An Involuntary Spark (5 page)

“So what's your story, Amiira?” Kian asked gently, his brown eyes pinning her with an almost laser precision.

Amiira took a deep breath, not sure where to start; or even if she should.

Amiira bit the inside of her mouth as she eyed him, quietly contemplating how she should answer such a question. It was broad and elusive enough in nature. It wasn't that specific and she could easily reply with something nondescript and vague. But as she watched him watching her, and waiting patiently for her response, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly inclined to answer in some detailed and revealing way.

There was something about his demeanor that was both easy and arresting, which didn't make much sense to her because those two things were completely opposite experiences.

But yet, as she looked into his sincere, astute eyes, she felt both those realities almost pressing up against her.

“It's not a very interesting one,” Amiira answered finally, settling on mild self deprecation as she brought her drink to her lips.

“Oh somehow I doubt that,” Kian retorted, his smooth voice droned a bit as he let out a small chuckle.

Amiira noticed the way his mouth curved up in a smile, exposing his pristinely straight teeth, which casted a lovely contrast between the pigment of his skin, and the dark facial hair that bordered his jaw and mouth.

“Why is that?” Amiira inquired, silently both thankful for and cursing the liquor that ran through her veins.

This man's beauty had already been beyond impressive before, but now given the circumstance, it was downright debilitating.

“You just strike me as somebody who is all the synonyms for interesting,” Kian responded, after waiting a beat before answering her question.

Kian studied her as he watched those words resonate. Her shoulders almost looked as if they were shielding her from him, or maybe it was the night air they were hunched up against. He noticed strands of her hair blowing easily against her arms and collarbone, he allowed his eyes to quickly span the length of her face, chin, mouth, nose and then eyes before he reluctantly tore his eyes off of her.

“That's a bit inflated for someone you just met only a few hours ago,” Amiira replied, being both unnerved and endeared by the way he was looking at her.

“I suppose it is,” Kian exclaimed, strengthening his long legs out in front of him as he found his eyes on her face once more. “Maybe you're only incredibly boring.”

His tone was a bit playful, and she smiled despite herself. She ran a hand haphazardly through her long hair as her eyes danced between the shore and him before she decided to just look at her glass, which was almost vacant of the liquid she'd been consuming.

“I'm not that fascinating, I assure you,” Amiira exclaimed. “I live and work in L.A.”

“Doing?” Kian probed further.

“I work at a consulting firm.”

“Ah, so you're perceptive,” Kian speculated freely, his right hand coming up and rubbing the side of his jaw absentmindedly.

“What makes you say that?” Amiira questioned instantly, her eyes involuntarily following the movement of his hand.

“Isn't that part of consulting?” Kian asked, his facial expression a staunch inquisition, lined with overt knowing. “Figuring out what others are doing that isn't serving them and changing it so that they reap the benefits from that change?”

“Yeah,” Amiira remarked lightly after awhile, letting his words sort of swirl around in her tipsy brain. She all of a sudden had this staggering urge to ask him a million questions about himself. “I guess you're right.”

“Is it what you want to do forever?” Kian further pressed.

Amiira's expression changed for a split second as that question resonated in her consciousness. It was highly specific and a bit intrusive as far as standard introductory questions go. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and her lips parted as if she was going to offer a series of words in response that never came out.

“I'm sorry,” Kian offered as he saw the way her face changed and the lack of an answer seemed to grab her. “I didn't mean to be invasive.”

“Oh no,” Amiira countered, almost feeling a strange inclination to reach out and physically convince him of no harm done. The question had just caught her off guard. It was like someone asking you about all your hopes and dreams and insecurities and fears when the word forever entered into the equation. It was also a bit of a struggle because she felt herself wanting to tell him her other aspirations and goals. She felt almost prone to disclosing things about herself to him and she didn't know why. “It's fine. It's just a long story.”

“I'm a patient man.”

Amiira let the relative silence settle around that admission as their eye contact held. She felt her insides jumble and the already lovely light headed, warm feeling she was enjoying because of the alcohol, accumulate and then spread throughout her entire body. She couldn't take her eyes from his, even though she felt herself make a concerted effort to do so.

“That's a positive character trait,” Amiira finally responded in almost a whisper, running her hand through her hair once more and taking a deep breath as she finally looked away from him and towards the water. “You should hold onto that.”

“I intend to,” Kian bemused softly, folding his hands comfortably in front of him as he followed her lead and looked away.

Their newfound patented silence came coursing through the atmosphere once more, only interrupted by the sound of the ocean, and the crisp jutting of the intermittent light wind. Before long, Amiira broke it and began speaking about something rather arbitrary.

For two additional hours, they stayed outside like that, becoming more closely acquainted with one another.

Amiira was propped up on her elbows as she watched the animated, luminous water a few yards away from her, crash onto the shore as it ebbed and flowed in its natural state. The sun beamed down on her body warmly, her manicured toes sinking further into the bit of sand that ran into the end of the towel she was sprawled out on. She'd been lying out in the sun for at least an hour, Riley was a couple of feet away lounging on her own towel as she read a book.

Amiira concentrated on the feeling of warmth and comfort that the sun radiated all over her bikini clad body. Her eyes, shaded by dark oversized sunglasses, gazed back at the water as she reveled in the absolute lulling of her senses that she was experiencing. If she wasn't careful, she could easily roll over and fall asleep right then and there, as she was coated by the delightful rays of the sun.

She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. After her conversation with Kian, which had lasted much longer than she had anticipated, started unfolding into the night, she couldn't really sleep once it had come to an end and she was tucked firmly into her plush oversized bed. She had replayed almost their entire interaction in her head several times before pure exhaustion had seized her. What she had learned about Kian during that conversation had both shed light on who he was, while also opening up many more questions in her mind.

Questions she wondered if she should even be contemplating.

Kian had revealed himself to be very easy going and down to earth, but there was this sort of quiet meticulous intellect that he gave off when he spoke. He was incredibly interested in a great many things, traveling being something he was most passionate about.

He was thoughtful, but also had this underlining bit of intensity that made her heart flutter and her eyes assess him more closely. She found herself being more fascinated and taken with him after their conversation, than she had been prior to it, when all she had to go on was physical attraction and a strange, almost palpable magnetism.

Amiira felt herself toeing a line that she had promised herself she'd stay away from, but she couldn't help the fact that he invaded her thoughts almost perpetually. She looked out into the vast, unfolding water where he and Wyatt had been earlier in the day surfing, and found herself wondering what he was doing, if he was in the kitchen, in his room, if he'd left.

She tried to shake off her cerebral fixation on him and just enjoy being in the moment with the ocean and the sky unraveling above and in front of her. She sighed as she leaned back onto her towel and further stretched her already relaxed muscles. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the calming undulations of the water, and before she knew it, she had fallen into a light and wistful sleep.

About 40 minutes later, she heard Riley trying to gently wake her.

“I'm gonna go in but I didn't want you to burn,” Riley explained, her towel, water bottle and book all in hand, as she peered down at a somewhat groggy Amiira.

“Thanks, yeah I'm gonna head that way in a minute,” Amiira said as she gave Riley an appreciative nod.

“The guys are talking about making margaritas,” Riley went on as she shifted her weight a bit on her feet. Her slim body looked fabulous in her neon green bikini. She'd also definitely gotten a little color from her session with the sun that afternoon. “I'm gonna go get a shower.”

“Alright, I'll see you inside,” Amiira offered, as she sat up.

She glanced at the rolling low tide once more and briefly revisited her conversation with Kian from the night before. She quickly shook her head, almost as if that physical display would dislodge the thoughts from her mind.

She needed to stop. He was occupying too much of her brain. She needed to turn her mind to other things.

Amiira stood up and gathered her things, glancing down at her multi-colored halter bikini top and her black bottoms that hugged her butt and hips nicely. She thought about throwing her wrap around herself, but at the last minute thought against it as she slipped on her flip flops and started up towards the house. She thought that maybe she'd go see what Elijah or Wyatt was doing, or maybe she'd go for a drive. Just to try to put her mind elsewhere.

When she had reached the house and opened the sliding glass door, she was greeted by a somewhat empty space; she heard noises coming from the kitchen but the main common areas where vacant. As she rounded the corner she caught sight of the back of Kian's body. She instantly knew it was him because his long hair wasn't pulled back as it had been the day before or earlier that morning. His long dark tresses, that looked both soft and a bit messy, hit the back of his shoulders in swoops that curled naturally at the ends.

She's never seen a man with such gorgeous hair before. It was mesmerizing.

Kian was humming lightly to himself and seemed to be unaware of her presence as he seemed to be cutting something on a cutting board. She watched him in silence for a few moments. The way his body moved, the broadness of his shoulders, hidden underneath a black t-shirt. The slope of his lithe back muscles, the taunt skin of the back of his arms that peaked through the shirt material. The way the bottom of his shirt sort of lay caught on the side of his pants right where his ass started. He was thin but he definitely had a certain bit of lean cut to his ligaments that she could see even through his clothes.

“Need any help?” Amiira forced herself to speak up and break the unwavering bit of ogling she was doing of him, without his knowledge at that.

Kian turned his head slightly while leaving his body in place as he looked at her, his brown eyes seeming to take in the full spectrum of her presence in a nanosecond. If she was less mindful of him in every way, she would have missed the quick once-over he gave her before turning back to what he was doing.

“Nah, I'm good,” Kian mumbled, as he continued cutting what looked to be limes.

Amiira set her belongings that she was still carrying on the barstool next to her, as she took a seat in the other one.

“Where is everyone?” Amiira asked as she continued eyeing the back of him. She was trying to resist commenting about his glorious hair, because anything she said would have sounded like a come-on.

“Wyatt's at the store because I didn't buy tequila last night, I don't know where Elijah is and Riley's in the shower.”

“How were the waves this morning?” Amiira questioned, as she propped her elbows lightly on the counter, content to watch him complete his task as they made small talk.