The Pull of Destiny (38 page)

Dad sneered. “How?” His
eyes flickered over me. “He isn’t even wearing a tie!”

Nodding knowledgeably,
dad’s companion said, “That’s how the youngsters dress these days. Awful, but
you can’t tell them anything.” His watery eyes alighted on CiCi and they lit up
like a candle. “And who’s this ravishing beauty?”

I put my hand on CiCi’s
shoulder. “This is Celsi Sawyer, my date. We’re going to dance,” I told them,
seeking an escape route. Unfortunately, dad had to open his mouth and screw
stuff up like only he could.

“Look at her,” he said,
chewing on a toothpick and pointing at CiCi like she was a wax figure in Madame
Tussaud’s museum. “Can you believe that she’s from East Harlem?”

Dad’s friend did a fake
double take, rubbing his eyes and peering closer at CiCi for maximum effect
while my ears burned with anger. “El Barrio?”

“And not the nice part,
either,” dad said snidely. “She’s from the projects. Public housing.”

“Then we should see some
antics on the dance floor!”

They laughed, sounding
more like catty school girls than rich tycoons.

I had heard enough.
Cursing under my breath, I grabbed CiCi’s wrist and dragged her away before I
snapped and decked both of them. My head was thumping in sync with my heart and
for some odd reason I found myself remembering what the doctors from John
Hopkins had told me when psycho dad made me fly out there for a third opinion-
‘While
we aren’t quite sure what factors cause aneurysms to rupture, studies have
shown that high blood pressure  can increase the risk of rupturing. Therefore,
we would advise you not to lose your temper.’

Easier said than done. My
heart raged with anger and I was pretty sure I had steam coming out of my ears.
How dare dad taunt CiCi in front of his friend? Didn’t he have a conscious at
all?

“Luke, I really appreciate
you holding my hand, but can you loosen up a little? You’re kinda cutting off
my circulation,” CiCi quipped as we stepped onto the dance floor.

A slow song started as,
mortified, I quickly let go of her wrist, which I had been gripping rather
tightly. But that’s only because I was imagining it as my dad’s neck, which, in
retrospect, isn’t exactly healthy.

“God, I’m sorry,” I
apologized.

“I was just playing, you
weren’t really cutting off my circulation,” she assured me, rubbing her wrist
regardless. I felt like a moron. Now I was assaulting my date. What next?

Putting my arms around her
slim waist, I relished how CiCi felt in my arms as I held her close. Sure, I’d
been through plenty of slow dances in my life but that didn’t explain why I
found it hard to breathe as CiCi put her arms around my neck, her fingers
brushing the nape of my neck. I couldn’t even name the conflicting emotions
running through me as I felt the curves of her body press against me, and
suddenly, I didn’t want to. Screw what I was feeling. All I knew for sure was
that there wasn’t another place I would rather be at that moment than on that
dance floor, staring into CiCi’s hazel eyes.

CHAPTER 16

take my breath
away
.

Luke's Point of View

“Are you feeling okay?”
she asked out of the blue, startling me as I stared at her full lips.

Luke, do not look at her
lips.

I shrugged, hoping that
what I was thinking wasn’t showing up on my face. “I’m good.”

“No headache?”

“Nope.” CiCi pressed her
hand against my forehead regardless and I had to smile at the concerned look on
her face. “I’m okay, really. I’ll live to see another day, don’t worry.”

“Oh.” CiCi frowned. “So
why do you look so sad?”

What happened to my public
smile? Oh yeah, must have lost it when my dad and his friend started talking
about CiCi dancing like a ho.

I forced another fake
smile on my face but still felt a surge of anger towards my dad. Just because
CiCi didn’t measure up to his expectations money-wise, he was trying to ruin
the night for us. What did he want from me? To bring Paris Hilton as my date?

“Why would I be sad with
you as my date?” I asked her softly, finally doing what I’d been dying to do
all night and tuck that errant piece of hair falling in her eye behind her ear.
I ran a finger across her cheek and I swear she shivered. “In case you haven’t
noticed, you’re kinda the belle of the ball.”

“Like I said, flattery
gets you nowhere.”

I grinned at her. “It’s
not considered flattery if it’s true.”

Eyes wide, CiCi opened her
mouth but nothing came out. I grinned wider. Usually she had something to say,
even if it made no sense at all. Score one for Luke Astor, baby.

“Cat got your tongue?” I
teased, loving how her cheeks flushed.

“Luke, don’t change the
subject,” she finally said, electing to change the subject herself.
“Something’s on your mind. What’s up?”

I shook the hair out of my
eyes, looking down at her. “It’s nothing. I don’t wanna ruin your night more
than it’s been ruined already.”

“I somehow don’t think
that’s possible.” CiCi smiled to show that she was joking but it hit too close
to home for my liking. She was right. The night was a total gong show.

“I’m so sorry about this,
CiCi,” I said fervently, wrapping my arms tighter around her waist and looking
into her eyes. “When I asked you- I didn’t think my dad would react like this.”

“Luke, we’ve been through
this. It’s okay,” CiCi assured me. She gazed up at me quizzically. “Is that why
you look so sad?”

“I’m not really sad,” I
said. “I’m just pissed off at him. He didn’t have the right to go off on you
like that and talk shit. I’m sorry.”

“How many times are you
going to say that you’re sorry?”

I smiled guiltily at her.
“Till you tell me to stop?”

“Stop.” She grinned. “I
heard that the more times you say sorry, the less sincere you sound.”

I laughed out loud. I
couldn’t help it. CiCi gave me a mystified look and I decided to share the
joke.

“You’re so cute when you
say stuff like that.”

“Like what?”

“Stuff you think you heard
but probably didn’t.” I chuckled. “I kinda love it when you do that.”

“I did too hear about it,”
CiCi said, sounding rather huffy.

“Where?” I smirked.

“Um...” CiCi started,
shaking her hair back as she thought. Her face brightened. “It was on Oprah!”

I grinned. “Don’t put this
on Oprah!”

Pursing up her lips (oh,
God, not again) CiCi said, “What does this have to do with what we’re talking
about?”

“Nothing,” I admitted. But
flirting with you (if that’s what we were doing) was fun while it lasted.

“Exactly!”

CiCi had a smug look on
her face that I was determined to wipe off. Just for fun.

“But you won’t let me
apologize on my dad’s behalf,” I said. “Not that I think he deserves me
apologizing for him, but- I’m embarrassed.”

“Luke.” CiCi had a deathly
serious expression on her face. “I have to be honest with you. I don’t care
about what your dad says to me or about me. It doesn’t concern me.”

I sighed, biting my lip.
“Well, that definitely makes you the bigger person because what dad said- it
concerned me big time.”

“Wanna know what I’m
concerned about?” CiCi asked, a sweet smile on her face.

“What?”

“You.”

I pointed to myself as we
swayed to the music. Our conversation was so interesting that I had forgotten I
was dancing for a second. “Me?”

Hell, I was touched!

“Yes, you. This is your
night.”

I smirked. “It is? I
thought it was my dad’s night?”

To be a jerkass, amongst
other things.

“Nope, I issued a decree,”
CiCi said merrily, smiling up at me. “Tonight is Luke Astor’s night. I don’t
want you to worry about anything. Not the aneurysm, not your dad, not even the
fact that you’re stepping on my foot right at this very moment.”

Oops.

“I’m sorry,” I said,
taking a step back.

“I told you not to worry,”
she said sternly. “Tonight is your night. Be happy.”

I had to smile at her
earnest face. Sweetheart. “I am happy, oh wise one,” I drawled teasingly.

“Good. Don’t worry about
me, I’m a big girl,” she said placidly.

“And you’re sweet.”

“And I’m sweet,” she
repeated, nodding in agreement.

“But not modest,” I joked,
the flirting banter starting anew. I loved how flirting (if that really was
what we were doing; I felt so rusty) with CiCi was so natural because she
didn’t realize that I was flirting.

“I can be modest if I
choose,” she protested, running her fingers over the nape of my neck and making
me shiver.

“But tonight of all
nights, you shouldn’t be modest,” I said, meaning every word I said. She may say
that this was my night, but she was the one stealing the show, and for good
reason- she looked fabulous.

CiCi beamed, resting her
head against my chest as the song changed to ‘Suddenly’ by Billy Ocean. “I love
this song,” she murmured.

“It’s a bit corny to me,”
I had to admit, shrugging as CiCi peered up at me. “You wake up and suddenly
you’re in love? Bit farfetched, don’t you think?”

“You don’t believe in love
at first sight, do you?” CiCi asked, an assessing look on her face.

Grinning, I said, “Guilty.”

“Don’t let Shazia hear you
say that,” CiCi said reflectively, scratching her nose with her index finger.
“This song is a really popular song to propose to.”

 “It wasn’t on Blender’s
list of top proposal songs,” I pointed out, surprising even myself by remembering
something so trivial. Maybe CiCi and her random facts were rubbing off on me.

“Oh.” I loved how
flustered CiCi got when I called her on something. The color rose in her cheeks
and you could practically see her mind whirring as she tried to come up with
something else to say. “Well, okay, maybe I exaggerated just a bit.”

“Been there, done that.”

“My uncle proposed to my
aunt when that song was playing. It’s always had a special place in my heart,”
she told me, smiling sheepishly. “I just think it’s so romantic.”

“Are they still together?”

“Hmmm?” CiCi looked
faraway, humming along to the song under her breath as we swayed in time to the
music.

“Your aunt and uncle. Are
they still married? I think most couples don’t stay married for long.” I bit my
lip in thought. “Especially if the marriage was arranged like my parents was.”

TMI. Luckily, CiCi didn’t
seem to notice what I said, which I was glad for. I didn’t know why I divulged
that piece of information.

In a soft voice, CiCi
said, “My uncle’s dead.”

I blinked. “Oh, God, I’m
sorry.”

I always had to put my
foot in it when I was talking about CiCi’s family, didn’t I?

“It’s okay,” CiCi
continued, shrugging her slim shoulders. “It happened a long time ago.”

Why I asked the next
question, I’ll never know. “Did your aunt ever remarry?”

CiCi didn’t seem to think
the question was odd at all, though.

“No.” She smiled up at me.
“I think they were soul mates.”

I grinned at the look on
her face. “Tell me you don’t believe in soul mates.”

Because I definitely didn’t.

“I do! With all my heart,
as a matter of fact.”

Snickering, I replied, “I
don’t.”

“Why?”

 “You really wanna know?”
I asked, a teasing grin on my face as I looked down at her upturned face. My
breath caught in my throat as in that instant, I realised how easy it would be
for me to fall for CiCi. She was just so pretty, so different, so intriguing...

I swallowed hard as she
said, “Yeah, I really wanna know.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to
get my thoughts sorted and trying to stop myself from thinking about CiCi like
that. “If there’s someone for everyone, why do so many people end up being
single for life? Coz if the soul mate thing is true, you’d think everyone would
at least have the chance to meet their soul mate.”

Well, that’s what I
thought, at least.

CiCi smiled. “You sound
like you’ve given it lots of thought.”