Holding Out For Skye

by McKade, S. R.

  “Some ground rules of dating.”

  “There are rules to dating?”

  Cian gave her a pitying look. “Such a novice. I have my work cut out for me.” He laughed when she tried to hit him with her free hand. “No need to get violent. What about the tons of romance books you’ve read?” he wondered curiously.

  She was a total novel addict, her preference being romantic comedies and paranormal romances, which was just another snippet of information he’d dug on her. Cian’d obtained that delightful tidbit of info the usual way he found out things about her—by snooping, of course, he thought with a wry grin.

  Skye understood immediately what he was trying to say. She shrugged. “Reading is different, you know. It’s not the same thing as experiencing it.” She blushed, glad he was looking ahead and not at her face. “Stories in books and movies are more like dreams and fantasies. Real life’s a different thing altogether.” She shrugged, uncomfortable. “I know not every relationship is the same. Um, I have an idea about relationships between couples but that’s all like theories.”

  So, she was absolutely clueless. Hmmm, how could he use that? Cian thought. He wasn’t above fighting dirty. “Okay. First, we have concluded we like each other.”

  “I think I’m having second thoughts about that. Besides, I never said that,” Skye denied.

  “Too late, that ship’s sailed,” he told her cheerfully. “Secondly, we go out on dates—movies, dinners, places we want to go, and not just accepting what the other person wants, accompany each other on family things, parties etcetera. We have fun.”

  “Family things?”

  “Yep. Why?”

  Family. Skye’s heart gave a twist. What did someone like her know about family? “I don’t do family things well.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said casually. Inwardly, Cian’s heart turned over in his chest at her solemn tone. He decided then and there she was going to meet his family. She would fit right in with them, he just knew it. Not to mention his mom would be relieved that he was finally serious about someone.

  “Okay. What else?”

  Cian could just picture Nick rolling on the floor laughing his ass off over him teaching Skye about dating. “It’s important to be honest.”

  “Check. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble being honest.”

  “I have no doubt about that,” he noted wryly. She had never had a problem telling him what she really thought of him.

  “What’s next?” Skye looked at him questioningly as they continued walking hand in hand. This dating thing was mindboggling.

  “You should have some rules for me, I guess.”

  She looked a bit disconcerted at that. “I should?”

  He only smiled. She was so adorable. And she’d probably punch him if he said that out loud.

  “I guess I should, then.” Skye thought about what the most important thing in a relationship was to her. “No fooling around behind each other’s back. We stay faithful to each other and if either of us decides to get out of the relationship, we tell the other up front.”

  Cian stopped and turned to her, trying not to be insulted that she’d made that requirement a rule. He told himself he deserved it since she’d only ever seen him play the field and not really be serious about anyone. Still, it rankled.

  “Do you think I’d do that to you? Cheat on you?” He waited for her answer, his heart in his throat. If she couldn’t trust him…

  Skye angled her head, watching him intently. Did she trust him? She knew she wasn’t much to look at and Cian could probably have any woman he wanted in a heartbeat. She didn’t understand why he wanted to go out with her. The being-in-love act in front of Alastor and Vanessa was probably to blame for that. But she also knew that when he made a commitment, he didn’t break out of it. “No, I don’t think you’d do that. But if you did, no one would ever find your body.”

  He laughed, relieved and delighted with her. “I would expect nothing less, darling.”

  Darling? Uh, uh, no way was he calling her darling. She scowled at him. “No pet names for each other.”

  Cian grinned. There was no way he was letting her win that one. Unless he gained something else in its place, of course.

  “Aw, c’mon, wouldn’t you love it for me to call you honeypie? Think of it—it sounds so lovey-dovey.”

  Skye couldn’t have heard him right. Had he just said lovey-dovey? Horrified, she stopped in her tracks. “No way in hell!”

  “All couples have pet names for each other,” he told her with a straight face, wondering how long he could get away with swindling her before she caught on to him.

  Uh, uh. Skye knew Tyler and his girlfriend called each other sugary names. But she couldn’t picture herself doing the same. She looked at him uncertainly. Then her eyes filled with determination and her chin jutted out stubbornly. “This couple won’t.”

  Cian hid his smile. He’d just gained something worth more than he’d expected. She’d called them a couple. “Okay.”

  Skye glanced at him suspiciously. He had agreed a bit too easily. Cian just smiled widely back at her. They had almost reached the office now. She had something she had to ask him. She wondered if she should just let it go though. But he should know her answer as well.

  “You didn’t ask me if I’d ever cheat on you.”

  “Because you never would,” he replied just as quietly, a note of conviction ringing in his voice.

  Skye’s breath caught in her throat. “You don’t know that.”

  “I do know. You have integrity, you always will.” He squeezed her hand. “Do you have other questions?”

  She swallowed. For some reason, she was having trouble getting words out. Finally, she stammered, “N—no.”

  Skye felt him give her a sideways glance but she didn’t look at him. All she could think was he trusted her. Why did it affect her so much? She’d never cared what he thought of her before. All that had mattered to her was getting him to leave her alone.

  “That’s fine. You can ask me things as you think them up.”

  Thinking of how all this was new for her, Skye tugged at his hand, stopping him.

  “Is there anything else I should know?”

  Cian thought fast. He had better take advantage of her ignorance while he could. It was probably the only chance he’d get to crop up opportunities to get closer to her before she caught on to him.

  “Well, couples talk to each other every night and spend as much time as they can. Kisses and hugs are a given. Oh, and holding hands.” He gave their held hands a swing.

  Skye gave him a suspicious look. Was he swindling her? “Phone calls every night?”

  “Yep. Unless otherwise occupied.” Oh, she didn’t know how much the suspicion in her eyes delighted him. Dating her was going to be like a roller-coaster ride—nerve-racking and filled with exciting upheavals. Not to mention the awesome kisses.

  “One kiss and one hug per week. And I’ll think about the holding hands part.” Her stomach quivered as she thought of the kiss.

  They entered their office building and headed for the bank of elevators. He still hadn’t let go of her hand.

  “Per week? Please. You’ve got a lot to learn. Every day. One in the morning, and one for the evening.”

  “Week.”

  He merely smiled at her. “We’ll see.”

  Uh, uh, that didn’t bode well. Well, she would just have to stay on her guard. Skye tried to withdraw her hand, only to be thwarted. “Cian, we’re at the office.”

  “So?”

  “So, you can let go of my hand now.”

  “But I don’t want to.”

  “Cian!”

  “Fine, don’t get your feathers all ruffled up.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and curled his into a fist. His hand felt empty without her. He had never fe
lt this way with any of the women he had dated.

  Skye felt bereft at the loss of the contact. His touch seemed to strike a chord inside her and fill her with warmth. And a strange excitement. She tried not to blush at her thoughts. She probably needed to have her head examined. Now that they were at the office, she felt nervous again. Was this going to affect their work relationship?

  Briskly, she said, “We need some ground rules for when we’re in the office. No holding hands, no kissing or hugging.”

  “You’re no fun,” he complained.

  “Cian, I mean it. I don’t want Marina to have doubts about whether we can be professionals or not.”

  “Yes, by all means let’s be professional,” Cian stated in a dry tone. When she stared at him pointedly, he sighed. “Fine. But we’re not keeping it a secret that we’re together.” The look on his face said he wasn’t going to budge on that point.

  “Okay,” she assented reluctantly.

  Just then, the elevator doors opened with a ding. As when they had left, Skye was dismayed to see that the cab was empty, leaving her alone with Cian. He gestured for her to get in first. For all his teasing and annoying ways, she was always surprised when he acted the perfect gentleman. She didn’t know why his chivalry should surprise her but it did.

  He grinned at the look on her face. She humphed and once inside took the opposite side from him. But this time, he moved to stand closer to her, emphasizing the change in their status quo.

  Skye had to fight the sudden urge to laugh, even though she didn’t find their situation funny at all. Watching the numbers flash, it really hit her that she was now his girlfriend. The bottom of her stomach dropped.

  She was Cian Hunter’s girlfriend.

  “Oh my god, I’m going to be sick.”

  The elevator reached their floor. With another ding, the doors slid open and they got out.

  Understanding her reaction, Cian gave her an amused look. “There, there, dear.” He patted her back. “Be a brave little bird now.”

  “Bite me.”

  “Where?” Cian whispered in her ear, even as he cautioned himself to be careful with her.

  Skye’s breath hitched and she inched away from him. Oh god, what was he doing to her? Taking a deep breath, she ordered herself to get a grip and muttered, “Note to self—remember not to use those words around Cian again.”

  He chuckled as she opened the door to their office and they stepped inside. Nick had pulled his chair near Thea’s desk and they were talking quietly. They both looked up at the sound of the door opening.

  Everything was the same and yet not. The walls were the same white color, her laptop was on her desk as she’d left it.

  She had changed. Skye wasn’t the same person who had gone out to lunch. Nick and Thea watched them with matching concerned looks.

  Before she could even open her mouth, Cian announced with great satisfaction from behind her, “Skye and I are dating. For real.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “And you managed that how?” Nick asked wryly.

  “I didn’t. She begged me to go out with her.” He pointed a thumb at Skye.

  Nick snorted and Thea’s mouth dropped open. Skye turned to Cian with a murderous look on her face and punched him on the shoulder.

  “Ow! What? I’m just telling the truth,” he said innocently, rubbing at his shoulder. “If I had known you were such a violent woman, I would never have said yes.”

  Skye’s eyes filled with menace. “Drowning is too good for you. Strangling too kind. I think pouring boiling oil over you when you’re all tied up with huge ants making mincemeat out of you would be better. Much, much better.”

  “My, my, what a vindictive woman you are. You’re going to make my little heart go pitty-pat. I didn’t know I was the star of your secret little fantasies.”

  “Argghhhhh!” Skye gave a little scream, and curled her hands as if she was going to strangle Cian on the spot. Cian, unaware or more like uncaring of his soon-approaching-demise, continued to grin.

  Nick and Thea looked at each other and sighed in exasperation. They were never going to change. It would have been pointless to have thought it’d be otherwise.

  “Children,” Nick called out dryly. Skye snapped glaring eyes in his direction, while merriment continued to play in Cian’s. Oh, Cian was a goner, all right. “Before you kill each other, Marina wants you both in her office the moment you get back.”

  Skye’s eyes widened. “We are so busted.”

  “Oh, please. She just wants to give us a lecture for staying out of the office so late.” Cian held out his hand to her. “Shall we?”

  Ignoring his outstretched hand, Skye dropped her bag on her desk. As she walked past him, she reached out and jabbed him with her elbow.

  Cian winced, thinking it wouldn’t be manly to let out a groan. He should have remembered those sharp little elbows—he had been on the receiving end of them more often than not.

  “See you guys in a bit,” Skye addressed Nick and Thea as she and Cian left to see their boss.

  The moment they were gone, Thea turned to Nick. “Are they really dating?”

  Nick sighed again. Seemed like he did that a lot around Skye and Cian. “Impossible as it looks, yes I believe they are. God help them.”

  SKYE WORRIED her bottom lip as they walked to Marina’s office. She wondered what their boss would have to discuss with the two of them. It was too much to hope that it wouldn’t be about the boyfriend-girlfriend thing.

  Skye had a healthy dose of fear and respect for her boss. Marina Blake expected nothing less from her team than what she expected from herself, which was hard work and professional behavior. She was strict when warranted and she didn’t tolerate laziness and sloppy work. She could be a force to reckon with but she was always fair and reasonable.

  “Quit worrying, you’re making me feel guilty when I haven’t even done anything yet,” said her laid-back new boyfriend.

  Skye closed her eyes, sending up a prayer to give her the strength not to kill him. What had she gotten herself into? She was instantly ashamed of herself. She had gone into this with her eyes wide open.

  As if sensing her thoughts, (how the hell did he do that anyway?) Cian took her hand and started, “If you’re having second thoughts—”

  But she cut him off fiercely, “No. No, I’m not.” She gave his hand a squeeze and then dropped it as she raised hers to knock on Marina’s door. At the terse “Come in,” they glanced at each other and entered her office.

  Marina watched the two unorthodox members of her team. Oh, they did their job well enough. They just never seemed to settle, perpetually setting each other off. Some argument always seemed to be occurring between these two, most of the time instigated by Cian. It amazed her that this contrary reaction between them made them better at their job instead of creating problems.

  Skye would never admit it but Marina had a feeling Cian knew very well that they both stimulated each other. In a strange way they seemed to complement one another. Marina was surprised it had taken this long for them to end up together, she’d thought it’d be sooner rather than later.

  “Marina, you asked to see us?” Skye ventured nervously. Cian had a nonchalant look on his face.

  “Take a seat.” She sat back and tapped her fingers on her desk. “I won’t beat about the bush. Are you two dating or not?”

  Skye and Cian shared a look and as one said, “Vanessa.” Since Vanessa worked in the same company as them, she’d probably wasted no time in rushing to their boss about the two of them dating.

  They turned back to Marina, and Skye nodded as Cian said firmly, “Yes. Is it going to be a problem?”

  “Cian!” Skye admonished him but Cian stared steadily at Marina.

  “You tell me. Is this going to cause problems for our team output? Dating among co-workers is not
prohibited but it is discouraged. And if there is any hint at all of disorder and unprofessional work, the employees are either shifted to other teams or even dismissed. And I do not want my team to be disbanded and be stuck training another new member.”

  Skye took a deep breath. This was important, she couldn’t mess this up. “No, our dating will not cause a problem to our work. I give you my word.”

  Marina nodded at that. “And if you have any fights in your personal life, won’t it affect your professional one?”

  Skye blinked. “But we always fight.” Cian grinned at that and she realized it didn’t help their case.

  Marina’s lips twitched. “There is that,” she agreed.

  Skye tried again. “Even if we do fight, or if we break up—” she looked at Cian, saw the protest in his eyes at the ‘break up’ part, “I give you my word, it will not affect our work.”

  “Cian?” Marina waited for his answer.

  Cian held Skye’s eyes a moment longer and then he nodded. “It will not affect our work even if we do break up.”

  “All right then. Let this be the last we talk of this matter.”

  “Thank you, Marina.” Skye started to get up, relieved. But Cian wasn’t letting this go as easily.

  “That’s it? You just take us at our word and we can go back to work?”

  Skye sent him a horrified what-the-hell-are-you-doing look. Cian ignored her as he looked at their boss. Surprisingly, Marina smiled.

  “Yes. As Skye stated herself, you’re always fighting and it hasn’t affected your work so far. As it is, I trust it when my team gives me their word. Furthermore,” Marina continued, now in an icy tone, “I do not appreciate employees below my pay grade calling to lecture me on how I should handle my team.”

  In spite of herself, Skye was curious. “Vanessa?”

  “Yes,” Marina confirmed annoyingly. “And she has since learned the error of her ways.” Turning to Cian, she remarked, “That’s one douche-bag of an ex-girlfriend you have there, Cian.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Cian grinned.

  Skye had to fight not to giggle.

  “Now, what the hell are you two still doing in my office? Dismissed.”