Shades of Amber (6 page)

“
Are we going to the Post
Office?”

He nodded and made a left
turn.

“
Don’t they close at
5?”

“
Yes, but as you can see,
we’ve made it in time.”

That’s what I got for
watching him instead of the road, I chastised as he
parked.

“
Wait here, it will only
take a minute.”

“
Okay,” I said as he shut
the door.

Snooping through his glove
compartment seemed far more appealing than standing in line, so I
waited for him to enter, and then opened the latch.

Insurance card, vehicle
manual, old receipts… was I looking through my mom’s glove
compartment? Where was the dirt—the info that could shine light on
this illusive creature?

Closing the rectangle
door, I looked up just in time to see him strolling toward
me.

Did he see me
snooping?

His expression didn’t give
anything away as he opened the door and got in.

“
When are we going to
finish our assignment?” I blurted as he turned the
ignition.

A smile curved his lips.
“Why are you so anxious to get away from me?”

I laughed, keeping my gaze
fixed on the windshield. “I’m always anxious to get away from
you.”

“
I wonder why.”

Did he expect an
answer?

“
I’m not blind, Jade.” Our
gaze met when he reached a stop sign. “You’re trying to fight your
feelings for me, but running won’t make it any better.”

He was probably right, but
I couldn’t think of a response. The sight of Java Mama’s filled me
with hope. The sooner we completed the project, the sooner Troy
would be out of my hair.

Waiting for him to shift
into park, I thought about how stuffy the air felt. It almost
crackled with energy and longing, most of it definitely his. I
threw open my door, anxious to feel a cool breeze against my
skin.

“
Looks like you could use
some caffeine.”

My need for coffee quickly
overtook my nerves. “I could always use some of that,” I said as he
collected our bags. Slinging the straps onto his shoulder, he
caressed my arm before taking my hand. When he opened the door, and
I automatically headed to the right until he caught me, gently
squeezing my fingers as he pulled me to the left.

“
Where are we going?” I
asked as he pulled me behind the dark brown curtain.

A handful of people talked
and read on clusters of tan couches and chairs. He guided me to an
area in the corner, but I shook my head, refusing to sit
down.

He laughed. “Come on, this
way we can finish our work.”

“
Fine.” I sank into a
chair, instantly impressed by how comfortable it was. He sat on the
loveseat and put our notebooks on the table. I reached for mine,
but my chair was too far away.

Oh, why fight
it?

I sat next to him,
irritated by the contentment that spread through me.

Don’t get too
attached.

I gave myself a mental
shake and wondered when I’d been bitten by the love bug. A server
came over as soon as we opened our notebooks. I requested a Caramel
Macchiato and blueberry muffin, while he got a Cappuccino and a
blueberry scone.

The girl repeated our
orders, doing her best to get Troy’s attention, but he seemed
clueless to her interest.

Was he tired of flirty
girls or was she not his type? What was his type?

He put his arm around my
shoulders. “I love to see you smile.”

“
Thank you.” I pushed him
away when he tried to kiss me. “Stop trying to distract
me.”

It didn’t take long for
the girl to come back with our order, and after a few bites and
sips of coffee we got down to business.

Ninety minutes later,
because he dragged it out as long as it could possibly take, we
were finally done.

He paid, included a nice
tip, and held the door for me as we left.

“
Why do you do
that?”

He put our stuff in the
backseat before wrapping his arms around my back. “You deserve to
have the door held open for you. It’s just good manners.” His lips
moved to my ear whispering, “Plus, I get to look at your
derriere.”

I tried not to watch him
as he walked to his side, but I couldn’t help it. I liked to look
at his backside too. His laughter was deep and rich as he got in
the driver’s seat. I could listen to that sound forever, I thought
as I stared out the window.

Troy was gorgeous and
thoughtful, and everything I’d dreamed of—minus the arrogance, but
everyone was flawed. It was part of being human, but he still
deserved the silent treatment for hijacking my day.

I studied a strand of my
hair.

What did he think of
me?

I watched nervously as
trees and buildings flew past. Even the long way to school wasn’t
this time-consuming, so where were we going? I was about to demand
an explanation when we stopped outside of The River Rock Café. He
was already watching me when I hazarded a glance in his
direction.

“
I thought you’d insist we
go to your car, but then I decided to bring you here.”

My anger wouldn’t allow me
to speak. I opened my door and stomped toward the entrance. The
bronze handle was just within reach when he brushed past me to open
it. I glared at him, but that didn’t stop him from grabbing my hand
as we walked inside. It was crowded.

Troy led me past the line
and nodded to a blonde woman who grabbed two menus before waving us
forward.

How did he do
that?

She was thirtyish with
long, straight hair and blue eyes.

“
Right this way,” she
said, escorting us to a secluded booth.

“
May I take your coat?” he
asked with a boyish grin.

“
Thank you.”

He passed it to the maître
d’ as I slid onto the rectangle booth, and then sat next to
me.

The woman laid our menus
and claim ticket on the table. “Marigold, your waitress will be
over in just a moment,” she said with a smile.

I could feel Troy’s gaze
roaming over my cream off the shoulder bell sleeve top, black vest,
and jeans.

He gently turned my chin
so that my eyes met his. “Has anyone said that you look like a
pirate today?”

I laughed, thinking of the
knee-high boots that completed the look. “No one’s come out and
said that, but I’m sure they’ve thought it.”

He leaned close. “You’d
make a very sexy pirate.”

I put my hand on his
chest, unnerved by his warmth. His skin felt chiseled beneath his
red shirt. I moved away and looked at the menu, but he closed the
space between us. I tried to focus, but I also wanted to lean
closer.

It might have been the
fact that I’d spent five minutes on the same section or maybe that
I wouldn’t make eye contact, but after a few minutes his voice was
in my ear. “No, no, cher. I didn’t bring you here to hide behind
your menu. I wanted to spend more time with you.”

“
Why pick me out of all
the other girls you could have?”

I’m positive, creative,
compassionate, but what does he know?

His lips touched my ear.
“Like I said earlier; I want
you
because you are unique. You’re feisty and
beautiful, as well as caring and compassionate, and when I look at
you—I see everything I’ve wanted. That’s why I won’t let you ignore
the sparks between us.”

He kissed my cheek before
leaning back to study my expression.

His reasoning was sweet
and nice, but I needed to know what he really wanted.

He brushed his thumb along
my forehead. “What are you thinking?”

“
I…” I paused as the
server approached. She was a slim woman with light brown skin and
thick, black hair. Stopping at our table with a pen and note pad in
her hands, she pointed to a silver nametag.

“
Hi, I’m Marigold. Do you
know what you’d like to order?”

Troy sighed.

Considering how much he’d
frustrated me, he deserved a dose of his own medicine.

We both ordered the
meatloaf, one of their most popular dishes, and she left to get my
tea and his lemonade.

Troy turned to me, eager
to finish our conversation, but I ignored him and sipped my
water.

“
You certainly know how to
avoid things, don’t you?”

I set the glass down. “I’m
no better than you, when it comes to avoiding things.”

He smiled. “You have
beautiful hair. It’s orderly—the way it curls, and wild in the way
that those curls can’t be tamed. A lot like you.”

I glared at him, on the
verge of being offended. “Excuse me?”

He laughed, wrapping one
curl around his index finger. “You’re well put together and
straight laced on the surface.” He kissed my cheek and whispered,
“But I think you’ll be more carefree once you let your guard
down.”

I leaned back, wondering
how he could read me so well, and then I decided it didn’t
matter.

No one said I had to spend
eternity with the guy. I should just sit back and enjoy the
ride.

I wasn’t sure what time we
arrived at the restaurant, but we didn’t leave until after nine and
by then, liking Troy didn’t seem like a bad thing. He exuded
confidence, strength, and a ton of sex appeal.

“
What are you thinking?”
he asked as we pulled into the school parking lot.

I smiled as he helped me
out. “Just that you are far too good to be true.”

He held me close as I
searched his eyes. “Why is that?”

“
Well, you are too
gorgeous… and you seem rather genuine.”

His breath touched my ear
as he exhaled. “Am I too good to be true because of those things or
are you just looking for an excuse to stay away from
me?”

I shrugged.

“
You never answered me at
the restaurant. What were you thinking then?”

“
That I don’t want to get
burned.”

He pulled me into his
arms. “You won’t.”

“
For some reason I can’t
shake the feeling that you’ll hurt me worse than either of us can
imagine.”

“
Feelings can change,
Jade. You didn’t want anything to do with me and now you feel
differently, don’t you?”

I slid into my driver
seat. “I do, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get burned.”

He kissed me before
closing the door.

The burn was evident, just
like my attraction to him.

2010

I drank the last sip of my
Cola and squeezed the bottle like I was wringing Troy’s neck. I
should have listened to my gut. He acted like I was the only girl
in his universe, but if he really loved me; he wouldn’t have left
in the first place.

Maybe Troy didn’t know
he’d burn me at the time, but the saying still goes, “once burned,
twice shy.” It would be insane to give it another go—mostly because
he wasn’t really here, and also because he already destroyed me
once.

He lit up my life like a
spark to a flame, and now he was come back…but for what? A part of
me felt like it was to burn the house down.

The recycling bin caught
my eye, so I tossed the bottle and headed for my last class:
Math.

Despite our study
sessions, Troy never succeeded in building my arithmetic skills,
but he was good at teaching me other things. The art of kissing was
my favorite, followed by cooking, and dancing.

Although my thoughts had
turned down a dangerous path, my cramped hand brought me back just
in time to scribble the rest of Mrs. Giesel’s tips for Set
Operations. She was in the process of explaining everything when
something hit the window. The whole room turned as black bird left
a scarlet trail on the glass.

Perhaps Troy wasn’t a
figure of my imagination. What if his ghostly form spooked the crap
out that bird or maybe it was a message to remind me of last
night’s conversation.

Either way, the time for
denial was over. I had to put this ghost thing to rest before it
destroyed my academic standing.

¤¤¤¤

Chapter 6

…
Troy…

October 2, 2007

Apprehension twisted my
insides like a knife to the gut. It was 10:10, which meant Jade was
running late or wanted to distance herself. The first explanation
was preferred, but I wouldn’t allow her fears to keep us
apart.

If she wanted a chase, I
would be more than happy to oblige.

Chairs scraped linoleum as
Miss Mitts prattled on about more class time for our
projects.

If Jade did show, she
would not be happy.

Moments later, the object
of my obsession waltzed in and claimed the seat next to me. The
knots in my chest loosened as I inhaled. She smelled like fresh
apples.