He smiled at me and reached over to take Margaret’s hand in his. There was a small exchange between the two of them and I frowned confused. “That’s code for ‘be good’ Adan.” He said and Margaret beamed at him and I knew that she was gone. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Margaret.” I wasn’t sure, but he looked like he did a little bow.
“Please call me Maggie.” She made a tsking sound at me. “Sara knows I like Maggie better.”
I did know that, she had scolded me many times since working here to call her Maggie.
“I thought Maggie was only for special people to call you.”
She laughed at me fake pout. “It is dear and there is something special about this boy.” She was talking to me, but she was lost in Adan’s face and I hated the ping I felt against her.
“Do you think you could try convincing Sara of that? She seems to be the only one who doesn’t see that.”
“Wow.” I said.
Maggie laughed. “I’ll see what I can do Adan.” Maggie looked at me and there was a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes. “Goodnight Sara. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her tone said I had a lot of explaining to do. She paused on her way out the door. “Oh and try not to distract her too much Adan, she still has to close up.”
“Oh don’t worry Maggie,” I said, “he was just leaving.”
She laughed and walked out of the door.
I turned to glare at him. “Your turn,” I said.
“She seems nice.” He said ignoring me. “How long have you known her?” he sat down in one of the plush chairs and looked at me, a small grin on his smug face.
I sighed in defeat and rubbed my hands over my face and through my hair, messing up my curls. “What am I going to do with you?!”
His smile was slow and he raised his eyes at me. “Now see if you were in a better mood that question would have been very, very dangerous Sara, but since you’re still throwing daggers my way, I beg that you ask me it again in the future and I would be glad to list off several different examples.”
I tried to fight my smile, and I hated the way my heart tripped over his oozing charm. “I have to get ready to close.” I stated.
He shooed me with his hand. “Go on, you won’t even know I’m here.”
He spotted the book on the small table next to him and picked it up winking at me over the edge of. I couldn’t help, but laugh when he slowly turned it right side up and grinned at me.
I walked away to pick up the trash that had been left from uploading the new books and knelt down very conscious of Adan’s eyes on my back. I ran my hand down my bottom making sure every thing was in place and then finished picking up the wrappers and receipts. When it was all put back into the cardboard box I stood up and turned, I tried not to look at him, but my eyes had a mind of their own and they crashed into his.
Even from here I could see the spark sizzling inside the dark blue irises and my breath caught at the reaction they had on me. The flutter grew and pulsated over every inch of me and my skin flushed under his intense gaze before he finally dropped his eyes back to his book. My body still tingled even after and I walked to the back with the trash and hoped to gain some composure while I was back there.
I slipped into the restroom that was for employees only, but had been used often enough by Maggie’s loyal customers. Once in there I checked what little make up I had on and grabbed a tissue from the box on the table inside and ran it under my eyes. I ran my fingers through the tangle curls and hoped to fix the strand in the back. I took in my flushed cheeks, neck and chest and tried to fan away the evidence of what he could do to me. I wrapped my hair up into a messy bun and pulled a pen from the pocket of my sweater dress and pinned my hair up. There was nothing I could do about the small whips of hair that fell out in fact, I kind of liked them.
I slipped out of the bathroom and cleaned up the back before returning to the front. Adan still sat there quietly reading his book when I emerged from the back and he looked up briefly and caught my eyes. His expression was gentle and sweet and it made my heart melt.
“I like your hair like that,” He said softly and looked back at his book, “but you’re making it awfully hard for me to pretend like I’m not here.”
Yeah like I could pretend he wasn’t there.
I walked around him and behind the cash register and from here I had a perfect view of Adan and I realized then I was going to have to double count everything. I watched Adan through my lashes as he concentrated on the book he was reading. I tried to squint hoping to see the title, but I couldn’t see anything. He looked like he was really reading it, but I couldn’t tell for sure.
His hair was short on the sides, but he left it longer on the top in a sexy tousled look. I’m sure he put something in his hair to give it that look of messy perfection, but it looked soft to touch and I wanted to run my fingers through the silky disarray. I loved the way it stood out against his tanned skin.
His expression changed as he continued to read and I loved the way his eyes reacted to each sentence. He seemed to be pleased by whatever he was reading. His eyebrows were just as dark and they looked just as soft. They came over his eyes to give him that flawless brooding affect. His lashes were average and the darkness of them made his icy blue eyes stand out all the more. He had two lines that curved around his mouth that fascinated me and every time I saw them soften when he smiled I was so tempted to reach out and trace them with my finger.
I could see the muscles of his jaw as it clenched and unclenched and I wondered what he was thinking that caused the agitation. I didn’t like the tightness there and I wanted to nuzzle the smooth skin to take away whatever was bothering him. I could see his jaw relaxing and wondered why it bothered me that I hadn’t been the one to take away his irritation. Would I have had the nerve to do it in the first place?
Silently observing him now I realized he had changed from the casual clothes he had worn this morning. I had noticed what he was wearing when he had walked in, but I didn’t stop to think why was all dressed up. Did he change for Jasmine this morning or did he have plans with her tonight? Maybe he was just here to waste some time until he had to pick her up, maybe while I sat here panting after him he was thinking of someone else.
He looked up at me then and I didn’t have time to drop my eyes away before being caught staring at him. I was trying not to read too much into his gaze, but I already knew I was because he looked like he was denying everything I had just thought. I knew that I was happy he was here with me, whether he had went with Jasmine or not, whether he was meeting up with her later; he was here with me now.
“Like what you see?” He asked grinning.
“That’s not pretending not to be here.” I reminded him while avoiding his question and he laughed going back to read his book again.
I went through the closing process and made sure to count the drawer twice just to make sure everything was accounted for. When I finished closing out the register I closed the drawer and took everything else up to Maggie’s office and put it in the safe. When I came back down Adan was leaning against the counter.
“What now?” He asked.
“Now I escort the last of the customers out, close the store and go home to my bed, I’m beat.” I walked over to the door and flipped the sign.
“Is that an invitation?”
“Hardly,” I said, ignoring the flutter.
“Too bad. What about dinner?”
“What about it?” I asked looking at him.
“You haven’t had it.” He said with out a doubt.
“How do you know?”
He walked over to me. “Because I bet if I said cheeseburger and fries-“
My stomach growled loudly.
“My point,” He said gesturing toward my stomach.
I walked past him and grabbed my scarf from the coat rack behind the cash register. “I can’t have dinner with you Adan.”
“Why not?” He asked genuinely confused and I tried not to focus on
how cute his face looked when his brows scrunched together like that.
“Because, I can’t go on a date with another guy when I have a boyfriend.” I explained wrapping the scarf around my neck.
“Who said it’s a date.”
I tilted my head to the side and gave him a look that said I wasn’t stupid.
“What? It’s not. Were just two friends getting something to eat that’s all.” He crossed his fingers over his heart. “I promise.”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted too.”
“Which you do, but why can’t you?”
“Scott’s picking me up now.”
He didn’t say anything at first. “I’ll make you a deal, if Scott comes we don’t have dinner, but-”
“Ah-“
“I’m not finished,” he said cutting me off. “If he doesn’t show, we grab something to eat and,” he pressed when he saw I was about to protest, “We go as friends.”
I didn’t want to give, but I knew I was going to. “Just as friends.” I warned and he smiled at me holding out his hand. I looked down at it and that only made him smile bigger.
“I’m not going to bite.”
I threw him a look that said I didn’t believe him, but slipped my hand into his anyway. His skin was warm and his fingers wrapped around my hand firmly as he gave it a quick squeeze before he pulled it away letting his fingers caress my palm and fingers as they moved across. I shivered at the teasing touch and watched his face turn into a frown. His finger went back over the pad of my pointer finger and he pulled it up to his face to inspect it.
“What happened here?” He asked.
“Near death by toaster.” I joked when I saw that he was referring to the battle scar from breakfast this morning.
He nodded once looking so serious and I tried to hide my smile. The joke was on me though when he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the sensitive skin. The breath rushed from my body in an instant and my heart kicked against my chest.
“There, all better.” He said smiling at me.
Strangely enough, it was.
“I’m ready whenever you are.” Adan said smugly.
I glanced outside the store front window looking up and down the dark deserted streets and saw no sign of life. It was cold outside and I could feel the sting of the chilly night emanating off the window. I could see the frost covering a thin line around the edges and wondered when it had gotten so cold outside. I could see the clouds above as they littered the evening sky. There was a red tint to the clouds, but I dismissed it. Biting my lower lip I looked down at my cell phone again, thirty minutes and counting and still no sign from Scott. No missed calls, no text messages from him, this was not like him at all and I wondered if I should be worried about that.
“I’m sure he’s fine Sara,” Adan said trying to reassure me and I frowned at him. “I can tell by the look on your face that you’re worried.” He explained. “Don’t you think if something happened to him you would know by now? Maybe he just forgot.”
He was right; I probably would have heard something by now, but for Scott to forget was highly unlikely.
He signed in defeat and rolled out of the chair into a standing position. “I’ll take you home if you want.” I looked at him and hoped he couldn’t see the panic in my eyes. I was worried about Scott, but I didn’t want to say goodnight to Adan just yet. “Talk to me Sara, what do you want to do?” He didn’t move any closer to me and I didn’t know how I felt about that.
He smiled at me as if he were clued in on my private thoughts and even though I knew he couldn’t hear them I tried to push him from my thoughts anyway. He frowned at squinted at me, before his face relaxed.
“I want you to come with me, but I also want you to want to come with me. I don’t like to have to twist your arm or trap you in my company.” He said sincerely.
I snorted in my head knowing he didn’t have to twist my arm, but I did feel oddly trapped by him, but it was in a good way I thought.
“A deal’s a deal, right?” I said and smiled at him.
I knew that Scott was okay, something told me he was. Deal or no deal, I wanted to go with Adan. Plain and simple. This wasn’t to get back at Scott; I wasn’t interested in playing those games. I just wanted a little more time with Adan.
He returned the smile with an enthusiasm so sexy only he could create. “Whew,” he said wiping his hand over his forehead, “I was completely prepared to do a little arm twisting.” He said playfully. “Why don’t you get the lights and we’ll go?”
“I’ll just be a second.” I said disappearing into the back.
I was suddenly very anxious and nervous. Part of it was because this felt very much like a date when I was trying hard to convince myself that we could just be friends. The other part of me was vehemently denying the outrageous idea that Adan and I could just be friends.
I pushed aside those feelings, grabbed my things from the back and hit the lights before returning to the now darkened store front.
“All set.” I said to Adan as I walked past him to unlock the front door.
He grabbed my arm, sending those intense fluttering sparks down my arm and I wondered if I would ever get use to the reaction in his touch. I looked at him questioningly as his warm fingers lingered on my arm just above his elbow. I could feel his finger tips tracing patterns on the sensitive skin in the nook of my elbow. His eyes looked like they were answering my silent question, I hope not, they said and I blinked and it was gone.
I’m imagining things, I thought to myself. Get a hold of yourself Sara.
“It’s cold outside,” He finally said and shrugged out of his jacket. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I got you sick.” He thought about that for a minute. “Actually, it might be fun to play doctor with you.” He suggested seductively and I swallowed hard.
I didn’t have time to dwell on his provocative innuendo when memories of the last time I had been sick flashed inside my head. They were the same images as last time, but there was something different about them and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I tried to bring the visions in clearer, but they remained somewhat blurry and I gave up reminding myself to come to them later.
I rolled my eyes. “If you want to play doctor with someone I can point you in the direction of the nearest hospital.” I said slipping my arms into his jacket.
There was something very familiar about the warmth that engulfed me and the mix between leather and the lingering sweet sent that belonged to only him. It was playing havoc on my senses and memories. There was something familiar about it, not because I had smelled it on anyone else, or the last time he had been close enough for me the inhale the intoxicating sent. It was something else that I couldn’t place.
“Nope,” he said distracting me, “I’m only interested if you’re my patient.” He whispered pulling me closer to him by curling his fingers into the edges of his jacket. “What do you say, you interested?”
My breath caught and I was captivated by the sparks that were flowing inside his eyes and I swore I could feel those same sparks circulating through his body, melting into mine.
“I hate when you do that.” I said.
He smiled. “Do what?”
“Unleash those sparks on me.” I was suddenly breathless and the spark deepened and sizzled right before me. “I can’t be imagining that…can I? I’ve been seeing a lot of things lately so I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Sara…” It sounded like a mix between a groan and a growl and he moved closer to me, like that was possible.
I could feel the energy flowing between and around us like static that filled the air making it crackle and fizz. Invisible streamers of energy flowed around us until the pressure built so was too much it strained for release. It was just like in the photo booth and I knew if I didn’t move away from him the whole store was going to explode. I felt like I was being consumed by the blue sparks Adan’s eyes had let loose and even though I was more then willing to go up i
n the flames he created, I knew I couldn’t destroy Maggie’s store.
The dim light above us surged brightly, almost blinding us, pulsating and glowing brightly again. I could hear the hum of the lights as they were pushed to their limits over and over again. They hissed in protest and I knew it would be anytime now before they exploded showering us in glass and sparks.
There was a tremble in the air that rattled the front window, threatening to shatter into a million pieces any second now. I heard the whispered sound of splitting glass and my eyes flashed briefly toward the noise. I half expected to see a crack right down the center of the glass, but was relived to see nothing noticeable to the eye.
“What are you doing to me?” I asked stepping away from him until I could concentrate fully. I could feel the sputter of the energy as it faded around us.
Adan looked around and then back at me, I thought he looked concerned, but that quickly faded into a deadly smile.
“Interesting,” He drawled, “I’m going to need specific details on what exactly it is that I am doing to you.”
I could feel my cheeks flame at my own admission and wondered what had possessed me to say that out loud. “Can we please go?” I asked turning away.
Once again he caught my arm bringing me back around to face him. Even through the leather jacket I could still feel the intense flutter. “If we’re admitting guilty pleasures Sara, you do something dangerous to me too.” He said quietly.
Without giving me enough time to catch my breath at his confession he turned me and steered me toward the door so we could leave.
The minute we stepped outside, I shivered uncontrollably from the cold air that whirled around me. I could smell the difference in the air, but I was tired of over thinking everything so I didn’t pay much attention to the change I could sense coming. People could smell the weather changing all the time right? I’m not a freak, I told myself.
Flutter (The Discover Series) Page 28