noticed them sitting there until now.
“Excuse my manners,” he said. He reached a hand out to Tessa. “I’m Connor. Nice to meet you.”
He had an accent, a sexy one that made Tessa perk up. Even Cailyn sat up a little straighter.
Tessa shook his hand. “Tessa. Nice to meet you too.”
When Connor reached out to Cailyn, she shook his hand as well, feeling the warmth of his palm against hers. Along with the warmth, she felt a slight electric pulse run up her wrist and arm.
She gasped.
He was a shifter.
A quite powerful one.
She could tell the instant they touched.
Cailyn examined Connor from the shiny red hair on his head to his expensive black shoes.
Being a wizard explained why she couldn’t read Connor earlier. His form of power must have prevented it.
And by the shoes on his feet he wasn’t just a guitar player.
She swallowed when he caught her checking him out.
“I’m Cailyn.”
“Lovely name for a beautiful lass,” he said, and settled back in his chair once again. “Do you mind if I sit with you ladies for a bit? I find myself all alone on a Friday night, and you two seem like nice normal girls.”
Normal? I wish.
Cailyn faked a smile.
“You’re new to town,” Tessa said. “Where are you fro
m?”
“Scotland,” Connor replied.
“Brilliant,” Tessa said, grinning. “But, we kinda knew from the accent.”
Connor tilted his head and nodded, a lock of his hair falling into his eyes. He racked his hair back. “Aye. Scotland is home, but, I have my sights set on relocating.”
Tessa peered at him. “Why is that?”
He rubbed his chin. “Good question. A little business. A little pleasure.”
Tessa and Cailyn exchanged glances. “Come to charm innocent American girls with your Scottish accent and guitar?”
He chuckled at that. “Not really.” He gave Cailyn a sidelong glance, making her subconscious of her white lock of hair. “I’ve come to fulfill a business deal with an old friend.”
“Oh, what kind?” Cailyn asked.
Cailyn folded her hands in her lap, eager to hear his answer, when one of the girls from her Asian history class stepped over.
“Hi,” she said.
Connor looked up at her from his seat.
“What can I do for you, gorgeous?”
The girl blushed. “We were hoping you’d play some more. You’re magnificent.”
Cailyn raised her brows. The nerve of that girl.
Connor nodded, glancing at the cat-shaped clock on the wall above Cailyn’s head. His eyes lingered on hers, making her hold her breath before he turned away.
“Aye. I can play a few more songs.” He looked at Tessa and Cailyn. “You’ll excuse me, ladies?”
“Of course,” Cailyn said, nodding. She let out a long breath as she picked up her coffee and looked away.
She couldn’t stand it when he looked at her. It was as if he could see into her soul.
“Sure,” Tessa said. “You didn’t tell us who you were here to do business with. We might know them.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, standing. “An old friend. Ivan Alexander.”
Cailyn’s head snapped in his direction. She could barely breathe when their eyes locked.
There was no denying who he was. Her suspicions were correct.
Connor was the man from her dream.
It’s not possible, she thought.
“How do you know Ivan?” Tessa looked surprised. “That’s Cailyn’s older brother.”
He grinned, giving Cailyn a knowing look. “I know.”
Cailyn swallowed.
Tessa sipped from her coffee, her eyes going from Cailyn to Connor. “Well, what a coincidence that we ran into you then.”
Grinning, Connor pulled his guitar strap over his head. “Indeed.”
Chapter 7
Cailyn checked her watch, eager to get off of work.
A few days had passed since she’d met Connor, and he continued to appear in her dreams. Now, instead of being a menacing figure, he became a figure of desire.
It was dangerous.
Asher was her everything.
“It’s Saturday,” Tessa whined as Cailyn checked her out at the cash register.
Cailyn nodded with a smile as she rung her up. “I know. But I promised Asher I’d go to the city with him today.”
Tessa twisted her mouth into a scowl. “But we never miss movie night. Not in the last two years!”
“Come on, Tessa. Is it so wrong that I want to hang out with my boyfriend for once?”
“It is if you abandon your best friend on movie night.”
Tessa folded her arms across her chest and pouted.
“You’re ridiculous,” Cailyn laughed. She handed Tessa her bag of books. “I promise I won’t miss movie night next weekend.”
Snatching her bag, Tessa rolled her eyes. “Have fun, Cailyn. Maybe I’ll call Wendy and see if she wants to go with me instead.”
“You do that.”
Cailyn shook her head as she watched Tessa walk to the exit.
Tessa glanced back and looked her up and down, her face still disappointed. “You look cute, by the way,” she said. “I want to borrow those leggings sometime.”
Cailyn smirked. “Of course. Thanks, Tessa. Love you.”
“Love you,” she said and left the bookstore.
The scene outside looked dry.
Thank goodness.
A slew of students looking for entertainment walked the sidewalk in dense packs. Everyone already started wearing their costumes even though there was still another week until Halloween. Cailyn couldn’t wait for Asher to arrive so they could go out to the lake.
The store was quiet, with only one older woman browsing the recipe book aisle. Cailyn pulled her phone out of her skirt’s pocket and checked the time. She smoothed the purple skirt’s layers over her black and purple leggings. Cailyn wore a white collared blouse with a black tie and a purple headband in her hair with a large bow.
She looked cute and knew it. She just hoped Asher thought so as well. She couldn’t help feeling a constant fear that he’d realize she was too much trouble and leave her one day.
The door opened.
Cailyn’s body straightened when she saw Connor step inside.
He’s here.
Connor was silent as he walked in wearing a buttoned up shirt under an evergreen sweater, slim black jeans, and loafers.
She adjusted her glasses as she watched him. “Connor,” she said. “Can I help you with something?”
He nodded, his eyes scanning the shop. “You can. When are you off?”
Why did he care?
“A few minutes.”
“Great. I’ll just chat you up until you’re a free woman. If that’s okay.”
Cailyn pursed her lips. She looked past him, knowing that Asher would soon arrive. She didn’t need him questioning her about the new guy in town.
“Of course. My boyfriend will be here to pick me up soon, though.”
“Boyfriend?”
Cailyn nodded.
Connor clasped his hands before him as he stepped closer to the front register where Cailyn stood.
He leaned against the front counter, staring her down with those enchanting green eyes of his. “I was hoping to take you up on your offer for a tour of the city.”
She couldn’t move when he looked at her like that. The intensity was thinly veiled behind a look of admiration as he held her gaze.
“We can go another time. I have plans for today.”
“That’s too bad,” he said, fingering through the stack of clearance books on the counter.
She swallowed, still unable to move. “Why is that?”
He shrugged and stood directly in front of her. The only thing that separated her from him was the counter.
Cailyn gripped the counter. Her heart rate seemed to rise, and her entire body felt warm.
She tried to keep her face clear of emotion, but she knew what he was doing. He was trying to work magic on her.
The idea frightened her beyond anything she’d feared. He was good. It would have worked if she hadn’t sensed it in time and countered the act by shielding her thoughts.
Cailyn tried to replace her true thoughts with those that were boring, plain, and wouldn’t reveal anything of importance.
“Because I have something for you. A gift.”
“What kind of gift?”
“It’s a surprise. You’ll have to come with me to find out.”
“I see.” She looked around the store. She wasn’t sure if she liked surprises, especially those that came from a strange man from her dreams.
Nina, the owner of the store, came in from the back and dusted a few crumbs off the front of her floral dress. She glanced from Cailyn to Connor, her eyes brightening.
“Can I help you with something, sir?”
He put his hands in his pockets. “I’m just waiting for the young lady to get off so I can take her out.”
Cailyn felt her cheeks flush. Now Nina would think she was cheating on Asher.
“He’s a friend of my brother’s,” Cailyn quickly added. She looked to Connor. “He just needed directions. Asher will be here to get me in a minute.�
�
“Oh,” Nina said, nodding. “Are you new in town?”
“Not quite,” Connor said. He reached a hand out. “Connor Prince.”
Nina’s eyes widened. “Harrington’s son?”
He nodded. “Aye.”
Both he and Nina looked at Cailyn.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Nina said.
“Thank you. What’s done is done, right? He lived a long life.”
“Right,” Nina said. She cleared her throat and looked to Cailyn before glanced around the store to see that it was practically empty. “You can leave, Cailyn. There are only about five minutes left in your shift.”
“Thanks,” Cailyn said, wishing Asher would hurry and get her out of this awkward encounter.
“Have fun.”
She didn’t have to tell Cailyn twice. She clocked out on the cash register, grabbed her purse and headed out the front door while Connor stood there watching her.
“Good to see you, Connor. Enjoy your day.” She quickly held the door open, hoping to escape before he could offer to take her out again.
“You haven’t spoken to your brother yet, have you?”
Cailyn paused. Something about that statement made her uneasy. She looked over her shoulder.
“About what?”
Connor walked from the register and out the door she held open. Standing before her, he cracked a grin.
He reached out and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “God, you’re beautiful.”
She cleared her throat, trying to keep her cheeks from flushing.
“I’ll let him tell you,” he said, his minty breath warm on her ear as he leaned over to whisper. “It’ll be much more fun that way.”
Cailyn didn’t know what to say. Having him near made her feel lightheaded. The attraction she felt was dangerous. It could ruin everything.
As if he had read her mind, his grin widened. That’s when she realized that he did read her mind.
So much for hiding my thoughts.
He chuckled, rubbing his chin as his green eyes took her in once more.
She watched him turn to walk away, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment for having her thoughts read.
“I’ll be waiting,” he said without turning to look back at her.
She watched as he crossed paths with Asher.
“How odd,” she whispered to herself as Connor strolled down the street, his hands in his pocket as he seemed to window-shop.
