Distraction (34 page)

"I gotta say," he started, and crossed his arms
over his chest, "I didn
'
t think you
'
d be so accommodating."

I laughed. "Nice is my middle name. Hey, I
'
ve gotta catch
Ginger before she leaves, but I
'
ll see ya at eight."

"See ya," he said, and walked away.

I was turning into one of those pathetic lovesick idiots.
Before I had time to reconsider, I ran out the door to find Ginger. I caught
her just as she was sliding into her car and gave a yell.

"You know, I was going to bid on you, but your friend
had more money than me."
Ginger pouted.

"I
'
ve gotta proposition for you." I hated the half-grin on
her face. "I know Elle didn
'
t mean to bid on me, and so I thought Eric and I could
switch."

"I
'
m listening," she said, tilting her head.

"I
'
m picking Elle up at nine and plan to drive her to a building
my dad owns. I thought we could go on a date, but change it for tomorrow?"

I could tell I was losing her, so I sucked air and went for
it. "Yeah, I thought if we waited until tomorrow night, we
'
d have more time
to be together."
I gave her my
usual panty-dropping smile and followed it up with a wink.
Her lashes fluttered and she giggled. Yep, putty.

"Fine, but you better have something good planned for
us."

"Just wait and see," I said, pulling shit out of my
ass. It was all for Elle, right?

* * *

I stepped back and looked at the white lilies in the vase.
They were Elle
'
s favorite. The candles and clear lights I
'
d hung around
the room looked pretty good. She would love everything. Just as I pictured her
beautiful face under the glow, Green started talking–about Elle. Fuck.

"I know you
'
re close to Elle, and obviously you know her better than I
do." He waved his hand at the white lilies I had him pick up. "But I
want you to know how much she means to me."

I wanted to throat punch him.

"I mean, I guess what I
'
m trying to say
is, thanks. I really want to make her happy."

I worked hard not to knock him the fuck out. I thought about
Elle, and how much she meant to me, and I couldn't
do it
–hit him, I
mean.

"Yeah. So looks like everything is set. I better get
going."

"I
'
ll see you in a bit."

* * *

On the way to Elle
'
s place, my mood jumped from pissed
to hopeful. With all the fucked up shit in my head, I wondered if schizophrenia
ran in the family. I convinced myself this was all some sort of punishment for
not going after what I wanted a long time ago. My situation fucking blew.
Thinking about the drunken bliss from kissing her, or the feel of her in my
arms, tamed my anxious mood.

Right before nine, I parked in Elle
'
s driveway,
killed the engine, but didn
'
t get out. I needed an extra minute before I drove her to be
with someone else. I noticed the blinds were open, and then Elle walked into
view.

She hadn
'
t seen me, so I continued to sit and watch her. She had on a
plain shirt and a pair of jeans. No makeup, but she didn
'
t need it. She
was beautiful without that shit.

Elle paced back and forth across the room. In a show of nervous
energy, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. I glanced at my watch.
Nine o
'
clock. Time to get the show on the road.

Elle

By the time nine o
'
clock rolled around, my entire body
felt tight. I didn
'
t know if I wanted Tristan to show or not. What would we talk
about? Surely we couldn't talk about the kiss? Right?

My thoughts turned from crazy, to excited, and then back to
crazy in less than a minute. Then the doorbell rang, and ready or not, I walked
to my front door to go on a date with Tristan.

"Hey," I said, not fully looking at him when I
opened the door.

"You need to change," he said, sounding serious.

I looked down at my clothes and then back up, fully drinking
him in. He wore a dark suit with a deep, purple satin tie. I remembered the tie
well. I helped him pick it out for our high school graduation. The color made
it hard not to get lost in his already amazing brown eyes. How was it possible
he looked even better tonight than he did back then?

His shoulders were broader from working out. His cheekbones
more pronounced from age and his hair had grown longer, which made his eyes
look like warm, liquid honey. To sum him up, he looked mouth-watering. As in,
all I wanted to do was...never mind.

"Where are you taking me?" I remained still, afraid
if I moved I'd only lean closer to breathe him in or to press my lips
against...
Shit, Elle, get yourself together!
"
I don'
t think I have
anything nice to match you," I settled.

Tristan laughed, deep and breathy, sending goose bumps along
my arms.

"I bet I could find something for you." He pushed
past me. I followed him to my room where he went straight to my closet.

"I
'
m perfectly capable of picking out my own clothes." He
ignored me so I sat on my bed waiting to see what he came up with. I was
actually kind of curious.

"Here, wear this." He walked out holding the hunter
green formal I wore to my senior prom. I remembered the way Tristan’s eyes lit
up when I walked into the building with Alyssa. That didn
'
t help, and my
pulse began to race.

"I
'
m not sure if that still fits." I lied, but I was
grasping at straws.

"Only one way to find out," he said, holding the
dress out to me.

"Fine." I intended to jerk the dress away. My
intentions obviously didn't agree. In the process, my fingers brushed over his
hand, and I froze. "Um, I
'
ll change now. Thanks." My cheeks flamed.

He leaned forward, entirely too close for me to think 
clearly. “I
’
ll wait for you in the living room," he said with a
seductive edge in his voice.

When he closed the door behind him, I sank to my bed. I didn
'
t know what to
do, or how to act. This awkwardness was new ground for us, but without further
debate, I took off my comfy, safe clothes and traded them for the silk dress.

I stepped into a pair of silver heels, though refused to look
in the mirror. I didn
'
t need the added stress of seeing what I looked like, but
when I walked into the living room, I realized I didn
'
t need the
mirror. Tristan
'
s awestruck expression showed it all, though he quickly
recovered.

"Not bad, Spud." He attempted to not act bothered,
but I could hear a slight drop in his voice, which overruled his poor efforts
of concealing his thoughts.

"Thanks. So, are you ready to head out?" I chewed
on my bottom lip to suppress my grin.

He cleared his throat. "Yep."

* * *

Aside from the radio, we drove in silence. The edginess just
about killed me, and the neighborhood we were in didn
'
t help much.

"Where are we going?" I asked, noticing we were
surrounded by business buildings. No restaurants around.

"You
'
ll see," he said, refusing to elaborate. God, he
frustrated me. Tristan cleared his throat and turned down the radio. Great.
"So, how have you been?" He cut his eyes to me then back to the road.

"Good, I guess. Classes are going okay and work’s been
pretty busy. I can
'
t wait for Thanksgiving, though. I
'
m ready for a
break. How about you?"

"Busy, classes are okay. Here we are," he
announced, turning into a garage and parked.

"Is this one of your dad
'
s buildings?"

"Yep," he said and got out. Before I had a chance
to open my door, he was there holding it open for me.

"Follow me."

"Tristan," I complained, refusing to budge.

"You
'
re not chicken are ya, Spud?" Tristan
'
s teasing tone
and playful grin put me at ease.

"Fine," I said, unable to hold back my smile.

In the elevator, he hit the floor to the top, and the doors
closed. In the car with air circulating, I could breathe easily, but I couldn't
feel any airflow in the elevator, which made me all too aware of how good he
smelled.
I tried to not to breathe.

"Here we are." As soon as Tristan held the door
open, I slowly released my held breath.

When I stepped out, my heart sputtered. Clear lights hung
everywhere, and in the distance, shadows flickered. I caught a faint fragrance,
but couldn't place the exact scent.

"Tristan, this is amazing." I turned to face him.
His lips curved into a sweet, pleased smile, but his eyes seemed morose.

"There
'
s more, come on." This time I followed without question.
When we rounded the corner, Eric stood in the distance holding a single white
lily. My favorite.

"
Hey, beautiful.
" Eric walked toward us.

I looked at Tristan, stunned.

"You did this," I paused. "F
or me?
" I watched
Tristan
'
s expression carefully. He leaned forward. His dark brown
hair fell near his eyes and under the simple lighting from the candles, they
glowed. Everything looked beautiful and magical, and he
'
d done all this
for me and Eric?

"For you," he whispered.

"
Thanks, Daniels.
" I jumped, so lost in what Tristan had done I'd
forgotten about Eric. "Elle, you look amazing." I focused on Eric. He
reached to hold my clammy hands in his. He wore a black tux with a hunter green
tie. Had Tristan coordinated our clothes, too?

"Thanks. You look great, too." Eric smiled and then
surprised me with a kiss. When he pulled back, my face felt warm.

"Yeah, Tristan set everything up."

On cue, Tristan cleared his throat, stepping away from us.

"Yeah. You two enjoy the evening. Be sure to lock up
before you leave." He turned to leave and I couldn't do anything but
stare, wondering if he
'
d given up the idea of us ever being together. Selfish or
not, my heart tore at the thought. Panicked, I quickly turned to Eric.

“Hey, I
'
m gonna walk Tristan out." My throat felt dry.

Eric nodded. When he let me go, I ran, barely slipping inside
the elevator before the doors closed.

"Hey.
"
My insides knotted.

"Hey,
"
he said, apprehensively.

"You did all this for me? I don
'
t
understand?
"

Tristan turned and stepped in front of me. He ushered me back
until there was nowhere left to go. My back pressed against the cold, metal
wall, but Tristan's broad chest warmed me. He lifted his hand, and with the
pads of his fingers, softly brushed them across my cheek.

The sweet, tender gesture tore me to pieces. My throat ached,
fighting back the sudden sting of tears.

"
Elle, I'
m not going anywhere. I...I'm here, okay."

Keeping his eyes locked with mine, he inched even closer. His
hot, minty breath hovered over my lips, causing an intense rush of fire to
spread over my skin. My entire body trembled. A sudden urge to shorten the
already small distance between us turned into an overwhelming need. I squeezed
my hands into fists and just as I felt my resolve quickly slipping further
away, his soft lips brushed over mine. The feathery kiss ended all too soon.
The elevator door opened and he backed over the threshold.

I tried to make my lungs work, but my chest felt tight, like
a plastic bag had been sealed around them. I just...I couldn't catch a good
breath. I had to look away. With a shaking hand, I hit the button to take me
back to the top. There was a ding sound, and then the doors slowly began to
close. The act seemed to take forever, making me wonder if he
'
d gone. Hesitantly,
I looked ahead. Tristan hadn
'
t left. He continued to watch me. Our gazes met. I wanted to
shift my eyes from his saddened ones, but couldn’t.