MARKED (Hunter Awakened) (6 page)

The tree went in the entry hall, towering
fifteen feet high so that when the interior decorator came the next
day to redo the decorations professionally, she'd made the servants
climb on stepladders. Okay, that sounded a bit pretentious. We'd
had a maid, a butler and a gardener. Everyone else had been
part-time. Yeah, that was still a little pretentious.

It hadn't been until I'd been eleven or
twelve that I'd realized that my parents wanted everyone over to
show off what we'd had and not because they actually liked most of
them. I'd tried to keep loving the parties after that, but it'd
been hard. The magic had been gone.

After I'd been emancipated, I'd known not to
bother asking my parents about the holidays. They'd made it pretty
clear how they'd felt about me the moment the judge had ruled.
Fortunately, it hadn't been long after that I'd found Harrison and
he'd invited me to spend Christmas Day with his family. He was out
of town every Thanksgiving, spending it in Texas with his wife's
family, but even having a few hours when I almost felt like part of
a family made the rest of it bearable. Still, there were times I
missed having a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

“Miss Rhines,” Elias interrupted. “Are you
all right? You have been very quiet this morning.”

An idea popped into my head, and before I
could stop and think about it, the words came out of my mouth. “Do
you have any plans for Thanksgiving?” After a beat, I backpedaled
and explained. “I was just thinking about the holidays and how I
always spend Thanksgiving alone, eating whatever I happen to have
available.” I really hoped I didn't sound whiny. I wasn't trying to
complain, just state a fact.

“I do not understand.” Elias glanced up at
the rearview mirror, his gaze catching mine for a split second
before he turned his attention back to the road.

Now that I'd started it, I had to finish. “I
just remember you saying that you didn't have any family, so I was
going to say that, if you didn't have any plans for Thanksgiving,
maybe, you could spend it with me.” The last few words came out in
a rush. Had I really just done that? Had I asked my bodyguard out
on a date?

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could
sense his surprise. Wherever he'd thought I was going with my
question, I didn't think he'd expected an invitation to a holiday
meal.

“Miss Rhines,” Elias spoke as he turned into
my driveway. “I am not so sure that would be wise.”

His tone was professional, but I could hear a
note of wistfulness in the words. He was lonely, I realized
suddenly. I had Harrison, but I didn't think Elias had even that.
The idea of him being alone all of the time made my heart ache.
From the moment I'd first seen him, I'd found Elias physically
attractive, and had felt a connection between us.

Now, I just wanted to give him a hug. Nothing
sexual about it. Well, okay, maybe a little, but not as much as
you'd think. I'd always had a thing for 'strays,' those people who
were abandoned and alone, especially the ones who tried to hide
just how broken they were. Trust me, I didn't need a psychologist
to tell me the reasons behind 'my type.'

Elias wasn't going to respond to flirting,
but I did know one thing that would register with him. “Look at it
this way,” I said. “I'm not going to ask Paul to give up
Thanksgiving in Minnesota with his family, which means that if
you're not going to spend the day with me, then I'll just be alone
in that big empty house, with only my alarm system to protect me.”
I had a feeling he could sense the smile playing around my lips,
but he didn't comment on it.

“I cannot, in good conscience, allow that. I
will be there, but it would be in a professional capacity only,” he
said, his voice carefully neutral.

“Of course,” I agreed. “But you will have to
eat sometime, right?”

Chapter Seven

I ignored the amused expression on Paul's
face as he walked next to me at the grocery store. Even though
Rufus was still in the hospital, Harrison had made sure that both
of my bodyguards had understood the seriousness of the situation.
Translation: I barely peed alone. Going to the supermarket by
myself was out of the question. Usually, Paul just drove me and
stayed in the car unless there were paparazzi around. My normal
approach to security was to be prepared, but to attempt to be as
normal as possible.

The events of the past week, however, had
made Paul's presence a little more necessary. This store, however,
had been practically empty, so I'd told Paul to wait in the car.
He'd just shaken his head and told me to deal with it. I'd almost
asked him who was paying him, me or Harrison, but I'd just rolled
my eyes and let him follow me. I had enough to do without arguing
with him.

Thanksgiving was the day after tomorrow, and
I had absolutely no clue what to do. I was a good cook, but I'd
never done this type of meal before. I wanted everything to be
perfect. Tonight's shoot was the last one before we took a long
weekend. If I got all of the ingredients now, I could spend
tomorrow finding all of the right recipes and getting everything
together so that I could make the perfect meal on Thursday.

I had a suspicion that Paul knew what I was
doing even though I hadn't said anything about my plans for
Thanksgiving. He was leaving tomorrow afternoon and hadn't asked
once if I was sure I'd be okay while he was gone. Either he'd
assumed I was going to follow my usual holiday tradition of not
leaving my house while on break, or he'd figured out that I wasn't
exactly going to be alone. I knew that Elias had said it was going
to only be professional, but I couldn't help imagining that this
meal would change all that.

There was this scenario that just kept
playing over and over in my head. Elias, having realized that I'd
done all of this for him, sweeps me in his arms and kisses me. And
it wouldn't be one of those old movie kisses where the actors would
just mash their lips together and twist their heads back and forth.
I knew exactly what it would be like.

Even though it would be our first kiss, there
wouldn't be any timidity to it. Instead, it would be full of
passion. His lips would open mine, his tongue tease at the parting
until my tongue went out to meet his. They would twist and dance,
chase each other back and forth between our mouths. His hands would
start on my cheeks, then slide down my neck, his thumbs tracing my
windpipe and then moving across my collarbone.

It would be everything that a movie or TV
show or book made you think a kiss should be. It'd be fireworks and
explosions. Fire and heat. It'd be desire and need mixed with the
promise of something strong and solid for the future. It would make
my knees week and my entire body hot. When it happened, it'd change
everything.

The sound of someone clearing his throat next
to me made me blink and pull my mind back from where it had been
vacationing. Paul had a half-smile on his face as he pointed
towards my cart. Six boxes of instant potatoes were piled on top of
the smallest turkey I'd been able to find. I could feel the heat
rising to my cheeks.

“Not a word,” I muttered as I put all but one
of the boxes back. “Not a single word.”

Paul mimed locking his mouth and throwing
away the key. True to his silent promise, he didn't say a word as I
finished purchasing everything I needed and we headed back to the
car. He even helped me bring in the groceries without a single
comment. That was good. I had a lot to do.

Later that night, as I finished my last
scene—a personally cathartic confrontation with Summer's character
Samantha—I was thrilled at how well things had gone through the
whole day. I'd gotten a little overexcited at the prospect of the
meal and had decided to start planning as soon as I'd gotten the
groceries put away. I'd found every recipe I'd wanted and figured
out the timetable I would need to follow in order to have all of
the food ready by the time Elias came by at six.

There hadn't been any last minute script
changes and we'd had minimal issues while filming. It had been nice
to have had a busy day that was just that. Busy, but not really
that stressful. I really hoped that meant the insanity of the past
several days was fading and everything would be getting back to
normal soon. Maybe once things calmed down a bit, Elias would be
more open to making our relationship a little less
professional.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, Elias was
suddenly there as the director cut from the final shot. Well, he
wasn't exactly right there. He was keeping the traditional
bodyguard distance. It was just my awareness of him that made it
seem so much closer. It was crazy how I always seemed to know when
he was nearby. It was how I imagined magnets must feel, that
inexplicable draw to one another. I was pretty sure Elias felt the
same way, but it would've been nice to have some kind of sign to
let me know that I wasn't just wasting my time. Men could be so
frustrating sometimes.

I forced myself to pull my attention from
Elias and turn it towards my friends. I smiled at Amy. “When did
you say that your flight was leaving?”

“Six,” she said, glancing at the wall clock.
“Which means I need to get going if I'm going to make it to the
plane on time. Good thing I can sleep on the flight because I have
a feeling my nieces and nephews aren't going to give me a minute's
peace when I get to my sister's.”

The grin on her face said that she was going
to love every minute of her trip to Wisconsin.

“How many of them do you have now?” I
asked.

“Six, but only four from my sister. The other
two are my brother's kids, so I won't see them until Thursday.” Amy
picked up her purse, then turned to give me a hug. “You be
safe.”

“I will,” I promised. I wasn't exactly sure
how I was supposed to keep that promise, considering I hadn't
exactly been looking for trouble when it'd found me before.

“I don't like the idea of you being alone on
Thanksgiving,” Bryson said as he came over, a frown on his handsome
face. It looked very out of place there. Other than when it was
called for in a script, I didn't think I'd ever seen him frown.
“Not with everything that's happened.” He reached out and took my
hand. “You're more than welcome to come over for as long or short
as you want, even if it's just for Thanksgiving. I know my parents
would love to meet you.”

“Thanks.” I squeezed his hand. “But I'll be
fine.”

“Are you sure?” Bryson asked. “I just don't
want you to spend Thursday alone.”

“She will not be alone”

Elias was suddenly at my side, his voice
even, though I could've sworn I heard a bit of steel in it.

“I will be watching her.”

Bryson's eyes widened slightly and he turned
to me, myriad questions crossing his face. Fortunately, he chose
not to ask any of them because I wasn't sure what was going on
either. Instead, he released my hand, took a step back and nodded.
“All right then. But if you change your mind, the invitation
stands. We're eating at two.”

“Thanks, Bryson. I'll keep that in mind.” I
really did appreciate the invitation, but I knew that I wouldn't
take him up on it. Not as long as Elias was still planning on being
at my house on Thursday. No way was I going to give up my
opportunity to have him all to myself.

Chapter Eight

My stomach was twisting itself into so many
knots that I wasn't sure I would be able to eat a single bite of
the fantastic meal I'd spent the entire day preparing. I hadn't
been able to sleep when I'd gotten home from filming yesterday, so
I'd done as much prep work as possible, which hadn't been as much
as I'd thought it would be. I'd been pacing, unable to sit still,
when I'd decided that I wanted to do something I hadn't done since
the first year I'd moved into this house.

I wanted to decorate for Christmas, and I
wanted to do it like my parents had done it. Not because I was
feeling particularly nostalgic about my parents, but because I'd
finally realized that it didn't matter. Just because I didn't like
the reasons behind what they'd done didn't mean I couldn't take the
parts of their traditions that I liked and make them my own. It was
time to stop thinking that I couldn't do things for the holidays by
myself because it was just me.

So, yesterday afternoon, I'd spent the day
digging decorations out of my attic and getting them sorted out.
Because my parents hadn't been able to pay back the court-ordered
restitution, I'd gotten the court to order a liquidation sale at
the old house. I'd saved a few things and had the rest auctioned
off. It had helped me put down the down payment on this house.

Most of what I'd taken had been things that
I'd collected as a child, but I hadn't been able to bring myself to
part with the boxes of Christmas decorations. I hadn't used or even
opened them before yesterday and it had been a bit emotional,
remembering those past holidays, but after I'd finished sorting
through everything, I'd felt much better. Some of the things had
gone into the trash, but I'd kept enough that my house would be
very festive.

Now I was starting to feel a little foolish
about my plans for the night. How did I even know that Elias
celebrated Christmas? And if he did, what made me think that he'd
want to help me decorate? I hadn't planned on doing the tree yet
because I didn't have one and I didn't want to go buy a fake one,
but I'd wanted to do everything else after our meal. I'd been so
excited about my plans that I hadn't even stopped to consider what
Elias would think of them.

I set my jaw. If he didn't like them, too
bad. Either I'd decorate after he left or he could spend the
evening watching me, and I'd know that he'd never be anything other
than my bodyguard. I'd be disappointed, but at least I'd know.