No Love Allowed (Dodge Cove Trilogy #1) (17 page)

She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and said, “Aren’t you going to be late?”

Her mom’s eyes widened. “Ah, crap!” She took one more bite of her pizza, gave Didi a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran up the stairs to her room. “Can you grab
my—”

“Uniform’s already ironed,” she interrupted, raising her voice so her mother could hear her.

“You’re an angel.”

With a smile on her face, Didi finished her slice and ambled back into her art room. The canvas still remained as blank as when she’d left it, but instead of looking like an empty space,
it now resembled possibilities. An infinite number of them. Ideas flitted across her mind’s eye, one after the other. It was caused by the excitement of creation. The real effect of not
taking the drugs would begin tomorrow morning at the earliest, but she wasn’t worried. She had time. With the boost of energy she expected to come, she would have a million paintings
completed way before Caleb’s birthday bash.

Picking up her palette and brush off the floor, she swiped the tip across the white, creating a bright yellow arch. She tilted her head, placing the brush’s handle between her teeth, and
grinned. It was a start.

INSIDE HIS CAR
, Caleb gently nudged Didi’s shoulder. Instead of waking up, she snuggled closer against the door she had
been leaning on since he picked her up that morning. She made the cutest murmuring sleep noises. Like a content kitten in a patch of sunlight. She looked paler than usual, which twisted his
insides. The dark purple smudges beneath her eyes were also a cause for concern. Reminding himself there was no point in worrying, since they were nearing the end of their time together, he gave
her shoulder another nudge.

“We’re here,” he said softly.

“Too early,” she grumbled back, eyes shut tight.

“It’s already ten.”

“Mmm . . .”

He shook his head and smiled. Then he spoke without thinking about the words, “Come on, da—” He stopped, shocked. He had been about to call her
darling.
It was what
his father used to call his mother. Where the hell had the impulse come from? He swallowed as the rightness of the endearment spread through him. Fortunately her next words distracted him from
himself.

“Want more sleep.”

“I know, but we’re shopping for art supplies today.” He took her hand and brought the inside of her wrist to his lips. After planting a kiss there, he moved to the center of
her palm, then to each fingertip. Remnants of paint caked the sides of her nails. The girls he was used to were obsessive about keeping their nails clean and manicured. Not Didi. Her hands showed
the evidence of her passion. She didn’t care who saw, and he appreciated her more because of it.

“That feels nice,” she hummed with a sigh. “But coffee is much better.”

Laughing, he planted a last kiss on the back of her hand and climbed out of the car. After looking both ways to check that the road was clear, he ran across the street to a café and
ordered two coffees to go at the counter. Not knowing how Didi took hers, he filled his pockets with packets of cream and sugar.

Giving the waitress a smile, he left the café and carried the cups back to his car. Once in his seat, he set aside his cup and removed the sippy lid from Didi’s. Then he positioned
it beneath her nose. As soon as she got a whiff of the life-giving brew, her eyes popped open and she sat up straighter.

“Thank you!” She relieved him of the cup with both hands and gulped down the hot liquid without worrying about burning her tongue.

“Black it is, then.” He removed the packets of cream and sugar from his pockets and placed them on the dash. He took one of each for himself and dumped the contents into his cup.

After two more gulps, Didi reached for two packets each of cream and sugar and poured them into her half-empty cup. His eyebrows shot up. She stirred three times, then guzzled the last of the
coffee.

“It’s official,” he said against the rim of his cup before taking a sip.

“What?” She looked at him all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Apparently the caffeine had worked its magic.

“I like everything about you. Down to the way you start with black coffee, then end with two sugars and creams.” He smiled. “You, Diana ‘Didi’ Alexander, are the
unexpected girl of my dreams.” He had meant to tease a blush out of her. Instead he received a scowl so pure it took him aback.

“Let’s be clear.” She pointed at herself. “I’m no one’s dream girl. Especially not yours.”

“Didi,” he breathed out.

“No! Don’t go saying it was just a joke. I see the teasing in your eyes. You’re leaving in a few weeks.”

“Hey, where is this coming from?” The lovely start to his day had officially ended.

“Remember, you were the one who insisted on the rules. I’m just following them. You’re leaving.”

Eyebrows pushing together, he set his cup aside again before the remainder of its contents spilled on him. “Yes, I’m leaving, Didi.” He looked her straight in the eye.
“Nothing will change that.” She gasped. If he wasn’t mistaken, he thought he had caught a flash of hurt in her big brown eyes. He softened. “We’re here to grab art
supplies. Can’t we enjoy that? Don’t you girls love shopping?”

Her sharp temper flared in her gaze. “Don’t patronize me, Caleb Parker.” She opened the door and stepped out, slamming it behind her.

Taken off guard by her irritation, he hurried out of the car and barely made it to the shop’s door to open it for her. She stifled a yawn with a hand as she entered.

He stepped in front of her, barring entrance to the rest of the shop, then closed his hands around her arms and felt her give in to him supporting some of her weight.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

She fell against him without actually returning the embrace. “I love the way you smell,” she whispered, inhaling deeply and rubbing her nose against his chest. “Like cool water
and bath soap. Expensive bath soap. What cologne is that?”

As they stood in the middle of the store’s entrance where people passed them by, Caleb realized this girl in his arms was dangerous. She confused him. Excited him. Could break his heart
one minute, then reassemble the pieces the next.

Tightening his hold around her, he kissed the top of her head, which smelled faintly of paint, and said, “Why don’t I take you home so you can rest? We can always come back
tomorrow.”

She closed her fists into his shirt and looked up, panicked. “No. I need the supplies if I want to finish your—” She bit down, crushing her lips together.

“My what?” A grin pulled at his lips.

“I already said too much.” She pushed out of his arms and straightened. Suddenly her eyes lit up. In another moment of pure transformation, she no longer seemed tired.

“My what?” he insisted.

“Oh, look, they’re having an exhibit.” She pointed and Caleb turned his head toward a poster taped to the counter. A majority of it featured van Gogh’s
The Starry
Night.
Besides his
Sunflowers
, it was easily the painting he was best known for. The rest of the poster featured information about the DoCo Museum of Art hosting several of his
paintings. Didi used his moment of distraction to hurry deeper into the store.

“Didi!” he called after her. But before he could follow, he paused to stare at his hands. He could still feel the warmth of her in his palms.

After giving the shop owner instructions to deliver everything that same day and taking Didi home, Caleb drove straight to Nathan’s house. A nervous tension had settled
in his gut since leaving her. He did a quick search of the house and finally found Nathan lounging by the pool with a tablet while Preston did laps.

Taking a seat beside his shirtless and relaxed cousin, he picked up a bottle of water from the bucket of ice between them and twisted the cap off. In seconds he had downed the entire bottle.
Still his throat remained drier than sand in a desert.

“All preparations for your party are complete,” Nathan said without looking up from his tablet. “All that’s left is the execution on the day of. It’s going to be an
event DoCo will never forget. All parties will be compared to this one. Just you wait.”

He felt his insides shrivel up at the mention of his birthday. “Can we talk about something else, please? I have other things to worry about.”

“You’re harshing my cool,” Nathan said with disgust. “I can feel the stress hopping off your skin and landing on mine. I don’t need the wrinkles, so get a
grip.”

Not acknowledging his cousin’s dig, he reached for another water bottle and pressed the cool glass of the Perrier against his forehead as he sighed. It still wasn’t enough to
alleviate the pounding there.

Frowning, Nathan set aside his tablet and entwined his fingers over his stomach. He kept his eyes on Preston, who had reached one end, tumbled underwater, then pushed off the wall to start the
next lap. He sighed, long and slow.

“A hundred laps a day,” he said. “Can you believe him? Scouted by all the top swimming universities in the country, and he refuses to make a decision.”

“Don’t you ever think that maybe he’s waiting to see where you want to go?” Caleb asked.

Nathan snorted. “He’s being a monumental fool, if you ask me. After your party, the next thing on my agenda is our European adventure. I already have most of our itinerary mapped
out. How’s the internship?” He turned his head to face his cousin.

“Almost done,” Caleb said absentmindedly.

“And JJ is happy with your performance so far? No hitches?”

“When do we ever know if my father is happy? That man is colder than the Arctic.”

“We’ve covered your party. We’ve discussed the trip. Still you’re looking like a confused puppy. What’s crawling under your skin?”

Leaning forward to rest his forearms against his knees, Caleb held the bottle between his legs with both hands. The way the afternoon sun glinted off the green reminded him of the gold in
Didi’s eyes.

“I don’t know,” he finally said after a long pause. He was afraid to speak. Afraid of what might come out of his mouth. Afraid of the truth he had been denying since the Fourth
of July party.

“I don’t believe you.”

He whipped his head up to stare into the unwavering gaze of one of the few people he trusted. If there was someone who would know what was going on with him, it was Nathan.

“I really don’t know,” he insisted.

An eyebrow quirked up. “You don’t know or you refuse to believe that you already do?”

The question landed like a slap in the face. “I don’t want to know, Nate.” He hated the weakness in his voice.

Swinging his legs over the side of the lounge chair, Nathan faced him and took the water bottle from his trembling hands. “If you squeeze that thing any tighter you’ll break the
glass and hurt yourself.”

“Nate . . .” He looked into his cousin’s eyes, and Nathan’s features softened.

“Something wrong?”

Both cousins turned their heads to look at a barely panting Preston. He rested his forearms on the edge of the pool. His green eyes shone bright against the blue of the water.

Nathan smiled at him. “Pres, why don’t you go inside and order us some pizza—”

“Chinese,” Caleb interrupted. “And lots of it.”

Nathan slapped Caleb’s shoulder before giving it a squeeze. “Chinese, then.”

As Nathan watched Preston heave himself out of the pool, something clicked for Caleb.

“You’re in love with him,” he blurted out.

“What?” Nathan’s face crumpled. “No.”

“I’ve seen that face on the girls I’ve broken up with. I know what love looks like. That’s how I avoid it.”

“Then why don’t you look in the mirror and see what reflects back?”

“What?” The smugness in Nathan’s voice had stunned him. “No.”

His cousin grinned. “Exactly.”

“No.” Caleb leaned forward again and rubbed his lips. He replayed everything that had happened between him and Didi. The laughs. The serious moments. The casual touches. The kiss . .
. His stomach clenched. “No.”

“People who live in glass houses—”

“Shut up a sec,” he said, cutting Nathan off. Then he stood abruptly and began pacing in front of the lounge chairs. “I need to think.”

“What’s there to think about?”

“This can’t be happening.”

“I’d say it’s already happened from the looks of you.”

“No.” He rubbed his forehead, not breaking stride. “That’s not possible.”

Nathan resettled himself on the lounge chair and cradled the back of his head in his hands. “You only think it’s impossible because it’s never happened before.”

Caleb stopped in his tracks. He placed his hands on his waist and looked up at the sky. Its color reminded him so much of one of Didi’s paintings. He closed his eyes, and the first thing
he saw was the smile on her face when she’d arrived at the garden party in that yellow dress. He could still feel the gentleness of her fingers as they raked through his hair in her painting
room after he’d told her about his mother. If he listened hard enough he knew he would hear distant strains of her laughter from the Fourth of July event.

She had completely undone him.

He allowed himself to absorb the realization like the heat from the afternoon sun on his skin.

“Shit,” he breathed out.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Caleb Parker, the rule breaker. Can I get a round of applause?”

IN NATASHA’S ROOM
the day of Caleb’s birthday, Didi danced to a pop song she didn’t know the title of. The
catchy tune was pumped in from magical speakers she couldn’t see. How much cooler could this room get?

The elder Parker twin had kidnapped her for some primping and pampering before the party that night. They had worn face masks, painted their nails. There might have been singing into brushes at
one point.

“Here it is!” Natasha said as she carried a dress bag into her room.

“Gimme, gimme, gimme,” Didi squealed, opening and closing her hands as she jumped in place.

Natasha unzipped the garment bag and pulled it aside to reveal the dress. Didi’s squeal turned into a breathy “Oooh.” The sleeveless dress came in a beautiful blush tone. The
beads on the bodice formed geometric shapes that were meant to emphasize the body’s curves. The V-shaped neckline would skim her collarbones just right. Fringe, the same color as the beads,
dangled from the jagged hemline. It was delicate and sexy at the same time. She loved it.