Kindling Flames: Granting Wishes (The Ancient Fire Series Book 5) (5 page)

Cathren’s heart dropped at his words. Of course he was paying attention to her. He was trying to figure her out so he could find a guy that fit her better. “Of course.” She tried to force a happy look on her face as she released her hold on his belt loop. Bringing her arm back around, she shifted so she was no longer holding him to her side. She really shouldn’t let herself get attached to the man next to her, no matter how wonderful she thought he was. Cathren folded her hands together and tucked them up near her chin as a wave of sorrow washed through her.

“Is everything ok?” Patrick asked, rubbing his hand up and down Cathren’s arm, drawing her out of her thoughts.

“Just thinking.” Cathren let out a long breath. “Do you really think you can find someone to love me?”

Patrick’s arm slipped down her back, releasing her from his hold. “That’s the goal of the evening.” He took her hand and wrapped it back around his arm again. “The more I know about you, the easier it will be to find you a match.”

Cathren nodded. She placed her free hand up over the one holding on to his arm. They walked on in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

***

“Here we are.”

Cathren looked up from her contemplation to the door Patrick held open for her. She had delved so deeply into her own swirling feelings that she hadn’t even noticed where Patrick had led them. Looking up, she took in the blue-and-white logo. “IHOP?” She grinned at him and stepped through the door.

“They have better food than Waffle House.” Patrick shrugged, making Cathren laugh. The dinner rush had already cleared out, so getting a seat took no time at all.

“Good evening.” The waitress smiled as she sat the flatware down on the table. “Do you know what you want, or do you need a few minutes?”

Patrick clapped his hands and rubbed them together with glee. “
Waffles!
”

Cathren laughed at him. “I’ll have an order of blueberry waffles, orange juice, and a cup of coffee, please.”

The waitress turned her attention to Patrick. “And you?”

He picked up the menus and handed them up to the lady. “I’ll have the same.”

“Two orders of blueberry waffles.” She left to get their drinks.

“No opinion on food?” Cathren asked.

“Oh, I have an opinion, but we came for waffles and blueberry sounds really good.”

Cathren placed her elbows on the table and leaned forwards, studying Patrick. “What else do you like?”

“I already told you.” Smiling, he shook his head. “This evening is about you.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in the booth. “You should be the one answering that question.”

Huffing, Cathren sat up taller in her seat. She paused in her answer as the waitress came back with their drinks.

Snagging up the carafe, Patrick dumped coffee into both of their cups.

Cathren wrapped her fingers around her cup, warming them. “I’m not going to sit here and ramble on about myself.” She watched as Patrick poured a massive amount of sugar into his coffee.

“Then how am I going to learn about you?” An amused grin slipped across his face as he added some cream and stirred the liquid.

“I guess we’ll just have to take turns sharing.” Cathren snagged up the sugar and put a more reasonable portion into her cup.

Patrick chuckled. “All right, then,” he agreed. “Even trade. Question for question.”

Cathren sipped at her coffee and grimaced before nodding. Pulling the bottle back over, she added a little more sugar and some of the cream. “Deal,” she agreed. “What do you like?”

Patrick rolled his cup into his hands and leaned forwards slightly. “I like my coffee like I like my women, very sweet.” He took a sip of the hot liquid.

The suggestive tone in his voice made Cathren’s heart skip.

He sat his cup back down and looked at her with slightly hooded eyes. “And you, what’s your pleasure?”

Cathren had to swallow hard as her mouth went dry. Was he flirting with her? She immediately dismissed that idea. He was supposed to be finding her a true love. Picking up her coffee, she took a sip to wet her mouth. “I don’t like bitter coffee.” She shifted around in her seat, trying to avoid looking him in the eyes. There was something about the look on his face that made her insides melt.

“Pardon me,” the waitress said, breaking into the pause in their conversation.

Cathren looked up at her, glad for the momentary distraction.

“I really am sorry about this, but there’s a problem with our waffle iron.” The woman held two menus in her hand.

“You only have one waffle iron?” Patrick asked skeptically.

“No.” The woman shook her head apologetically. “We have three, but they’re all on the same circuit and the breaker keeps popping whenever one of them is turned on. Would you like to choose something else?” She held the menus out to them.

Patrick threw his head back and laughed. “Foiled again.” Sighing, he took the folder from the waitress and looked over at Cathren. “Unless you wanted to try Waffle House?”

Cathren chuckled and took the menu. “IHOP is better than Awful Waffle any day of the week.” She cracked open the book and scanned the selections before deciding on the stuffed French toast.

“But I like Waffle House,” Patrick whined playfully before ordering an omelet.

The waitress took their order and left before they could change their mind.

Cathren rolled her cup around in her hands as she thought of what to say. “It’s not that they’re bad.”

“Oh, they’re horrible.” Patrick made a face and leaned back in his booth. “But they still make a mean Texas cheesesteak.”

Cathren laughed.

He laid his hand out across the table towards her.

She slipped her hand into his, rolling their fingers together.

“I’m sorry about your waffles.”

A soft smile turned to corner of her lips. “It’s all right.” Cathren’s eyes dropped to Patrick’s forearm and the tattoo of the shamrock he had. The center leaf was filled with a brilliant green, but the two outside leaves were empty. She rolled his arm to get a better look at the oddly positioned artwork. “Why did you only get the one filled in?”

“What?” Patrick looked down as the mark and laughed. “And I thought waffles would be the easy wish.” He reached up and rubbed the clover.

“What do waffles have to do with your tattoo?”

He looked up and smiled wryly. “It’s not a tattoo.”

She gave him a confused look and got closer to the mark. Clearly, someone had drawn a three-leaf clover on the inside of his arm and filled in one of the leaves. “Then what is it?” She rubbed it, trying to remove the ink, but it was definitely set under his skin.

Reaching out, Patrick pulled her hand away from his arm.

Cathren looked up from her investigation as he held her hands.

“It’s a gealltanas,” Patrick explained. “A vow.”

She cocked her head, considering his words, but not fully grasping their meaning.

Seeing she was lost, Patrick went on. “That mark represents your wishes.”

The memory of him pulling his sleeve back and showing her bloody fingerprint hit Cathren hard. Her eyes dropped back down to the mark. It had been after she had wiped the blood away to reveal the clover that he had told her she had three wishes. But the leaves had been empty at that time. “Why is one full?” she asked.

Amusement filled Patrick’s face. “It means that wish was granted.”

“Granted?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “That leaf was your second wish. Happiness.”

She sat up straighter in surprise.

“Apparently, sometime within the last week, I’ve brought you happiness.”

She could not deny that he had made her happy. Right now, she was feeling especially good with him holding her hands across the table. That thought sobered her up slightly, and she released his hands to pull them back to her side of the table. She took up her cup of coffee to give her fingers something to do.

Patrick drew his hands back from the table.

Cathren sipped at her cooling coffee. “The leaves of the clover fill up when you’ve granted a wish?”

Patrick nodded. “As do the charms on your bracelet.” He pointed to the golden chain on Cathren’s wrist.

She looked down to find one of the gold clovers looked as if it had been enameled in green, swirling paint. It was beautiful. “Wow!” She held it up to see it better. “How’d you do that?”

Patrick just shrugged. “It’s part of the magic.” He wrapped his hand around his cup and toyed with it. Any further explanation was killed when the waitress came with their food.

***

“We really need to get going.” Cathren said as she looked around the IHOP. She and Patrick had spent the last few hours chatting and laughing over coffee.

“True.” Patrick pushed his cup towards the center of the table. “I think I found out what I needed to know.” He slid out of the booth and held his hand out for Cathren.

Looking at his hand, her heart dropped. She had been having such a wonderful time with Patrick that she had forgotten this entire evening was to gather enough information to find her a true love. Sliding out of the booth, she forced a smile onto her face as she took his arm. At least she could enjoy the walk back to the mall. If he had a capable suitor in mind, this might be the last time she got to spend with him. “When this is all over, will you still be my friend?” Cathren asked as Patrick held the door open for her.

“Of course.”

“Good.” She took his arm again as they started across the parking lot. “I had a really good evening,” she admitted.

Patrick placed his free hand over where she was touching his arm. “So did I.” They walked on in silence.

A large gust of wind hit them, making Cathren turn her face into Patrick’s shoulder. She could smell a hint of rain on the air. “I should probably give you your coat back.” She went to shrug off the coat and return it. The warmth it had given her was nice, but if the sky was going to open up on the way back to the mall, he would need it.

Patrick patted her hand, stopping her. “Keep it for now.”

Cathren nodded as they crossed the street. She looked over the deserted parking lot of the mall. Her car was on the other side, and the building itself was probably locked. “Do you mind walking me to my car?” she asked as they made their way down the ramp that dropped them from street level to the parking area. “I could then give you a ride to yours.”

“Of course,” Patrick said softly.

She leaned into his side a little, enjoying what would surely be the last few minutes she would get to be this close to him. “Thank you.”

A bright flash and loud crack scared a scream out of Cathren as a bolt of lightning hit one of the lamp posts in the parking lot. Grabbing her up, Patrick twisted and slammed Cathren into the retaining wall at the edge of the ramp. His body pressed over hers just as a second bolt of lightning hit a second, and closer, pole.

Cringing, Cathren buried her face into Patrick’s chest as he leaned against the wall. Adrenaline raced through their systems as they panted, waiting for the next lightning strike. Seconds of anticipation ticked by with nothing. Slowly, Cathren eased the death grip she had on the sides of Patrick’s shirt and leaned back against the wall to look up at the man protecting her. He had pinned her to the wall with a forearm on either side of her and a knee between her thighs. The press of his body drove shivers of desire deep into her.

Her movement drew his attention from listening for the next lightning strike, and he opened his eyes to look down at her. “Are you all right?” he asked, shifting his gaze from one eye to the other.

The color of his eyes deepened as Cathren watched. “Yes,” she breathed. Her eyes fell to his slightly parted lips. The urge to kiss him pushed at her, but she resisted the call. He had promised to find her a true love, and kissing him would only complicate matters when that time came. “Thank you.” She curled her fingers into his sides again. She just couldn’t quite find it in her to release him yet.

Patrick studied her for another moment as her fingers caressed him.

Her heart leaped as his mouth dropped down to claim hers. The bare brush of his lips sent shocks crashing through her as if they really had been struck by lightning. Gripping his sides harder, she leaned into the kiss. The tip of his tongue rubbed against her lips, begging to be let in. Gladly, she opened for him.

He deepened the kiss, exploring and claiming her mouth. A moan of pleasure slipped out as he shifted against her so their bodies fit together better. Thunder crashed overhead as the clouds burst. Drops of rain caressed Cathren’s upturned face as they explored each other’s embrace. She squeaked as Patrick’s hands dropped to her thighs, and he lifted her up to fit against him better.

She wrapped her legs around his waist for support. The intimate contact was too much for her to handle, and she gasped as he pressed her into the wall. A steady stream of rain washed over them as she leaned forwards into his kiss again.

Patrick groaned and thrust his hips into her, rubbing himself against her core.