Holding Out For Skye (8 page)

“I, uh, forgot.” No, she hadn’t. How did you tell your best friend you were dating your nemesis? The one you were always complaining about?

“You
forgot
? So the news wasn’t important enough to tell her?”

Flustered, she denied it. “No, that’s not it. I’m sorry. I
am
going to tell her. Last night was just a bad time. She was really down.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” No way was she getting out of this so easily.

“But I am sorry,” she protested.

“Not good enough.”

He was really milking this for all his worth, Skye thought disgruntledly. “Geez. Okay, what can I do to make it up to you?”

Now she was talking. Cian mentally rubbed his palms together in anticipation of their negotiations.

“It’s Friday today,” he began.

“So?”

“So couples usually go out on dates on Friday nights.”

Uh oh. “Is that what you want? A date?”

“Yep. Dinner and a movie.”

“I don’t want to dress up and go out tonight. I want to stay in.” A date with him? She wasn’t ready! How was she supposed to act on a date with him?

“We’ll have to go out
sometime
.”

Skye got a mutinous look on her face. “I don’t want to go out tonight.”

“Fine,” Cian conceded. But she wasn’t getting out of their date. “I’ll bring the food and we’ll watch a movie at your place.”

Skye blinked, startled. “My place?”

“Yeah. Since you want to stay in,” he pointed out.

Mutiny slipped back on her face. “No.”

“I got the DVD for
Underworld
Awakening
.” Cian dangled that carrot in front of her.

He knew that Skye had already watched the movie with Kiera when it came out, not to mention she already had the DVD. But she had the cheaper version, not the high quality one like he did. He knew she couldn’t afford high-quality stuff and it made him want to shower her with gifts. But her pride would never allow her to accept stuff from him.

It amazed him when he thought about it now, how much he was always unconsciously placing her in most of his thoughts and actions. Just take the DVD. She always got the DVDs for the movies she found cool so she could watch them over and over again. And
Underworld
was very close to her heart. She was almost fanatic about the saga. She had even read the novelizations for both
Underworld
and
Underworld Evolution
.

He didn’t much care for the movie—except for how hot Kate Beckinsale looked in it—but he’d gotten it anyway and kept mum about it because he knew there would be an opportunity when he could dangle it in front of her. Like now.

“I already have it.” If he thought he could tempt her with that, he had another think coming.

“High quality, perfect resolution, perfect everything?”

Skye’s eyes filled with disbelief. “Where did you get it?”

“Not telling. The fact is, I got it and you want it.”

There was a muffled snort from Nick’s direction.

“I don’t want it that bad.”

“No? Pity. I checked it out and it totally rocked.”

Her eyes widened with longing. Oh, she wanted it all right.

She glowered at him. “What do you want?” Ugh, she hated it when he got one over her.

“Our dinner and movie. But I come with the DVD. Take it or leave it.”

“Fine, you win. But I’m not letting you in if you don’t have that DVD on you.”

“Can’t have that happening, now can we?” he drawled. “Don’t worry, love, I’ll have it.”

“And don’t call me ‘love’,” she hissed.

Cian only smiled. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Skye thought about the date as she walked to
City Flavors
, the restaurant where she was meeting Kiera. How the heck had he wangled a date from her? She shook her head. He was so damn sneaky, she needed to be more vigilant.

She wondered if other relationships were like theirs. She’d always thought couples were supposed to be more comfortable with each other. That’s why you’d date someone, right? With Cian, she needed to stay on her guard. But then their dating had come about from very odd circumstances.

She worried about what she was going to say to Kiera about him. Before leaving the office, he had reminded her about the date and reiterated that she better tell Kiera about them or he would. Damn him.

It wasn’t that she didn’t
want
to tell Kiera. It was just that it was so embarrassing! Who’d have ever thought she and Cian would be dating?
She
had never seen that one coming. It’d been right on top of her nonexistent Never-Gonna-Happen-In-A-Thousand-Years list.

City
Flavors
was a small restaurant mostly catering to the office crowd and had quite an informal vibe. It was like a long aisle with small tables for two on each side leading up to the counter. Kiera was sitting at the third table from the entrance and she waved when she saw Skye.

An affectionate smile lit up Skye’s face. She always felt like smiling when she saw Kiera. She was the most awesome friend anyone could ever ask for. Plus, she was just so adorable.

Today she was dressed in a cute knee-length purple mini-dress which had a pretty lavender flower drawn from the left shoulder to the right hip. Where Skye was skinny, Kiera was curvy in all the right places. Lately, she’d had a penchant for mini-dresses. She looked really cute in them too. Her straight black hair was halfway down her back in her usual loose style. She had pretty sparkling hazel eyes and she always looked great.

Skye still remembered the first time they’d met, at the Boston Public Library. They’d both reached for the same book—the seventh and last
Harry Potter
book—
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
. She hadn’t had enough money at the time to buy books, so she’d borrowed them at the public library. They’d looked at each other and laughed at their enthusiasm to get the book. They’d managed to get another copy so both of them could have one and had hit it off over a discussion on
Harry
Potter
. Before Skye knew it, they were fast friends.

They’d exchanged phone numbers and shared their wonderment over the series. Three years later, they were best friends. Whenever she thought of Kiera, she remembered that first day and she couldn’t help smiling.

“Hi!” Kiera gave her a hug.

“Hi,” Skye smiled, hugging her back. “How are you doing?”

“You know me, hon. I’m more or less okay. Still a bit pissed off at the school board but not so depressed now.”

“They were idiots to let you go. You’re one of the best teachers they had. Do you want to talk about it or should we avoid that subject?”

Kiera shrugged. “It’s okay. We can talk about it. Why do you look like the sandman skipped your apartment last night?”

Not her too! “I don’t look
that
bad.”

Kiera gave her a you-gotta-be-kidding look.

“Right. I look that bad.”

“Why is that?”

Skye shook her head. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
After I figure out how to tell you
about Cian.

A waitress came up to their table. “What can I get you, girls?”

Skye turned to Kiera. “So what do you want to get? I’m
famished!
”

Kiera laughed. “You’re
always
famished. What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine with me.”

“We could try the crispy chicken with the homemade sauce and fries. It looks really good. Diet Coke?”

At her nod, she turned to the waitress and placed their order.

“Are you really okay?” Skye inquired worriedly.

“Yeah. I was pretty bummed up last night but calling you made me feel better.”

“I’m always here for you. What are you gonna do now?”

“Get started on applying for other jobs. I’ll need your help with drafting application letters.”

“Sure thing. You know that.”

Their food arrived and Skye’s mouth watered. Kiera laughed at the look on her face. “Go ahead.”

With a sheepish grin, Skye dug in her food. After a few bites, she mumbled, “You were right, it’s really good.”

Kiera grinned. “I’m always right. So what have you been up to?”

Skye swallowed hastily. “Me? Nothing.”

Kiera tilted her head and eyed Skye enigmatically. Hmm, this was interesting. Skye looked guilty as hell.

“All right, spill.”

“Spill what?”

“Whatever you’re hiding.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Skye replied indignantly.

“Yeah, right.” But before Kiera could say anything else, someone called Skye’s name.

Skye whipped her head around, grateful for the interruption. She still hadn’t figured out how to tell Kiera about Cian.

Ash was standing by their table smiling at her. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. What are you doing here?”

He held up two bags full of food. “I got delegated into getting lunch from here for my team today.”

Skye chuckled. “Bet that doesn’t happen a lot.”

“Nope,” he agreed cheerfully, then turned to Kiera. And everything inside him stilled. “I don’t believe we have met,” he said softly.

“No,” Kiera murmured, her eyes wide.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Ashton Daniels, meet Kiera Carmichael.” Then Skye saw they weren’t listening to her and were staring at each other rather intensely. She sat back and watched them curiously.

Ash was gazing at Kiera as if she were the center of his world. His eyes were dilated and as for Kiera, her face looked slightly flushed. It seemed as if she were unable to look away. Skye watched them awhile longer, finally coming to the conclusion she had just become invisible. They seemed to be lost in their own world. Had Ash leaned closer?

An intriguing thought crossed her mind. Could it be Ash and Kiera were attracted to each other? She remembered then that they hadn’t met before. She mentally rubbed her palms together. This was very, very interesting. She also had a feeling she better try to get them to come back down to earth or they’d probably go on gazing at each other all day.

Skye leaned forward and snapped her fingers between their faces which seemed to have inched much closer. “Hello? I’m right here.”

Ash blinked in surprise and Kiera looked away, blushing.

“What?” He sounded confused.

“I just introduced you guys,” Skye explained, trying not to smile.

Ash blinked again. “Right. You’re Kiera.” He made the mistake of looking at Kiera and seemed to be captivated by her again.

Kiera wasn’t looking at him. “And you’re Ash.”

Her voice seemed to bring Ash out of his trance. He swallowed. “Yes, I’m—Ash. Skye and I work together.”

“I know.” Kiera finally looked up at him.

They did that lost-in-our-own-world thing again. Skye rolled her eyes and tugged at Ash’s arm. He reluctantly turned towards her.

Skye was amused. “Shouldn’t you get going?”

“What?”

She pointed at the bags in his hands. “Oh,” he said.

“Yes, oh,” Skye echoed. Kiera giggled, seeming to be herself again.

Ash cleared his throat. “It was, ah, nice to meet you. You have a beautiful name, Kiera.”

He said her name almost reverently. Kiera blushed again. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you, too.”

Ash looked unwilling to leave. When Skye tugged at his arm again, he regarded her with annoyance. “I’m going.” Then he said, “Told her about Cian yet?”

Skye gasped. He gave her a
Gotcha!
look.

“I thought not,” he guessed smugly.

“I’ll get you back for that,” she hissed at him.

Ash chuckled and turned to leave. He thought of Kiera and his eyes softened. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen! One look at her and he had barely remembered his name. He
had
to get to know her better. He thought how to go about that. Skye, of course.

Getting her to tell him anything about Kiera would be like pulling teeth. Skye was the most loyal
and
secretive person he knew. She had a motto—“If someone told you something in confidence, you didn’t betray that trust. Ever. Even under excruciating torture.”

He thought about the crack he’d made about whether she’d told Kiera about her and Cian yet and sighed. Looked like he would have to grovel.

“SO WHAT WAS that about Cian?”

Skye tried to evade Kiera’s question. “Oh, look, this chicken wing’s shaped like that island—Madag something?”

Kiera gave her a drilling stare. “Madagascar. And no, it’s not. Skye, spill.”

Shoot. She’d never been able to hide anything from her. The words came out in a speedy rush. “CianandIaredating.”

Kiera was silent for a moment.
Maybe she
hadn’t heard her
, Skye thought.

“YOU’RE WHAT?”

No such luck.

“Oh, please. Why not be a bit louder? The rest of the restaurant didn’t hear you.”

“Sorry.” Kiera lowered her voice. “But what did you say?”

“I’m dating Cian.”

Kiera held up her hand in a hold-it-right-there gesture. “Did I just hear you right? You and the Demon King? Together?”

Demon King was just one of the many names Skye had called Cian while ranting about his transgressions.

“Yeah.” A look of chagrin came over Skye’s face.

“Did hell turn into a winter wonderland with happy little bunnies skipping around while I wasn’t looking?”

Skye shot her a you’re-not-funny look. “Seriously?”

“Because that’s the only thing that could make sense.”

“Really, I wonder how that could make sense. Why would there be bunnies skipping around in hell anyway? Wouldn’t that be creepy? With their little teeth and all. More like creepy little fluff-balls with sharp little creepy teeth.”

Kiera shook her head, smiling. Skye was always a riot. She was very, very curious about how she had gotten herself into this one.

“Alright. How did this happen?”

So with a long-suffering sigh, Skye proceeded to tell her how it had happened. When she finished, Kiera stared at her with a look that said she didn’t know whether to laugh or… laugh. She gave in and laughed. In fact, she laughed so hard she choked and had to drink her diet coke to stop the coughing.

Skye saw people looking at them. She gave an I-don’t-know-what’s-wrong-with-her shrug to a woman who was blatantly watching them. The woman’s eyes widened and she quickly turned away. Probably thinking she was a nutcase.

When Kiera finally calmed down, she looked up at Skye’s stony face. She managed not to laugh this time. “Sorry, sorry.”

“No, go ahead. Have a laugh. Laughter’s good for the soul.”

“It’s just, it’s just—the thought of you and Cian together seems so… so…” she tried to find the exact word.

“Impossible, inconceivable, unbelievable, mindboggling, implausible?” Skye supplied.

Kiera fought not to smile and lost. “Someone’s been catching up on their Thesaurus. You’ve thought a lot about this.”

“It’s the
only
thing I’ve thought about since yesterday.”

“So what got into you?”

“I wish I knew.”

“How was the kiss?”

Skye squirmed in her seat. “Um, okay.”

Kiera smiled. “Was it a hot, torrid, rock-your-world kiss?”

A blush crept up Skye’s cheeks. She looked around, horrified someone might have heard them. “
Kiera!
” she hissed.

“What? It’s a legitimate question. If he’s not a good kisser, you can just dump him.”

Skye rolled her eyes at her.

“C’mon, you can’t leave me hanging here!”

Skye gave another long-suffering sigh. “Alright, fine. It was—it was… incredible. I didn’t know—” she whispered “—I didn’t know it could be like that.”

Kiera was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “That’s amazing.”

“
Amazing?
More like unnerving. I can’t figure out what to do about him.”

“And how are you two getting along now that things have changed?” she asked cheerfully.

“He confuses the hell out of me
even
more
. I haven’t killed him. Yet. Though I’ve gotten the urge more often than usual.”

Kiera giggled. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Skye looked at her in disbelief. “He says we have to talk on the phone
every
night. He called me last night after your call, and he talked and talked and talked and kept me up all night!”

Kiera thought she’d better not laugh this time. Wait, talk on the phone every night? She looked at Skye thoughtfully. Yeah, Cian could have pulled that off. Kiera had only seen Cian in passing once when Skye had pointed him out to her.

After all the venting she’d done over him, Kiera had wanted to see for herself what he looked like. He sure wasn’t the red-eyed horned devil Skye had painted him to be. In fact, he was downright gorgeous.

The thought of those two going out… Oh, it would be very, very good for Skye. But if he hurt her, Kiera was going to hunt him down and make mincemeat of him.

“So that’s why you look like you didn’t get any sleep last night.”

“Yeah. Then he brought me chocolate donuts today.” She gestured at the square-shaped bag she had placed on the table when she sat down. Cian’d presented her with the bag before she left, so she wouldn’t have any trouble carrying the box. It’d been thoughtful of him, she admitted.

Kiera’s eyes softened. “Awww. He knows you well. You better introduce us properly this time.”

“Yeah,” Skye griped. “That’s what
he
said too.”

Oh, Kiera was liking Cian better and better. Suddenly a sly look slipped into Skye’s eyes. Uh, oh, that didn’t bode well for her.

Skye had just remembered about Ash. “But more importantly, what was that between you and Ash?”