by Opal Carew
Kai’s eyes locked with his once again and met his challenge.
“Based on your build and the look of your hands, it’s clear you’re not afraid of hard work. You ride a motorcycle and from what I can tell, you only have one duffle bag, which means you are a man who travels light. You have a weakness for women and it would seem, based on Matilda’s reaction, they have a weakness for you.”
“Do you?” He asked in a low seductive tone.
Kai’s breath caught in her throat as she held his stare. She gripped the bottle tighter as heat crawled up her back, but before she could answer him a familiar voice interrupted the moment.
“I’d like to know the answer to that question as well.”
Kai blinked and looked up to see Ben standing at the end of the table wearing a perplexed look on his face as he glanced between the two of them. His aura glowed bright orange as he folded his arms over his chest. He was obviously annoyed and Kai couldn’t blame him.
“Like I said, Kai,” Ben began in an even tone. “You are anything but simple. You see, a simple woman wouldn’t bring another man out on a date.”
“Ben!” Kai scrambled out of the booth and stood next to him. She didn’t miss the amused look on Aaron’s face as she attempted to explain. “I know this looks really strange but I was in Clive’s gas station and—and I fainted from the heat. Mr. Miles caught me and I wanted to buy him dinner to say thank you.”
“I was just leaving,” Asmodeus said as he started to slide out of the booth. “You know what they say, two’s company and three’s a crowd.”
“Don’t be silly,” Ben said with a wave of his hand. “Please join us. After all, I should thank you, actually. I’m horribly late and if you weren’t here, poor Kai would be sitting in this place all by herself.” Ben turned to Kai with a contrite look. “I hope you can forgive me for being so late, Kai. I got held up on a call with a persnickety client. I promise I’ll be on time for our next date.”
“Who says you’ll get another one?” Aaron asked with a cocky grin. “You are pretty late.”
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Kai’s date, Ben Flaherty.”
Ben stuck his hand out, offering Aaron a handshake and the tension was thick as they stared each other down. A slow grin spread over Aaron’s face as he reached over to accept. Kai was about to interrupt and say something to break the tension. However, as soon as the two men shook hands, Ben’s aura sputtered and blinked, like a light about to go out. Her look of concern caught Ben’s attention.
“Kai?” Ben said as he looked at Kai with concern. “Something wrong?” he asked quietly.
“No,” Kai said quickly. She scooted back into the booth, making room for Ben who sat next to her. “I’m just tired from all the unpacking at the house. I’m amazed that one old man had so much crap.”
Another first. The only time she’d ever seen a person’s aura blink like that was when someone was dying. She’d seen it in the hospital after the car accident on the night her parents died, and it was not a sight she’d easily forget. But Ben seemed completely unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Strange. Kai hadn’t felt any drain or pull on her energy when Aaron had touched her. At least she didn’t think so. Of course she had been passed out at the time.
“What old man?” Aaron asked.
“My grandfather,” Kai said before taking a sip of her beer. “Although, it feels odd calling him that because I never even met him. Anyway, he died and I’m his next of kin, so I inherited his place and the decades-worth of crap inside.”
“Still nothing of interest?” Ben asked absently as he flagged down the waitress.
“Actually,” Kai said extending her right hand, showing him the ring. “I found this in an old crate with pictures of my grandmother. It’s really cool. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?”
Ben leaned forward and took her fingers in his, which were warm and soft. He had the hands of a man who’d never put in a hard day’s work in his life. Kai flicked her eyes to Aaron, who was staring at the ring with an intense look on his face. He turned those ice blue eyes to her and leaned back in the booth as he took a long pull of his beer.
Kai’s face heated as he blatantly stared at her while Ben looked at the ring. She’d never had anyone focus so totally and completely on her before. Oh, sure, men hit on her sometimes and when she did tarot readings, her customers tuned into her, but this was different. When Aaron looked at her, it was as though he pushed past all of her external layers, the ones the world saw, and he could see her.
A shiver ran up her spine and for the first time in her life, Kai felt exposed. Being able to read other people’s auras was one thing but having someone look inside her that way was quite another. It was like her soul was naked and laid bare before him... his for the taking.
“Well, this is interesting.”
Kai whipped her head toward Ben’s voice. “What?” she asked in a panicked voice. “What is?”
“It sure is,” Aaron muttered.
Kai shot him a look as Ben pulled her closer and squinted as he inspected the ring.
“What’s it made of? That looks like an antique.” Ben dropped her hand abruptly and waved for the waitress again. “You should have it appraised and insured. I’ll have my guy in Gooding take a look at it.”
“I guess.” Kai shrugged and ran the pad of her fingertip over the face of the ring. “I haven’t really thought about the monetary value. It obviously belonged to my grandmother, so that’s all that matters to me.”
“Did you know your grandmother?” Aaron’s deep voice swirled over her seductively. “How can you be sure it was hers?”
“She died when my mother was a baby.” Kai self-consciously dropped her hand in her lap, not wanting the ring on display for further inspection. It felt crass to be discussing the monetary value of an item that had such sentimental meaning. “Like I said, I found the ring squirreled away in an old crate in the attic which was filled with pictures of my grandmother. I just assumed it was hers.”
“Well, either way,” Ben said. He let out a sigh and in an oddly possessive move, draped his arm behind her along the top of the booth. “You should give that to me and let me have my guy take a look at it.”
“Maybe,” Kai said with a forced smile. Desperately wanting to change the subject, she turned the conversation toward the menu. “So what are you going to have for dinner?”
Matilda came over to take their orders looking pleased as punch that Kai’s date had shown up. The three of them ate dinner with Ben dominating most of the evening’s conversation, regaling them with various cases he’d been handling. As dinner wound to a close, she realized that Ben hadn’t asked her or Aaron a single thing about themselves.
Not that it mattered because she couldn’t take her mind, or her eyes, off Aaron the entire time. He barely said anything during the meal, and yet she found him far more interesting than Ben—and that probably made her nuts. Then again, that was par for the course where her taste in men was concerned.
If she was on a train platform and there were two men, you can bet your bottom dollar that she’d be insanely attracted to the bum with no job or the guy who can’t keep it in his pants. That’s what her last few boyfriends were like. Jobless cheaters.
So here she was, with two gorgeous men, one a successful lawyer with a blindingly bright aura and the other a drifter on a motorcycle with no light at all. A sane woman—a normal woman—would pick the hot lawyer. But Kai was anything but normal and the sanity part was still up for discussion.
Kai tried to pay for Aaron’s portion of the bill, but Ben wouldn’t hear of it. The three of them walked out to the parking lot and into the warm, summer evening. Kai looked up and let out a sound of awe. The Idaho sky was covered in a blanket of twinkling stars that quite literally took her breath away.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Aaron’s voice drifted over her left shoulder and the warmth from his body wafted over her bare arm in tantali
zing waves. “The amount of beauty on Earth never ceases to amaze me.”
Kai nodded and looked at him, expecting him to be looking at the sky but he was staring directly at her. She let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and clutched the strap of her leather satchel closer to her breasts.
“I agree with you one hundred percent,” Ben said from her other shoulder, breaking the spell. “You never get stars like this in a big city.”
“Right,” Kai said. She glanced between the two men and stepped forward before spinning around to face them. “Thank you both for an interesting evening.”
“It’s getting late. I should head over to the motel and check in,” Aaron interjected. “Thanks for dinner and the law lessons, Ben.” He turned his attention to Kai. “But most of all, thanks for letting me crash your date tonight.”
“Thanks for catching me,” Kai said with a short laugh.
She extended her hand to him and watched, as he seemed to be weighing his options. Filled with excitement, uncertainty and some fear, Kai held her breath wondering what would happen when their hands met. Would it hurt? Would he suck away her light? Nothing?
Finally, after what felt like forever, Aaron took her small hand into his much larger one. There was no pain and no sensation of losing energy; in fact the feel of his palm against hers was enticing. His skin was rough, calloused and hot, and had her thinking about how it would feel to have those masculine hands run over her body.
Those thoughts were swiftly set aside when she noticed a soft white light now emanated from Aaron and, for that brief instant when her hand was within his, he had an aura.
More to the point... he had her aura.
“Bye, Aaron,” Ben said in a voice edged with irritation. Kai almost forgot he was there.
“Good night,” Aaron murmured. He dropped her hand and turned to leave, but stopped abruptly. “I almost forgot.” He removed a folded paper from his back pocket and handed it to her. It was the flyer that Clive had given her at the gas station. “You dropped this back at Clive’s place.”
“Thank you.” She took the paper from him and smiled. “I’ve got a ton of stuff that has to get hauled away, so I’m definitely going to need this.”
“I’m sure their rates are reasonable,” he said with a smile. “But I bet I can do better.”
“You want to haul garbage out of my attic and the old barn?” Kai asked incredulously. “Doesn’t sound like a very fun sabbatical to me, Mr. Miles.”
“I could stand to make a few bucks and you need the help.” Aaron glanced from Kai to Ben before walking back to his bike. “I’m happy to help throw out the trash.”
Kai watched as he swung his leg over and started up the bike. She didn’t know what his story was or what being a Dark One really meant, all she knew was that she didn’t want this man riding out of her life. Not yet. In spite of everything her mother had told her ... Kai was compelled to know more about him.
“How does $75 a day plus meals sound to you?” Kai shouted over the rumble of the Harley’s engine.
“Kai?” Ben interrupted as he moved closer so only she would hear him. “This guy is a drifter. Do you really think it’s a wise idea to hire him to work out there with you? Alone? As an attorney and a friend, I would advise against this particular decision.”
Irritation flickered up Kai’s spine. She hated being told what to do or being spoken to like she was a child and currently Ben was doing both.
“Like you said, Ben,” Kai murmured without taking her eyes off Aaron, “I’m anything but simple.”
Kai closed the distance between herself and Aaron and although the engine of the bike was loud, she didn’t miss Ben’s disapproving rumblings as she walked away. She stopped next to the bike as a blast of heat washed over her, wrapping her dress around her legs.
“So?” Kai arched one eyebrow and her fingers tightened around the flyer. “What do you say?”
He revved the engine and leaned back in the seat of the bike. “I say you’re on.”
Kai snagged a pen from her bag and jotted the address down on the back of the flyer before handing it back to him. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock sharp.”
Aaron took the paper from her and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans, all the while not taking his piercing, blue eyes off hers. He gripped the handlebars and glanced at Ben briefly before looking back at Kai.
“I guess you answered my question from earlier, Kai.” Aaron revved the engine and flashed her a cocky grin. “Looks like you have a weakness for me after all.”
Before Kai could tell him what an arrogant comment that was, he rode off leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Shaking with a mixture of adrenaline, lust and anger, Kai spun on her heels and toward her car.
“Are you sure that was wise?” Ben asked. He was standing by her car with a concerned look on her face. “You don’t even know this guy.”
“I know enough,” Kai said evenly. “I appreciate your concern but I can handle myself, and besides I really do need the help clearing out the rest of the stuff. With Mr. Miles helping me it will take a lot less time than doing it alone.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Ben said with a smile. He stepped closer, took Kai’s hands in his and pulled them to his chest. She felt his heart beating beneath their linked hands and his aura burned from yellow to orange. “I feel like this date of ours didn’t exactly get off to a great start.”
“Well I did bring another guy along,” she said with an awkward laugh. Kai smiled and looked into his eyes, paying close attention to how he made her feel. There was a comfortable, familiar feeling to Ben’s spirit. When she looked into his eyes there were no butterflies, no pangs of desire. He was handsome, rich and nice and Kai wasn’t the least bit attracted to him. Figures.
She glanced down at their interlocked fingers and sucked in a deep breath. “Ben, I don’t think... “
“It’s okay.” Ben brought her hands to his lips and placed a warm kiss on her knuckles. It was sweet and almost familial in nature, bringing to mind images of a big brother or something. “You don’t have to say a word, Kai. I’ve been an attorney a long time and if there’s one thing I can do it’s read people.” He dropped her hands and stepped back as he reached into his pocket for his keys. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Thanks,” Kai said. She grabbed the strap of her satchel again and let out a slow breath. “Still friends?”
“Of course.” Ben winked. “But I’ll keep hoping for more.”
Kai watched him walk to his car and guilt tugged at her. Turning someone down was never easy and always made her feel bad, but at least Ben took it well. He was, after all, the only person she really knew out here.
“Hey, Kai,” Ben called to her from the open door of his car. “Promise me one thing.”
“Sure.” Kai shrugged. “What?”
“Be careful with Mr. Miles.” He tapped the roof of the car with his fingers. “Like I said, I’m pretty good at reading people and let’s just say I couldn’t get a clear read on him.”
Kai shivered and crossed her arms over her chest as a warm gust of summer air whipped around her.
“It’s fine, Ben. He’s only going to be working for me for a couple of days,” Kai insisted. Her face heated with embarrassment because Ben read her like an open book. Apparently, she didn’t hide her attraction for Aaron as well as she thought she did. “I’m his temporary employer. That’s all. Believe me, I don’t have the time or inclination to date anyone right now.”
He nodded, but didn’t seem anymore convinced about the denial than she was. Who was she kidding? No one. She fiddled with the ring, seeking comfort from the family heirloom.
“I tell you what, the final copies of the documents from Jacob’s estate will be ready in a day or two. How about if I bring them out to you at the house? It would make me feel better to see how you’re faring. I’ll even bring lunch with me, so you don’t have to go to any trouble. Lunch on me.�
�� He raised his hands in surrender. “As friends.”
“Sounds good,” Kai laughed.
Kai waved as Ben drove off, but one name kept running through her mind. Aaron Miles. She drove her confused butt home as fast as possible and as the quiet scenery passed by, her thumb fiddled with the iron band of the ring on her right hand. A million questions swam through her head at once.
Why didn’t Aaron have an aura? If he was a Dark One and they were evil, why on earth would he help her? Why did he seem to their auras with one touch without hurting either of them?
Why was she insanely attracted to him when she should be running in the other direction? What the heck was a Custodian of the Light? Did it have to do with seeing auras and why hadn’t her mother told her about it?
Above the tsunami of queries, one kept rising up above all the rest. Who the hell was Aaron Miles?
Chapter Four
Asmodeus spent the night in the cheap motel and though he slept off and on, it was far from restful. His thoughts had been consumed, not only by Kai and the ring, but the unexpected arrival of Ben Flaherty.
Asmodeus swore under his breath as he pulled the Harley into the long, winding driveway of Kai’s property. Sweat trickled down his back and he squirmed against the unfamiliar sensation. Being mortal was messy, but Lucifer was right to put them all down here as humans. It probably saved his life.
Ben Flaherty was Fae.
The guy was a damn fairy and, based on the strength of his light, Asmodeus would be willing to bet Ben was a pureblood or at the very least, a hybrid in full use of his powers. At first, he thought the mission was going to be over before it started, but Ben hadn’t flinched. He likely saw Asmodeus’ lack of an aura but if he did, Ben gave no sign of it. Not yet, at least.
When Ben suggested that Kai take off the ring and give it to him for appraisal, Asmodeus had to stop himself from jumping across the table. But Kai had showed zero interest in relinquishing the ring and zero interest in Ben for that matter. Ben, on the other hand, seemed quite interested in Kai but the real question was why? Was he after Kai or the ring? Or both?