Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (146 page)

“
You look red-carpet
ready.”

“
Too much?” she
asked.

“
Maybe a tad,” I said,
gesturing with my index finger and thumb.

Her eyes twinkled like green jewels.
“When I get the hottest guy in the room, I’ll be sure to give you
my Academy Awards speech.”

I smiled. “Love your
confidence.”

“
Get in.”

I pretended like I was talking into a
microphone. “And the Academy Award for best dressed goes
to—”

“
Julie Winters!” she said
with a laugh.

When she pulled into the driveway of
our destination, my jaw dropped. For some reason, I had pictured a
cottage in the woods, but the place was far from that. Instead, it
was a huge, fancy cabin with a spacious deck and bay windows all
around.

“
Are you ready to find
Prince Charming?” she asked with a huge smile.

“
You know it,” I
said.

She opened her compact and checked her
makeup, making sure her smoky eyes were still smoky enough. “Okay.
I think we’re good to go.”

Two thin girls with long hair and
short skirts walked past us. They were so pretty that I felt
intimidated; I was sure I had no shot with my mysterious guy while
those two were in the vicinity. Swallowing hard, I pondered. He had
so many girls to choose from, and I felt like a beat-up station
wagon in a lot full of Benzes and Ferraris. I had never been low on
confidence, but I suddenly felt as if I didn’t stand a chance with
any guy, let alone the one I wanted.

“
Taylor,” my new friend
said, “is this the first time you’ve been out in public since your
breakup?”

“
Yeah, basically.” I
slammed the door shut. “But you know what? He’s the last person on
my mind.”

“
I guarantee by the time we
go home, you’ll have forgotten all about the scumbag. He doesn’t
deserve to be missed.”

“
I don’t think about him,”
I lied.

She smirked. “Yes you do.”

“
All right,” I said, “maybe
just a little, but we dated for a long time, so it’s only natural
to—”

She grabbed my arm. “No sad stories
tonight. Let’s go.”

Glancing around the yard, I noticed
beer bottles strewn everywhere. Clusters of people were sitting
around outside, and one couple was making out beside a red sports
car. A drunk person stumbled down the steps, and a woman in the
shortest skirt and the highest heels I’d ever seen ran over to him,
laughing hysterically, probably more drunk than he was.

Somebody whistled as we walked past a
group of people, and I heard a man ask, “Hey, do I know
you?”

“
Jed invited us,” Julie
said.

“
Welcome to the party
then,” he said. “Go on in and help yourselves to some appetizers
and drinks, ladies.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

Inside, the music was blaring, and
everyone was laughing and dancing. It was hot and sticky, and the
crowd was a little older than I thought; none of them looked like
high school students. It reminded me of a college frat party, and I
immediately wondered why Julie had even been invited.

Whether we wanted everyone’s attention
or not, all eyes were on us, staring at us like we were some kind
of two-headed unicorn. I swallowed hard, glancing from one open
mouth to the other. Something was wrong, and I could have almost
cut the tension with the proverbial knife. I wasn’t sure why they
were looking at us like that, so I assumed they just weren’t
expecting teenagers to show up at their older-crowd
get-together.

When the
chatter and laughter resumed, much to my relief, I
nudged Julie. “We should leave. I don’t feel
comfortable here.”

“
Oh, don’t be a
party-pooper,” Julie said. “Look at all these hot college guys.
Maybe I’ll even snag one.”

“
Really, Julie, I think
it’s best we leave.”

She put her hand on her hip and turned
to face me, then actually stomped her foot like a spoiled toddler.
“Seriously? You wanna go back to your boring house? Let’s just have
a drink and chat a little. If you still want to leave then, we
will.”

I looked around uneasily and swallowed
hard. “I already know I want to leave now.”

“
Well, you didn’t
drive.”

My lips pressed into grim lines. I
didn’t like being forced into such a situation, and she knew
it.

“
Oh, all right. If you
wanna leave, we’ll go,” she said over the loud music. “But we got
all dressed up, and one drink would be nice.”

She shot me that stupid puppy dog face
and stuck her bottom lip out.

Just like that, I caved. “Fine. One
drink,” I said, “but then we’re heading back to your
house.”

She smiled at the compromise. “I knew
you’d see it my way,” she said smugly.

I was sure one drink wouldn’t kill us,
but I still couldn’t wait to get out of there. The stench of smoke
wafted past me, and I stepped away from the girl who was blowing at
me. I jumped when another girl hurled right beside my feet. I
frowned when Julie pulled me away and into the crowd.

“
You ladies want a drink?”
asked a blond guy in his twenties.

Julie grinned. “Sure.” When he walked
away, her grin grew even wider. “See?” she said. “We fit right
in.”

“
I guess it’s better than
sitting on the porch and listening to frogs and crickets,” I said
with a shrug.

“
That’s the spirit!” She
suddenly grabbed my arm. “Hear that?”

What?
The loud music or the roaring laughter?
“Hear what?

“
Only my favorite song in
the whole wide world!” She started swaying her hips to the beat of
the music.

The music pounded louder as the guy
finally returned with our drinks.

“
Thanks,” I
said.

As I opened it, he slammed his bottle
against mine in some kind of impromptu and uninvited toast, and
beer splattered my face and started to fizz all over the
place.

“
Ah! What was that for?” I
asked, trying to wipe my face.

He winked. “Gotta pay better
attention, little girl,” he said, then began to laugh.

I didn’t see what was so funny, and in
a rage, I turned to Taylor. “I’ve been here less than five minutes,
and I’m already soaked with beer, smelling like a smokestack, and
almost got puke on my shoes!”

She pulled me into the crowd. “Don’t
pay him any mind. He’s drunk. Your shirt won’t take long to dry,
and then no one will even notice. C’mon. Let’s have some
fun.”

A tall guy with pretty green eyes
reached for Julie, and she giggled flirtatiously as he twirled her
around. “I see you love to jam,” he said, eying her up and down.
“Wanna dance?”

“
I’d love to,” she said.
“This is my favorite song.”

“
Mine too.”

She glanced at me. “Do you
mind?”

I couldn’t possibly refuse to let her
go because the invitation to dance with a college guy had her
looking like she’d just won the lottery. I didn’t see the harm in
letting her bask in the light for one dance or two. “Have
fun.”

“
You’re the best!” she
shouted.

After she shimmied off with the
green-eyed goon, I glanced around and swallowed hard again when I
realized I didn’t know a soul other than her. Eager to claim my
role as an unnoticed, inconspicuous wallflower, I made my way to
the corner and waited for the dance to finish. I leaned against the
wall, I sipped my drink.

The next song that came on was a slow
love song, and I felt uncomfortable all over again, standing there
by myself as couples snuggled close all around me. I decided it
would be better if I made my way through the crowd and headed out
to the deck for some fresh air.

Just as I spun around to leave, a
towering figure with brown eyes smiled at me. He looked to be in
his early twenties with short cropped hair. “What’s a pretty girl
like you doing here without a date?” he asked.

“
Like the old song says,” I
said with a shy smile, “girls just wanna have fun.”

“
Well, dancing is fun.
Would you like to?” he asked.

“
Sure,” I said with a
shrug, as if I wasn’t flattered at all.

We danced through the slow song, which
was a bit awkward with a stranger, but when the fast music came on,
we danced some more. Julie and I did shots, but all in all, she
drank far more than I did. After the drinks loosened me up a
little, I danced with a few guys at the party and made lots of
small talk as the hours waned on.

After a while, she leaned on my
shoulder in a drunken stupor and slurred, “He wants me to go
upstairs with him. Should I go? I mean, I’m totally turned on right
now, and—”

“
You’re drunk,” I said,
snatching the drink out of her hand. “Consider yourself cut off,” I
scolded, “and you’re definitely not going upstairs with him or
anybody else on my watch.”

“
What!? Why am I cut
off?”

“
Because you have to drive
us home. I can’t drive a stick.”

“
You’re right,” she said.
“I’ll start trying to sober up. Besides, the last thing I need is a
bad reputation already. I just got here!”

“
Exactly.”

When she leaned on me with all her
weight, I almost stumbled. “I’m so glad you’re here to watch out
for me,” she said. “You’re my new best friend. We girls gotta stick
together. And you know what?”

“
What?”

“
Where’s the guy who
promised to bring me coffee? My head feels like there’s a
thunderstorm in it.”

“
I didn’t know somebody was
getting you coffee.”

“
Not just somebody. An
angel. The caffeine angel.”

I almost laughed at her, but I didn’t
feel that would be appropriate. “You’re so wasted.”

“
Really, a blue-eyed angel
offered to bring me a cuppajo. Blue eyes like Heaven, where he
comes from.”

Wait…light blue eyes? Maybe….periwinkle eyes?
My heart began to thump in excitement that I hoped
wouldn’t be for nothing.

In the next second, she turned to a
guy and smiled. “You’re back…and you really did bring me coffee.
How sweet. Thank you.”

When I could muster up the courage to
glance up at her hero, I found myself staring right into the eyes
of my own, the one from the forest. My heart pounded a symphony all
its own as I stared into his intense, vivid blue eyes. I couldn’t
pull my eyes away from his high cheekbones and that sharply
chiseled face. I’d never seen such a beautiful face before, such a
masterpiece of strength, contours, and beauty, like something off
the cover of a romance novel or some dapper leading man in a
classic romance movie. This time, he was wearing a white shirt,
dark blue jeans, a well-worn bomber jacket, and I immediately began
to envy that cotton, denim, and leather.

He held out his hand and smiled. “Hi.
I’m Jesse.”

“
Taylor,” I said, unable to
put a whole sentence together.

“
Nice to officially meet
you. Mind if I get your picture?” he asked, holding up a
camera.

“
Um…sure, okay.
But…why?”

“
To prove to my friends
that angels do exist.”

It was a ridiculous line, like one
some cliché some sleaze-bag idiot would say in a bar, but coming
from his lips, it seemed sincere. I couldn’t help but smile at his
blatant flirtations, and the heat in my blushing cheeks scorched my
skin. With him, it wasn’t just a pick-up line. He was trying to
break the ice, and it worked; again, I was absolutely
melting.

“
Well, in that case, I need
to take yours too,” I said.

“
You’re more than welcome,”
a buddy nudged, “but he doesn’t show up on film.”

Jesse nudged him back. “Stop it!
You’re talking crazy.”

“
Am I?” the guy said
walking off.

Jesse looked back at me. “That’s Tom.
Once he’s had a few beers, he talks all stupid. So just ignore
whatever moronic stuff he comes up with.”

I laughed again.

Another slow song began, and Jesse
casually took off his jacket and smiled. The fabric of his
long-sleeved shirt clung to his broad shoulders and muscular chest,
and the white cotton made his shoulder-length hair stand out even
more. “Would you like to dance?” he asked like a gentleman,
offering me his hand.

I grinned. “I’d love to.”

He shot me his leading-man smile and
wrapped his arms around my waist as I placed my arms on his
shoulder. My heart jumped into a new rhythm of excitement, dancing
to the music drifting around us as we stared intently into each
other’s eyes. I was nervous, but at the same time, I felt
comfortable and safe; scared but happy. I’d never felt such a
strange mix of emotions before, and I couldn’t stop smiling. There
was a thrilling, rushing, euphoric something going on between us,
and for that one timeless moment, everything in my life seemed
perfect.