New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (7 page)

Her mom and Jared were chatting away as usual.
Jare
d was gazing intently at Darlene
while his back leaned against the bar counter. Her mother was telling a story with so much animation she almost dropped the wine glass she held in her hands. It amazed Kate
that the two of them got along so well. It wouldn’t seem as though a middle-aged divorcee and a
young detective would have
much in common.
On the other hand, she would’ve never guessed a ps
ychic college student with few social skills would be
a great match for a genial police officer
either
.

Although Kate
would never admit it, it secretly pleased her that
her mother liked Jared so much.
Sauntering over
to Jared
, she
bumped her hip to his and
said lightly,
“Were you going to let me know you were
here? Or should I worry
you prefer my mom’s company to mine?”

Jared
wrapped his arm around her and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Your mom was just telling me
how y
ou were talking about becoming a police officer
?”
He raised an eyebrow in her dire
ction. She could tell
he was desperately trying to keep a neutral expression on his face. D
arting a peek at her mother, Kate noticed
her covering her mouth with her hand and looking down at the floor
.

As Kate
looked at both of their faces, she
couldn’t help but feel irritated. Did they have to both act
like it was the funniest
thing they ever h
eard? It wasn’t as if she actually
planned to be a cop, it was just something she had
mentioned
while thinking aloud in front of her mother.
Her mom should know
Kate had a tendency to speak first and think later.

She untangled herself from
Jared’s
arms and gave him a frosty smile. “Why is that funny?
” she demanded and glared at him.
“
Afraid of a little competition? I might end up
being your boss once I get in the department and start
solving all the cases.
The only thing you’ll have left to do is go on coffee and doughnut runs for me.
”

He visibly
shuddered.
“That’s not funny.
” His gray eyes quickly scanned her body. Before he spoke, his mouth broke out into a teasing grin.
“
Don’t take this the wrong way, Kate, but you’re not exactly athletic. Your body is put through hell during the police academy.”

“I
will
take that the wrong way. Why would you say I wasn’t athletic?”

Kate looked at her mother for affirmation. Darlene sighed
a
nd walked into the living room without a word to either of them
. Probably figured it would be better
to not get in the middle of their
argument
and instead go somewhere peaceful to enjoy her wine
.

“Without any paraphrasin
g, you have told me before
you feel it is fundamentally wrong to run anywhere unless you’re being chased.
How are you going to run for miles and miles daily
—only stopping to do pushups
?
”

Damn, Kate thought, she
had
said that. At lea
st, it was nice to know Jared
listened to the nonsense she was prone to spout out.
She shrugged and gave him a condescending
smirk
. “Consider yourself lucky that I’m allergic to exercise. Otherwise, you might be out of a job.”

Jared’s
gray eyes lo
cked onto hers and he flashed a
bright smile.
Any irritation with him instantly disintegrated as his gaze drunk her in. A fl
ush
sprang
to her cheeks and Kate
had to make a conscious effort to not start fanning herself in front of him.

“Not to change the subject, but have I told you yet how beautiful you look?”
he asked hoarsely.

The uns
easonably hot weather had allowed
her to wear a summer dre
ss that had been hanging in her closet with the store tags still attached.
With a peach A-line pleated
chiffon
skirt and white scoop neck top, it m
ade her look very feminine
. Moreover, the forgiving fabric was
comfortable enough
that her waistline wouldn’t feel restrained after dinner
.

Her features softened and Kate
returned his smile. “Have I told you how handsome you look?
”

She ran a finger along h
is neckline which had the effect of skewing his
collar. As she pressed herself closer to him, she heard his breath catch. Her heart was pounding and she met his gaze shyly. It was reassuring to see the desire in his
gaze
, but not exactly the perfect timing.
The
news program her mother had turned on after heading into the l
iving room could clearly be heard
. Not the best time for sexual tension to be running rampant between them.
Clearing her throat, she took an uncertain step backward.

“Guess, we should head out,” Kate suggested.
“
We’re supposed to meet Julie and Gage at the restaurant soon.”

Jared
bit down on his bottom lip to silence whatever he was about to say. After a few seconds, h
e nodded and
took her hand
. After saying a brief goodbye to her mom, they
headed to his BMW parked outside.
She loved Jared’s car. It had all of the gadgets she craved but didn’t have in her decade old
Toyota
.
T
he a
ir conditioning in her car no longer worked
and sh
e had to buy a portable fan to plug
into
the cigarette lighter. Since Kate
didn’t have enough money to buy a new car, she was going to have to stick it out with the old beater until she ran it into the ground.

As Jared rested his hand on her leg
, she marveled at how wo
nderful it felt to be near him
. He had this astounding ability to help
her forget about anything else
.
Despite money problems, sinister psychics and missin
g children, Kate sensed that
everything was going to be
all right
as long as Jared cared about her
.

Although she really wanted to discuss Max and divulge meeting Declan
to Jared
,
Kate
wanted to keep the mood light
to
enjoy their night out.
The intensity
of how they met had
prevented any fun during the first few weeks of their relationship. Giving statements to police about Cori’s kidnapping along with media interviews and post-trau
matic stress psych sessions
left little time for more pleasurable pursuits.

“So, is Gage as bad as you say
he
is?” Jared
questioned
.
He had been drumming on her knee for the past couple of minutes in tune with the song playing over his radio.

Kate
gave a dramatic shudder. “Worse. But Julie thinks the two of you will be fast friends. So who knows? Maybe his charms are only lost on me.” She gave him a serious look. “Is this weird for you? Going out on a date with a bunch of college kids?”

“No, but I feel old now,” Jared
chided
. “I never went to college, so school does seem far away to me since I graduated ten years ago.”

“I’m lucky that I’m
totally
mature enough to date someone seven years older than me.”

He shot h
er a mock
serious loo
k. “I
love when you make comments that make me feel like a dirty old man
.”

Kate
giggled
and
again
appreciated Jared’s silly side.
Most guys may have been put off by her sarcasm, but Jared could dish it out as well as he could take it.
As much as she had tried to scare him off in the beginning, he had persisted and their friendship had grown.

Li
ving at home and steering clear of social situations since her coma had the affect of stunting her emotionally. However,
the past couple of mont
hs had helped her grow
immensely.
The old Kate would’ve never gone out of her way to use her gift to help out as many people as possible. The
old Kate would’ve
worried about being
labeled
the town freak
. The new Kate was ready
to let her freak flag wave high if it meant getting the missing back home
.

Gage and Julie were easy to spot when they arrived
at the restaurant
. Although
Julie’s
hulking he-man of a boyfriend was nearby, it didn’t stop many of t
he men seated at the
bar
from
shoot
ing
the attractive brunette
appreciative glances.
Julie’s
black dress was skintight with a peephole back. With a tall and willowy fr
ame and gorgeous coffee colored
hair that looked straight out of a shampoo commercial, Julie was model gorgeous
. Instead of gazing adoringly at
his beautiful girlfriend and thanking his lucky stars she would even stop to give him the time, Gage was chugging down a beer.

“Katie!” Gage
bellowed upon seeing her.
As heads turned towards her to see what the rumpus w
as about, Kate stopped in
her tracks and shot Jared a helpless look.
Jared gave her a quick squeeze before urging her forward.
The bar was fairly busy and they had to elbow their way through the crowd to reach her friends.

Walking up to them, she said hello to Julie and gave her a long hug. Once they disengaged, she turned to her friend’s boyfriend. “Gage,” she said as greeting and
gave him a terse smile
.

Gage rolled his eyes at her greeting and fluffed her hair.
After Kate pushed his hand away,
Gage stuck his hand out
to Jared and the guys shook hands vigorously. Jared’s pleasant expression never left his face as he genuinely smiled at Gage.
Immediately the boys
launched into small talk.

Julie pivoted her body t
o face
Kate
and handed her a drink
. Kate strived
to smooth out the mess Gage
had
made out of her mahogany mane
.
Julie whispered,
“I ordered you a vodka and tonic. Barely any calories and
it
will calm your nerves.”

Kat
e took a sip and screwed up her face in
disgust. She preferred the fruitier drinks with tons of calories.
Also, the heat from the hibachi grills was make th
e temperature unbearable and Kate needed a beverage to quickly
guzzle down. “That drink is
gross. I’ll see if Jared wants it.
Order me a fruit drink instead, maybe a Mai Tai?”

Julie pursed her lips and shook her head
, but flagged down the bartender and ordered Kate’s drink. After she handed over the concoction, she questioned Kate,
“So anymore information on boy wonder?”

Kate tried to send her friend a look to silence her
, but of course her detective boyfriend picked up on the sudden te
nsion in her.
Jared
stopped his conversation with Gage and met her eyes.
“Who’s boy wonder?”
he asked
flippantly
.

Kate
chose her words carefully.
“I was going to tell you about it later because I didn’t want to ruin our date. But remember that guy I mentioned from last week that creeped me out?” At his nod, she continued, “Turns out he’s another psychic.”

After a beat, he asked, “Really?”

“Y
es, guess he was watching me around the campus to decide if I was a true psychic or not
.
Definitely a lame way to go about it—
but us
psychics are known for our eccentric
ways,”
Kate
said and shrugged as
s
he felt his stare on her face.