Nobody's Girl

by Love, Michelle

  As he pulls out of our driveway, I find some hard rock and look to see if he approves. Kyle hates it. His head bobs a bit, so it’s a hit. Finally, someone who likes it.

  “So, you like the hard stuff?”

  Taking my hand in his, he lifts it to his lips, placing a kiss on top. “I listen to everything. But I must confess to the hard sounds of this music being my favorite.”

  “Mine too,” I say, wondering what else we have in common.

  As we drop off a particularly steep hill, I feel as if we’re flying. My stomach drops and my head goes light. “Oh!”

  Eden’s head snaps as he decelerates. “I’m sorry, Alyssa. I went too fast. I have to be more careful.”

  I laugh. “Don’t be sorry. That was fun, like a roller coaster.”

  Shaking his head, he says, “I need to be careful with you. Speed is one of my downfalls, but I shouldn’t put you in danger because of it.”

  “That wasn’t very dangerous, Eden. Come on, lighten up. I’m not a china doll,” I say as I roll my eyes.

  Lifting our clasped hands, he lands another kiss on mine. “No, you are no China doll. You are much more precious than that, my princess.”

  Several people walking down the main street in town openly gawk at us as we drive by them. “Okay, now the top down thing is embarrassing. Do you see how they stare at us?”

  Eden shrugs his broad shoulders. “So let them. The car is beautiful and should be looked at, as should you.”

  “I doubt they’re looking at me. It’s you they stare at, Mr. Too Good Looking,” I say with a giggle.

  He mumbles something about hating being called mister, and somehow he’s found my doctor’s office without me telling him where it was.

  “Here we are,” he says.

  “I see that. And just how did you know where it was?”

  Turning, he pulls his shades down slightly so I can see his eyes. “GPS, sweetheart.”

  I’m dumb!

  “Oh, yeah, I guess this thing would have that.”

  I go for the door handle, but he stops me. “Uh uh, let me.”

  He gets out of the car and moves quickly to my side, opening the door. I go for my seat belt and somehow he’s managed to come across me and beat me to it.

  Crap! Does he think I can’t do anything on my own?

  On my feet, he has me wrapped in his tight grip with his arm around my waist. I say, “I can probably walk on my own now. I really do feel much better.”

  “I don’t want to take the chance of you getting dizzy and falling. Just let me do this for you, princess,” he says as he places another kiss on my cheek.

  How can you say no to that?

  The receptionist looks up at us as we walk in. To my surprise, she comes to the door. “Come on back, Ms. Devlin.”

  “Wow! Never have I been seen so fast,” I mutter.

  With her eyes on Eden as we pass, she says, “You must be Mr. Fontaine.”

  What the hell?

  “Please, call me Eden,” he says as he glances at her.

  She takes us to a room, gesturing for us to go in. “Doctor Baker will be right with you. It’s so nice to meet you, Eden,” she says before she finally pays me—the patient after all—a little attention. “Ms. Devlin, I do hope you’re feeling better.”

  “Much,” I say as she turns and leaves.

  Yeah, she really gave a shit. Eden picks me up by my waist, sitting me on the exam table.

  “I could have gotten up here on my own.”

  His finger touches the end of my nose and he grins. “I know you could, but why not let me help you?”

  “Hey, how did the receptionist know your name?”

  Standing in front of me, he plays with a piece of my hair. “Your mother told them, I suppose.”

  Doctor Baker does a quick knock before he enters the small examination room. “How’s Miss Alyssa doing today?”

  Eden turns away to shake his hand. “Good afternoon, Doctor Baker.”

  “Mr. Fontaine, how nice to meet you,” the doctor says with a huge smile.

  Damn, what’s with this guy and his super charm?

  Eden moves from in front of me as the doctor turns his attention to me. “Let me take a look at the bump on the back of your head, Alyssa,” he says as he moves to my side and touches the still tender area.

  “Ouch!”

  Eden has my hand in his before I know he’s done it. “Did he hurt you?”

  The doctor looks at Eden with wide eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

  Eden’s eyes narrow as he looks back at the doctor. “See that you are.”

  What in God’s name!

  “Eden!” I reprimand him, then turn to look at my doctor. “I’m sorry, Doctor Baker. It barely hurt at all. I’m fine. It’s a little tender. Perhaps the word ‘ouch’ was a bit much for how it felt when you touched the bump.”

  “Please, don’t apologize to me, Alyssa. I should be careful not to hurt you. Now let me listen to your heart,” he says as he places the stethoscope on my chest.

  Eden leans in close to me as he watches the doctor’s hand very near to my left breast. Doctor Baker moves the stethoscope a bit closer to my breast and Eden clears his throat.

  My doctor steps back, removing it from my chest and placing it on my back. “Take a deep breath for me, please, Alyssa,” he says. and I do as he’s asked as I watch Eden bird dog my physician.

  What is wrong with him?

  “Everything sounds good. The MRI results were sent to me this morning and they look good. No damage done,” Doctor Baker informs me.

  “That’s good to hear,” Eden says with a sigh.

  “So I can go back to school tomorrow then?” I ask.

  Incredibly, instead of looking at me, my doctor looks at Eden. “You’ve been the one with her the most. What do you think?” he asks Eden.

  “It’s better for her not to attend. There’re only a couple more weeks of school anyway. She’s done with her actual school work. Write the excuse for the remainder of the school year,” Eden orders.

  “Wait one minute,” I interrupt the dictator. “First, how do you know anything about my schoolwork? Second, I feel fine and maybe I want to go back to school.”

  The doctor gets out a pen and begins writing on a pad of paper. “No, Alyssa, Mr. Fontaine is right. If there’s no academic reason for you to go back to school, I see no reason to risk your health. If you were to get dizzy for even a second and fall again, I would be held responsible for your injuries. You wouldn’t want me to get into trouble, now would you?” he asks me with a smile.

  “Of course not, but I feel fine and you said I’m okay.”

  Eden places his hand on my chin and he pulls me to look at him. He’s so damn close to me. “Alyssa, do as the doctor says. You don’t want to get him in any trouble.”

  This is insane!

  “I suppose I have no choice in the matter,” I say as I concede defeat.

  Eden smiles at me. “Where your health is concerned, listen to your doctor, princess.”

  Damn, damn, damn! What the hell is this?

  The doctor turns back to us. “I’ll call the school and tell them her situation. Once I fax this excuse over, there will be nothing else you need to do. Take good care of her for us,” my doctor since I’ve been born tells Eden, leaving me dumbfounded.

  They shake hands again. “I will. Her health is excellent, thanks to you. Great job, Byron,” Eden says, making my mouth drop open.

  Did he call him by his first name?

  The doctor exits the small room with a wave to me. “Goodbye, Alyssa. See you soon.”

  “Eden, how the fuck did you know his first name?”

  His expression is one of disgust. Putting his finger to my lips in a gesture for me not to speak, he says, “Alyssa, my princess, please do not allow that language to pass through those precious lips again. It’s beneath you to speak filth.”

  If I wasn’t embarrassed by his reaction to my use of
profanity, I would yell some other nasty things at him. “Okay, sorry. I’ll re-phrase that. How do you know his first name? I don’t even know it.”

  “Your mother told it to me,” he says as he lifts me off the exam table, running his strong arm around my waist and taking me out of the small room. “Now tell me where you would like to go and have lunch.”

  “I’m not allowed to go out anywhere with the male species until I turn eighteen, Eden, sorry.”

  At the car, he opens my door and as soon as I sit down he reaches across me to fasten my seatbelt. Pulling the sunglasses I had propped up on the top of my head, he puts them back on my face, then puts his back on. His movie star look is complete.

  “I’ll call your father and get his approval,” he says, closing my door and walking around to get in.

  “Good luck with that,” I say, pulling down the visor to check my reflection.

  Before Eden can get in the car, a tall, leggy, blonde woman walks up to him. Her skirt short and her hand extended, she says, “Hi, I’m Lacey Patterson. I’m a realtor here and noticed your exceptional vehicle. I’ve never seen it around town before, nor yourself. Are you new?”

  What the hell is this woman doing?

  Eden shakes her hand. “I’m just visiting for a while.”

  She leaves her hand in his after the shake. “I’d love to show you some of the homes I have. This is a great town to buy investment property in. We have a great many people who vacation here.”

  Eden looks down at how she’s refusing to let his hand go. “Not interested in making any purchase here. I’m just down, visiting the in-laws.”

  “I’m ready, Eden,” I snap, making her turn her attention to me. For Christ sakes, there is no way she could miss seeing me sitting right here. The top’s down, for the love of all that’s holy.

  Finally, she releases his hand. “Sorry, I’ll leave you two alone.”

  Her ass wiggles back and forth under her too-tight skirt as she sashays away from Eden.

  What a whore!

  Eden slides into his seat and starts the car up. “Thanks for the save, princess,” he says as he takes my hand, placing a kiss on top.

  I grin and say, “Not a problem there, hubby. Visiting the in-laws, you say?”

  “You caught that, huh? Must have been listening in pretty hard. I do believe I see a bit of jealousy in your gorgeous sapphire eyes.”

  “Jealousy, ha! I was saving you from the old hag,” I say and turn to look away.

  The people on the sidewalk actually point at us as we drive by them. What a bunch of nosy people we have in this town. It’s as if they’ve never seen a convertible in their lives.

  A ringing noise brings my attention back to the radio as my father’s voice fills the speakers that seem to be everywhere in this magnificent machine.

  “Hi, Eden. What can I do for you?” my father asks.

  “I would like to take Alyssa to lunch and she’s informed me she’s not allowed to go anywhere with male individuals. Would you like to assure her of your approval?”

  “I suppose you have me on the car phone?” he asks.

  “I do.”

  “Okay, then. Alyssa, it’s fine for you to go anywhere you want with Eden. We trust him implicitly. Have a good time, honey. We’ll see you when you get back home. Doctor Baker called and told us about your appointment. Looks like it all went well.”

  “Who are you?” I ask in amazement. “Where are my real parents?”

  A laugh is the only answer I receive as it dies away and the hard beat of a rock song fills the speakers. “So where would you like to eat, my lady?” Eden asks.

  Not sure how to take any of this, I let it all go. Perhaps my parents have a deeper friendship with Eden’s parents than I realized. Yeah, that has to be it. I am hungry, so why not eat while we’re out?

  “I’d like a burger, and Trixie’s has the best in town. It’s just up this road a bit.”

  Placing his hand on the headrest of my seat, he looks over at me. The wind is moving the longer top of his dark hair around just enough to make him look like he’s doing a photoshoot for some men’s magazine.

  He’s a sight to behold and I am an awful person who cheats on her devoted boyfriend.

  “Trixie’s it is, baby.”

  I have to look away, out into the small town we drive through. I watch the people walk down the sidewalk. My small town looks somewhat different from inside of this perfect machine with this perfect guy driving me through it.

  It’s almost as if I’m not a part of it at all. The people I see look at us as if we are some sight to behold. None seem to recognize that it’s just little ol’ me riding in the passenger seat.

  The car slows as Eden prepares to turn into the parking lot. “You sure about this place, Alyssa?”

  Taking notice of the three motorcycles in the parking lot and only a couple of cars, I say, “Don’t worry, Eden. It’s nearly three in the afternoon. Not a prime time for most people to eat. The food’s good, I promise.”

  “Should I put the top back up? I mean, will the car be safe out here? This place looks rough,” he says with hesitation.

  I laugh. “Leave the top down. It’ll be fine. This place isn’t as bad as it seems. Come on now. I’m famished.”

  Before he gets out, he hits the button on my seatbelt, releasing it. “Let me get your door for you.”

  “I can get out on my own,” I protest and reach for the handle.

  He grabs my hand and pulls it back up to his lips, touching it gently with them. “Princess, let me open your door, please. It’s not right for a lady to get out of the car unattended by her male driver.”

  “Fine,” I say.

  He slips out of his side and comes around. His gait as he moves in front of the car is smooth and refined. One of his hands moves through his hair, making it lay in the most perfect of ways.

  As he opens my door and takes my hand to help me out, a sudden flash fills my head. It’s the large birds which flew over Kyle and me in the forest.

  Yet, I can see them clearly above me, so close I could touch them if this was real. I feel Eden’s arm around my waist and I lean into his side for support, feeling weak-kneed.

  “You okay?” he asks.

  Shaking my head to clear the vision, I nod. “A weird, light-headed thing just happened. Maybe the doctor was right not to send me back to school. I would’ve fallen if I was on my own. Thanks for being here, Eden.”

  Pulling my sunglasses off and placing them on the top of my head, his eyes search mine as if confirming I’m okay. “You sure you’re fine?”

  I nod and he begins walking into the café, holding me tightly against his side. He’s so sweet and kind and compassionate.

  Too bad I belong to another.

  CHAPTER 16

  EDEN

  Placing my sunglasses on top of my head, I open the door for Alyssa to enter the dark bar. She calls it a café, but it’s a bar, and a dingy, smelly one at that.

  I sweep the interior to find some bikers at a pool table and an elderly couple in one of the booths, drinking beer. They hold hands across the table and I find it cute, yet misplaced in this rat hole.

  The large redhead behind the bar looks us over as she moves to follow us. I find us a booth and slide my mate in, sitting next to her.

  The waitresses’ gravelly voice, from what has to be years of smoking, grates on my ears. She tosses a menu to Alyssa and hands one to me, then says, “Well, hello there. I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you new to Cloudcroft?”

  “Just visiting. Can you give us a minute?” I ask as I see her look over at my mate and narrow her eyes.

  “Ain’t you that Kyle boy’s girlfriend?”

  Alyssa’s cheeks glow pink. “I am. This is my parents’ old friends’ son, Eden. I’m showing him around town.”

  “Cozy. So you want the usual chocolate milkshake?” she asks, letting me know my mate and that boy attend this nasty establishment quite often.

>   How he could take her to this type of place is unsettling. Behind her parents’ backs, she’s come here with him.

  What else has she done with that boy?

  “You should try the double meat, double cheese burger. It’s delicious. Kyle always gets that,” she says as she innocently looks up at me after stabbing my heart by saying that boy’s name and suggesting I would like anything he does.

  The exception being her, of course.

  “What are you having?”

  “The regular burger and fries. Dairy doesn’t agree with me. The milkshakes I get are made with almond milk instead of regular cow’s milk. They don’t carry any cheeses I can eat,” she says as she places the menu that had been tossed at her at the edge of the table.

  If we were anywhere else except her hometown, I would have barked at the waitress for her inexcusable behavior. “I’ll get whatever you get,” I say.

  The waitress’ hand lands on my shoulder and I jerk my head around to look at it. Her red nail polish is dull and chipped and she smells like cigarettes. How could she possibly think she has a chance in hell with me?

  “Sugar, you want a beer, or something maybe a little stronger with your burger and fries?”

  “I’m eighteen, ma’am,” I say as I look up at her to find her yellow teeth flashing beneath her red-stained, thin lips.

  Perhaps the only thing thin on the woman, except her ultra-thin eyebrows.

  Her finger goes to her lips as she says, “Shh, I won’t tell on you, handsome.”

  “No, thank you, ma’am. Just the burgers, all the way with mustard, the fries, and her shake made with almond milk. I’ll have a bottle of water, please.”

  She pats my shoulder. “We have curly fries, baby. Would you enjoy some of my curly fries?”

  Are you kidding me!

  “No, ma’am. The regular fries will do us just fine, I assure you.”

  Her hand slides down my shoulder along my arm, leaving me with an itch to bathe. “I’ll be right back with your drinks then, cutie pie.”

  I turn to see Alyssa watching the waitress walk away. “Wow!” she says with a shake of her head. “I never knew we had so many skanky women in this small town. Eden, you bring out the beast in females. You must get that kind of stuff all the time. You handle them so well. If a man did that to me, I’d probably slap him.”