Love Today (21 page)

He smiled and said, “Certainly is.” I only took a couple of things and he raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“I’m not really a candy eater.”

“Really?” he said, taking the bag when I handed it to him. “I think I’d eat everything in here.”

Chuckling
I said, “You and Zack both. Jeez, what is with the candy?”

He shrugged and said, “We’re high energy guys. Me with music, him with sports. We need the sugar.”

“Hmm,” I shrugged. “I guess I’m the same way with cake. I love cake.”

“Then you must go crazy on your birthday.”

“Ha, yeah that’s my favorite part. A great piece of cake can make the day.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“Uh, February 8
th
.”

“February 8
th
,” he murmured, pretending to write it down on his hand.
“And you’ll be…?”

“Twenty-two,
”
I smiled with amusement. “Isn’t it considered rude to ask?” I teased.

“You’re an old woman
, so it doesn’t matter
.”

“Ha-ha. When’s
your
birthday?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll make you guess.”

I took the bait. “Hmm, I’m guessing you’re…a summer baby.”

“Nope,” he practically gloated. “Guess again.”

“Winter?”

“No,” he tried not to laugh.

“Damn, then it’s spring or fall… I’ll say fall, so…September?”

“Nope,” he barely smiled. “I’ll give you a hint…I’m a
Scorpio.”

I raised my eyebrows with surprise. “I know my zodiacs,” I bragged. “That means you’re jealous and manipulative.”

“Ha!” he scoffed. “Try passionate and loyal.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Competitive and moody.”

“Ambitious and observant. And being competitive is a
plus
,” he added with a cute lift of his brow.

I almost wavered. The way he looked at me was so… “Intense,” I supplied.

He paused, and then a tiny corner of his mouth twitched. “Now that you’re getting into the positives…”

“Is that a positive?”

“Isn’t it?”

I eyed him carefully. “I don’t know. Is
‘
complicated
’
a positive?”

He paused again. “I’d
say that’s dependent on perception.”

I couldn’t reply. For one, I wasn’t sure what to say, and another, I decided he was right.

“So you think I’m complicated, huh?” he kind of smirked. But he looked a little unsure.

Barely swallowing I said, “Maybe on some levels.”

He slightly nodded but didn’t agree or disagree. “So how do you know so much about Scorpios?” he asked. “Ex boyfriend, huh? Or Zack? If that’s the case, then you know what they say about us when it comes to relationships, right?” His gaze was steady, but there was this look in his eye. I did actually know what he was alluding to because of my mom’s jokes about it.

“My
dad
is a Scorpio,” I said smugly. “The two of you actually have a lot in common.”

“Is that right,” he smirked. “Well then I won’t get into that last part about relationships, being that it’s your
dad
we’re talking about…”

I couldn’t hel
p it and I laughed. “Thanks,
I appreciate it. But my mom and I are very close, so it’s kind of a well-known fact that my dad is very, um…”

“We’ll just leave it at ‘intense,’ ” he finished. But that intensity was right there in his eyes and I could feel a heat rush through my body because of it.

“So what day is your birthday?” I finally asked
, trying to rid my thoughts of how wonderful he’d be in bed
. “Out with it.”

“Uh…October 31
st
.”

I
stared
at him for a few seconds. “It
’s
today
?”

“Yep,” he nodded, unwrapping a
miniature
Kit
Kat. He stuck
a bar of
it in his mouth and said, “
Happy Halloween. It was pretty awesome this year
.”

I smiled and said, “Well happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

“And how old are you? Seventeen?”

“Ha,” he smiled. “Add
seven
years, but I’ll take seventeen. There are a few things I’d like to do over.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

He partially smiled and said, “You heard of a song called ‘Back Then’?”

I laughed out loud, almost waking
Maggie up. “That song is about
your
high school antics?”
I said quietly.

“Yes. But don’t tell my dad. I lied and said it was about Marcus.”

I laughed again, but that time kept it quieter. “You really did all those things?”

“Yes.” I didn’t say anything for a few seconds and he smiled. “You think less of me, huh. Delinquent in your home, bad example for your kid…”

“I’m actually thinking of the lyrics… You just did a lot of
stupid
stuff.”

“Yeah, I was a stupid kid.
”

“Well, we’re not
perfect. And I think all of us skipped school one time or another.”

“To streak at a baseball game?”

“Uh, no, I didn’t try that one.”

“I’d like to see you try that one.”

“Ha, I’m not that desperate for attention.”

“It was a dare.”

“It was a cry for help.”

He laughed. “Yeah, pretty much.” I studied him for a few seconds and he added, “My dad was never around. I a
lways said I didn’t really care
if he found out
about stuff
, but then I was glad
when he didn’t
.
I still cared about his approval anyways.
”

“What about now?”

He shrugged. “We have an understanding. He appreciates the business aspect of my career, but we don’t really have much
else
in common. It’s fine. I’m old enough to understand his commitment to his
job
, but back then I didn’t.”

“I think that’s why he and
Rachel
got along so well.”

“Yeah, he praised her work ethic from what I remember. But…”

He didn’t finish his sentence so I asked, “But what?”

“Uh, I probably shouldn’t say it.”

“You probably should. But what?”

“Well, I was just going to say that Maggie doesn’t have to go through what I did
as a kid. My dad worked so much
my mom divorced him. I was boun
ced between both of their lives
and I just wasn’t a happy kid. It sucks to know that your dad loves his job more than he loves you.
Rachel
was doing that to Maggie, and I’m sorry if this offends you, but it was never going to change. She had that competitive business streak to her
like my dad
—I could see it plain as day.”

I wasn’t offended because
I knew it was true. I only nodded with agreement but didn’t know what else to say.

“Well, I should get going,” he said, glancing at his watch. He grabbed his jacket and tie
from the couch and said, “Thank you
for dinner.”

“Wasn’t much of a dinner,” I smiled.

“No, it was perfect.”

“Well thanks for the princess taxi.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “Anytime.”

As he walked himself to the door I said, “Didn’t you have something for me? A song?”

He paused for a few seconds
and I could tell he took a deep breath. “Maybe another time,” he finally said.

“How come?”

He paused again. “Uh, I don’t know. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

I joined him at the door and he remained there with his hand on the knob. “Please? I’d like to hear something new. I won’t be
offended or take it personal
. I promise.”

“Who said it was about you?”

“I thought
you
did.”

“I said I had a song
for
you; I didn’t say it was
about
you.”

“Oh.”

He smiled again, probably because he knew I was embarrassed. “Okay, so it is about you. But
I don’t think you’re ready for it.”

“What?” I chuckled. “What’s there to be ready for? Please let me have it.
I promise
I’ll give you my honest opinion about it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds and then nodded his head. “Okay. It’s in my car. Let me grab it.”

I watched him head for his car in the rain. It was cold and gloomy out, and it made me long for
a warm, sunny
beach.
He
returned t
o the porch and handed me a disc
, and the first thing I did was look for a title.

There wasn’t one.

“What’s the name of it?” I asked
warily
.

He chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Goodnight
,
Taryn. Thanks for an amazing birthday.”

I watched him head for his car again, and as I hugged myself to stay warm in the cold, I waited until he turned the corner out of sight before I went inside.

I could barely wait to listen to
Jared’s music
, but I took Maggie to her bed before I did the same for myself. I stuck the
CD
into my laptop so I could listen to it
in
bed, and I started with the volume turned way down just to anticipate a powerful guitar or some drumbeats. However, the
quiet piano took me by surprise
and I had to turn it up to hear it better.

I listened to the three-minute song and was almost too stunned to move when it was
over. I couldn’t believe that it
actually
made me
cry, and I didn’t know what else to do but listen to it again.

             
And again, and again…

Chapter Eighteen

Something poked my boob, and I felt in the dark for what it was. It was a little foot. When I grabbed it, I heard a giggle and opened my eyes.

Maggie was stretched across my bed on her stomach with her happy little feet wiggling by my chest. She smiled at me, and then I rolled onto my back. That’s when that familiar sound r
egistered,
the song that had been running through my head the entire night.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, sitting up.

“Listening to Jared,” she shrugged. She had my laptop in front of her and apparently it was still on repeat.

I reached over to close it and the music stopped.
The silence
felt odd, like I’d been connected to
the words
for so long and then…it was no longer.

“I wanna listen,” she pouted.

I glanced at the clock and it read
8:24
.
“Wow, how’d I sleep so long? What time did you get up, Maggie Mae?”

“Um, seven…seven-two?”

I nodded, assuming she meant seven-twenty-something, which was when we usually got up.

I got out of bed to take a shower and that’s when Maggie said, “Zack said you won’t answer your phone.”

Zack. Oh, crap. He was going to call last night before he left Utah, to see how trick-or-treating went for Maggie.

“Did you talk to him?” I asked, feeling a little worried.

“Yep.”

“Did you tell him about your carriage ride?”

“Yep. He thought it was really cool.”

Hmm, I’m sure he did, but I was also worried because I was positive that Maggie went on and on about Jared.

“Where’s my phone?” I asked, looking around my room first. I thought maybe
she’d brought it in to me but found me
still
asleep
.

“Um, on the couch,” she said, jumping up to go get it. When she brought it
to me
I immediately checked my call history.

Maggie
had
talked to Zack for almost twenty minutes.

Plus there was also a call from him the night before, and two text messages. All three asked me to give him a call when I had a chance.