Painfully Ordinary Special Edition (25 page)

“And so it
begins” he chuckled. “As I said, you may have anything you want. Let me try to
put your mind at ease. Over the centuries, I’ve amassed great wealth. I don’t
think you could put a dent in it if you tried. Now, you need to get some sleep
so you will shine as brightly as your new ring.”

I laid my
head back down on his chest, closed my eyes, and quickly drifted into a
peaceful, sleep filled with visions of Mom and Johr in a strange land.

Chapter 19

Eyes Wide
Open

I
woke
to the sound of Talon moving quietly through the living room. I threw my legs
over the edge of the bed to stand up and had to catch the edge of the
nightstand before I fell. I moved slowly to the den to find Talon setting out
our breakfast on the lanai. He had already poured a large glass of orange
juice.

“Good
morning, my
ves’tacha
.” He kissed me
lightly. “You look tired—do you feel well?”

I pushed my
hair back from my face. “I feel a little weak.”

He examined
me while gently rubbing the dark circles that had formed under my eyes. “I
drank too deeply last night. You’re going to need some time to recuperate. You
can start with this.” He handed me the glass, motioning for me to drink it all.

“I’m not
complaining.” I yawned. “I don’t regret one second of it.”

He gathered
me in his arms and kissed me gently.

“Would you
like me to let Jace and Leah know breakfast is here?”

“Yeah, we probably
should before it gets cold.” I walked back to the bedroom to get a ponytail
holder from the pocket of my shorts.

He gestured
pointedly at my clothes. “Do you want to change?” he asked.

I smoothed
out the front of my shirt.
“Nah.
They saw me in a robe
last night. I can’t imagine your T-shirt will raise any eyebrows.”

Talon
chuckled as he knocked on the adjoining door.

Leah flung
the door wide open. “Good
morning
!” She
took
one step
back when she saw Talon was shirtless.
“Well, wow. Don’t you look comfy?” She winked at me.

I shook my
head, laughing. I peeked through the door at Jace, who was also shirtless and
desperately in need of a ponytail holder. I went back into the bathroom to get another.
I tossed the ponytail holder at him and he gave me a wolfish grin.

“Thanks,
pixie girl. Did you sleep well?” He stared pointedly at the circles under my
eyes.

“Yep.
Like a baby, but with some really strange dreams.”

His sharp
eyes assessed me. “Funny, you look a little tired to me. Do you feel okay?”

I experienced
a sensation of overwhelming love for Talon.
“Absolutely.
It’s certainly nothing a little OJ and bacon can’t fix.”

Talon shot Jace
a guilty look and leaned down, caressing my shoulder. “Good thing you don’t
have to do anything more taxing today than pointing to things and say ‘I want
that one’, right?”

Leah and I
giggled.

Leah’s eyebrows
drew together. “You two don’t really mean for us to go to the hotel shops, do
you? You know how incredibly expensive most of them can be! They also don’t
have much for people our age. It’s mostly resort wear – which, while beautiful,
is not really designed for us.” She turned to me. “Cay, wasn’t there another
group of shops around here? They had some trendy, less expensive stores as well
as some really upscale shops.”

“Yeah, I
think those were called the Shops at Wailea. They have everything from Pac Sun
to Gucci and Tiffany and Co. Best part is they are all within walking
distance.”

Talon’s eyes
lit up. “Well if you two would hurry up and eat breakfast, we could get going.”
He leaned in to me and whispered in my ear. “Love, you especially need to eat. We
should probably see about getting you some vitamins as well. I’m afraid I
overdid things last night. I simply lost control when you said you loved me.”
He kissed me on the head, refilled my orange
juice
and
headed back inside with Jace.

Leah assessed
me with a raised eyebrow. “Nice PJs.”

I smirked
and pointed at Jace’s t-shirt. “I could say the same to you.”

She ran her
hands down at the front of Jace’s shirt. “I couldn’t help it, the robe got
really hot.” She reached out and patted my hand. “Cay, are you okay? You look
really tired
. What happened in here last night?”

“Leah, it
was the most amazing night of my life.” I proceeded to fill her in on all the
details.

She appeared
amazed. “He really said that? I can’t believe he wants to wait until you two
are married. It’s so sweet. You know we will never find anyone like the two of
them again. Most guys would’ve been pushing us from the first time we went out.”
She gave me a self-satisfied smile. “I told you he loves you. Is he really
going to buy a ring?”

I shrugged a
shoulder. “I really have no idea at all. He seemed
pretty set
on it. I just can’t believe my good luck.” I tapped my spoon on the edge of the
table and attempted to look nonchalant. “What about you? How did your night go,
Mrs. Adair?”

She giggled.
“About the same as yours.
We watched a movie and
cuddled on the couch. He did stay in my room, though. I was afraid for him to
leave me alone. The last several days have just been too freaky. I mean, if
they could portal into the house, it seemed like the hotel would be
really easy
. Like Talon, he refused to let it go too far. He
said he cared for me too much to put me in that position. He said he could wait
for a real honeymoon.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Who would’ve thought?”

I took a bite
of bacon. “Well, I’ll be so grateful to have clean clothes again. It’ll be a
nice change to just lie out in the sun and relax for a while.”

I glanced up
in time to see Jace and Talon coming back out to join us. Talon had more orange
juice in his hand for me.

I grimaced
at him. “Talon, if I drink anymore, I’m going to slosh when I walk.” I whined.

He handed it
to me anyway. “Then I’ll just have to carry you.”

I groaned
and took it. “You always get your way, don’t you?”

He walked
around behind me kissing my neck at my pulse point. I gazed up at him with my
eyes wide open.

Jace shook
his head. “Okay, enough you two. We need to hit the stores so we can head out
to the beach.”

I popped the
last of the bacon in my mouth. “Okay, give us a second to change.” I grabbed
Leah by the hand and pulled her inside. “Come on. I can’t wait to kick back and
relax on the sand.”

I timed my
next move very carefully and waited until I saw the two men enter the room out
of the corner of my eye.

“I wonder if
they still have those covered lounge chairs you can reserve?” I tossed my hair
over my shoulder and shot Talon a grin.

Talon
motioned to Jace. “You finish up your breakfast, while I call and reserve a lounge
for the ladies. Perhaps, I will get two.”

Jace’s smile
was in danger of splitting his face wide open. “I knew there was a reason I
like travelling with you.”

I ran into
the bathroom and pulled on my shorts and T-shirt from the night before. I took
a quick look in the mirror, noticed the dark smudges under my
eyes
and added makeup to my mental shopping list. Holding
Talon’s shirt close to my chest, I inhaled his scent one more time. I walked
back into the living room and held the shirt out for Talon. He pulled it over
his head and inhaled deeply. “It smells like you.”

Leah came
out of their suite and tossed Jace his shirt. “I’m going to want that shirt
back tonight; it was really comfy.”

Jace winked.
“You got it.”

Talon walked
over and opened the door.
“Ladies, after you.”

I waited for
him to shut the door behind us and took his hand in mine. It was a gorgeous day
and I still couldn’t believe we were here. We walked through the lobby and koi
ponds, past the waterfall and turned onto the path leading to the Shops.

Leah and I studied
the directory, trying to locate the Pac Sun store. We figured we would start
with swimsuits. The boys were incredibly patient while we shopped, not to
mention generous. I would’ve been happy with a couple of swimsuits and some shorts
and T-shirts as well as some desperately needed makeup.

Talon
insisted I also buy sundresses,
shoes
and sunglasses. We
harassed them until they bought a few things for themselves, mostly swimsuits
and muscle shirts. I had to admit they looked
really good
in both. We really were going to have to watch them closely on the beach, or
the women were going to cause a mob scene.

I was feeling
really tired again and sat down on a bench near the fountain. Talon brought me
a peach-banana-mango smoothie and sat down at my side, deep concern in his
eyes.

“
Ves’tacha
. Are you feeling okay? You’re
looking unwell again.”

I smiled weakly
at him. “Yes, I am okay. I’m just tired. I’d love to change into one of my new
swimsuits and take a nap on the beach.”

He took my
face in his hands, kissing me gently. “Your wish is my command. We have two
more quick stops. The first one, you can wait here. I’m going to find you those
vitamins. I think you need them sooner rather than later.”

He took off
before I could ask him what the second stop was.

Jace and
Leah finally emerged from the center of the Shops. Leah sat down next to me,
throwing her arm over my shoulders. “Cay-bear, would you mind if we went back
to the room to change real fast? Jace is going to show me how to surf.”

I nodded at
them. They were so good for each other. “No problem. Talon said he needed to
make one
more quick
stop. He just ran into the store
to see if he could find some vitamins for me.”

Leah tilted
her head to one side. “I knew there was something I liked about him. He takes
good care of my Caiti. Okay, then we’ll see you back at the hotel?”

I nodded.
“Yes, we’ll meet you down by the beach.”

Jace gave me
a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t overdo it, pixie girl.”

They both
waved as they pivoted and headed back to the hotel. I sipped my smoothie while waiting
for Talon to return. I surveyed the walkways, watching all the different people
strolling through the Shops.
People-watching
was
always one of my favorite pastimes.

I noticed
men seemed to be paying more attention to me than normal. Maybe I was just
being paranoid. I glanced down at what I was wearing - a T-shirt and cheer
shorts.
Nothing special there.
I had left my hair
curly last night and now wore it pulled into a messy ponytail. I had on no make-up,
since I hadn’t brought any with me. It was making me a little uneasy, but I
soon breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Talon returning. He saw the look on
my face and scanned the area. The men wouldn’t meet his gaze and rapidly walked
away.

“See? I told
you.” He said as he opened the vitamins. “I apologize, this is all they had.”

I found he
had a children’s gummy vitamin in his hand. I chuckled and popped it into my
mouth. “No problem. I appreciate that you were thinking of me.”

Talon stood
up. “Okay, now for our last stop and then we can go back to the hotel.”

“Okay.
Sounds good to me.”
I took a deep breath as I stood up. I
was so unbelievably tired.

Talon took
me by the hand and led me to his last stop. I was so tired I was staring at my
feet instead of where we were going. I didn’t realize where he had taken me,
until we
were approached
by a salesperson.

“Welcome to
Tiffany & Co. How may I help you?”

I stared at
Talon in shock, with my mouth hanging wide open.

His eyes
went wide with innocence. “I told you last night I wanted to do this.” He
raised my hand and kissed my knuckles.

“Talon, this
is really too much.”

He pulled me
into his arms and whispered, “Remember, this is forever.”

My eyes
burned as tears gathered in the corners.

I didn’t
know what I had done in my life to deserve him, but I was incredibly grateful.

He gave his
full attention to the sales clerk. “Yes, I’m looking for a special ring. We
eloped last night, and she deserves the best.”

The man eyed
him speculatively. “Were you looking for a simple band, an engagement ring, or
a set?”

“As I said
before, she deserves the best and she’ll need the entire set. In case I wasn’t
clear enough, money is no object.”

The salesman
got so excited he let a small fart slip
out
. “Pardon
me. If you will follow me, I think we may have just what you are looking for. Here
is the Tiffany Setting in platinum.”

I giggled. The
clerk hadn’t even missed a beat. Talon looked amused and pulled me to the case
of rings the salesman was showing him. I was still so busy stifling a
giggle,
I didn’t notice the ring in Talon’s hand, until he
slipped it on my finger.

“Oh!” I
gasped, and burst into tears.

Talon grinned
at him. “I think she likes it.” He winked at me.

I shook my
head and tried to pull it off my finger. “Talon, I can’t. It…it…it’s just too
much. I can’t let you spend this much on me.”

The clerk gave
him a knowing look. “I think that is the first time I have ever heard a bride
say that. I think you have found yourself a true prize.”

Talon held
both of my hands in one of his. “Shhh. Listen to me, I’ll only do this one time
in all the years I’ll live. Please let me do it the right way.” He whispered,
“Do this for me.”

I couldn’t
trust my own voice. I was sure if I opened my mouth, I would start
really bawling
. I simply nodded through my tears.

He pulled
the ring off my finger and handed it back to him to clean. “Please give her the
matching platinum band and the same for me.”

I stared at
him with my mouth hanging open. In all the conversations we had around my ring,
it had never occurred to me he would wear one as well. My heart swelled with
pride knowing he cared so deeply about me. Hopefully, it would also help keep
the women at bay. I watched him tenderly as a slow smile spread across my face.
I reached up and pulled his head down to mine, kissing him gently.