“Hey.” Elise paused long enough to catch her breath and take in the computer in front of her mom at the kitchen table. “I need a favor.”
Her mom levered her head down enough to peek over the top of the readers. “I thought you were taking your finals.”
“I am. I mean, I was. They’re done.”
She smiled huge, tossed her pen to the table and sat back in her chair. “Well, congratulations. That went faster than I thought it would.”
Yeah, faster than she’d thought, too. So, either Tate was right and she’d aced them, or crashed and burned abysmally.
“So, what’s the favor?” her mom said.
The question triggered a whole different layer of panic, the belated realization she’d yet to share anything about what had happened between her and Tate after the party skidding into play about twenty seconds too late. “Well, I...uh...”
Not a big deal.
It’s just a date.
Granted it would be her first one, but her mom was cool.
Most of the time.
Elise cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m going out and need something to wear.”
“Oh! Katy mentioned she was going to talk to Priest and see if you could get out of the house a little after finals were over.” Her mom peeled her glasses off and tossed them to the table, standing as she did. “I don’t think most of the places here need anything more than jeans, but I can help you put something together if you want.”
“I’m not going out with Katy.”
Her mom paused, more than a little confusion leaving a deep furrow between her brows.
“And I need something dressy.”
This time her eyebrows lifted high enough they disappeared beneath her longish bangs. “Dressy?”
Elise nodded, the nonverbal response about all she could manage with the claustrophobic grip cinching around her neck.
While her mom’s shocked expression didn’t fade, something behind her eyes shifted. A subtle comprehension that usually meant a cat Elise seriously didn’t want out of the bag was loose and running rampant through the house. Jenny’s lip curved in a sly smile. “But you’re not going out with Katy.”
“No.”
“Or Jade.”
Elise shook her head.
Her mom paused long enough to fight a smile. “I don’t suppose this dressy outing you’re dancing around has anything to do with you disappearing from the party with Tate Allen, does it?”
“You saw that?”
The depth of Jenny’s chuckle spoke of age-old secrets and long forgotten memories. “It was a little hard to miss with Naomi offering color commentary every five minutes.” She cocked her head and waggled her eyebrows. “I also noted that while you left before me, you got home way after I did. Must have been quite the scenic route you took on the way home.”
Heat blazed across her cheeks and, for a second, she gave serious thought to boarding herself up in her room until she was thirty. “We were just talking.”
“Mmm hmm. I remember talking, too. Lots and lots of talking. If you ask me, that was the best part of growing up. But I’d like to point out, you’re lucky your grandfather’s not still alive. He usually waited up for me. Or worse, if he didn’t like the guy I was with, he’d meet us at the front door before any talking could commence.”
Ugh. Seriously? Could this moment get any more awkward? “Mom, I just—”
Jenny chuckled and shook her head. “It’s okay, Elise. I’m only teasing you.” She closed the top to her computer, moved out from between her chair and the table and cupped one side of Elise’s face. “I like Tate. A lot.”
“You do?”
“Mmm hmm.” She paused and studied her a minute. “Do you?”
Like him? She liked her chili and lime Takis. She liked lingering over a cup of coffee in the morning and not having an immediate agenda. She even liked helping her mom cook when the newest recipe idea she’d pulled off Pinterest wasn’t too weird or complicated to put together, but none of those things made her full-on stooopid the way Tate did. “If by like do you mean my brain doesn’t function right when he’s around?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
Elise swallowed hard, the actual process of admitting how she felt out loud generating more roadblocks than her throat knew what to do with. “Then yeah. I like him.”
Her mom’s gaze softened and she smoothed Elise’s hair away from her face. “I’m glad, sweetheart. He’s a good man.”
“I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.” It came out as a terrified whisper, but the weight that lifted off her with it made the admission worth it.
“There’s nothing to do, Elise. Not with a man like Tate. Nothing but enjoy the moment and get to know one another. The rest will all take care of itself. But more than anything, just be honest. About who you are and what you feel.”
“No offense, but that didn’t work so well for you.”
The sadness borne from years of living without the man she’d loved knifed across her mother’s face. She’d tried to tell Elise’s father about her race. About the magic and shifting abilities those in their clan were offered if they answered their soul quest.
But her father hadn’t believed her. Heck, Elise hadn’t either, but at least she hadn’t derided her mother’s claims, called her crazy and laughed in her face.
“Tate’s not your father,” Jenny said. “He’s a trustworthy man. One I’m thrilled to see you with. The kind of man you can share your secrets with and know he’ll not only listen, but protect them.”
“How do you know that? I mean, I know you’ve talked to him a lot when he’s been here, but you haven’t spent that much time with him.”
“Oh, Elise.” For a second, her expression pinched like she wanted to share something more, but instead, pulled her into a comforting hug and sighed. Her words were whisper soft. A secret shared from mother to daughter. “I just know you’re safe with him. And soon, you’re going to realize that, too.”
Emotion swelled behind her sternum, the peace and acceptance that came from her mother’s simple embrace loosening the knot in her gut. “I still don’t have anything to wear,” she grumbled.
Jenny laughed and backed away. “I’ve got clothes.”
“Yeah, but my boobs are way bigger than yours.”
Her mom opened her mouth, the wry expression on her face promising one of the friendly but jealous jibes they’d shared about their disparate figures over the years, but the doorbell rang before she could speak.
Jenny frowned. “What time’s your date?”
Elise checked the nonexistent pockets in her leggings looking for the phone she’d clearly left upstairs and followed her mother toward the tiny dining room. “Not until seven. It’s only a little after three.” And she had no makeup on. And a craptastic ponytail. Awesome. “You didn’t invite him over, did you?”
“No, I didn’t invite him over.” Her mom peeked out the picture window overlooking the front yard, the same confounded look on her face as Elise...right up until she spied whoever was on the front porch. Then her expression shifted to pure delight.
“What? Who is it?”
Her mom waved, backed away from the window and hustled to the front door. “Well, from the looks of things, it’s what my dad referred to as the date brigade.”
Elise followed her. “The what?”
“The date brigade.” With no more explanation, she opened the door to show Katy and Jade standing side by side, their goofy grins almost identical to the one her mom was sporting. “Hey, girls! That’s quite a haul you’ve got. Need any help?”
“Nah, we’ve got it.” Jade slung a garment bag thick with God only knew how many outfits inside it over one shoulder and stormed inside like she lived there. Under her free arm was a smaller box like you’d use to pack books
for a big move.
“Um,” Elise said. “What are you doing?”
Jade paused at the bottom of the stairs and gave Elise a perplexed look. “We’re here to help you get ready for your date. What else?”
Still rooted outside the door and loaded down with a carry-on suitcase in one hand and an overnight bag in the other, Katy cocked her head. “Well, assuming you want our help. We didn’t mean to ambush you or anything. We just thought it’d be fun.”
“Ha!” Jade said. “Maybe you’re here to play nice, but I’m totally here to ambush. I just saw my brother drag a suit out of his closet. A suit. Tate never drags out the big guns for a woman. Ever. If you think for a second I’d miss out on a chance to meddle and get a girlfriend dolled up enough to make him swallow his tongue, you’re nuts.” She shifted her load on her back and eyeballed Elise. “So, are we doing this or what?”
“He’s wearing a suit?” Elise said, the picture in her head enough to make her light-headed.
“Mmm hmm. A nice one.”
“And he’s taking you to Le Stick Nouveau,” Katy added. “Which is crazy nice, by the way. Priest and I went there last night and put wards up and everything.”
“Priest knows?”
“Of course, he knows. You didn’t think Tate would take you off property without making sure you were safe, did you?” Apparently tired of waiting for a formal okay, Katy strolled across the threshold and nudged the door shut with her hip. “So, what do you say? Is it all hands on deck, or would you rather fly solo?”
Elise glanced at her mom who was doing a terrible job of keeping her mirth in check. Then up at Jade who looked like she was stoked to do battle.
A comfortable warmth spread along her shoulders and the world steadied beneath her feet. She wasn’t alone. For the first time in her life, she had a chance not just to go on a date, but to be girly and giddy with other women who genuinely seemed to want to help her. All she had to do was open up and go along for the ride. To trust and throw herself into the moment.
She dipped her head toward the garments weighting down Jade’s back, the movement not nearly as casual as she’d have liked it to be. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a dress in there that might work for a busty girl like me.”
Jade’s grin was flat-out wicked. “Oh, girl. I don’t have just one. I have several.”
Chapter Seven
It was weird what having the woman in your life did to a man. All of a sudden, things that used to mean nothing to Tate—things as simple as remembering she liked unsweetened tea more than sweet tea, to bigger shit like the car you drove and where you lived—got crazy important. And not because they were things, but because he didn’t want her thinking for a second he didn’t notice what she liked, or to have her riding or living in anything but the best.
He forced his attention to stay on the road instead of the passenger’s seat and the insane amount of thigh Elise’s dress showed.
Fucking bucket seats.
Yeah, he loved his Camaro. Or he would as soon as he knuckled down with the ’69 classic and finished restoring the exterior, but the way the low-slung seats were angled, Elise might as well have been reclined back on a chaise like a bedroom pinup.
Nope. No way. No thoughts of bedrooms. Or pinups. Or the fact that the body hugging dress she’d worn made her a prime candidate to star in one.
He squeezed the steering wheel a little harder, but damned if his eyes didn’t stray of their own free will to her legs and the strappy heels that matched her black dress. He didn’t dare look at her chest again. Not the way the dress accented her amazing rack. Honest to God, he didn’t know whether to hug Jade and Katy for their intervention, or take his sweet time strangling them both.
Elise slid her feet a little closer to the seat’s edge, gripping the hem of her dress like she had a chance in hell of covering more skin. “Are you okay?”
Peachy. Burning alive on the inside and ready to claw his way out of his skin, but on top of the fucking world. “I’ve got you stretched out in my car in a dress that looks like sin and am on my way to what Priest says is an outstanding restaurant.” He peeled his eyes away from the road long enough to meet her gaze. “Okay falls a little short.”
One smile. One sweet, tremulous smile accented by those big, trusting eyes of hers, and he was back on track. Grounded and centered. “You sure? You seem tense.”
Crummy timing and a fast approaching parking lot made him put his response on hold long enough to get his car in park, but the second he had the stick out of gear and the parking brake pulled, he twisted to face her, covered her hand with his and gave it a gentle squeeze. If he wanted her honesty, then the least he could do was set his own macho bullshit aside and go first. “I am a little tense. But it’s not because of anything you’ve done or aren’t doing. It’s because this is a big deal for me.”
The shock on her face echoed the sharp surprise in her voice. “It is?”
“Yeah. A huge deal.”
“Why?”
Way to go, smooth. Talk your own ass right into a corner, why don’t you?
Telling her what she was to him wasn’t an option. Not yet. But there was a more fundamental truth he could absolutely share. One he didn’t even have to think twice about. “Because it’s for you.”
No movement. No outwardly visible response of any kind. Just her eyes on his and the steady in-and-out of their breathing. But he felt it. One split second of an astounding connection that left him rattled.
She ducked her head as if she’d felt it, too, the gold-blond strands she’d curled into loose waves falling heavy around her face. She smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle near the bottom of her dress. “Thank you.”
Damn, but he wanted to kiss her. Wanted them anywhere but in a car where he couldn’t pull her close and just hold and pet her until whatever feelings she was wrestling with let her go and she could relax the way she had by the lake Monday night. But what he couldn’t make up for with touch, he could handle with humor. At least for now. “Don’t thank me yet. Priest said the food was good, but he also said it was fancy and that the portions were better suited for a mouse. We may have to hit McDonald’s before I take you home.”
The quip worked, drawing a quiet chuckle from her as she lifted her head. “McDonald’s I might actually be able to navigate without being a nervous wreck. Dresses are pushing it for me, but adding heels to the equation is just begging for disaster.”
Ease up there, buddy. Forget the heels, the dress, or any offensive maneuvers to get her out of either one.
“Trust me, Elise. There’s not a man breathing who’d look at you tonight and even think the word disaster.” His gaze slid down her legs despite the coaching from his common sense and he slid his hand from hers just enough to brush the top of one thigh. “Now stay right there and let me get your door.”
Inside the restaurant, things were blessedly low-key. No doubt, thanks to the fact it was a Wednesday night in a town predominantly driven by weekend tourists. The hostess recognized him from his visit earlier in the day and greeted them both with a warm smile, but there was a wry quality to it as well. One that said she was both shocked and a little humored at the change in appearance from the ponytail, jeans and T-shirt he’d been in earlier. “We’ve got your table ready for you, Mr. Allen. If you’ll just follow me?”
Elise started forward, but twisted just enough to quietly murmur over her shoulder, “Mr. Allen?”
“I know,” he answered back in kind. “Makes me think my dad’s standing behind me.” He splayed his hand low on her back and walked with her to the alcove he’d picked just for them. Normally the small room held four four-tops, but with a little finagling this afternoon, he’d talked the manager into removing all but one. Gold curtains separated the private space and were drawn back just enough to let them watch the comings and goings of other guests, but still kept them isolat
ed. The only light came from an ornate fixture in the shape of a peacock on the wall, its cobalt, teal and white lights artfully mixing with the rest of the rich mahogany and granite décor.
Elise stood beside her chair and studied it, her head cocked to one side and eyes wide with open appreciation.
The hostess laid their menus beside each chair. “I’ll just leave these for you here. Your waitress will be here shortly.”
Nudged from her perusal by the hostess’s quiet comment, Elise peeled her attention free and noted him patiently waiting for her by her chair, his hand resting on the top of the seat back. “Oh, right. Manners.” She slid into her seat and sat her purse to the side of her place setting. While everything she did held a natural grace, the awkward moment seemed to re-inject some of the tension she’d relinquished since they’d pulled into the parking lot. “Sorry, it was just so pretty I couldn’t help but gawk.”
He guided her chair closer to the table, the upper swells of her breasts on prime display with him towering above her. As isolated as they were, he could easily skim the back of his knuckle along the soft skin. Could trace the plunging neckline of her dress and soak in every detail of her response.
Instead, he braced one hand on the table, leaned in and mimicked the touch he craved up and over her bared shoulder, across the simple tank-style straps and on to the curve of her neck. “There’s no wrong action you can take with me, Elise. No expectation you have to uphold or model you have to fit.” He cupped the back of her neck, the silky tease of her hair against his fingertips thick and tempting. “So long as we’re honest with each other, there’s nothing we can’t figure out.”
“Honest.”
“Honest,” he echoed back with the same depth she’d given him. “Even if it means you need to tell me no, or to back off. Understand?”
Her gaze dropped to his lips and damned if her own didn’t part on a slow and shaky inhalation.
“Elise?”
Her focus shifted back to his eyes and she nodded, but a sharp resolve etched her features. As if in the span of seconds, she’d measured the width of a dangerous chasm and vowed to leap across it anyway. “I don’t want you to back off.”
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