Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (24 page)

warmth.

The corner of her mouth pulled

in reaction to the pleasant feeling his

smile was evoking. Then the front door

opened, and she dragged her gaze from

Garren to the two coming in.

Athena swept in and tiptoed

around the objects littering the floor as

she made her way to the bed. Her hand

touched Garren's shoulder and slid along

his back, stopping at the opposite one.

She let it linger there while she spoke to

Ivy.

“Gawd, Ivy. Are you still having

nightmares?”

She couldn't tear her eyes away

from Athena's hand, touching Garren like

it was the most natural thing in the

world. That wonderful feeling that

hummed in her belly moments before

fizzled down to nothing.

“Looks like it.”

Athena's manicured nails traced

the seam of Garren's white t-shirt; such a

simple act, yet so intimate. She barely

contained a smile, one eyebrow arched,

as if daring Ivy to protest.

“What

were

you

dreaming

about?” Garren asked, pulling her

attention back.

She wasn't ready to lay her past

out in front of him, like purging the

contents of her purse for all and sundry

to see. For some reason, it was

important she didn't give him more

reasons to hate her.

“I don't... I don't remember
.”

The bed dipped next to her.

Thane reached out and gently squeezed

her hand. “Is there anything I can do?”

The look of pity on his face was

too much. She snatched her hand away

and tossed the covers off her legs.

“No, I'm fine.” She bolted to the

bathroom to get away from all the

pathetic attempts to sooth her. She hated

being coddled.

After kicking Sparky out of his

hiding spot in the bathtub, she showered

to try and wash away the lingering fear

still clinging to her from the dream. The

closer they got to Sacramento, the worse

the memories and nightmares became.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to face

the demons that lay in wait for her there.

After dressing in a clean pair of

jeans and a t-shirt, she wrapped a towel

around her head and left the bathroom.

With all the steam, the mirror was

useless.

Garren lounged on his bed

flipping through the TV channels. Thane

sat at the table reading one of his potion

books. They didn’t even stir when she

walked back into the room.

“Where’s Athena?”

“Getting food,” Garren said

without even a glance her way.

“Good,

I’m

starving.”

She

grabbed Athena’s make-up bag, hoping

to find something to treat her dry skin.

Generally, she wasn’t a vain person, but

spending the day on the beach with no

sunblock wreaked havoc on her face.

She scooted Sparky over before

she sat down on the bed, wincing at the

pain still throbbing in her hip. The edges

of the massive bruise had already begun

to yellow. Speaking of injuries, she

lifted the sleeve of her shirt to inspect

the gash on her arm.

Still gross
. She ran her fingers

along the sides of the cut, pushing down

along the swollen edges. No pus, that

was good.

A fast food commercial blared

on the TV. She practically drooled at the

sight of the greasy, yummy goodness of

the double-decker burger. As the picture

faded to black, she caught Garren’s

reflection on the screen. But he wasn’t

watching the program.

He was staring at her.

She glanced over to confirm

what she’d seen just in time to see his

head snap forward.

O-kay
. Knowing she was being

watched made her more self-conscious

than ever. She instinctually straightened

her posture as she sat cross-legged on

the bed.

Ignore him
. She grabbed the

compact to check out the sun damage

more closely. Not only were her nose

and cheekbones burned, but her forehead

was breaking out. Too bad her magic

couldn’t clear her skin.

Hmmm. I’ll have to ask Thane if

there’s a zit potion he could make.

As she applied aloe cream to her

face, she glanced at the TV again. She

supposed he could’ve been eying her

arm and the ugly wound across her

bicep.

He’s looking at me again
. Her

heart tripped up under his scrutiny.
Why

is he staring at me? Maybe he’s

mesmerized by my natural beauty.

Yeah, right.

She couldn’t help but laugh out

loud at that thought. This was
Garren

gawking at her. He’s probably thinking

up the best way to humiliate her when

they returned to Salmagundi.

“What’s so funny?” Thane asked.

His gaze veered from the TV to Ivy and

back again, his brow furrowed.

“Nothing,” she said as she

unwrapped the towel from her head.

With a shrug, he continued

reading his book.

She stole a quick glance at

Garren but his attention was once again

absorbed on the infomercial playing in

front of him. Maybe she imagined it.

Great, now even my own mind is

against me.

She did her best to ignore him,

but the temptation to check if he was still

watching her grew too strong. As she

combed the tangles out of her curly hair,

she focused on the screen, waiting to

catch his reflection again.

He’s doing it again
. Part of her

wanted to call him on it, tease him about

ogling her. But another part didn’t want

him to stop.

She stayed quiet and slowed

down her movements. She flipped her

damp hair over her shoulder to hide her

face. It also made it easier to observe

him without being noticed. Her breath

hitched every time he stole a glance at

her.

Feeling bold, she pulled her hair

over her other shoulder, exposing her

neck and face to him. After about a

minute of running her comb through the

same section of hair she stopped.
Oh

gawd, I’m flirting with him
.

Horrified with herself, she threw

the stuff back in the bag and jumped off

the bed. She needed to do something

constructive to get her mind off the hot

guy—

No, no. Garren is not hot. He’s

obnoxious and stubborn and very… not

hot
.

Instead of dwelling on exactly

how she felt about him, she picked up

the mess she made earlier; anything to

distract her from the tiny flutter in her

belly.

She had just finished when

Athena got back, a bag full of bagels and

schmear in hand. The scent of the warm,

fresh bread rocketed straight to her

empty stomach.

An hour later, bellies full and the

room returned to its original state, they

got ready to leave. Garren gathered an

armful of dirty clothes piled in a corner

to stuff in his bag.

“Son of a bitch.” He lifted up a t-

shirt and held it up by the shoulders. A

huge green stain sat on the front, and

soaked through to part of the back. He

sniffed it and immediately pulled back in

disgust. “It's piss. Ivy...”

“What? I didn't pee on it.” She

looked around the room to find Sparky

before Garren did.

They both spotted the baby

dragon curled up on her pillow at the

same time. Both darted to get him, but

she was quicker. She swooped Sparky

up in her arms and ran behind Thane,

who was watching the scene with

amusement. He made a decent shield as

Garren tried to get her.

“That's it. Say bye-bye to your

little friend.” He managed to grab her by

the arm, her bad arm. He let her go at her

hiss of pain. “Sorry, sorry.” But it was

too late.

Fire shot out of the petite

dragon’s mouth.

Garren hit the floor as the fire

streamed past his head and hit the wall.

“No,

Sparky.

Stop!”

she

screamed.

The dragon ceased, but not

before singeing the bed and part of the

headboard.

The bedspread was ugly

anyway.

Thane snapped into action and

smothered the flames on the bed with a

blanket. Before the smoke could fill the

room, he tore the alarm off the wall and

dumped out the batteries. Athena opened

the bathroom window.

When the coast was clear,

Garren pushed himself off the ground.

“What the hell? That thing tried to

barbeque me.”

“Maybe it’s because you're

nothing but nasty to him.” She stroked

the animal's back, desperately trying to

calm him down before he lit the entire

hotel on fire.

“You gotta admit, he’s much

better at breathing fire now,” Thane said

as he patted out a lingering ember

smoldering on the bed.

“Why don't you guys go load up

the car,” Athena said.

Garren glared at Ivy and Sparky

as he rammed the rest of his clothes in

his pack. Grabbing Athena's bags, he left

the room in a huff.

“Ivy, can I talk to you for a

minute?” Athena asked before Ivy could

walk out.

After shutting the door to give

them some privacy, Ivy sat on the

opposite bed. “What's up?”

“You’re not interested in Garren,

are you?”

“What? No,” she answered

immediately.
What did he tell her? Did

he notice me watching him, watching

me? Does he think I’m interested in

him?
She was pretty sure she found

nothing interesting about him. Well, his

shields were cool and he did help her

out this morning with the nightmare, but

other than that, totally
un
interested.

“So, you won't mind if I go out

with him then,” Athena said, interrupting

Ivy’s racing thoughts.

Her stomach twisted at the

thought of the two of them together,

making out right in front of her. She was

going to throw up. “Isn't he a little young

for you, by like, six years?”

“He's eighteen, right?”

“Well, yeah... barely.”

“There you have it. It's not like I

want to marry the guy. He's hot and

looks like he could be a lot of fun.”

Athena stood up and slipped her

sunglasses on. “I'm glad we had this

talk.” She strolled out the door without a

second glance.

To

say

the

car

ride

to

Sacramento was awkward was an

understatement. She pressed herself as

far away from Garren as possibly in the

cramped backseat. She couldn't even

look at him anymore, especially since all

he seemed to do was flirt with Athena.

They made her nauseous with their thinly

veiled double entendres.

Thane

was

oblivious

to

everything around him as he engrossed

himself in the potions book he brought

along. Every now and then he'd toss out

some fact only he found fascinating.

“Did you know that when

dragon's blood is mixed with the crushed

petals of a snowdonia hawkweed, it can

sever magical ties, like bonds or oaths?

Interesting.”

She went back to admiring the

landscape of Northern California on her

side of the car. After all the green of

Washington and Oregon, the brown grass

and rocks was a nice change of pace.

Sparky was enjoying himself as

he flew right above their car. Thankfully,

he stayed in stealth mode to keep the

other drivers around them from freaking

out. Baby dragons drifting on air

currents weren't common sights along the

California highway. Every once in a

while, he'd land on the car to rest before

kicking back up into the air.

It only took a couple hours

before the Sacramento skyline came into

view. The sensation of being submersed

in ice water washed over her at the