“Hey Tiffany. Yeah I’m doing great how are you?”
“Blah blah blah. Just tell me I’ve been waiting!”
“He’s nice.” I said simply knowing that was going to make her mad.
“That’s all I get? Nice? I guess that’s an improvement from ‘he’s a mama’s boy’.”
I smiled, “It was one dinner Tiff. I don’t know him well enough for a full on analysis of his behavior. But so far so good…”
“Full analysis? You turned down Scott from the gym because he had a cowboy belt.”
“It’s L.A. not the rodeo.” I mumbled.
“He had an eight pack! Not six, but eight!” she sighed when I didn’t argue back. He was cute, but I just couldn’t connect. “Well… I told you the coffee would do the trick.”
I rolled my eyes, “Yeah I’m sure that’s what did it.”
“Still though… be careful. You don’t have to marry the guy. You’re just getting your feet wet. Have fun.”
I said my goodbyes to her and went back to bed. I stared at my phone and contemplated playing some games or browsing the web. But I shook my head and forced myself not to. I need to sleep. Staying up late working on extra projects for work, reading and overall procrastinating on the internet late at night was starting to affect my everyday life. Starting to forget things, headaches, and just being tired.
I closed my eyes deciding to count sheep. Around my fortieth sheep my phone vibrated on my nightstand making a loud clattering sound against the glass. I reached for it and saw that it was past two in the morning before seeing that I had a text from James.
“Good morning. Want to go to a museum?”
I laughed, “you’re quick! I would love to. I wasn’t sleepy at all before, but now I was extra awake.” I flipped over to my tummy and stared at my phone anticipating his text back when it vibrated again.
“You’re either worse than me with sleeping or I woke you up.”
My smile was taking over my face as I texted back, “Worse than you I’m sure.”
“Well go to sleep because I’m picking you up early.”
“Hmm bossy already. But ok. Good night for sure this time ;]”
He replied with a “Goodnight beautiful” before my eyes finally felt heavy and I drifted off to sleep with the biggest grin on my face.
Two weeks later James took me to a comeback show of one of my favorite groups. He picked me up in his black Bentley around five since it was an intimate night show for just a handful of fans. We met with each every other day since the first official date and when we weren’t together we were texting each other.
Lucianna’s Pub was close for the night and the show was held in the pub portion of the restaurant. The group, 12AM, was a popular indie band with a more soul than pop rock sound. They had lyrics that made girls swoon and want to fall in love. They were unique and I loved them. We drank wine as some people danced to the more romantic songs and when they started doing some covers of their inspirational singers James asked me if I wanted to dance. I shyly said yes and realized they were singing a Michael Buble song.
“I love Michael Buble.” I said as James’s arms around me as we swayed to the music.
“Definitely talented.” He agreed. I was too busy feeling hypersensitive as we stared into each other’s eyes and our fingers and hands touched each other in ways we were wanting to but were too afraid to till now. Music and dancing was a great excuse.
“So will I ever get to hear you sing?” I asked trying to get my mind off of my naughtier thoughts.
“I’m no Michael Buble.”
I smiled, “No you’re James Carmichael. I want to hear your voice.”
He smiled and looked at the group before bringing me closer to him. He brought his lips to my ear and started to sing along to the band. I couldn’t believe how good he was. My smile hurt my cheeks and I was seconds away from having a fan girl moment for him when the song ended and he pulled away.
“Is there anything you can’t do? You’re amazing.”
The group finished with their greatest hit and an encore of their title song before calling it a night. James took me to meet their lead singer Devin, who was almost as gorgeous as James. Almost. But his reputation of sleeping with almost of L.A. followed him everywhere. He was a major player.
James talked to the group, letting them know they did great and if there was anything they needed to improve on. I scanned the groups of people standing around with their wine glasses chatting with each other when I spotted Jennifer’s boyfriend Collin. At least it looked like him. I had only met him once so I could be wrong.
His eyes met with mine and I quickly looked back at 12AM. I cringed hoping Jennifer wasn’t around and that I wouldn’t have to see her with James. Jennifer has hated me ever since I started at W&D and has made it very clear that she wanted me gone.
We were more at ease with each other after the show. Late night conversations were a must. I couldn’t sleep till he said good night; and according to him his day didn’t start till I said good morning. It was too good to be true and I was just waiting for something bad to happen. I guess I’m a glass half empty type of girl when it comes to love.
One Saturday morning the city was having some sort of autumn festival and we were planning on going before having some brunch.
“You look beautiful.” He said as he opened the door of his Bentley for me. He waited till I was in to close the door. At first I found it cute that he’s been the total perfect gentleman, but now it was getting annoying. I was starting to think something was wrong with me that he wasn’t pushing us even halfway to the next step.
So, according to Tiffany, I had to pull out the big guns. I was wore black jeans that made my butt look great and a top that showed all my curves perfectly. This was the first time in the two months we were dating that I saw James in jeans as well. They looked unsurprisingly good. When he walked around the car to his side I had to force myself not to check him out too much.
We walked down the closed down street looking at the various vendors and booths. We shared cotton candy with one hand and held hands with the other. He grabbed a chunk of pink fluff and fed me. I was hoping he would do the typical romantic movie scene where he would kiss sugar off my lips but he didn’t. I had to force myself not to groan out loud. I wasn’t asking for a full on baby making session but he seriously was making me wonder if we were ever going to go to the next level.
He would tease me by leaning in to whisper stuff about the folk dancers and I would giggle from his comments and because it tickled whenever his facial scruff would brush against my skin.
“Are you hungry for real food yet?” He asked.
My stomach growled and I cringed hoping he didn’t hear.
He chuckled, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I’m starving…” I admitted.
“I know a good place down the street we can just walk over.” He suggested.
“Do you own it?” I half-joked.
“No not this one.” He smirked.
As we were walking past more booths I heard a familiar voice, “Oh, dragon girl!”
James and I looked at each other confused because it felt like the voice was directed at us. I was surprised to see Lana at a palm reading booth. She waved us over and I pulled James with me so I could at least say hello.
“Ah it is you! I thought you looked familiar.” She smiled. Her accent was back and thicker than ever. I started wonder what about her was legit if even her accent was fake.
I could feel that James was tense but I didn’t think much of it till I noticed her smile fade when she looked at him.
“Hi Lana. I didn’t know you had a booth.” I said, looking at their exchange of glares.
She forced herself to smile before looking back at me, “I see you found your dragon?”
I looked over to James and he didn’t look happy at all. His grip on my hand was getting tighter. He pulled me closer to him wrapping his arm around my waist as if
he was protecting me from Lana, I could feel the tenseness all over his body and it was starting to make me feel uneasy too.
“Would you like a free reading?” She asked me but continued staring at James as if he was going to attack her.
“No.” James said and squeezed my waist.
“Come on. It’s free.” She pressed.
“Um… no thank you. We have to get going…” I mumbled a goodbye and was about to turn to leave with James when she ran out of her booth.
“Wait!” She grabbed my free hand and looked in it, after touching a couple lines she looked at me, with both worry and anger in her eyes. She leaned closer to me and whispered, “Be careful of him.”
James pulled my hand away from her and I could have sworn I heard him growl at her before he marched us off.
James barely spoke during our lunch or the ride home. I couldn’t figure out if he was mad at me or if I had done something to even deserve being mad at. But ever since we saw Lana he was beyond edgy. I doubt he could be this angry at Lana. Unless they had some sort of past I wasn’t aware of.
“James…Are you mad at me?” I finally got myself to ask.
He kept his eyes glued on the road and I wasn’t even sure if he heard my question or if he was ignoring me. He blinked getting out of his trance and finally looked at me. He smiled sweetly before saying, “No I’m not.”
“You seem mad though.” I studied his face for any trace of annoyance before I brought up Lana. “Ever since we saw Lana that is…”
“Lana?” he raised his eyebrow.
“The gypsy psychic.”
His knuckles turned white as he gripped onto the steering wheel at the realization, “Oh… I just didn’t like her. She seemed off. You don’t believe anything she says, do you?”
“I only met her once.”
“Why did she call you dragon girl?”
I didn’t know how to explain it without making myself look like an idiot. “Um... it’s embarrassing but I had a coffee reading at her café downtown. It was for fun. She saw something in my cup that looked like a dragon. She found it odd.”
“A dragon? What did it mean?”
“Yeah. She didn’t know what it meant because she wasn’t sure if it was a dragon or a monster of some sort. She assumed it had something to do with my hopes and dreams.” I laughed. His lips were set in a grim line and his jaw was tight.
“Not that I believe it or anything.” I assured him, “She told me she’s not legit herself. I was just curious.”
“I don’t want you to see her again.”
Before I could even say anything I noticed we had already arrived at my apartment building. I looked back at him and he truly looked worried and somewhat sad. “I’m going to let the whole bossy thing go because you must have good reason to think she’s shady. Sometimes an intuition is the best way to avoid trouble. I won’t go to her café again.” I smiled at him. Normally I would mind if someone asked me not to go somewhere but I wasn’t even planning on going back anyway. There was no point in making that his problem that causes me to run away. She was the one who told me she’s not a psychic, so why would I trust her palm reading.
He smirked at my answer and leaned closer to kiss my cheek like usual. After he brushed his lips against my cheek he hesitated taking his lips away till he finally went back just enough to face me.
I bit my lip as I looked at his perfectly kissable lips hoping he would just kiss me. Most guys would have been making out with someone they were dating by the second date at least. But I felt like we were dating in a different century.
“Why won’t you kiss me?” I asked making him look the other way. He wouldn’t face me so I grabbed his shoulder to make him do so. His grey blue eyes bore into mine before he forced himself to smile.
“I did kiss you.”
“James…”
He sighed, “I wasn’t sure if you would be okay with it.”
“Wouldn’t be okay with it?” I repeated, “James, I know that I’m inexperienced in comparison to other women my age but that doesn’t mean I’m living in the 1800’s. I’m starting to think you’re not interested in me…” I admitted hating how I was coming across but I didn’t want to be part of a game if he wasn’t interested.
“You think that?”
“Well yeah… wouldn’t you?”
He nodded to himself before leaning forward and was about press his lips to mine when I put my finger to his lips to stop him, “I don’t want it if I’m forcing it from you.”
“Karina…”
“Goodnight James.” I mumbled while opening the car door. I felt embarrassed for even bringing it up. I was reaching the gate to the apartment building when James grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. His lips collided with mine before I had a chance to argue. It started out soft like usual but I found myself moving closer as he did. My hands found its way into his hair, perfect length to run my fingers through, as we both went deeper into the kiss.
“So you mean to tell me… this guy is the one that’s acting like he’s innocent?” Tiffany asked showing me a search of his pictures. She came over for a movie as we chatted a bit. I finally gave in and looked at what she saw the first time she looked him up. She did her search again on my tablet before handing it back to me. “You’re not the one who put his name in the search engine, don’t feel bad.” She smirked.
There were pages of pictures of him and women at events for his company. All, not surprisingly because of his profession, beautiful women. I ignored the pang of jealousy, reminding myself that he was with me now. Not them.
“Maybe because he knows you’re a virgin he thinks you’re into innocent types…” She suggested.
“So he’s pretending to be? That makes sense…” I said sarcastically, “Maybe I’m thinking too much of it.”
“Or maybe he really isn’t attracted to women.” She suggested again.
“You’re really no help Tiffany.” I said while looking through the pictures again. Most of the pictures were old and there were no duplicate pictures of any of the dates so I didn’t think much of them.
“And you really have no luck with men.” She mumbled.
“No arguing there…” I replied thinking of all the pathetic guys I had come across. “My luck when I finally decide to get over dating anxiety I meet James.”
“You are lucky. He’s hot.”
Chapter Four
One month later, James had come over after work. It was well past midnight but we hadn’t been able to see each other that week because of work. We figured it would be better to just see each other in person rather than our usual texting at this hour.
We cuddled on the couch and watched a random reality show that was on. Our fingers were interlocked and I was resting my head on his shoulder. Neither of us were paying attention to the show or cared what was going on in that celebrities life at the moment.
He had come straight from work so he was still in his dress shirt but he had pushed up the sleeves showing the toned muscles even in his lower arms. I’ve always been a sucker for manly arms.
He noticed me looking and smiled before he kissed the top of my head. “Celebrity reality not doing it for you?” he asked.
“Nah, I like you better.”
He smirked “I would hope so.” As if on cue he brought his lips to mine and I wrapped my arm around his neck as we slowly started drifting down. He was pulling me towards him as I pulled him to me. The way he was losing his usual self-control in that moment gave me some hope that maybe he did see me the way I saw him.
My heart started racing and pounding against his hard chest. His hand started traveling down my waist. But then he stopped.
He suddenly pulled away and looked towards the balcony, “Did you hear that?”
I looked in the direction he was looking and there was no other sound besides us breathing hard and the commercial on TV.
Feeling frustrated from the awkward position we were in to be having a conversation I
pulled away from him, “I didn’t hear anything.”
He stood up, not even noticing my frustration and walked towards the screen door of the balcony. He opened it and went onto it, looking around as if he was trying to hear whatever he ‘heard’.
I’m sure my expression said how I felt as he came in. I raised my brow and crossed my arms as he was about to speak, “Um… I have to go.”
“Of course you do.” I mumbled, “Okay.”
He stood in his spot awkwardly. I wasn’t sure what to do either. Stay mad or walk him out like I would normally do.
I sighed and stood up to walk him out but he grabbed my hand so I would face him. “I’m sorry… I really did hear something.”
“I believe you.” I lied.
“You don’t believe me.” he said sadly.
“I don’t… but I trust you.” Even though I’m starting to think you’re hiding something.
We walked over to my door and he had me against a wall before I had a chance to pretend I was still angry with him. His body pressed onto mine again as his lips collided with mine. I had my hands on his shoulders contemplating pushing him away or wrapping my arms around them and pulling him closer. We both slowly pulled apart. I smiled as I looked into his steel blue eyes.
“Is this how you apologize?” I smirked before pulling him back down for another kiss. “Because I like it.”
We were both out of breath and his eyes were baring into mine before he turned around. I almost caught a glimpse of whatever he was trying to hide from me. And I realized he was hiding something from me. He wanted this just as much as I did but something is keeping him from opening up to me. I felt it in my bones and I knew I should probably run the other direction from him upon this realization but I couldn’t. I wanted to know what it was more than ever.
***
Two months passed and we were closer than before. He still didn’t take it further than making out but I didn’t mind. He made it obvious he wanted me and I wasn’t some game to him. That’s all I wanted.
In My Veins Page 3