Craving Talon (39 page)

“Get him together. Mills is standing by waiting until you’re ready. He’ll bring you to the mall.”
 

“Are you sure?” I ask her.
 

“I’m tired of being alone, I’m ready to talk. We will sit down and have a late lunch, early dinner and we will talk about this,” she tells me, I can hear a lot of background noise so I know she’s still in the mall.
 

“Wouldn’t you rather talk to him alone?”
 

“Yes, but this is between the three of us and we need to all discuss it. I will give him his chance to say his peace and if he’d rather do it alone, I’ll afford him that. But we need to talk. So I’ll see you when you get here?”
 

“We’ll be on our way shortly.”
 

“Thanks, cowboy.”
 

“I love you,” I say without thinking.
 

She sighs. “God, I love you too, both of you.”
 

We hang up.
 

“What was that all about?” Talon asks, he’s anxious.
 

“She wants us to come to the mall.” He flinches. “She wants us to sit down, eat and talk.”
 

“Not the appropriate place for it,” he mutters.
 

“No, it’s not, but it is also neutral ground. She’s taking away the ability for us to turn it into sex, and forcing us to actually talk,” I tell him and he nods. “Mills is already on alert, preparations are made. We just need to get ready.”
 

“I need to shower,” he grunts as he gets up.
 

I look down at my naked form, “Me too.”
 

“Well then let’s go,” he says, gesturing for me to join him.
 

We need a restaurant. Mills just texted Tori letting her know they were in route. I look at the directory and there are several to choose from. “Crave,” I tell Tori. “That’s where we’ll go, provided it’s quiet enough, plus controllable.”
 

“Sounds good.” Looking at the map I can see that it’s on this side, opposite corner from where I’m at, and on the same floor. I just left a store called Ragstock, which was actually pretty awesome. They have both new and vintage clothing, their prices are below what I would normally spend on clothes, but damn, I found some great stuff. Spending less than five hundred dollars, I have at least another suitcase full of clothes. Keep this shit up and I’m going to need a bus just for my clothes.
 

“Tori?”
 

“Yup?” She turns back.
 

“Do you think, if I can get a hold of some boxes, that we can ship some of this stuff back to LA before we leave?”
 

She shrugs. “I don’t see why not.”
 

I picked up a few things in Ragstock for the guys, some t-shirts mostly. They don’t wear much else besides jeans and t-shirts anyway. Though there is a Harley Davidson store, maybe I can find something there for Talon. Kyle, on the other hand…I start to ponder ideas as we walk. It’s Monday mid-day in the mall and it’s busy, but mostly tourists like myself, and I’ve only been recognized twice. Then again, I’m here by myself, which might change with Talon in tow. Although, Dex, Mouse and Peacock showed up a little while ago and they’re wandering around somewhere. “How are Dex and them doing? Any problems?”
 

“Not so far,” Tori tells me.
 

“Good.” I smile and we keep walking. This area is mostly filled in with restaurants and when we come to the middle of this side of the mall, I can see the amusement park that occupies the center. Only in Minnesota does an indoor amusement park make sense. Too bad I’m not into all that, it could be fun with the guys.

As we approach Crave, there are people inside, but not a lot to get excited over. Tori and Casey look through the windows, trying to figure out the best spot to put me to meet the guys. I notice in the far left corner, it’s a little darker and more private. I point and Tori nods. “Let me handle the hostess,” she says and she goes over to her. Tori can be very intimidating to a lot of people, which probably helps make her good at her job. I notice the woman checking a few things, then talking back to Tori. She then picks up some menus and leads Tori and Casey to where I pointed.
 

I walk up to Rusty, “What are they doing?”
 

He chuckles, “Just checking out the area, looking for ways in, ways out, and making sure no one else is back there. Mills will be showing up with Beck, giving us six, which is a little excessive for inside the restaurant. Odds are Mills will send one or two of us to meet up with Leroy and Bruce.” Troy is the only one missing in the equation and I’m assuming that he is on hotel duty.
 

A few minutes later Casey comes out, gesturing to Rusty and me to go ahead and come in. We do, and I’m seated quickly, facing the front of the restaurant. I don’t need to ask why this is. Better to have me facing front than Talon doing it. Though I’d imagine they’d like me on the other side with Talon, which I can’t do because I have to be able to look at him while I talk to him. I notice that Casey goes back to the front of the restaurant. Rusty takes a seat at the bar not too far from me, and Tori is a couple of tables ahead, she’s sitting of course, not to look suspicious or anything. I can see Casey through the window leaning casually against the railing. We’re on the corner with Macy’s and I entertain the idea of going in there when we’re done eating.
 

The waitress comes toward Tori and she stands up. Talks to the girl, probably scaring the crap out of her and then lets her pass. “How you doing today? My name is Amber, I’ll be your…” I look up at her and she stops talking. Her face lights up in recognition.
 

I warn her, “If you start going all freaky fangirl on me, there are two bodyguards that will escort you away, and find another server. So take a minute, take a deep breath and try that again.” I watch as she visually tries to calm herself. “I will have a glass of water and an apple juice. Now, I am going to warn you, I will not be here alone. So I am going to give you a heads up, allow you to freak out in the kitchen before you come out again. I will not be dining alone.”

“No way…he’s coming?” I nod. “Ohmygod, okay, okay…water, apple juice, got it.”
 

“Oh, and Amber.”
 

“Hm?”
 

“Do a good job and we’ll make sure it’s worth it.” I smile at her and she lights up.
 

“Yes ma’am,” she says as she turns back toward Tori and the kitchen. No doubt to freak out some more.

Rusty comes over to the table and asks me, “What did you tell her? It would have been more fun to watch her freak out.” He laughs and I join in with him.
 

“That’s easy, I didn’t want her totally freaking out when Talon sat down. Besides, it was more fun to watch it like that. Because I know, no matter how much she prepares herself, she’s still gonna freak out.”
 

He laughs, “They’re in the building.”
 

“Jeez, that was fast.”
 

“Traffic was good?” He shrugs and sits back down.
 

Amber returns with my drinks, sets them down and asks, “Can I get you anything else while you wait?”
 

“No, I’m good. Doing better?” I ask with a smile.
 

“Much, thank you. I was at the concert last night.”
 

I smile. “That’s why you recognized me so easily.”
 

She nods with a smile. “My boyfriend got me tickets for my birthday, but he couldn’t do the VIP thing. I’m off at three tomorrow so I was gonna try and go to the signing.”
 

I smile widely at her. “Not that we don’t want you there, but maybe we can spare you the long lines before we leave today.”
 

“That would be awesome. Thanks, Addison.”
 

Amber turns to leave and nearly runs right into Kyle. “Sorry, darlin’,” Kyle says. “You alright?”
 

“I’m good, thanks.” She sidesteps Kyle and I can tell when she gets an eyeful of Talon because she pauses before continuing. Good, she saw him, now she can freak in the back and return.

The guys don’t think much about it and I stand up, Kyle wraps his arms lovingly around me. “Missed you, baby girl, you okay?”
 

“Tired, but good. You?”
 

“Better now.” He kisses me on the cheek and slides into the seat across from me, and he slides all the way over.

Talon comes up to me. He’s hesitant. I open my arms and he cuddles right into me. I hear him sniff my hair as he wraps his arms tightly around my shoulders. He kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry, angel,” he says sad and sweet. I know he means it.
 

“Apology accepted, but we’re still going to talk.”
 

He kisses my forehead again. “I think that’s best,” he says, surprising me. Talon isn’t much of a talker. When he takes his seat, I look at Kyle. His expression is silently asking me if I’m okay. I nod slightly and sit back down.

Amber, being the diligent waitress that she is, shows up with water. “Hi I’m Amber, what can I get you to drink?”
 

Talon points at my glass. “It’s apple juice.” He cocks his head but doesn’t say anything. I’m not a soda girl and I’m not in the mood for coffee, I’ve already had a turtle mocha from Caribou.
 

“I’ll have a coke,” Talon says.
 

“I’ll have one too,” Kyle chimes in.

“Can I get you guys any appetizers to get you started?”
 

“Whatever she wants,” Talon says gesturing toward me.
 

I look at her, I smile and she takes a silent deep breath. I nod and wink. “I’d love the lemon garlic wings, please.”
 

Kyle notices our little exchange and I shrug it off. “How about two of those?”
 

“Absolutely, anything else for now?” Amber asks. She seems to have gathered the nerve to talk to Talon without issue and I commend her for that.
 

“No, Amber, I think we’re good,” I tell her when Talon doesn’t say anything. He hasn’t said much but he can’t take his eyes off of me.
 

“Okay, I’ll be back with your drinks.” She leaves the table.
 

“What was that all about?” Kyle asks.
 

“She was at the show last night. She recognized me, and freaked out. I warned her Talon was coming so that she could freak out in the back. If she keeps this up, you,” I look at Talon, “owe her a picture and an autograph.”

He laughs, “she isn’t freaking out because of me angel.”
 

“Ha! You didn’t see her take a deep breath, she’s freakin out alright, and it has nothin to do with me.” I take a sip of my apple juice.
 

Talon laughs. “Alright.”
 

“Besides, she was going to come to the signing tomorrow after working here all day. I figure I’ll save her the time standing in line. She can have an exclusive with the ever elusive Talon Carver.”
 

He snorts. “We could get the rest of the guys here.”
 

I shake my head. “You do that and ninety percent of the mall will show up here. Just let it go.” I wink at him.
 

Before we can begin talking we all dive into our menus, making our choices. Amber returns with drinks and refills, and then comes back with our wings.

“I’m sorry I was a dick last night,” Talon says out of the blue, and I look at him. Pain is etched on his face. “I just, I kinda just freaked out.”