Holding Out For Skye (14 page)

“In that case, I’ll have to marry your uncle Austin,” Skye quipped.

Austin hooted with laughter and the rest of his family joined him in an echo of merriment. Cameron cocked his head, thinking it over.

“Over my dead body!” Cian’s eyes were alight with humor and something else that looked suspiciously like possession. No, her brain was probably turning to mush from too much stress.

“Well, Cameron says Holly’s going to marry you. What’s a girl to do? I have to marry Austin.” She gave him an innocent smile. Holly giggled at that.

“There’s no way you’re marrying Austin,” Cian disagreed adamantly.

“Normally, I’d be all for it, Skye, but Holly would kill me,” Austin grinned, his eyes twinkling.

“And you’d be right,” Holly retorted, then leaned over and dropped a kiss on his chin. He smiled back at her. They looked very much in love.

Another tug at her dress. She looked down at Cameron. He gave her a shy smile. “I like you. I’ll marry you.”

“Cameron, you’re definitely my son,” Robert observed, chuckling.

“Had any doubts?” Abigail demanded.

He grinned at her. “Why, no, honey. Just emphasizing how he’s his dad’s son.” Abigail
pfft
at him, but she was smiling.

Oh, you darling child
, Skye thought. She leaned down and kissed Cameron on his cheek. He blushed bright red. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I like you too, Cam. It’s a deal.”

“Great. First, my mom sides with you, my father and eldest brother dish me out, my older brother tries to steal you away, even my sister-in-law and the future one are taken with you and now, the last straw, my nephew proposes to you so blatantly in front of everyone. That’s it. I’m never bringing you home again,” Cian swore, his eyes gleaming with laughter.

Skye sent him an eye-roll as his family laughed at him, even Amber. She had never liked any of his girlfriends before but Cian hoped she and Skye would be friends.

His mother took Skye’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Next time you come visit, honey, leave the Grinch at home.”

Skye giggled.
She actually
giggled!
Happiness flooded Cian’s body as he watched her. He had seen the tender look on Skye’s face when she’d looked at Jenny and Cameron. Trust his niece and nephew to get to her heart. Skye didn’t know it but she’d just made an instant family. She would never be alone again.

He grabbed his nephew around the stomach and tickled him, much to Cam’s delighted giggles. “Trying to steal my girlfriend, eh?”

Cameron shrieked with laughter, trying to get away from his uncle as little Jennifer clapped her hands in delight for more, until their grandmother finally came to save him, announcing they’d better start on their lunch before the day was gone.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It was one of the best days of her life. Skye had never expected she’d have fun. But enjoy herself she did. Cian’s family was loving and funny. They completely put her at ease, not giving her time to feel nervous. Thank god she hadn’t dropped a spoon or fork or embarrassed herself in any other way.

The Hunter family seemed to be winding their way around her heart. Everyone had raved about her brownies, much to her embarrassment.

Hours later when they were leaving, Cian’s parents walked them to the door and hugged Cian. To her shock, Mrs. Hunter hugged her too and handed her a container with the potato salad that Skye had found delicious. Treated to a hug filled with such love and warmth left Skye speechless. She was firmly told to come visit again.

Skye was kept reeling over it all as Cian drove her home. She was tired but in a good way.

“Dollar for your thoughts.”

Startled, Skye blinked at him. “Dollar?”

“Well, last time I tried with a penny, it didn’t work out.”

Penny? Oh right, she remembered when they’d first arrived at his parents’ home, he’d asked her what she was thinking. A smile flitted to her mouth.

“Just thinking about the day. I like your family. They are so cool. How did you turn out the way you did?” Skye teased.

“Cute. Very cute. They like you too.”

Skye shook her head in amazement. “I don’t understand why they would.”

No, she wouldn’t
, Cian thought. She couldn’t see how special she was, but his family did. Just like he did.

“Except for the warts, you’re not so bad,” Cian ragged her, smiling as he pulled up to her apartment building.

“Har har. Why didn’t you tell me your brothers and their other halves would be there?” Skye drilled a hole into him with her eyes.

It only made him smile. “And of course, if I had, you would have cheerfully agreed to willingly show up.”

“No freaking way.”

“My point exactly.”

Skye scowled at being bested. Then she realized she should get out and head up to her apartment. She unbuckled her seat belt. Maybe if she moved fast… .

“Okay, I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Not so fast.” His fingers shackled her wrist before she could open her door.

Shoot.
Heat spread from her wrist up to her arm. Skye should have known he wouldn’t let her get away so easily. She turned to stare at him in resignation. “All right. One kiss.”

Cian grinned at her. “How generous of you, darling.”

He tugged her closer and was it normal that her pulse sped up in anticipation? His lips met hers in a tender, gentle kiss that filled her heart with warmth.

When he pulled away, Skye stared at him solemnly. “You don’t play fair.”

Cian laughed and stole another kiss. “I
never
play fair. I’ll walk you up.”

“No, you don’t have to.” He started to protest but Skye shook her head at him. “I had a wonderful time with your family. Thank you.”

She had no idea how those words got to him. It meant a lot that she liked his family.

“Just this once, I’ll let it go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Skye smiled at him and got out of the car. Then something struck her. She turned and walked backwards. “No calls tonight.”

“And you said
I
don’t play fair,” Cian called out.

She laughed and waved her fingers at him. Cian stared after her long after she got inside the building and disappeared from his sight. Then he took out his phone and stared at her photo. He wondered how he could get her to wear that dress again. Scheming on how to do just that, he turned on the car and drove away with a smile on his face.

THE PHONE RANG just as she got inside her apartment. Skye locked the door and rushed to her room to grab it. It was Kiera.

“Hey, you. Are you psychic or something?”

“Good, you’re finally home. How was lunch?”

Skye smiled as she pulled her shoes off and lay back on the bed. “It was okay.”

“Geez, it’s like pulling teeth with you. I need deets!”

Skye laughed and proceeded to tell her about the surprisingly fun day she had had. “I didn’t drop or spill anything so it was a good day.”

“You’d never have embarrassed yourself, Skye.”

“You weren’t there when I blurted out to his mother that Cian threatened to tie me up and gag me,” she reported wryly.

“You
what
? You didn’t.”

“Trust me, I did.”

Kiera’s laughter rang in her ears. “What did she say?”

“She laughed it off. Kiera, she was so nice and loving to me.”

“Why wouldn’t she be? You’re great.”

“And you’re prejudiced.”

“I’m not. So the kids stole your heart away.”

“Cam’s so cute and Jennifer’s like a little angel. You’d have loved them. But enough about me, what about you, how was the second date?”

Ash had taken Kiera out on a picnic at the Boston Public Garden.

“I thought you were too sleepy when I called you last night to remember I had a date with Ash.”

“Like I’d be too sleepy to forget
that
.”

“Right. Forgot who I was speaking to for a moment there.”

“You did not!” Skye exclaimed. “And you’re changing the subject.”

“Since when did you become so bossy?”

“I’ve
always
been bossy!”

Kiera laughed. “Yeah, that’s true. It was an amazing day. We got on the swan boats and it was one of the most romantic days I’ve ever had.”

“Deets! I need deets!”

Kiera laughed again. “Well, the weather was great. He spread out a blanket on the grass and we sat side by side.”

“Ooh, romance was in the air,” Skye chimed in.

Kiera giggled. “We had a lunch of prawns in this awesome sauce, sweet and sour fish with braided bread. The flavors exploded in my mouth. For dessert, he’d brought fresh juicy red strawberries with cream.”

“Oh. My. God. He brought you strawberries.” Skye loved strawberries.

“Yep. And after that we had our romantic glide on the water. Then we had a long walk holding hands. It was all so wonderful.”

“Wow. He went all out. How do you feel about him, Kiera?”

There was a pause then she said softly, “I like him more than I have ever liked anyone before.”

“That’s good,” Skye replied gently.

Although Skye didn’t much care about love and finding Prince Charming, Kiera wanted someone in her life. Someone to love and spend her life with.

Not necessarily Prince Charming—hell, he only existed in fairy tales anyway, plus she and Skye were both pragmatic women—but a good guy who would appreciate her, treat her well and truly love her. Such a guy hadn’t been found yet. But it looked like Ash could be the one. Skye was really happy for them both.

“I’m just going to take it slow and see how it goes,” Kiera said.

“That’s a good approach. By the way, in my sleep-starved stupor last night, I forgot to ask you—what did your mum think of Ash?”

Kiera and her mother lived together. Her father had died when she was a kid and her two older sisters were married and lived in California. So it was just her and her mom. Mrs. Carmichael was great. Whenever Skye had gone to visit Kiera, she’d been plied with motherly love and great food.

“She totally loved him. She said I’d better marry
this
guy or else she was disinheriting me and adopting
him
.”

Skye burst out laughing. “That sounds like her. So, you think Ash would be agreeable to a fast wedding, say, around this week?”

“Oh, stop it, you’re worse than her. It’s only been two dates!”

“Hey! I’m trying to help here. You said so yourself, two
memorable
dates. He’s a guy so fast weddings should appeal to him.”

“Skye!”

“I can hear you just fine, you know. You don’t have to shout.” It was so much fun ragging Kiera. But then she turned the tables on Skye.

“I wonder if Cian would have the same idea. Right, we would probably have to tie you up to get you to the chapel. I wonder if the minister would take a nod as a yes when it came time to say your vows since you’d be all gagged up.”

Skye gasped. “I can’t believe you just said that! You traitor!”

Kiera giggled. “Back at ya.”

Skye chuckled. “Okay, it’s a draw.”

Long after they finished talking, Skye just lay there thinking about the day.

She glanced at her phone as it announced the arrival of a text message. It was from Cian. Skye had said no calls so he’d found the loophole in that and texted instead. She couldn’t help smiling. It read:
Miss me, will u.

Her smile widened as she texted him:
Not likely. Remind
me who this is again.

Cian replied back instantly:
The Neanderthal. Gonna get u
back 4 that.

She laughed.
U wish. No text msgs either.

Her phone vibrated.
Man,
u’r so strict. Dream of me, will u?
His answer made her smile again.

Weird
dream, u mean.
Skye could almost see him grin at that, knowing he’d remember how when she’d woken up yesterday and seeing him, had immediately attributed his presence to being a weird dream.

Any dream of me is bound 2
B mind-blowing, O Ignorant one.

What a big ego u
have, O Arrogant one. Go away,
she sent back.

Ah, yes, let
u have ur beauty sleep, u mean, princess. Ok, ‘Night.
Sweet dreams. xoxo. P.S. See what an agreeable guy I
am?

Not about to let him have the last word, Skye texted:
Agreeable like hell. ‘Night. P.S. Scratch the xoxos.

That night, when Skye went to bed, she found out that she missed Cian’s arms around her. Missed
him
, she thought morosely. Damn him.

Something nagged at her, keeping her awake. She finally got up and went into the kitchen, where she’d left the vase of irises. She pressed the flowers to her face again, feeling a sense of wonder envelop her body.

She carried the vase to her room and set it on her nightstand. Then she got back into bed. An awed smile lit her face as she looked at them one more time before finally closing her eyes and drifting away.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Monday came around way too fast. One minute it was Sunday evening and the next, dreaded Monday was here again.
Why couldn’t Sundays last longer?
Skye thought to herself as she headed to the break room. She definitely needed a day between Saturday and Sunday.

Ash and Sarah were there, helping themselves to freshly made coffee. Yay, fresh coffee and she hadn’t had to make it too! Looked like the gods were smiling down on her today.

“Hey, Sarah.” Sarah was in Ash’s team and she had always been nice to Skye. A while back, she’d had a formatting problem for a database she’d been working on and Skye had helped her out.

“Hi, Skye,” Sarah said. “How’s it going?”

“I’m good. How about you?”

“Great. I heard about you and Cian.” Sarah smiled when Skye groaned.

“Not you too.”

“What can I say? You two are hot news.” Sarah raised her mug in a toast as she left.

Skye stared at Ash, who was grinning. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Skye said as way of greeting. “My boyfriend won’t like it.”

“How will we continue with our secret love affair then?”

Skye snorted and headed for the coffeemaker. “Careful. If he hears you, he might just have to take you down.”

“I’d like to see him try. So how’s it going? I hear you met the Hunter family already.”

Skye almost spewed coffee on the counter. “Where did you hear that?”

“It’s on the grapevine, of course.”

She scowled. “You gossip way too much.”

“Ouch, that hurt. I don’t gossip. I only listen in your interests.”

“Thank you very much?”

“That would have sounded more grateful if not for the question mark.”

Sipping at her coffee, Skye rolled her eyes at him.

“So,” he said, sidling closer to her, “Any news from Kiera?”

At his casual tone, Skye hid her smile behind her mug.
Casual, my ass.
So he wanted to know what Kiera had told her about him, did he? “Well, of course yes. She’s my best friend, you know. We keep in touch almost every other day.”

This time
he
rolled his eyes at her. “I know that. What did she say about me?”

“Why would she say anything about you?” she said with feigned innocence.

“Because she’s your best friend and she tells you everything?”

“Hello? Breach of confidentiality?”

“You could at least tell me if she likes me or not.”

“That falls under ‘breach of confidentiality’,” she retorted, enjoying herself.

Ash should have known. Skye was the fortress of secrets. Unbreakable, un-bribable. “Aren’t I your friend too?”

“She was my friend first,” she quipped.

“Cut a guy some slack, will you? Can’t you tell me if she likes me or if I suck at least? Did she have a good time on our date or did that suck too?”

Ash looked uncertain and vulnerable. Skye relented a bit. “I can only tell you that you definitely do
not
suck.”

His eyes lit up at that, like sunlight pouring through new leaves. “I think I’m in love with her,” he confessed softly.

Almost sputtering her coffee again, Skye managed, “
WHAT???
After only one date?”

“
Two
dates, actually. One was all it took.” Ash smiled affectionately at her. “Which of course, you would know nothing about, being the ignorant little hermit that you are,” he teased.

Skye glowered at him. “Ever heard the saying ‘you catch more flies with honey’? I try to be nice and all I get are insults. See if I ever tell you anything again.”

He chuckled. “And you told me so much.”

“I’m telling Kiera how you treat me,” Skye announced with a sniff. To her glee, a look of wariness slipped in his eyes.

“You wouldn’t do that,” he said cautiously.

“Watch me.” Skye gave him a wide toothy smile, licked her index finger and mimed swiping it down on an imaginary Scoreboard. Point for her.

Ash couldn’t help grinning as he watched her leave.

BACK IN HER office, Cian turned in his chair and looked at her.

“So, I want to meet Tyler,” he said conversationally.

“What?” She could only stare at him in bafflement. “Why? Do you work at annoying me?”

“Let me think about it.” He tapped a finger against his chin. Then he smiled charmingly at her. “Why, no, I believe it comes naturally.”

“Remember, Skye, you can’t kill him. We need him for the next three months to finish our workload. You can kill him after the new year,” Nick advised with a straight face. Thea giggled. Cian glared at him.

“You’re right, Nick. I’ll just have to wait until after that. But hey, silver lining—more time to plan the perfect way to kill him,” Skye remarked.

“Ha, very funny. You’d make great clowns but wait, no circus will have you,” Cian said sarcastically. “I still want to meet Tyler.” He stared pointedly at Skye.

“For god’s sake,
why
?” Skye threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

“You met
my
family. I want to meet
yours
. And don’t you tell me Tyler and Kiera aren’t your family.”

“Alright,” she accepted grudgingly. He had a point.

So that’s how she found herself on skype with Crystal on Friday evening, introducing Cian to her. Skye had met Crystal and Tyler at her old job when the three of them had been working in the finance department for the same company under a Hitler boss and with lousy pay grades.

Tyler had found his dream job in an audit firm and left. Then Crystal’s husband got a better job opportunity in Atlanta and they moved there with their eight-year old son. She and Skye talked on the phone and on skype whenever they could.

Since Cian was intent on meeting the few people she cared about, Crystal being on that list, he had to meet her too. Skye’d already told her about him. Crystal had been ecstatic. She had teased Skye mercilessly that she’d finally found her Prince Charming. Skye had denied it. Cian, Prince Charming? Seriously?

And of course, Crystal and Cian hit it off immediately. She could have easily left them to talk to each other. They wouldn’t have missed her. Was there anyone who was immune to his charm? Oh, right, her. But he wasn’t charming her into staying over again. She promptly booted him out after their skype date with Crystal.

Saturday, she met Tyler for their movie session at the Regal Cinema on Brookline Ave. Regal was playing
The Avengers
on the deluxe RPX screen for a reduced price. She had already watched the movie four months ago but hey, it was
The
Avengers
.

Of course, Cian had wanted to tag along. The only reason he didn’t was because he and Nick already had a game of basketball with their buddies. And doing God knows what else guys did when they got together.

“I didn’t know even you could have stars in your eyes,” Tyler was saying.

They were at the restaurant next door to the cinema,
UFood Grill
’s, where they were getting a late lunch after the movie. They had just finished their burgers and fries.

“I did not have stars in my eyes.”

“Could have fooled me. The way you were ogling
Iron Man
,
Thor
and that
Hawkeye
guy.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner are so hot.”

He made a gagging noise. “I think my burger’s trying to come out.”

“I’ll just ask someone to bring you a bucket,” she returned dryly. “You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous?
Me
? Of what?”

“The fact that they are so hot and they’ve got lines of girls after them.”

“Contrary to your delusional belief, I’ll have you know I have an awesome sexy girlfriend who dotes on me. I don’t need long lines of girls.”

“I’ll have to ask her what she thinks of you ogling Scarlett Johansson. You were practically drooling.”

“What can I say? She’s got so many ogling-worthy parts.”

“Oh my god. Talk about disgusting.” Skye made a face at him.

Ty snickered. “I’ll be sure to ask someone to bring
you
a bucket.”

“Why, thank you. Aren’t you glad now I got you to come?” Tyler wasn’t much for watching a movie again after he’d already watched it once.

“You threatened me with the silent treatment if I didn’t show up,” he reminded her. He’d only accompanied her because he knew she would go on her own if he or Kiera couldn’t make it. She’d done it before. He marveled at how she didn’t worry about going alone.

“I did not,” Skye denied, eyes twinkling.

“You did too. Jesus, watching
The
Avengers
once was enough. Only you would watch it over and over. Buddy, this lousy habit of yours is going to wreck our friendship,” Ty teased.

“Ha! As if you could get a best friend like me just like that, Mr. Auditor,” Skye retorted, snapping her fingers.

“Hmm, yeah that’s true. A lunatic like you is quite unique. Make that rare, very rare.” Ty laughed when she scowled and tried to punch him on the arm.

“Fancy meeting you here, darling,” Cian’s voice sounded from behind her.

Skye froze in her seat. No way. He couldn’t be here. He was supposed to be
playing basketball
! She was just hearing voices.

When he dropped a kiss on her cheek, she almost jumped a foot in the air. Hearing voices like hell! She turned around. Oh, he was real, all right.

He was grinning at her, that wicked look in his gray eyes that was becoming way too familiar to her. His basketball outfit consisted of a white T-shirt with ‘I AM AWESOME’ written on it and knee-length baggy red shorts. His hair looked even more spikier than usual. He was so handsome he stole her breath away. Not for the first time, Skye wondered why he was with her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Skye snapped, feeling unsettled.

“Well, the guys were hungry after the game so I got delegated to go hunt for food.”

“And of course you came to
UFood Grill
.”

“Of course. It was the nearest fast food joint,” Cian said innocently.

“Knowing I was here had nothing to do with your decision.”

“None whatsoever. Besides how in the world would I have known you were here?” Cian asked with a smile. Of course, it’d been an easy guess where she’d probably be. “Who’s your friend?”

As if he didn’t know. Skye turned to Tyler, who was watching them curiously. Once the words were out of her mouth, Ty was never going to let her forget this.

Tyler eyed Cian. “Yes, Skye, who’s your friend?”

Cian’s eyes glittered as he watched her, a knowing smile on his face. He crossed his arms and waited. So this was her buddy Tyler. The dude had dark hair, dark brown eyes and mocha-colored skin. The guy was even taller than he was and was built like an oak, with a lean muscular build.

Cian scowled at that thought and tried to stifle the jealousy that rose inside him as he wondered how the two of them had become friends. They looked as different as night and day. The guy dwarfed Skye by several inches.
Okay, he did too
, he admitted but in his case it was different. He
liked
dwarfing Skye. There were so many benefits to her being smaller than him.

“I, uh, that is…” Skye started only to stop.

When she kept silent, Tyler said, “Okay, out with it, Skywalker. I know that look.” Skywalker was his nickname for her, a play of names on her first name and his surname.

“What look?”

“The one that says that you did something you don’t want me to know but that will make me laugh my ass off.
That
look.” His mouth curved wryly, his eyes laughing at her. Cian snorted.

“You think you’re so cute,” she glared at Tyler.

“Actually, yes. So what did you do?” Tyler waited.

There was no way she was getting out of this. “Tyler Walker, meet Cian Hunter, my new… .” Her eyes swept to Cian’s as he waited for her to say the words. “My new… .”

“ . . . . boyfriend.”

Tyler’s eyes widened as he stared from her to Cian. “Come again?”

“Cian’s my… boyfriend,” Skye iterated.

“Seriously?”

Skye nodded. “Yes.”

She was dating her nemesis? Tyler couldn’t quite believe it. Hell, she was clueless when it came to dating. Not to mention all the times she’d ranted about Cian Hunter, excuse me, Demon King, Hellspawn. What else had she called him? But the dismay on her face proved the truth of her statement. He couldn’t help it—he burst out laughing.

He stopped for a few seconds, took one look at her stony face and started all over again.

Cian grinned and pulling out a chair, sat next to her, so close his leg brushed against hers. Way too close. He was doing it again, invading her personal space. Skye glowered at him as she waited for Tyler’s hilarity to end. This was like the Kiera episode all over again when she’d first told her about Cian and her dating. She didn’t understand why they found it so funny.
She
didn’t.

“Are you done yet?” she hissed at him.

That only caused him to start again. He pointed at her, then at Cian, and burst into fresh peals of mirth. He laughed so hard tears gathered at the corner of his eyes.

Skye’s eyes narrowed in retribution. He was supposed to be on her side and he was laughing at her? Much to Cian’s delight, she grabbed some tissues, and handed them to Tyler, a sad look on her face. She said loudly, “You poor thing. Losing someone like that. No wonder you’ve lost your mind. There, there.” She patted his hand.

Cian managed not to laugh, amazed at yet another facet of her personality.

People turned to stare at them, and they could hear whispers of “the poor dear”, “how sad”, “how horrible” going around. Tyler finally stopped laughing. “Smartass,” he muttered, as he pretended to assume a sad face and wipe away his tears.

She stared at him stonily. “I don’t get why you’d find this so funny.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Let me think about it, why indeed? The fact that you have a boyfriend or that he happens to be your nemesis, THE ABOMINATION? Why on earth wouldn’t I find that funny?”