“Gross,” Skye let out.
“Jesus, Skye, what do you and Hunter do when you’re together? Talk each other to death?” Tyler said dryly.
“Wouldn’t you want to know.” Cian sent Skye a smoldering look.
Skye flushed bright red. Her friends dissolved in laughter.
“What about my reward?” Cian demanded.
Tyler wrapped his arms possessively around Tasha. “Hands off my girl, Hunter.”
Tasha giggled. “Ask your girlfriend.”
“You’re not getting anything from me,” Skye informed him pointedly.
“Ah, the lady doth break my little heart,” Cian said with a dramatic flair, a look of mock hurt on his face.
Kiera and Tasha burst out laughing. Tyler gave a snort while Skye glowered at Cian.
The flowers caught Tyler’s attention. He whistled. “Whoa, what’s with the garden?”
A blush crept up Kiera’s cheeks. “They’re from Ash.”
“The guy sure doesn’t waste time.”
“You two came together? How did that happen?” Skye looked at Tyler and Cian askance.
The guys looked at each other then sent her a hundred-watt smile.
“We called a truce,” Tyler reported.
“A truce?” She stared at him in disbelief. “You?”
Tasha let loose a laugh. Kiera was just glad the limelight was no longer on her.
Ty looked at Skye with feigned hurt. “It pains me you have such a low opinion of me.”
Skye rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, save the drama for some other sucker. I know you too well, remember?”
He dropped the hurt look. “Oops.” Mischief danced in his eyes.
“It’s true. For now,” Cian added. “How about spending the rest of the day at the park?”
“Cool,” Tasha agreed.
Skye looked at Kiera. “Is that okay with you?” Skye knew Ash had taken Kiera on dates at the park. She was worried spending the day there might bring back painful memories for her.
For an instant, a shadow passed through Kiera’s eyes, then she smiled. “Sounds good.”
“Great,” Tyler announced.
“So anyone hungry?” Cian asked.
They all laughed when Skye’s stomach rumbled loudly. She clapped a hand to her belly in mortification.
“What? I haven’t had breakfast yet!”
SO THAT’S how they spent the rest of the day. At the park. The weather was nice, not a cloud to mar the blue sky. They feasted on the brunch the guys had brought—there were donuts, cupcakes, muffins, slices of peaches and apples, OJ, coffee.
Skye was pleased to see Kiera enjoying herself. It was heartening to hear her delighted laughter.
Later in the afternoon, before they were about to leave, Cian managed to wangle a walk by the lake with her. His hand in hers felt wonderful. They stopped at times to skip pebbles on the water. He whooped when he got in more skips than hers. She complained good-naturedly about his long arms.
Though, she secretly loved having those arms wrapped around her. And when he kissed her with the sun setting over the lake, it was the most romantic thing she’d ever experienced.
The guys treated the girls to dinner at Legal Sea Foods. The food was delectable.
On the route back, Skye had them stop at her apartment so she could grab her laptop and pack more clothes for a longer stay at Kiera’s, over her objections.
By the time they got back to Kiera’s house, Skye was exhausted. Tyler and Tasha said their goodbyes and left in Ty’s car, which he had brought that morning and left in Kiera’s driveway. Cian carried her bags inside and hugged Kiera, who pretended to be so sleepy she was almost dead on her feet. Skye knew damn well she was giving her and Cian some alone time before he left.
“You look beat,” he remarked after Kiera had gone upstairs.
“I am,” Skye admitted. “That’s why I’m going to bed straight away.”
“Not so fast.” He caught her hand and tugged her close.
“Cian,” she protested.
“I just want to hold you.”
Cian wrapped his arms around her and tucked her under his chin. A feeling of belonging swept through Skye. How did he do it? Make her feel like she fit in. With him. After spending her whole life searching for where she belonged, to finally find it was with him, was overwhelming.
Cian rubbed his chin against her hair. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“No, not bad at all,” she acknowledged, smiling a little.
“I enjoyed our walk tonight.”
“I have the memories to remind me.”
“Hmmm,” he rocked her slightly. “I told you I was memorable.”
“I meant the pebbles in my pocket, you goof!”
“Ow, an arrow through the heart! Only you.”
A happy giggle escaped her. She reluctantly pulled away. “Go.”
Cian leaned down and kissed her gently. “See you tomorrow.”
“Night.”
“Good night, love. Dream of me.”
Skye closed the door and leaned against it, unable to deny herself the dreamy smile that slipped over her face.
“You love him, don’t you?”
“Arghh!” Skye squealed, startled. A hand over her heart, she turned to find Kiera sitting at the top of the stairs, her hands wrapped around her knees. “Scare me to death, why don’t you?”
Kiera leaned her chin on her knees. “I would never have believed the day would come when I could scare you to death. You never get scared. Ever.”
“You know why, remember?” Skye sat down next to her.
Kiera turned her head to look at her. “I don’t know how you did it. Get over being scared of the dark as a kid.”
“I guess I just got fed up of freezing to death if I had to go out after dark.” When she was little, Skye had been terrified of the dark. Having to overcome her mother’s death had cured her of that little paranoia.
“I think it had more to do with that indomitable will of yours. And you’ve changed the subject successfully. You love him.”
“Not successfully enough since you went right back to it.”
When Kiera only stared at her, Skye blew out a breath. “Yes.”
“How did I miss it?”
“You didn’t. As can be seen by our little talk here.”
“No, I was so down in the pits because of Ash that I missed my best friend falling in love.”
“Kiera. Don’t beat yourself over it. It’s understandable with what you were going through. And hell, I barely even knew it myself.”
“When?”
“Yesterday. When he came over and comforted you.”
“He was a rock. Now that I think of it, no wonder Tasha was in such a hurry to get us out of here,” Kiera said wryly.
“Yeah, the skunk. She saw the moment I figured it out myself and she threw us together.”
Kiera laughed. “I love him. Not like you, obviously. I mean—”
Skye cut her off. “I know. And I understand, silly.”
“You’ve changed since you met him.”
“I have?”
“Yes. With him you’re happier. He makes you laugh.”
“Oh.” Disconcerted, Skye looked down at her hands. It was true. He’d changed her. “How do you feel?”
Kiera shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Confused. I ought to be mad at Ash but he’s making it hard for me to hold on to the hurt and anger. I still don’t know what to do about him.”
“You don’t have to rush it. Sort it out in your head first and then you can figure out what feels right for you.”
Kiera smiled. “You’re right, thanks.”
“I’m always right. C’mon, let’s get some sleep.” Skye stood up and held out her hand.
&
nbsp; “Know-it-all.” Kiera grasped her hand, pulling herself up.
So with light hearts, they headed off to bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The days went by as they are wont to do. Time was such a fickle thing, Skye thought. It slipped by so damn fast, like sand in an hourglass. Before she’d met Cian, she’d often felt as if she were standing still whereas time and everyone else was moving on. Moving faster than she could ever hope to catch up.
Now with him, she felt as if she was one of those people who were moving on too, actually living her life, instead of simply existing. Cian had done that for her. Made her become aware of the world around her. How did one guy, whom she hadn’t even been able to stand when they first met, end up meaning so much to her?
Ash cornered her at work and apologized for his behavior towards her and Cian. Things were awkward between them, mostly because Skye couldn’t reconcile it in herself to forgive him for the pain he’d caused Kiera. She didn’t trust or forgive easily. The loss of their easy friendship hurt them both and made Ash understand he had Skye’s trust to earn as well.
He kept sending Kiera small tokens every day. Monday was a beautiful round locket in a white velvet pouch, which Skye and Kiera both raved over. The locket had an engraving inside that got to both their hearts. It read simply:
To Kiera,
All my love,
Ash
Tuesday was more flowers—this time beautiful bellflowers in Kiera’s favorite color; purple. Wednesday was a DVD of the movie Stardust which was one of Kiera’s favorite movies. Thursday was a bracelet to match the locket, with little round charms dangling from it. Friday was this awesome dress, the color of amethysts, which looked made for Kiera. The dress had a deep round neck and small sleeves. The silky material clung to her bodice to fall gracefully to her ankles. When she tried it on, Kiera looked absolutely beautiful in it.
But Saturday really cinched it. He sent her a signed copy of the third book in the Charley Davidson series—Third Grave Dead Ahead. Kiera loved the Charley Davidson books. Skye was with Kiera when the parcel came. They’d been watching episodes of Melissa & Joey.
When Kiera opened the package, she just sat there and stared. The thought went through her head, Simple, it had been so simple really. A single tear slipped down her cheek and then another, until she was actually crying.
Skye was worried and confused as well. She would have thought a gift like that would have made Kiera happy.
“Kiera? Why are you crying?” Skye handed her a tissue.
Kiera sniffed as she took it. “It’s just… everything’s so clear now.”
“What is?”
“Him. Me. Us.”
“Kiera? You’re not making sense.”
“He loves me,” she whispered, staring at the book in her hands. “He really loves me.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Uh?” She raised tear-filled eyes to look at Skye.
Skye smiled gently. “He wouldn’t have tried so hard if he didn’t love you.”
“And here I’ve been racking my brains for nothing. You could have told me.”
“It would have just pressured you. You had to figure it out for yourself. So have you? Figured it out?”
“Yes. I love him too. And I forgive him.” Kiera laughed out loud. “I forgive him!”
“That’s good.” Skye laughed too. “What will you do about it?”
“Call him?”
Skye spied something white sticking out of the book. “Wait. What’s that?”
“What? Oh.” Kiera pulled out what appeared to be a note stuck in the pages of the book. When she opened it, she read it aloud:
Kiera,
The past few days have been pure torture, not being able to call you, to see you, to touch you. I know I brought it on upon myself. I am so sorry. For everything.
I don’t know if the gifts have helped in conveying my feelings to you or not. I wasn’t trying to buy your affection, I swear. Everything I sent you, it was because they reminded me of you. I wanted you to know I was thinking of you. Every minute of every hour of every day.
You are always in my mind. You reside in my heart, in my soul. I love you so much, I could never be able to explain it in words. Lame, uh? I’m not really good with words. I don’t know how to tell you that my feelings for you are real. That I believe in you, trust you. This time around, I won’t make the same mistakes.
I love you. Will you give me another chance and do me the honor of going out on a date with me tonight, please? It would make me very happy if you wore the dress.
Waiting for your reply with bated breath,
Now and forever,
Your Ash
“Wow.” Skye looked at Kiera. “And he says he’s not good with words.”
“Yeah,” Kiera breathed, pressing the paper against her heart.
“So are you going?” Skye smiled, already knowing Kiera’s answer.
“Yes.”
The phone rang just then. They stared at each other and simultaneously said, “Ash.”
Kiera picked up the phone as it rang again. “Hello?”
“Kiera.”
At the sound of Ash’s voice, Kiera suddenly felt shy. She looked up at Skye, who gestured with her hands that she was going into the next room.
“Hi.”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Miserable.”
Her heart fluttered at that. She couldn’t say anything.
At her silence, he continued, “I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” Kiera whispered.
“I am so sorry,” he said, pain evident in his voice.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get your gift for today?”
“Yes.”
“And the note?”
“Yes, I got it.”
“Do you… like it?”
“I love it,” she admitted, knowing just how hard this was for him. “Thank you.”
Kiera heard him take a deep breath.
“Will you—will you go out with me tonight?”
“Yes,” she said in a breathless voice.
“Thank you! Is six-thirty okay?”
“Yes.”
“Great! I’ll—I’ll see you then?”
“I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he replied softly.
Long after they disconnected the call, Kiera sat staring dreamily into space.
“Can I come in?” Skye’s voice jolted her out of her reverie.
Kiera gave her a bright, happy, infectious smile. “I’m going out with him tonight!”
Skye grinned back. “Cool.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Is he here yet?” Kiera asked nervously, for maybe the tenth time.
Skye laughed from her seat on the bed. “Will you sit down? You’re going to wear a hole in the floor from all that pacing, not to mention wreck those amazing shoes!”
“Do I look okay?”
Kiera was wearing the amethyst-colored dress, accessorized with the locket and bracelet, which looked striking set against the deep purple color. She had put on gold dangling earrings to match and her straight hair looked silky and perfect.
New shoes covered her feet, princess-like purple high-heeled pumps, which had little amethyst colored stones in the front with small flowers made of some shiny material. Her face was flushed, giving her skin a natural healthy pink glow.
“You look great! He’s gonna swallow his tongue when he gets a load of you. Smile.”
Kiera blinked as Skye took her picture. “Hey!”
“What? This is a keeper. You look totally awesome.”
“You know, it�
�s ironic how a person who hates having her picture taken, loves to snap pictures of her friends’,” Kiera pointed out.
Skye gave her a cheeky grin. “What can I say? My friends are totally photogenic. I’m not.” Kiera rolled her eyes at that. “Calm down.”
“I can’t. It’s our first date since the break-up. What if it all goes wrong? What if—”
“What ifs are a waste of time. Stop worrying. It’s going to be fine.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too.” They grinned at each other.
“What are you and Cian doing tonight?”
“Watching a movie, I guess.”
“You complained about going out again, uh?” Kiera said shrewdly.
“I like to stay in,” Skye replied defensively.
“Don’t we all know it, Hermit Fletcher.”
Skye stuck her tongue at her. Kiera just grinned back. The doorbell rang just then. Kiera let out a nervous squeak.
“I’ll get the door. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”
Skye flung open the door to reveal Cian, holding a satchel and one hand behind his back.
“Oh, it’s only you.”
“What a warm welcome,” Cian observed with a raised brow.
“Scorching,” Skye grinned impishly. “C’mon in.”
“You’re actually inviting me in? Willingly? Who are you and what did you do with the real Skye?”
“Ha, ha. Very funny.”
Cian handed her the bouquet of blue irises he’d been hiding behind his back.
Skye pressed her face against the flowers, smiling into them. Then she looked at him and gave him that bright full-of-wonder smile she always did whenever he gave her flowers. It never ceased to get to him.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” Even after all this time, it still amazed her when he brought her flowers.
“You’re welcome.” He kissed her cheek.
Her cheek tingled. “It’s only Cian,” Skye called out to Kiera, who had come to the top of the stairs.
“I can see that,” Kiera observed wryly.
“Wow. You look beautiful!”
“Thank you.” Kiera smiled at him.
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