Sweet Peril (24 page)

I was no goddess, but a look like that from Kaidan Rowe would make any girl feel empowered. A dangerous thrill passed through me, imagining how wound up he must be from not working, and how a single action from me could make him swoop down and attack. And yet, I wasn’t done torturing him. It was cruel and risky, but I didn’t care.

Playing it cooler than I ever had in my life, I gave him one last sweltering look before bending down and slowly picking up my wet clothes, then sauntering over to retrieve my bag and heading toward the bungalow area, all the while feeling the heat of his eyes. When I heard the groan that my retreating backside elicited from deep within him, I swung my hips a little more.

God forgive me, but it felt good.

L
unch started off tense after our heated moment. Thank goodness for Blake. Kai was warm toward him, reserving his coolness for me. I watched, keeping quiet. They fought over the last piece of General Tso’s shrimp, and I had to laugh when the little thing went flying in the air and landed in a wet footprint next to the pool.

“You can have it,” Kaidan graciously offered, and Blake shoved him one last time.

“I gotta go test out the new dirt bike before my race tomorrow,” Blake said. “What are you two gonna do today?”

We managed a brief glance at each other, both shrugging.

“When are you leaving?” Blake asked me.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“And then the Dukes will be heading home the next day,” Blake mulled. It was rare and extremely nice to have a couple
of days with no fear of lurking Dukes or whisperers. Blake ran a hand through his hair and looked back and forth between the two of us. “Want to see the bike?”

We walked around the house to the garage, where Blake pressed a code on a keypad to open the doors. One half of the massive garage was thrill-seeker central. There were toys for every extreme sport imaginable: snow skis, water skis, snowboards, dirt bikes, a four-wheeler, Jet Skis, helmets, and all sorts of gear for hiking and mountain climbing.

“All you need in here is an airplane,” I told him.

“I’m working on that.” Blake smiled and began to wheel out a shiny black dirt bike. “They just delivered it yesterday.” He grabbed a leather riding jacket from the wall, put it on, and climbed astride the bike. It revved insanely loud.

“No helmet?” I hollered over the whine of engine.

“Nah! Not on my land. See ya!” I jumped back as he took off, speeding into a brush of brambles and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Kaidan and I stood there, staring at the place where our buffer person had disappeared and listening as the bike zoomed farther away. Several tense beats passed, both of us looking around the garage.

He cleared his throat. “We could take a walk,” he suggested. “If you’d like.”

“Sure.” We walked back around the house, down the many steps onto the sand until we were at that wonderful place where water met land.

“Ack!” I screamed as a wave washed over my feet and ankles. “It’s freezing!”

He smirked to himself. It was hot enough outside to offset
the cold water, so after a few minutes I got used to it.

Together we walked in the surf, leaving our footprints in the sand. Neither of us spoke. We passed a man and a pregnant woman holding hands. Her free hand rested on top of the baby bump. They smiled in passing, and as I returned the gesture a powerful longing hit me. My hand brushed Kai’s, certain I’d felt his own fingers curl instinctively before we both pulled our arms away. Empty.

I didn’t know where to start with him. Too much hurt was between us, like a giant pile of rubble blocking our way.

“I heard your band’s first single.”

He looked at me with surprise and, if I didn’t know any better, shyness, too. His hair shielded part of his eyes when he asked, “Did you?”

“Jay’s interning at a radio station now, so he got his hands on it. It’s good. Are you having fun doing the recordings and stuff?”

He shrugged. “Music used to be my one escape. Playing was the only time I could forget everything.”

But it wasn’t anymore? His jaw clamped shut as if he’d said too much. All this time I’d been thinking at least he had his band and drumming to ease his mind. But he was worse off than I’d imagined.

He ran his hands through his hair several times, then shoved them in his swim trunk pockets and let the locks fall around his face as he peered down at the sand. We sidestepped a huge cloudy-looking glob.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Jellyfish.”

Silence again. We walked for a long time. Thank goodness for the distraction of waves and squawking seagulls because the tension and hurt between us was brutal. I wished I knew how to mend it. I wanted to ask him about working, and the Valentine’s Day visit, but we’d need to build up to that.

Up ahead, not too far, was a pier and a carnival. A tall Ferris wheel towered over the shore. The beach close ahead was filled with people. I felt the need to stop and say something before we were surrounded by crowds.

“Kai?” I put my hand in the crook of his elbow to gently halt him. He tilted his head to the side with a hard expression, but at least he didn’t pull away from me this time. “All I’ve wanted is to talk to you,” I began. Emotions that I’d buried for so long rose inside me, impassioning my words. “I don’t understand what you expected me to do. You pushed me away for so long, even pushed me
toward
someone else. I know I hurt you, but I never meant to. It was one kiss, Kaidan. A mistake. Now all three of us are hurting because of it. It’s unfair.”

“Don’t talk to me about what’s
fair
, Anna. Nothing is ever fair. Ask your father.” As soon as he said it, he winced and closed his eyes.

“My father . . .  ?”

And that’s when it hit.

My mouth opened. Fury kicked, bruising me from the inside. I couldn’t speak.

Dad did this.

“He told you to stay away from me?”

Kaidan opened his eyes. “I’d been planning to move and keep my distance anyway, so we came to an agreement. The
few times I got the urge to ring you, the reminder of his warning cleared my head.”

Kai had wanted to call me. . . .

“I can’t freaking believe this,” I whispered. I pressed my fingers to my temples and walked a small circle in the sand. It didn’t matter that Dad was looking out for me. He’d let me believe Kaidan didn’t care anymore. He’d betrayed me and threatened the boy I loved—a boy who already lived in enough fear.

“I won’t tell him that you told me,” I promised. It would only serve to make him angry at Kaidan.

“Belial was only demanding what was best. It’s what needed to be done.” With his toe, he nudged a sand crab that had been uncovered by a wave, and it scurried under the sand. “You’re safe. That’s what matters.”

His words were a warm wind blowing over my skin, coaxing up goose bumps.

“I’ve spent almost every night since that summit imagining how we could make this work, Kai. That night when I saw you in Atlanta was terrible. And then after you came to me in February, fighting with you was not what I had in mind for today.” I stopped to swallow. “I can’t take back what happened in Australia, but I hope you can forgive me.”

A blast of wind came, giving me an excuse to close my eyes.

“So, what is it that you want, Anna?”

That felt like a loaded question. And suddenly I was afraid of putting myself out there and being rejected by him yet again. Like a coward I responded, “If nothing else, I need you as a friend and an ally.”

“You want to be friends?” Kaidan lifted his eyes to me. “Because it’s not possible if you feel anything more than friendship. Allies, yes, but not friends. If you can show me your colors and prove there’s nothing left,
then
we can be friends.”

My jaw went slack and I shook my head back and forth.

He opened his stance, eyes bright as gems, voice full of challenge. “Show me,” he said.

“Show me yours first,” I countered.

“Not a chance.”

This was stupid. He had to know I still loved him. But whatever; if he wanted to see, I’d show him.

I peered around the beach and then let my guard down. As always, it felt strange. Kaidan’s arms dropped and his jaw softened. My heart raced as if I were naked in public, showing him what must have been a torrent of emotional colors. Six seconds was all I was willing to chance before reeling my aura back in. He stared at my face, showing that boyish vulnerability a moment more before checking his features into the familiar hardened mask and crossing his arms.

He jutted out his chin. “How do I know those colors are meant for me?”

Ugh!

“They’re for you,” I assured him, jaw clenching.

“If that’s so, then what I said before still holds. We can’t be friends.”

“Fine,” I said with a twist in my gut. “Go ahead and keep cutting me off. But when I actually
live my life
, you don’t get to be a jerk about it!”

He lifted his hands out to his sides in frustration. “You act
as if we can have a relationship, Anna. We can’t!”

My hands tightened into fists at my sides. “You think I don’t know that? I’m painfully aware of that! But even Ginger and Blake find times when they can talk. You’re not the only one who hates his life. This year has sucked!”

I jumped when a boogie board drifted over and hit us on the ankles, chased by a boy in swim trunks. Kaidan picked it up and handed it back. We moved through the surf without talking, giving me a chance to calm. We ended up at the pier with its Ferris wheel painted in a faded rainbow of colors. It was afternoon and the sun was hot and bright when we left the sand and walked on the wooden boardwalk. Families milled about with ice cream cones, and a group of young skater boys loitered around the carnival entrance, smoking cigarettes and attempting trick moves. Kaidan led us past them into the carnival where smells of fried dough drifted along the air.

“Ever been on a Ferris wheel?” he asked me. I shook my head as we walked toward it, passing game stands with grumpy-looking attendants.

“Let me find a restroom first,” I said.

“Loos are by the entrance. I’ll meet you back here.”

It took a few minutes, but I found it. On my way back to the Ferris wheel I caught sight of Kaidan talking to a girl in front of a game booth. I stopped to watch as he handed over some money and was given three balls. The girl, a short and curvy Latina with satiny black hair, leaned over the booth to watch. A lacy black thong peeked out of the back of her hip-hugging shorts. I had to give Kaidan props for not ogling. He tossed the balls one after another, hitting the nearly impossible
targets with ease, much to the dismay of the old man attendant. The girl cheered and pointed to a pink teddy bear, which the attendant pulled down and handed to her with a frown.

They turned away from the booth and Kaidan stopped, seeing me.

“Es tu novia?”
the girl asked him.

“Er, I’m sorry, I don’t know much Spanish,” he answered. I was decent at Spanish, having taken five years, so I knew she’d just asked if I was his girlfriend. I also knew he had Spanish skills as well, so he’d been avoiding the question.

“Thank you,” she told him, giving me one last glance before walking away, snuggling the pink bundle with pride.

I started moving toward the Ferris wheel when he approached.

“She came up to see if I could win that for her.”

“That was nice of you,” I said. I thought it was cute how he felt the need to explain.

Nobody was in line at the Ferris wheel, so we were let on the rickety contraption right away. An iron bar pressed loosely across our laps.

As the ride lifted, a nervous discomfort nagged me. I gripped the bar.

“Afraid of heights?” he asked. I gave a tight nod and he chuckled.
Yeah, I know, I know. I’m a big chicken. He leaned forward to look down, which made the car rock back and forth. I gasped, grabbing the bar harder and squeezing my eyes shut. Maybe if I hadn’t looked so closely at the rusty bolts that held the thing together, my brain wouldn’t be envisioning malfunction.

“Relax.” He laughed. “Have a look.”

I pried my eyes open to look at the amazing view of the sun glimmering off the ocean. I relaxed back into the hard seat. Everything was fine. We were nearly to the top when the ride stopped to let someone else on. I turned my head to Kaidan and bit my lip. He was
gazing
at me. There was no other word for it. Gone was the hardness.

What was going on in that mind of his?

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. We started moving again, up, up, until stopping at the very top. We were high. Really high. It was bright and breezy, making us squint. Distant voices below sounded like a rowdy group was waiting to get on the ride, maybe the skater boys. But everything felt so far away from us at that moment, like we were floating miles above it all.

“I’m not afraid anymore,” I whispered back.

He cupped a hand over my forehead to shield the sun.

“We should have worn our sunglasses,” he murmured. He was so close I could feel his breath and see the dried sea salt in his hair. My skin became hot. He leaned closer, so close, and breathed in.