Painfully Ordinary Special Edition (5 page)

Leah let out a low whistle. “Wow! We are travelling in
style tonight.
Woo-
hoo
!”

I tore myself away from Talon’s face long enough to find
out what had her so excited.

“Holy cow!
Where did you get those?” I pointed my thumb toward a huge
Jeep and a trailer holding two 4-wheelers sitting at the curb.

Jace gasped in mock horror. “You didn’t think we would make
you
walk
to the bridge, did you? You
can’t drive a car up to it, you know. However, 4-wheelers are a different
story.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, of course
we
knew that. I just wasn’t aware you knew.” Where in the world did
they manage to come up with 4-wheelers? There was definitely more to Talon and
Jace than met the eye.

Jace wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gave me a quick
squeeze. “For such a little pixie, you have no faith in our powers of
reconnaissance. You didn’t really think we would take you out in the middle of
the woods somewhere without checking it out first. What kind of escorts would
we be?
Sheesh.”

Leah raised an eyebrow at me. Did he just say escorts? Sometimes
they sounded like they belonged in another time.

Talon placed one hand in the center of my back and the
other tucked an errant piece of hair behind my right ear.

“So, where is the ladder?” Leah asked.

Talon was clearly confused, “Ladder? What ladder?”

“The one Caiti and I are going to need to get into this
beast.”

I snickered. Leah caught my eye and winked. Soon we were giggling
so hard we were crying.

Leah squealed. “Quit! Caiti, you are going to make me mess
up my makeup.”

Chapter
5

Bonfires,
Brimstone and Secrets

The entire ride to the restaurant, Jace joked around with
us. I kept stealing looks at Talon, who was awfully quiet and serious as he
drove, and I wished I knew what he was thinking. I glanced back at Leah and subtly
leaned my head toward Talon. She shrugged her shoulders. I loved being able to
communicate with her without having to say anything.

As we pulled into the parking lot, Talon reached over and
squeezed my hand. Leah and I slid out of the car door to the pavement. It was
definitely easier getting out of the Jeep than it was getting into it. We wandered
through the shopping strip, past one of our favorite stores.

Suddenly, Leah grabbed my hand. “Oh my God, Caiti,
look
! Isn’t that the dress you were
describing to me the other night?”

I twisted back over my shoulder to look at where she was
pointing and inhaled quickly. “Yes, that is exactly what I had pictured in my
mind.”

We talked about going back to Hawaii all the time. We had spent
our entire summer vacation in Wailea, Maui, and it had been totally amazing. I
had created a dress in my mind that was similar to the maxi dresses that were
so popular, but I wanted it to have a racer back instead of a halter.
There it was–the dress I thought I had made up in my head, right in
the window of our favorite shop.

Talon was now standing directly behind us. “Which one?” he
asked.

Leah pointed at the dress in the window.

“What color?”

“Not black,” Leah said, and I clicked my tongue.

Okay, so I wore a lot of black… it was slimming.

“She looks so pretty in blues and greens,” Leah said. Soon
they had their heads together, talking away, and with the way my luck was going,
they were probably
planning out
the rest of my life.

Jace was leaning against a pillar, not even trying to hide
his amusement and he laughed so hard he snorted. I threw him a look I hoped
would pass for a desperate plea for help, and fortunately, his snorting must
have snapped him back to his senses and he came to my rescue.

He walked over with his hands grabbing at his stomach. “I’m
staaaarving. When do we get to eat?”

I stifled my humor and tried to look concerned. Talon and
Leah turned around; looking so guilty, I couldn’t maintain my serious look.

Talon winked at him. “Okay, Jace. We certainly don’t want
to cause you any undue pain.”

Leah grabbed Jace’s hand and dragged him into the
restaurant, his chestnut hair flowing out behind him. I cast a glance over my
shoulder; Talon wore such an intense expression on his face. I was
momentarily
breathless as he took several steps forward,
took my hand and gently raised it to his lips.

Wow.
It was the kind of stuff I had always
read in Mom’s old historical romance novels,
but never in my wildest
dreams did I think I would live it.

Unfortunately, my experience with the male gender was
limited to my time with Ryan and a few others who were nearly as bad, so gallantry
wasn’t something I had come to expect. I was always waiting for Talon’s “dark
side” to show up. At least, that’s how I had tried to explain it to Leah.

She just shook her head,
sighed
and reminded me I couldn’t compare everyone to Ryan.

Easy for her to say – but he was my only real basis for
comparison. She was always trying to convince me happy endings were possible in
real life. However, it was
really easy
to lose sight
of that at times. I blinked away my thoughts and realized Talon was still
holding my hand, patiently waiting for me to come out of my daydream.

“Hungry?”

“Um, sure.”
I said.

I wish he didn’t make me so self-conscious. How was I going
to eat in front of him? It would be just my luck to spill something all over my
beautiful, new shirt.

We followed the hostess and slid into the booth. One thing
I really enjoyed about this restaurant was they
almost always
had a hockey game on TV. It didn’t matter to me if it was an old game
being replayed
or a current game—as long as it was hockey, I
was happy. Fortunately, there was a division playoff game on the screen right
above Jace’s head. It definitely gave me an excuse for not being overly talkative.
Leah and I ordered our usual chicken Caesar wraps, while Jace ordered a huge,
triple burger and Talon ordered an extremely rare steak. Even with the
distraction of the game, I was still so nervous I only ate half my meal.

Jace finally broke the silence, as he usually did. “So what
normally goes on at these bonfire parties?”

Leah tossed her hair back over her shoulder. “Well, we
can’t say for sure, since we’ve avoided it in the past. However, I understand
there’s usually loud music and drinking, and of course, the occasional couple
sneaking off for some alone time.”

Jace leaned in to Leah and asked in a low voice, but not so
low that I couldn’t hear them, “I’m curious—why haven’t you ever gone before
tonight?”

Leah grimaced. “Ryan is always at these parties, and as you
know, Caiti tries to avoid him whenever she can.”

Talon raised one eyebrow at Jace, who nodded at him in return.

Leah nudged Jace in the shoulder “Skooch over and let me
out for a sec.”

The disbelief echoed in his voice.
“
Skooch
?”

Leah grimaced.
“Yeah, skooch.
Like
scoot…move your butt.” She tapped me under the table.

“Caiti – come with me?”

I tore my gaze away from the game.
“Yeah.
Yeah, sure.”
I gave Talon a little pat on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry. Do you mind? It won’t take long.”

“You know, you don’t have to apologize for everything. It’s
perfectly okay to tell people what you want.” He slid over in the booth, holding
out his hand to help me up. I gave it a quick squeeze in thanks.

Leah grabbed me by the hand, propelling me toward the
bathroom. “Are you okay?”

I was a little confused.
“Yeah.
Why?”

“You have been completely out of it and in your own little
world all night.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m so nervous. I can’t explain why, but
I feel really on edge. I’m afraid I will fly apart at the seams if I don’t
completely focus on keeping it together. I’m sorry–I hope it’s not ruining
anyone’s evening.” Now I was worried. I seriously hoped Talon hadn’t noticed. I
ran one hand through my hair. Ugh,
who
was I kidding? He
noticed everything.

Sympathy shone in Leah’s eyes. “Cay, don’t apologize. I
know exactly how you feel. I told you earlier, I have been uneasy all day. Just
watch, the evening will be amazing. Considering who we are with tonight, how
could it be anything else? When we get back to your house, we can chalk it up
to the full moon, PMS or anything else we want.”

I gave her a quick hug. “What would I do without you?”

As we approached the table, Talon and Jace had their heads
together and Talon appeared upset. His eyes were flashing a bright blue. Jace leaned
across the table and smacked him on the shoulder. Talon quickly tore his gaze
away from us and nodded at Jace. When he met my eyes again, his eyes were a
soft brown. I knew I hadn’t imagined it this time and the shock must have shown
on my face.

Jace jumped up. “The pixies have returned. Let’s go do some
off-roading!”

Leah and I exchanged nervous glances. What exactly did he
mean by off-roading?

Talon squeezed my hand and chuckled. “Don’t worry. I
promise we will take good care of you.”

I gave his hand a weak squeeze in return. We all piled back
into the car, with some help from the boys. The ride to the bridge
was filled
with the sounds of Leah giggling at Jace’s antics
in the backseat. Laughter was her way of dealing with her nervousness. I tend
to get
really quiet
when I’m on edge, and that night was
no different. Talon reached over and took my hand, caressing my thumb. The heat
started where our hands touched and radiated all the way down to the soles of
my feet. Funny, I never realized that my thumb
was attached
to my toes. My heart raced. I couldn’t allow myself to get close to him, because
it would devastate me when I lost him. I thought I would literally shatter into
a million pieces.

He glanced at me, concern creating deep lines in his
forehead. “What is wrong? Are you unhappy?”

My mouth fell open. “Unhappy?
No, not at
all.
Why would you ask that?”

He wore a hurt expression. “You have been so quiet tonight.
You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself.”

I didn’t know how to explain to him how I really felt. I
couldn’t tell him that I was more alive with him than I ever had been with
anyone else. He made me feel safe,
protected
and completely
self-conscious all at the same time. I wanted to be with him all the time. When
he touched me, it was as if someone was holding a warm compress to my skin, and
that heat then spread throughout my entire body.

I suddenly realized the car stopped. The lack of wind
through my hair should’ve been my first clue, but I
was so
caught up
in Talon I hadn’t even noticed. Jace had already jumped out of
the back of the Jeep and lifted a squealing Leah over the side. Talon came
around and opened the door for me.

I leaned on the doorframe and ran my fingertips along his
jaw line cupping his chin in my palm.

“I
am
having a
good time, and I’m sorry I haven’t been more talkative. Just a lot on my mind,
I guess.”

He flashed a lopsided smile. “Caitlin, never ever apologize
to me for the way you feel.” He put one hand on the headrest of my seat and
braced the other hand against the dashboard, leaning in to me. I held my breath
in anticipation.

Oh God, he was
going to kiss me.
My entire body trembled.

Leah suddenly yelled from the trailer. “Caiti, come here! You
have to see this!”

I narrowed my eyes at her and clenched my teeth to keep
from yelling. What crappy timing. I could have killed her.

Talon held his hand out to help me down from the car. Once
my feet hit the ground, he entwined his fingers with mine and we walked
hand-in-hand back to the trailer. Jace was already unloading the 4-wheelers,
and Leah was standing by, holding two helmets.

As we got closer, I saw what had her so excited—on each of
the vehicles, was a brand-new leather jacket. Where did it end with these two?

Talon met my gaze with a guilty smile.

“I keep trying to explain that you two are in good hands
with us!” Jace exclaimed. “We couldn’t have you getting all scratched up by the
brush along the path up to the old bridge, now could we?”

They really were amazing. I walked over, picked
up
and tried on my jacket. It fit me perfectly, and somehow
I wasn’t surprised

I faced back to Leah and gave a model turn. “So what do you
think?”

Leah assessed me with big eyes. “Cay-bear you look
incredible. The jacket is absolutely wicked.” She whipped around to Jace,
hopping up and down. “I want to try mine on. I only hope I look half as good as
she does!”

Jace gave her a low growl and pushed his 4-wheeler a few
feet away to where they had a little privacy.

Talon crept toward me. He leaned over and whispered in my
ear. “You look positively edible.”

He then proceeded to nip the skin just below my ear with
his teeth. Like a total moron, my knees gave out, but he caught me before I hit
the ground.

Fortunately, Leah and Jace were too busy appreciating how
good she looked in her own jacket to notice me being a freak. I could see that Jace
had wrapped her in a tender embrace, kissing her softly. Tears gathered in my
eyes—I was so happy for her.

Talon put his finger under my chin and lifted my face until
my eyes met his. “I cannot be apart from you any longer.”

My arms slid around his neck against my will. “I’m sorry,
but I can’t let my guard down,” I whispered. “I couldn’t bear it if you
disappeared now.” I desperately wanted him to hold me, but I was so afraid of
getting hurt again.

He lowered his head to mine. “You are mine to protect. I’m
here as long as you want me.”

My heart pounded. It was so loud, I was sure he would be
able to hear it.

“Forever, then?”
I asked.

He buried his hand in my hair and bent down to kiss me. The
moment his lips touched mine, a shock ran through me as though struck by
lightning. His breathing quickened as he pulled me closer and the kiss deepened.
I kneaded his neck with my fingers as he pressed his hands into the small of my
back and my entire body went up in flames of desire. It was a completely new
sensation to me.