Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (18 page)

“I love you,” I whispered against his damp lips. I was fairly certain we had just experienced some of those new bonded-male-emotions that
we needed to grow accustomed to, and he needed to gain control of. And I needed to be more careful when it came to certain things. Like…joking about other men. That was obviously a no-no.

He gazed down at me, his hands still holding my face, his breath ragged, his green eyes hungry for me.

“Take me shopping?” I quietly said as I looked up into his barely controlled stare. “Buy me something pretty?” I asked with a smile.

He smiled back, his famous crooked grin. Dropping his hands, he gently pressed his lips to mine.

A few minutes later, we were heading out the door, hand in hand, everything back to normal.
Phew!

After the Challenger
was brought around to the front of the hotel for us, we headed to the Downtown Sacramento Plaza.

We parked in the mall’s enclosed parking structure and walked the rest of the way.

The mall’s walkways were open to the elements, which I found rather interesting. Our mall was enclosed and all one level. This mall was two levels and about three times the size of the one back home.

Our mall was boring; this mall was pretty cool, especially
since we could see the sun setting and all the fancy lights turning on along the walkways. Being able to see the night sky settling in while shopping was definitely something else.

We walked around for a while, checking out different stores until we found
the
shop. It was a cute little store on the second level that was shoved between two large, well-known stores.

The shop was locally owned, reasonably priced, and had the coolest stuff. And, we were the only customers in the store. This made for a more relaxing shopping experience. Especially since the one employee working was not intrusive. I liked that
—being able to shop without being bothered.

While searching for something that would be dressy enough for dinner at the hotel, I found a couple of tops that interested me. I had the hangers hanging from my arm as I moved around a rack close to the front counter. From her station at the register, the girl let me know the dressing rooms were in the back, and to let her know if I needed anything. She flashed a friendly smile, but her eyes were quick to slide past me to my boyfriend who was perusing one of the racks a couple away from me. I tried really hard not to glare at her.

I was distracted by the hair accessories when Oliver called me over. He was toward the back of the store at a rack of dresses. I found it amusing that he was shopping for clothes with me. I imagined he had been doing such a thing his entire life, shopping with girls that is. First Olivia, then Hayden, and now me.

Smiling at how awesome my boyfriend was, I
weaved my way through the crowded racks.

“How about this
?” he asked, pulling a black dress from between several others dresses as I reached him.

I shrugged. “I’ll try it on,” I said. It seemed a little f
ormal, but thinking about what some of the women back at the hotel were wearing, it was probably perfect. Oliver would know…

I headed to the dressing room with the dress Oliver had picked and the two tops that I
’d found.

Closing the fabric dressing room curtain, I hung my items on one of the hooks. I tried the tops first. One of them totally sucked, and the other was awesome. I would be having it. Then I dropped my jeans to the floor and slipped the dress on. It was silky, hit just above my knees, had a decorative ribbon that tied at the side of my waist, and it fit me perfectly. It was as if it had been made for me.

I stared at my reflection, amazed at how perfectly the dress fit me. I turned in every direction, just knowing I would find a flaw. I didn’t. It truly was perfect.

Another point to Oliver.

How the heck could he have known the dress would be perfect? Was it a lucky guess?

I turned again, admiring my reflection. Well, mostly admiring the dress. Whatever it was, luck or not, I was impressed.

Oliver was leaning with his shoulder against the entrance to the dressing rooms when I left my stall. He had one foot crossed over the other and his arms were folded. His eyes shifted to focus on me and he straightened.

“Did it fit?” he asked.

I nodded.

A grin spread across his face like he was proud of himself. As well he should be, but for some reason I felt nervous. Excited nervous. Oliver and I had never gotten dressed up together. Well, as long as you didn’t count my aunt’s funeral… Anyway, I was excited to see what the night had in store.

Before we left, I found a pair of shoes to go with my new dress. They were a pair of black, strappy heels that weren’t too high. They would look perfect with the dress.

“You okay?” Oliver asked, some concern to his tone, as we headed back to the car.

Once again, I nodded.

He squeezed my hand, but he did not pry even though he could feel my nerves.

Lace Panties, a Pretty Dress, and a Headache

Back at the hotel, we began getting ready for dinner with Levi. Oliver had something to wear. Apparently, he kept dress clothes in the trunk of his car. This made me wonder how many fancy dinners he had attended before his time with me—during his seventeen years of being part of the Brookehaven Vampire coven.

I locked myself in the bathroom once Oliver was finished primping himself. He
’d applied something to his hair to control the waves, but it wasn’t slicked back like his brother’s sometimes was; it was just toned down, and amazing, as usual.

I washed my face, then I applied a fresh coat of mascara and added a little blush. I touched-up my hair. I let
it hang loose, and it fell almost to my waist with its usual large curls at the end.

I stripped out of my clothes and put on a pair of black lace panties and a matching bra. I gave my toes a quick coat of the dark red nail polish that
I’d grabbed at the last minute while Oliver was paying at the shop. I wouldn’t let him pay for the top I’d picked out or the polish. He didn’t like it, but he finally caved when he noticed that our quiet bickering was clearly making the cashier uncomfortable.

Once my toes were dry, I slipped my new dress
on. The zipper was on the side, under one of the arms, and I was thankful the straps were thick enough to hide my bra straps. I tied the decorative bow at the side, and I brushed out the skirt. Then I pulled my new shoes from their box.

Once I had on my heels and had buckled them, I took a look in the bathroom’s full length mirror. I still couldn’t believe how perfectly the dress fit me, or
how perfect Oliver’s eye had been to pick it out.

I made sure the clasp to my birthday necklace was behind my neck, and I centered the shimmery
, star moonstone where it belonged on my chest. I then stared at my refection for a long while. It had been so long since I’d worn anything other than jeans. It felt good to get dressed-up. The Band-Aid on my hand kind of took away from the fancy, but the bandage looked a whole lot better than what was underneath.

I still hadn’t shaken
the nervous feeling, and as I exited the bathroom, my tummy full of butterflies came to life when I saw Oliver. He was on the perfectly made bed when I opened the bathroom door. He was lying back, holding his phone over him to see the screen. He looked over at me when the door opened, and he sat up, slowly, dropping his phone on the bed beside him. He was wearing a dark gray tie that had angled, lighter gray stripes and a satin shimmer. His dark gray dress shirt was tucked into his black pants. His black suit jacket was lying beside him on the bed.

He stood, a look of awe on his face.

I realized then that this was what was causing the nervousness—the dinner, the dressing up, the being a part of Oliver’s life outside of “Treeville.” It was a lot, and it was exciting.

“Wow, Laney. You’re breathtaking,” he said softly.

I shifted my weight on heels I wasn’t accustomed to.

He crossed the distance between us. As he did so, I noticed he was wearing his Converse. I laughed lightly when I saw them.

He looked down at his feet, and then back up at me and smiled. “Yeah, I guess I forgot to replace my dress shoes. I ruined my other pair the last time Levi was in town.” He flashed me a bashful grin.

I gave him a questioning look in response.

He lightly shook his head. “You don’t want to know,” he said. He smiled again and pulled me into his arms. “I don’t think I tell you enough how beautiful you are,” his voice was just above a whisper and right near my ear.

My body tingled. “You look pretty nice yourself,” I said, tugging at his tie.

His deep-green eyes met mine, the smile fading from his lips. His focus was suddenly on my mouth.

“We should go,” I breathed. I knew if his lips made contact with mine, we would be skipping dinner and going straight to “dessert.”

“Yeah,” he breathed in response. Yet his grip around my waist tightened. “I’m not sure I can do this, Laney,” his voice was so quiet, I could hardly hear him. His emerald eyes locked onto mine. “I’m not sure I’m ready to have others looking at you.”

“You’re being silly,” I quietly told him. I gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn’t seem to help.

Sure, we had been around a few others since we had bonded, but I guess this was different, especially considering the amount of skin I was showing. But he had picked out the dress. Not that I was going to bring that up.

My smile faded. “I tell you what, if you feel like you’re having a hard time staying in control of your emotions, you tell me. Whisper it to me, and we will leave. Okay?”

He took a steadying breath. “I don’t know, Laney.” He sounded apprehensive.

I ran a finger down the buttons of his shirt. With my lips just a whisper away from his, I said, “Just focus on me. Don’t look at anyone else in the room.”

He smirked. “Easier said than done. It’s my job to watch for danger,” his voice was a little steadier.

“Fine,” I said quietly. I rose up higher on my toes and placed my lips right near his ear. His arms tightened around me. “If you make it through tonight with your emotions in check,
and without incident, I will let you take this dress off of me when we get back to the room.” I lowered myself back down onto my heels. My eyes met his. He looked more than excited. “And everything under it,” I added.

A playful grin picked at his lips. He made to kiss me, but I stepped back, breaking free of his grip.

“Not yet,” I told him, my voice low with a seductive hint to it. “If your focus is on wanting to kiss me, you may have a better chance of making it through tonight.”

“No,” he said, stepping closer, his eyes leveling with mine. His expression was serious.

I blinked at him. “No?”

He shook his head, his voice becoming ragged with emotion as he said, “One kiss, to get me through the night.”

“Okay,” I said, “but in the hall. I did not get all dressed up for nothing.” As I walked away, I flashed him a smile over my shoulder.

After Oliver slipped his jacket on, we stepped out into the hall to wait for Levi. Oliver closed the door to our room, then he took my arm. From behind me, he whispered into my ear, “It wouldn’t be for nothing.”

His cool breath on my skin, and the meaning of his words, sent a shiver through my entire body. I looked over my shoulder, and he smirked at me all sexy-like.

I turned to him. “One kiss,” I
said.

He leaned in, his lips brushing mine.

“Make it count,” I breathed, my body already yearning for his.

I could see his focus locked on my lips. “Oh, I will,” he breathed. He gently backed me against the wall. He placed one hand above my shoulder while the other hand found my waist. His eyes flicked to mine for a
split second, then they were back on my lips. “Laney,” he whispered.

“Uh-huh?” I murmured. I wasn’t sure I would
make it through the evening.

His eyes were back on mine. “Levi is already downstairs. We should go.” He stepped away from me and headed toward the elevator.

I thought I might scream. “You suck,” I said under my breath as I stared after him.

“Me?” he said, laughter in his tone as he glanced back at me. “You’re the one who said only one kiss. And in the hall!”

Slightly…ticked, I followed him. Ooh, he was going to be sorry.

As we
waited for the elevator, I said, “You are
so
going to pay.”

The elevator dinged, the doors slid open
, and we stepped inside the empty elevator.

He was chuckling lightly as he pressed the numbers and slid his room key. The doors closed, and he smiled over at me.

“You are going to earn taking this dress off of me,” I said, giving him a dirty look.

He smirked and nodded at me, his hands folded in front of him. He looked up and watched the numbers change as the floors passed. I rolled my eyes. He laughed quietly.