Allegiant (36 page)

Sitting down next to me, he takes over my
laptop and sets it on the coffee table. “Where’s the mouse?” he
asks.

I reach into my computer bag on the floor
and pull out my little pink wireless mouse; it’s funny to watch him
use it.

“
Did you call your mom
today?” he asks while he connects the mouse USB.

“
Nope. I emailed her. And
Shel.” He never lets me forget to contact them every couple of
days.

“
Matt called,” he says
absentmindedly while he opens Photoshop. “He wanted to know if I
wanted to go to the bar. I guess Shel’s busy tonight.”

“
What’d you tell
him?”

“
That I was still out of
town,” he says and clicks the file he wants. He looks at me. “He
mentioned that you were in Ireland. I guess he thought I’d want to
know.”

I smile. “Ireland is unseasonably warm and
sunny for this time of year. You should join me there.”

He smirks. “Already done.” He looks back at
the screen and sets to work magnifying and dragging and clicking. I
have no idea how any of this program works.

I lean forward to watch him and set my chin
on my hand. “You know, you could go home. You don’t have to stay
here.”

He frowns at the screen. “Do you want me to
leave?”

“
No,” I say abruptly and
shake my head. “But, maybe you should make an appearance and then
come back. How long can you use the ‘out of town for work’ excuse?
Especially since you no longer have a job.”

He says nothing.

The idea of not having him around makes me
sad, but I have to consider what’s best for him and our ruse.
“Besides, your family will want you around for the holidays. I can
stay here and hold down the fort. You could go home and celebrate
and then come back to me.”

“
Leaving you is out of the
question,” he says. “My family and I aren’t close. It’s not a big
deal if I miss Christmas.”

I find this incredibly sad and my face shows
it. When he looks at me he notices and sighs. “Listen, this is how
it works in my family. My dad and my stepmother will have a huge
dinner Christmas Eve. They will invite everyone involved with Bay
Woods; that’s about a hundred people. They’ll spend the night
hobnobbing with business associates and employees who really don’t
want to be there but feel obligated to attend because my dad is
their boss. I will hang in the background, as I usually do, with a
fake smile plastered on my face and answer the same question a
thousand times.”

“
Let me guess,” I say. “Why
aren’t you working at the golf course?”

“
Exactly. Then, after the
catered spread is gone and the liquor starts to dry up, the guests
will leave to spend time with their own families. My dad will
ceremoniously hand me a check, his gift to me every year, and I’ll
wake up Christmas morning like it’s any other day. The
End.”

“
I don’t like that,” I
say.

“
Me either.”

We stare at each other for a few moments and
then he turns back to my laptop. I immediately regret bringing up
the subject. Maybe we could start a new tradition this Christmas.
Decorate a palm tree or something.

“
So, will we be here in
December?” I ask.

“
We can be. I rented the
place for a month, but the agreement can be extended.” He looks at
me again. “Or we could move on to somewhere new. This may be your
chance to travel the world.” He smiles.

“
Sounds
tempting.”

“
Well, we have three weeks
to decide,” he says and goes back to clicking.

I try to watch him work, but it’s boring and
I keep yawning. “I’m going to go lay down. I’m tired for some
reason.”

He nods, concentrating on the screen, and I
stand to walk around him. I pass the sliding doors and eye the
hammock strung between two palm trees on the patio. I have yet to
use that. I change direction and head outside to crawl into it for
my late afternoon siesta. It takes me three tries, but I finally
find myself in the middle of it without feeling like I’m going to
fall out. The hammock is made from a solid sheet of fabric, not
rope, and it wraps around my body slightly.

The sun warms my skin and the gentle breeze
rocks me as I close my eyes and settle in. My mind turns to
thoughts of James and Garrett and where they may be and what they
may be doing. I think of LB and hope she’s not giving Garrett too
much grief, although he deserves it. My thoughts wander and I try
to imagine where I’ll be in a month or two. There’s no place else
I’d rather be, except for home. I wouldn’t mind staying here. It’s
practically perfect.

When I open my eyes, I know time has passed
because the sun has shifted in the sky. I must have dozed off for
an hour, maybe two. I’m hot from lying in the sun so long, and I
feel sticky. I look to my right and notice Dane lying on his
stomach, floating on a raft in the pool. I try to get out of the
hammock gracefully, but my muscles are stiff from being cradled in
the same position for so long. I half step-half tumble out and
catch my balance by grabbing on to the material. I roll my eyes as
I wait for his teasing to begin, but it doesn’t come. I walk over
to the side of the pool and stare at him. When he doesn’t so much
as twitch after several minutes, I realize he’s asleep under his
sunglasses. My mind flashes to this morning and it’s hard to
suppress my grin. This is too easy.

I move around the pool to where I’m closest
to him. My plan is to jump in and scare him, so he’ll flip off his
raft. I crouch down and sit on the balls of my feet, waiting for
him to float just a bit closer. But as I watch him, I hesitate. I’m
not sure if it’s from all the comments he’s been throwing around
today or what, but I take this private moment to look at him. I
mean really study him. It’s hard to find the right words to
describe his appearance. Handsome? Beautiful? Good-looking? Hot?
He’s all of those things. My eyes roam over the tanned length of
his body, and I wonder what in the hell is he doing here with me.
No wonder Teagan is upset at losing him, vain woman that she is. He
is arm candy. But, he’s also so much more than that. He has one of
the kindest hearts I’ve ever known.

“
I can see you,” he says
out of nowhere.

Damn! Rather than show my embarrassment, I
tip my head and say, “Oh, really? Can you see this?”

And with that, I stand and launch myself
into the pool, pulling my knees up and landing just to the side of
his raft. The splash feels enormous, and I’m confident I’ve
completed my mission.

When I pop up from beneath the water I see
any empty raft floating in front of me. I know I’m in trouble, so I
swim as fast as I can toward the stairs of the pool. I feel a hand
graze my ankle and let out a yelp as I try to swim faster. Darn
clothes! They’re holding me back! By some miracle I manage to get
to the steps and out of the pool before he catches me. I turn
around to face him, dripping. He’s standing waist deep in the pool
with his arms crossed, his sunglasses lost, and a smirk on his
face.

“
I told you to watch your
back,” I laugh and reach up to wring my hair.

“
Looks like you were the
one watching.”

Whatever. I will not allow him to rattle me
and take away my victory. “This makes us even.” I point at him.
“That will teach you to throw around your stinky clothes!”

“
You talk a good game,” he
says and walks toward me. “Come here and show me you mean
it.”

I don’t think so. He’s not luring me back
into the water. All he has to do is get ahold of me the right way
and it’s over; before I know it, we’ll be making out in the pool. I
shake my head and look at myself. “I need to change.” I back toward
the sliding door. “We’re tied; there’s nothing to prove.” When I
reach the door, I turn around. “I’m hungry,” I shout to him. “You
want anything?”

He gives me an exasperated stare, and I
realize I just asked a loaded question. I open the door and step
inside before he can answer.

“
Hello?”

Dane answers his cell without looking at it.
We’ve just returned from a grocery run and my arms are full of
bags. It’s nearly the end of second week together and we were just
about out of everything. I’m glad we made it back in time too; the
sky looks like it’s about to open up any minute and dump buckets of
rain.

“
What?” he scowls into the
phone.

I set the bags on the counter then turn
around to help him by taking the ones he is carrying. He doesn’t
look happy.

“
That’s none of your
business,” he snaps.

I walk around the breakfast bar, setting the
remaining bags on the island. I start to unload what we bought and
pull out the deli meat to put in the refrigerator. I hear Dane sigh
loudly, and when I look at him, he has his head down with his hand
on his hip.

“
He’s right; I did
quit.”

He must be speaking with his father. This
could get ugly.

“
No!”

I avert my eyes and busy myself with the
groceries.

“
There’s nothing to
discuss…no, I’m not telling you when I’m coming back…because it
doesn’t matter! Whatever. I told you before I don’t want it. I
don’t know! Keep it, sell it, I don’t care.”

I open the pantry to find a home for the
chips.

“
Who cares what they think?
Tell them the truth...fine, then, lie! We all know you need to
protect your precious reputation!”

I sneak a glance at him. He’s upset.

“
Really?” He laughs
sarcastically. “You need to take a long look in the mirror before
you can say that to me…What? You’ve forgotten all about
Brock?”

Who’s Brock?

“
That’s right. You keep
living in your delusionary world.” He eyes flash to me, and I look
away.

He lets out a frustrated breath. “Then go
get it, who’s stopping you? I want everything out by the time I get
back.”

He remains silent for a moment and allows
the caller to rant. I can tell by the way he shakes his head that
what they’re saying is ridiculous to him. Finally, he cuts the
person off in a harsh tone. “I’m done with this. Get your stuff and
get out,” he snaps and hangs up. He looks at his phone and then at
me, his mouth set. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

“
It wasn’t too
bad.”

He comes around the counter to help me
unpack. We work in silence until he stops, paper towel in hand.
“Can you believe her? She told my dad I quit.”

“
Her?”

“
Teagan.”

Ah. That’s not good. “I’m sorry.”

“
Anything to meddle in my
life,” he mutters.

“
Who’s Brock?” I
ask.

He snorts. “The guy she was sleeping with in
South America.”

My eyes grow wide. “What?”

He gives me a sarcastic smile. “It gets
lonely in the jungle.”

“
Oh.” I feel bad for him,
and I can sort of relate. “At least James can’t sleep with
Meg.”

“
Who’s Meg?”

I roll my eyes. “James’ Brock.”

Dane stops in his tracks and looks at me,
surprised. “James has a Guardian girlfriend?”

“
Possibly.” I shrug and
take the paper towel from his hands. I bend down to put it under
the sink. “He says they’re just friends, but I’m pretty sure she
wants more. He denies it, though.” When I stand Dane is frozen,
staring at me. “What?”

“
James is messing around
with another girl?”

“
No; well, he says he’s
not. I mean, I know he cares about her, but she’s been captured,
so…” I can see the wheels turning in his head. What is he
thinking?

Lightning flashes, drawing my attention to
the windows. “Looks like the storm is here.”

Dane turns to look, too. Thunder cracks,
effectively ending our conversation, and we finish putting the food
away.

Within the next half hour, the wind starts
to pick up and rain pounds against the house. Thunder that sounded
distant at first creeps closer with every rumble. It’s kind of
scary being surrounded by this much glass, and I watch the palm
trees on the patio bend and sway. I wonder if we should have at
least stacked the patio furniture to prevent it from being tossed
in the wind.

“
Well, that’s that,” Dane
says from behind me.

“
What’s what?”

“
The satellite went out.”
He tosses the remote on the couch. “Now what?”

I shrug. “Guess you’ll have to pick up a
book and read.”

He makes a face.

“
Wait.” I walk down the
hallway toward the bedroom and open the small linen closet there. I
remember seeing some board games when I was looking for towels the
other day. “Do you want to play Clue?” I shout, my head buried in
the closet. I loved this game as a kid. He doesn’t answer me, but I
grab the game anyway. I bring it out to the living room, smiling.
“I said do you want to play Clue?”

He notices my excitement and grins back. “I
take it you do?”

I nod and set the box on the coffee table,
open the lid and start setting up the game. I hope all the pieces
are here. I was fascinated by all the rooms and little weapons when
I was younger. Apparently, I still am. “Who do you want to be?” I
ask.

“
Give me the Colonel.” He
holds out his hand.

I give him the yellow pawn for Colonel
Mustard. “I’ll be Miss Scarlet,” I say and place my red piece on
the correct space.