Holding Out For Skye (5 page)

“I knew you were a moron but I didn’t know you were that big of one or that you could be such a jerk.” Then with a rare flash of anger, Nick went on, “
You idiot!
Why did you do that for? Are you trying to push her even farther away? Is that what you want? Do you want her to
hate
you?”

Cian was surprised by the anger in Nick’s voice. No, he didn’t want Skye to hate him. He wanted her to…

A flash of understanding jolted through him.
Son of a bitch.
He wanted her to
love
him. The knowledge hit him with the impact of a freight train.

No,
no
way
. He didn’t want Skye to love him. He didn’t love her. He didn’t fall in love. Period. That just didn’t happen to him. He hadn’t been in love with Vanessa. For a guy who had just found out his girlfriend had been two-timing him, he sure didn’t feel all that broken-hearted. In fact, he was already way over her. She’d just been another name in a long line of girls.

He couldn’t have fallen in love with Skye. Besides they couldn’t even stand each other. Nah, no way was he in love with her.

“No way,” Cian said quickly. “I’m not in love with her. We can’t even
stand
each other.”

Nick lifted a brow. “I didn’t say you were in love with her. Are you?”

Cian froze. Thea looked back and forth between them. “Are you guys saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Ask the moron here.” Nick pointed at Cian.

“I’m not in love with her,” Cian reiterated.

“Okay. Why do you always watch her then?”

“I do not!” Cian vehemently denied.

“You do too.”

“Do not.”

“Actually, you do,” Thea put in.

Cian scowled at them. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Nick decided to try a different track. “So tell me this, genius, what’s her favorite food, color, pastime, movie and music band?”

“Pizza and chocolate, blue, reading books and watching movies,
Underworld
, One Republic,” Cian listed without even thinking about it. Then he frowned. “Wait. That doesn’t prove anything. You guys knew that too.”

“Yeah, but we’d have to
think
about it. You just rattled them off,” Nick specified. “Okay, what do you know about her family?”

“She doesn’t have one. She was brought up in an orphanage.”

Nick and Thea stared at him in shock. They were silent for quite a while, thinking of Skye growing up all alone in an orphanage.

“What?” Cian looked at them in question.

“Even we didn’t know that,” Thea murmured.

“How did you find out?” Nick’s eyes were filled with soft pity. So, Skye was all alone.

“I heard her and Ash talking once.” Cian remembered the shock and sympathy he’d felt when he’d heard Skye tell Ash that. Ash, to his credit, hadn’t shown any of the pity he must have been feeling too. For all that Cian didn’t like Ash much, he had proven to be a very good friend to Skye.

“You mean, you were eavesdropping on them,” Nick corrected.

“I was not,” Cian denied, even though he had been.

“Okay fine. You’re right. You don’t love her. I mean, look at her. How could you love someone like her?”

Cian glared at Nick. “What’s wrong with her?”

Thea hid her smile at Nick’s tactics. He was purposely trying to get Cian angry by saying bad things about Skye.

“Well, you know. She’s unfriendly, rude, sarcastic, downright cold when it suits her and she doesn’t care much about people. She’s not your type. She’s not even beautiful. And you always go for the beautiful ones.”

Cian’s glare turned icy. “That’s not true. How can you say such things about her, Nick? She’s unfriendly and sarcastic because she thinks she won’t be hurt if she keeps people at a distance. She
is
beautiful. And she’s not cold. She cares. She cares too damn much!” Cian was practically shouting by now.

Nick smiled smugly. “And you know that, how?”

“I—” Cian blinked. “You tricked me.”

“No. I was just checking your reaction. You wouldn’t be so angry if you didn’t care about her.”

Cian shrugged, feeling normal again. Back in safe territory. “I do care about her. She’s my friend. Even if we can’t stand each other,” he added as an afterthought.

Even Thea was beginning to think Cian was only trying to convince himself.

Nick felt like banging his head on the table. Both Cian and Skye were so pig-headed! No wonder they were perfect for each other. They’d probably figure out they had feelings for each other only if something drastic happened or when they were too old to do anything about it.

If Cian grasped it first, they would have a chance of getting together. Skye would fight her feelings for him because, come on, she was contradictory that way. Cian, at least, after the shock wore off, would accept his feelings and do
something
about it. But no, his moronic best friend was in denial. Then inspiration struck. He cheered up. This
had
to work.

“Okay. Fine. You win.” Nick waited a beat, munched on his pizza. “Ash was telling me the other day he heard there’s going to be an
Underworld
movie marathon for Halloween, I think. Do you guys want to go? He wants to surprise Skye with the movie tickets.”

Ashton Daniels was a co-worker of theirs. He was in a different team and he looked a lot like the famous actor Ian Somerhalder who played Damon in the hit TV show,
The
Vampire Diaries
that most girls were crazy about including Skye and Thea. However, they were both more down-to-earth fans. Ash’s eyes were green instead of the actor’s blue ones but his face bore such a striking resemblance to him, he could easily be mistaken for him. Ash was often chased by girls because of his looks and he usually took advantage of it.

Two months ago, Skye and Ash had somehow become friends when she helped a teammate of his, Sarah Jameson over something.

Nick didn’t know the details of it—Skye was pretty much close-mouthed about other people’s business, not that he wanted to know—but Ash and Skye had hit it off over a discussion about movies, probably because she was an oddity among other girls in that she loved action-packed movies, what Cian called
guy
movies, like
The Transporter, Die Hard
,
Transformers
,
The Bourne
Trilogy
. Skye and Ash’d been thick as glue ever since then. And Cian didn’t like it. Oh, he didn’t like it at all. Ash was a touchy subject with Cian.

At the thought of Ash taking Skye to the movies, Cian saw red. “Over my dead body,” he replied viciously.

If anyone was taking Skye to the movies, it would be him, not that pretty-boy-Damon-lookalike.

It would be him.
Cian went still. Thoughts of Ash and Skye together went through his head. Both of them holding hands like he’d held hers today. Sitting in a dark movie theatre. Ash making a move on Skye. Ash with his hands on Skye. At those images, he was so filled with fury, he could barely sit still.

“Why is that, Cian?” Nick asked in a soft tone, a knowing look in his eyes. Thea glanced at him in alarm. Cian was looking pretty mad to her. “What do you care anyway if she goes out with Ash or not? They’d make a great couple. They have a lot in common.”

“
Because I love her!
” Cian snapped, his furious gaze raking over Nick, who smiled with satisfaction. Then what he had just said aloud hit him like a ton of bricks. His eyes went wide with shock.

He loved Skye.

“Holy shit.” When the hell had that happened?
How
the hell had it happened?

She’s the one I want.

Cian recalled the conviction he’d felt when he’d said those words. How being near her turned his brain to jelly. How a simple touch like holding her hand, had sparks flying between them. How she always made him laugh.

He couldn’t deny she made his life fun—she made him
happy
. If not for her, he’d probably still be with Vanessa or some other frivolous girl. Someone who didn’t rev him up with her snide comments. Who didn’t make him laugh out loud with delight.

He was in love with Skye.

Nick was watching him steadily. “It’s finally sinking in, isn’t it? It took the thought of losing Skye to Ash for you to decipher what you feel for her. Now that you’re free to
do
something about it, to get her to at least
like
you, you had to go and fuck it up, didn’t you?”

“Bloody hell. Couldn’t you have told me?”

“Of course, you would have believed me. Right after laughing your ass off?”

Nick was right. If anyone had told Cian six months ago that he would fall in love with prickly Skye Fletcher, he would have laughed in their face. “How long have you known?”

“For awhile now. You always get this dopey look on your face when you’re looking at her, man,” Nick teased. He’d discovered with some surprise that his best friend enjoyed sharing verbal blows with Skye just a tad too much. In fact, he’d never seen him laugh as much as he did around Skye.

Nick had finally come to the conclusion that Cian had feelings for her. Cian had never really cared for any woman. He’d always had women falling all over themselves for him. It had made him jaded. He needed someone like Skye. Someone who made him work for her affections.

“I do not!” Cian denied, aghast. Did he?

“Okay, I’ll give you that. You just have all those chocolate bars in your drawer because you’ve suddenly developed a chocolate fetish. Not to mention, you’re always staring at Skye’s lips probably because you want to shove those same chocolates down her throat and choke her coz she annoys you so much. Right, buddy?”

“You’ve got chocolates in your drawer? And you haven’t shared even one with me?” Thea teased.

Cian just sent her a bland stare. He swore under his breath. Nick sure could be a smug bastard when he wanted to. He hadn’t known the guy had figured out that much. “Give me a break, will you? I’m still in shock.”

“So snap the hell out of it,” Nick ordered. “You know what Skye is like. The more time you take, the harder it will be to win her over. Unless you still have doubts over your feelings for her?”

Cian grimaced. “Hell, no. I’m totally convinced on that front.”

“What are you going to do?” Thea asked gently.

“First, I need to apologize for being such a jerk. And she barely ate.” Guilt pricked at him. “You guys finish eating, I’ll have some food packed for me and Skye and go find her.”

Separating some slices of pizza for him and Skye, he called the waiter over and got him to wrap it up. He also got two bottles of water to go. With his packed lunch in hand, he started to leave.

“Try not to muddle things even more,” Nick advised.

“Did you make up that part about Ash and Skye?” Cian prodded him.

“Actually, no. They
are
friends, you know? Friends go to the movies all the time. And she really cares about him. So be careful about badmouthing him in front of her. It won’t earn you any points.”

Cian glowered at him. Thea elbowed Nick and said to Cian, “Don’t mind him, Cian. You know he’s just worried about her. Good luck.”

“Thanks, Thea.” Turning back to Nick, he mused aloud, “Now I understand why it always bugged me that you’re so close to Skye too. Better keep a respectable distance from her from now on, buddy, or I’ll be forced to take action.”

Nick’s jaw dropped. “What the—”

Thea giggled. Cian winked at her.

“You… son of a… come back here.” Nick glared at him.

Cian just waggled his fingers over his shoulder as he left.

Thea giggled. Nick shot her a glance. “I see you’re having fun at my expense.”

“I can’t help it. He got you back.”

Nick chuckled. “That he did. I hope they straighten things out.”

“They will, don’t worry. You know that Cian wasn’t trying to hurt her. He was just yanking her chain. But he’ll be careful now. He won’t risk pushing her away.”

Nick stared after Cian. “Let’s hope so.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Outside the restaurant, Cian stopped for a moment, trying to figure out where to search for Skye first. She had probably headed straight for the waterfront. She loved the ocean. Now that he finally knew the truth, that he was in love with her, he realized just how much he knew about her, just how
well
he knew her.

The waterfront was a ten-minute walk from the restaurant. Cian started walking, wondering whether he had just mucked up things beyond repair between him and Skye. What if she refused to speak to him ever again? He could probably kiss his chance to ever make her fall in love with him goodbye.

Love for her had snuck up on him. Hell, he had never been in love before, so how could he know? Infatuated yes, in lust yes, but never in love. When had he fallen in love with her? Was it that first time he had seen her? What was it about her that had caught his attention?

That one college year, even before Vanessa had told him how Skye’d told her to shut up in one of the classes they’d taken together, something about Skye had mesmerized him. He remembered the first time he’d seen her—she’d been sitting in the back, two seats behind him, her head bent over a book. She’d always had her head in a book.

Cian didn’t know why he had turned around. Something had made him. She’d looked up as if she’d sensed him watching her—even then, she’d always sensed his scrutiny—and he had automatically flashed a smile at her. She, instead of smiling back, had frowned at him as if he were disturbing her and bent her head over her book again. Her reaction had intrigued him instead of dismissing her from his mind.

He had been fascinated by her kick-ass attitude and her stay-away-from-me aura. She had just gotten under his skin and stayed there. He had tried to approach her several times but she’d always shot him down. Somehow though he’d been determined to know her. Cian had never forgotten her even though he hadn’t expected to ever see her again.

He couldn’t help smiling as he thought of how far they’d managed to come. If it had been up to her, he would never have been able to get past her impenetrable shields.

He loved her.

Damn, he had been so blind. All this time, thinking he just wanted to play the field when in fact he had been holding out for Skye.

Cian wasn’t one to live in denial. He might have taken him some time to find out he loved her, but now that he
did
know, he didn’t believe in keeping on denying it or fighting it. He accepted his feelings and decided on the next course of action.

Knowing Skye, she was going to fight him every inch of the way, he thought wryly. She was difficult and prickly and she didn’t compromise worth a damn. Getting her to fall in love with him was going to take perseverance and sneak attacks. Definitely sneak attacks. Good thing he was up to the challenge.

Yes, he accepted his feelings for her but at the same time, it was scary how much she had come to mean to him. She wasn’t someone to pass the time with. She was special. There would be no getting over Skye.

Cian strode past the shops, the tourists, the various restaurants and reached the wooden benches strategically placed around the waterfront. Sunlight was glinting on the ocean, making it sparkle as if it were decorated with a sheet of diamonds.

God knew how many girls he had necked out with around here. Damn. He really had a lot of strikes against him. He knew she would never believe he was in love with her, that his feelings for her were real, genuine, as much a part of him as the color of his eyes.

He found her at one of the farthest benches in the most remote part of the waterfront. She had her arms wrapped around her drawn up knees and was staring at the sea. Her hair billowed around her face.

She looked so alone. And completely vulnerable.

Fury swept through him as he strode towards her. Damnit, it pained him to see her looking like that and she knew better than to sit out here alone, where she would be easy picking for any creep hanging about. He knew she could take care of herself, but did she have to invite trouble?

Well, they would just have it out then.

SKYE WATCHED the distant horizon and wished she could feel as serene as the ocean looked. But she knew the sea could change her moods in a flash and be as swept up in turmoil as her insides were.

Why
had she left the restaurant like that? Cian had just been bugging her as usual. She couldn’t blame him when she was the one who hadn’t thought things through. She should have just retorted something to him and changed the subject
,
instead of getting out of there like the hellhounds of Hell were after her.

Why hadn’t she figured out the implications of pretending that she and Cian were in love? Of course they would have to act as a couple or else her little act in front of Vanessa and Alastor would have been in vain. In trying to save Cian from being humiliated, she had just created a bigger problem for herself. Because how could she back out of it now?

It wouldn’t be fair to him. He hadn’t asked her to do her little act. She had just gone with the impulse and he’d played along.

She must have been out of her mind! Tyler had been right, she seriously needed therapy. Maybe then she wouldn’t make rash mistakes like the gigantic one she’d just made.

Though Ty had had Dr. Frankenstein in mind as the ideal doctor to fix her.

“Running away, Skye? I didn’t figure you for a coward.”

Skye didn’t bother to sigh or turn around, she’d have recognised that voice anywhere. How the hell had he known she would be here? And why had he come after her? She didn’t say anything.

“Or are you trying to become a future victim to assholes who prey on women sitting out here all alone, women who don’t have the sense to know the danger in that?” Fury dripped from his words.

When she still didn’t react, Cian slowly let go of his anger over her safety. She was safe, which was all that mattered. He let out a deep breath and sat down beside her. She didn’t move a muscle.

“I thought that would get a rise out of you but I see I’m getting the silent treatment instead.” Like her, he turned his gaze to the horizon, wishing there was something he could come up with to get her to react to him. She hadn’t even turned to look at him.

The heavy feeling inside him was new. “I’m sorry.”

Skye was startled. This was the first time Cian had ever apologized to her for anything. In all fairness, he wasn’t really to blame here. He’d already had a rotten surprise today and now he had to deal with her moody self.
So snap out
of it!
she told herself.

She turned to face him. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not mad at you, Cian. I’m sorry I rushed out like that.”

Cian felt a wave of relief wash over him. Thank god, she was at least speaking to him.

“I
am
sorry. I behaved like a jerk. I know how you feel… . about me, that you don’t like me at all. I shouldn’t have been so flippant like that.”

Skye felt remorse that she had made him feel like that. It wasn’t his fault that she wasn’t a sociable person. He shouldn’t have to pay for it.

“No.” She took a deep breath. “No. I don’t
not
like you. I’m sorry for giving you that impression. I don’t know how you managed it, with all our fights and my foul moods,” she accepted that wryly, “but I guess we are somewhat friends.”

He looked at her, shocked. Had she said what he’d thought she’d just said? Maybe he was dreaming. “Did hell just freeze over? Who are you and what did you do with the
real
Skye?”

She gave him a bland stare. “Very funny.”

“It’s just I don’t think I heard you right. Did you say you
liked
me, actually liked me and called me a
friend
?”

“I said I don’t
‘not’
like you and we are
‘somewhat’
friends. I didn’t say I liked you nor did I call you a friend. Don’t let it go to your head, okay?”

He chuckled. He should have known.
Everything
with her was a contradiction. “There’s the Skye I know.”
And love.
He felt as if a weight had lifted off his chest, that he could breathe easier now. Maybe his love for her wasn’t such a lost cause.

“Okay, now that we’ve made up, let’s eat. I brought our share of the pizza.”

He had brought her food? “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did. After all, you left because of me. And you don’t have to worry about us acting like a couple. Thank you for what you did for me back there. But we are not going to do it. Doesn’t matter what Vanessa and Alastor think. So don’t worry about it.”

Relief and guilt and disappointment warred inside of her. She should be doing cartwheels that he was letting her off the hook. So why wasn’t she happy? And what was that about feeling
disappointment
? Why would she be disappointed? Skye frowned at her thoughts.

“It’s my fault they think we’re going out and we can’t give Vanessa and Alastor the satisfaction of having humiliated you. So I’ll just pretend to be your girlfriend. When you find a new one, you can just pretend-dump me.”

Cian goggled at her. She couldn’t be serious, could she? But from her earnest expression, he could see she was perfectly serious. Pretending to be his girlfriend when he wanted her as his actual girlfriend? Talk about pure torture.

“I don’t need a pretend girlfriend to irritate Vanessa and Alastor, okay? Subject closed. Now, let’s eat.”

Skye wouldn’t drop it though. “But you can’t do that!”

Okay, she was testing his patience. “I told you, you don’t have to do it. So just forget about it, okay?”

“But you can’t give in to Vanessa and Alastor! I told you I’d do it. It’s okay.”

Cian exploded. “No, it’s
not
okay! Do you even know what you’re talking about? As a pretend girlfriend, you’ll have to kiss me and hug me in public and go on dates and act all loving, especially to rub it in their faces.”

Skye froze.
Kiss him? Hug him?

He gave her a shrewd look. “Didn’t think of that, did you?”

She gulped. “I can do it.”

He looked at her in disbelief. “You can’t even bear to touch me!”

“That’s not true.”

“I saw you wipe your hand after holding mine. You think I don’t know you can’t bear to touch me?”

That’s
what he’d thought? Skye was shocked. “No, that’s not it. That’s not why I… .” She couldn’t tell him.

He didn’t believe her. “Right.”

“I wiped it because it was tingling after our hands touched,” she revealed resignedly, not looking at him.

A rush of hope flashed through him. So he hadn’t been the only one who had felt something!

“You felt it too.” A slow smile appeared on his face. Maybe there was a chance for him after all.

Skye could feel her cheeks heating. She had a feeling she was somehow losing control of the situation. She cleared her throat. “So you see, we can pull it off.”

Cian looked at her blankly, then realized she had headed right back to them being a pretend couple.

“No.”

“But—”

Damn, here he was trying to be noble and she was twisting him in knots. “What if I don’t want a pretend girlfriend, Skye? What if I want a
real
one? What if I want a
real
relationship?”
What if I want you?
But he couldn’t say that to her without scaring her off.

“What are you saying?” she whispered.

Drop
it, Cian. Just drop it before you say something to
push her away.
But he couldn’t. Something told him if he didn’t push now, Skye would slip away from him.

“What if I said I wanted us to be a real couple? That I want you to be my
real
girlfriend? Would you still say it’s okay?” He looked at her intently, willing her to accept him, to say yes. Knowing it sounded impossible.

Skye didn’t know how long they kept staring at each other, but she found she couldn’t look away from his gaze. She’d been right—no one should have eyes like his. Her heart pounded like a drum. She wondered if he too, could hear it.

A resigned look came over his gray eyes and he looked away. “Forget I said that, Skye. You don’t—”

“Yes.” Skye was barely aware she’d spoken until he turned his startled gaze back to her.

“What?”

“Yes,” she repeated a bit louder. “I’ll be your girlfriend.” She swallowed. God, what had she gotten herself into?

Cian stared at her in astonishment. She couldn’t have… had she just said
yes
? His heart swelled with happiness and deflated just as quickly. He couldn’t do it to her. He couldn’t back her into a corner like this.

“No, you won’t. Forget what I said. Let’s eat. We have to get back to—”

This time
she
was furious. She had just freaking agreed to be his freaking girlfriend and he was telling her to forget it? The guy drove her nuts!

“Stop trying to get me to eat! I just told you I’ll do it, I’ll be your girlfriend!”

He glared at her. “Being my girlfriend is not a chore, you know. It’s not an obligation you have to fulfill!”

“It’s not!” she retorted hotly.

“Fine!” he replied just as angrily, suddenly fed up. You tried to be honorable and the love of your life just kept heaping temptation after temptation on your path. “If you can kiss me on the lips, right here, right now and mean it, I’ll agree to be a couple.”

Now that he thought about it, he wanted very much to kiss her. There was a yearning in him for Skye that he was only now becoming aware for, just as he’d found out what he felt for her. No wonder he’d almost kissed her the other day.

Skye stared at him in shock.
He couldn’t mean
for her to actually kiss him?

“Can’t do it, can you?” he taunted.

“I can so do it!”

Without giving herself time to think about it, Skye caught his shoulder, pulled him towards her and pressed her lips to his. She pulled back instantly.

Cian didn’t know whether to laugh or shake her. He did neither. Instead, he caught her arm and tugged her towards him. “That was not a kiss, idiot.
This
is.” She looked at him in alarm but before she could say anything, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers. Her heart seemed to skip a beat as his lips moved over hers, gently, questing.