Fate Interrupted (7 page)

Dean turned and raised
a hand to the cop, leading Evy across the street by the hand. They hopped up
onto the sidewalk and began back-tracking their course to Sugars in a stunned silence,
both trying to come to grips with what had just happened. His mind raced nearly
as fast as his pulse. He glanced over at Evy to make sure she was real. She
looked up and smiled, confirming her validity with swollen red lips. He
squeezed her hand, refusing to let it go for anything in the world. She
squeezed back and giggled softly. Dean laughed with her, sucking in massive
gulps of air that tasted like cotton candy.

Everything was
brighter and more vibrant than ever before. They passed massive flower pots
dotting the downtown sidewalks, their petals in full bloom, just like his heart.
Soft jazz floated from a set of open double doors with a big black guy standing
guard outside. He nodded at them and smiled brightly, catching a small taste of
their magical aura. It was contagious. Whatever they had just discovered
between them was as infectious as a bad case of the giggles.

Evy studied Dean
through thoughtful eyes. “What just happened back there?”

 
His gaze swept over to her as they crossed
another street. “I think a tanker truck or something exploded.”

She clapped a
hand over her beating heart, a practice he had already grown to love. “That
was…”

“Perfect,” he
muttered, finishing her sentence for her.

Two younger girls,
drunkenly walking arm in arm in skintight dresses and high heels, smiled warmly
and said hello as they passed by. Whatever
it
was, others could see
it
in their
faces.
Could feel it.

Evy and Dean
continued walking, their shoes floating above the ground. They were at least
two feet taller than everyone else, walking on air. She glanced up at his
strong profile and squeezed his hand, simultaneously signaling her surrender
and his victory with one simple gesture. “You’re not from this planet, are
you?”

He laughed. “Me?
I’m not the one with white wings and flowers in her hair?” He yanked her to a
stop and turned to face her. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever
seen.”

A bashful smile
graced her lips. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“But this time I
mean it.”

She chuckled and
he leaned in to kiss her again, needing just one more fix to get them to where
they were going.

“
Yo
,
whassup
, man, you
gotta
smoke?”

Dean turned to see
a white guy step out from a darkened alley with his pants hanging down to his
ass crack and his ball cap turned sideways. Black tats spider-webbed across his
wiry arms as he eyeballed Evy. Dean tightened his grip on her hand and led her
around the guy. “Don’t smoke,” he said shortly, towing her along.

Evy screamed
when the guy grabbed her purse and yanked hard, pulling her and Dean backwards.
Without hesitation, Dean flew through the air and punched the guy squarely in
the face, dropping him where he stood. Dean towered over him, the sparkle in
his eyes now hardened with rage.

“Damn, man,” the
guy groaned, rubbing his jaw. “I just wanted a smoke, dude.”

“Next time
you’ll want a doctor, asshole,” Dean said through gritted teeth, turning to Evy.
“Are you okay?”

She slung her
purse over her shoulder with a weak nod.

He took her hand
and kept moving without looking back.

“That scared the
shit out of me,” she said, taking hurried steps to keep up.

“Welcome to the
big city.”

“You reacted so
fast,” she gasped. “Like Edward Cullen fast.”

He flashed a
cocky smile without slowing. “Those guys always ask to bum a smoke right before
they jack you up. It’s a dead giveaway every time. They should try some new
material.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him,
slowing his stride. With their body heat blending, he tried not to stare at her
breasts poking through her t-shirt but couldn’t help it. He wanted to rip that
shirt off and take them into his mouth. Bite down on her nipples until she
arched her back and moaned in delight.

“You really are
from another planet.”

He laughed
uneasily.

“What’s your
weakness?
Kryptonite?”

He turned to her
and softened his gaze.
“You.”

She stared
blankly at him as the world revolved around them. She was his and he was hers,
each heavenly step confirming it in his mind. They rounded a corner, arm in arm
like a couple who had been dating for years. Sugars sat up ahead, dark and quiet.

Her brow folded.

“What’s wrong?”

“She must have
closed up early. What time is it anyway?”

Dean checked a
silver watch on his wrist. “Quarter to two.”

“In
the morning?
How’d it get so late?”

A devilish grin
met her incredulous stare. “Time flies when you’re
havin
fun.”

She smiled and dug
a ring of keys from her bag.

He swooped in
and pulled her against him. She screamed out in surprise, still unnerved after
the near mugging. Her keys fell to the sidewalk when he started kissing her
hard. They probed each other with a fevered intensity, their heads swaying back
and forth in perfect compliment, like they had done this a million times before.

Evy tore herself
away, her lungs begging for breath. “You have to stop doing that.”

He drew in a deep
breath and returned it into the night.
“Never.”

She locked eyes
with him, weighing his statement, everything and everyone dissolving into
another place and time. He still wasn’t sure if it was real or not as he reluctantly
left those warm green pools to pick up her keys. The metal felt cold in his
hand. Felt real. She took them from him and shook her head, trying to clear
away the fog swirling inside her head. He watched her unlock the door, her
shapely rear end driving him to the brink of disaster. He had to feel it again
but she was already pushing through the door and entering the darkened dessert
bar.

A nearby
streetlight spilled through the large front window, basking them in thick
shadows as they crept past the vacant tables and chairs. Even her silhouette
was amazing. She led him behind the counter and through the swinging door into
the back, where she hit a light switch that brought a modest sized kitchen to
life.

She slid a gun,
loaded with a tube of chocolate frosting, off the worktable in the middle of
the room and hurriedly tucked it away in a walk-in cooler stocked with eggs,
cheese, milk, and cases of cold beer.

“So this is
where all the magic happens, huh?” he asked, surveying the room’s many shelves
of flour, sugar and spices. Four industrial-sized ovens rested quietly against
two walls. “I bet it gets hot in here when those things are
cookin
.”

She spun around
to him, aghast.

He leaned
against an industrial sized mixer bolted to the floor, his eyebrows drawing
together. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t even
know what you do for work.”

A relieved smile
broke across his face. “I’m a corporate lawyer for a small, up and coming firm.”

“Oh,” she said,
overly understandingly. “Well, if anyone tries to sue us because our coffee is
too hot I guess I’ll know who to call.”

“Hopefully
you’ll call either way.”

She leaned up against
the cold island table and folded her arms across her breasts. “Your parents
must be proud.”

He winced and tried
to hide it, hating this turn in the conversation no matter who he was with,
especially now. The pity in their eyes was always embarrassing and the last
thing he wanted was anyone’s pity. He had done just fine on his own. “My
parents died in a car accident several years ago.”

Evy moaned
softly while that dreaded pity seeped into her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his
head and peered through a small window with a desk and chair on the other side,
unable to look into her eyes. “It was a long time ago.”

“How old were
you?”

“Nineteen.”

She wrinkled her
brow. “How old are you now?”

“Thirty-four.
How old are
you?” he asked, eager to change the subject.

“Twenty-eight.”
Her eyes
narrowed, the pity slowly draining away. “What’s your last name?”

He smiled.
“Jacobs. And yours?”

“Burnett,” she
said faintly, as if still contemplating his last name, trying it out on her
mental tongue.

The humming
fluorescents buzzed in their ears. His eyes explored her silky skin, his pulse
beating against his neck. She stared at him without speaking. He wanted to know
more about her but had no clue where to even begin.

“Siblings?”

He shook his
head.

The pity crept
back into her eyes, making him shift from one foot to the other. She tilted her
head to the side. “So where do you…spend the holidays?”

“At
my friend Shaun’s house…with his family.”

She nodded and
stepped closer, drawn to him like a magnetic.

“Are your
parents in Des Moines?” he asked, taking a step toward her.

“Uh-huh.”

He took her face
in his hand.
“Any other brothers or sisters?”

His
thumb gently traced along her jaw line, making her eyelids grow
heavy. “Just Brooke,” she replied, nestling her cheek into his palm.

Dean wasn’t sure
if she had even heard the question and didn’t care. He inhaled a breath of
chocolate swirling with mint as she explored his stomach. His abs twitched
beneath her delicate touch and her lips curled at the corners, pleased with his
reaction. Her fingertips ran along his beltline. He set his jaw and watched her
slide a hand up his shirt, flesh on flesh. His heart rate quickened. Her lips
called out to him, intoxicating and terrifying him at the same time. Evy
stopped her hand over his thumping heart and watched his expression. Dean
grabbed her by the ponytail and pulled. A soft moan burst from her lips. He
looked her over for three or four seconds, exploring her like a newly
discovered planet, and slowly lowered his mouth to her neck.

Chapter
Five

The next morning
was overcast and dreary, in direct contrast to what Evy was feeling inside. The
air was wet with drizzle and tasted sweeter than ever before. Everything looked
magical, like seeing it for the first time through a child’s eyes. The birds
sang out from above, their spiraling trills music to her ears. A Monarch
butterfly flittered along and accompanied her through a quiet stretch of downtown,
before pulling over at a purple coneflower for breakfast. Even the bums looked
peaceful, like they had recently showered and shaved. A thin man with a bushy
gray beard leaned against a closed up liquor store. He tipped his tattered cap and
returned her warm smile. She told him good morning and started to hum.

Evy had already
tried thinking about something else, anything to keep the titillating
distraction of Dean Jacobs at bay, but it was too much work. She shook her
head, ashamed for letting some strange guy pull her thoughts from Sugars. It
was her baby and here she was already thinking about something else. She owed
it to Brooke and Ben to stay focused. It was their baby, too.

She rounded the
corner as the early morning sun began peeking out from the rolling clouds, her
upbeat mood seeming to give the burning star the extra boost it needed. Her
pulse quickened when she saw the spot where they had kissed last night in front
of Sugars. She could still feel his warm lips on hers, his hands gently exploring
her trembling body, the smell of his cologne stirring her hormones into a whirlwind.
She fumbled through her keys and unlocked the glass door, ringing the bell when
she pushed through.

Brooke looked up
from a square table where she was wrapping silverware inside burgundy-colored
silk napkins that had cost them a fortune.

“Sorry I’m
late.”

Brooke set a
completed roll inside a gray bus tub, a sly grin pilfering her expression. “Well,
well, well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look so good to bake cupcakes
and turnovers.” Brooke crossed her arms and eyeballed Maris from top to bottom.
“Expecting a
visitor
today?”

“I heard Ryan
Gosling is in town filming the next
Bridesmaids
,”
Evy replied sarcastically, going behind the counter.

Brooke’s
shit-eating grin plunged into her lap. She sprang to her feet and followed her
sister into the kitchen. “Don’t even joke around about something like that, Evy!
We’ll close up shop for the day and go watch.” She trailed Evy into the tiny office
and watched her deposit her purse onto a wooden chair with wheels. “So, how’d
it go last night?” Brooke asked, leaning against the door frame.