The Pull of Destiny (39 page)

I flushed despite myself.
“Not as much as you’d think,” I said, trying to defend myself.

“But more than I’d expect,
huh?”

I slid my hands up to the
small of her back as slowly as I could. “A bit more,” I smiled.

“Maybe people meet their
soul mates but they just don’t know it,” CiCi said simply, looking up into my
eyes.

Time stopped as we stared
mutely at each other, her scent making me feel woozy. God, everything about her
was just turning me on right now and I had no clue why. Or maybe I did know and
I just didn’t want to admit anything.

“In that case,” I started,
hardly aware of what I was saying, “I could be your soul mate.”

Celsi’s Point of View

Sure, Luke was stepping on
my toes pretty much every chance he got (although, judging by the look of
intense concentration on his face, he wasn’t doing it on purpose) but even that
rather significant factor couldn’t stop me from staring dumbly into his
gorgeous, deep green eyes as, with a deathly serious look on his face, he
murmured, “In that case, I could be your soul mate.”

To my credit, I
didn’t sag in his arms, faint, or do anything ridiculous as he said this. All I
could do was control my breathing and try not to hyperventilate as he
continued, his hands caressing my back slowly and sensuously.

“And you
wouldn’t even know it.”

I blinked so
hard I was sure I was creating a draft with my eyelashes, (despite my
reluctance, Aisha had insisted on fitting me with false eyelashes. Every time I
blinked I felt a breeze) willing myself to look anywhere but at Luke’s
tantalizingly close lips. Because if I
was
his soul mate and I didn’t
know it
(ah, the incomparable power of wishful thinking)
what would stop
me from grabbing him and kissing him silly?

The fact
that you’re in the middle of a dance floor at a swanky hotel filled with rich
and important people, stupid.

Oh yeah.
Right
.

A wickedly hot
smile turned up the corners of Luke’s mouth as he leaned ever closer to me, his
warm breath fanning my cheek as he whispered, “You
could
be my soul
mate” in my ear.

Deep breath!

I suddenly
narrowed my eyes, reality setting in quicker than usual, which meant that Luke
and his odd ways of holding a conversation (not that
I
was one to talk
when it came to oddness) didn’t faze me that much anymore.

Scary
thought.

Still, despite
the solemn look on Luke’s face, I knew that he was obviously just laughing at
my gullibility behind his poker face. I needed one of those (a poker face, I
mean) because I was sure that the longing expression on my face when Luke had
started talking about his views regarding soul mates was still there, which
made me pathetic, especially since Luke was obviously just playing around.
Stupid
CiCi falls for yet another of Luke Astor’s ploys?
I smiled grimly to
myself.
Not this time!
I had a couple of things up my non-existent
sleeves, too. The way I saw it, payback was a ho. And Luke deserved payback
after the whole ‘I love you’ incident way back.
He was just trying to get
your attention, Celsi!
Be that as it may, it was
my
turn to play
with his head.

Smiling up at
him, I locked my fingers behind Luke’s neck, strands of his soft, silky hair
running through my fingers.

“You think we
could be soul mates?” I asked in a carefully reflective tone, marveling at how
normal my voice sounded. Even though I knew that Luke was just joking, just
thinking about us being soul mates…

Well, don’t
think of it, then.

Luke grinned,
shaking the hair out of his eyes so that he could look at me better. “Why not?
We get along, we complement each other’s styles
beautifully
, and you’re
the perfect height for a guy like me to…”

His voice
trailed off as he gazed down at me, a twinkle in his eye. Biting the inside of
my cheek, I wanted to ask ‘perfect height for what?’ but decided not to. I also
decided to ignore the fact that he seemed to be staring at my lips, because I
had to be imagining that.
Had to be.

Feeling slightly rattled,
(I’d like to see
you
try to keep your composure when it seems a guy as
handsome as Luke Astor can’t take his eyes off your lips) all I could come up
with was a sluggish, “Oh, really?”

Why, oh why, did I even
go the soul mate route?
Damn that Billy Ocean song, bringing out my soppy side. Luke seemed to have
taken the topic and ran with it, evidently electing to forget about what we had
been discussing before
‘Suddenly’
started to play and
I
decided
to put my two cents in. What had we been talking about before the song came on?
How his dad had taken it upon himself to ruin what would have been a perfect
night if I
had
been related to Yvonne Sawyer.
Hmm, no wonder Luke
was finding the topic so interesting. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to
think about the incredibly offensive stuff that his dad said either, and I
didn’t have to live with the guy. I took several calming breaths as I tried to
wipe the memory of Mr. Astor's smug smile out of my head and concentrate on
Luke instead.

He smirked, showing off
those sexy dimples. “Don’t you agree?” he asked, chucking me lightly under my
chin.

Regroup. Fast!

“I may be the right height
for a guy like you, but are you the right guy for a girl like me?” I asked,
tossing my hair over my shoulder like I had seen Robyn do, just a few seconds
ago.

Looking confused but
extremely intrigued, Luke said, “Do elaborate.”

“Well,” I continued,
tapping my cheek with a long, fake fingernail, “I have certain things I look
for in a guy. Certain things that you’ll have to possess or do to be my soul
mate.”

Ugh, I’m a terrible
bluffer.
Luke didn’t
appear to notice that I had no idea what I was talking about, which was a good
thing.

“And here I was, thinking
that you weren’t picky,” he murmured as our eyes locked.

I smiled boldly. “When it
comes to guys, I am,” I lied, glad that I wasn’t Pinocchio. Me, picky when it
came to guys? Maybe if I had been asked out more than twice (and yes, that’s
counting Luke), I would be, but as it were… Robyn would have laughed if she had
been close enough, but thankfully she was on the other side of the dance floor.

Biting his lip, Luke
shrugged. “Okay, let’s hear your list of certain things you look for in a guy,”
he said playfully, a smile on his face.

Behind us, I heard a sharp
sniff from none other than Joanna. She was dancing, her head on Timothy’s
shoulder, and glaring in our general direction. I didn’t like the look on her
face at all.
Hopefully, I’ll get through the rest of the night without
having to deal with her. Beware the jealous ex-girlfriend.

Turning back to face Luke,
who was staring at me with an entranced sort of look on his face, I racked my
brain to think of something stupid I could say to put him off wanting to be my
soul mate.
Celsiana. He doesn’t
really
want to be your soul
mate. You should know this!
I ignored the derisive voice in my head. Course
I knew that Luke didn’t want to be my soul mate, which was why I was playing
along! Duh!

“Firstly, he has to be
strong enough to carry me,” I babbled, enjoying the look of utter mystification
on Luke’s face.
Classic.
“I’m very fond of piggyback rides.”

That, if you haven’t
figured out already, was a bald faced lie. Although I’ve given countless
piggyback rides, (I
do
volunteer at a daycare, after all. It’s
practically in my job description) I have yet to be on the receiving end of
one. But I’ve seen plenty of guys running around Wal-Mart and Target, giving
their girlfriends piggyback rides. It looks vaguely uncomfortable. And try as I
might, I just couldn’t envision Luke walking around with me on his back.

Unfortunately, (
or
fortunately, I’m really not sure
) Luke seemed far from daunted by the
carrying thing.

Pointing to his arms, he
quipped, “I don’t need a license for these guns.” Shooting me a smouldering
look, he continued. “I can carry you anywhere. Want me to demonstrate?”

In the middle of the
dance floor? Hell no!

I shook my head rapidly,
taking a small step back, just in case he saw fit to throw me on his back in
one fell swoop.
I would not put it past him
. “Not here.”

Still smiling, Luke
wrapped his arms tight around my waist, pulling me so close that I could feel
his heart beat through the thick material of his tux jacket.
Or is that
my
heart?
Didn’t matter. Being close to Luke just did something to me. My
pulse raced every time I caught a hint of his cologne, my skin tingled whenever
we touched- I knew it was wrong, especially since we were just friends, but it
felt so- right.
Corny but true.
At least he didn’t notice. And thank
goodness I wasn’t shivering anymore when he touched me.

“You’re in safe hands.”

I snorted with laughter,
giggling up at him. “Did you just quote an All State commercial at me?”

Sheepishly, Luke grinned.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But enough about me, I’m dying to hear more about your
idea of Mr. Perfect.”

He’s right in front of
me.

I smirked, the perfect
deal breaker popping into my head. “Do you like shopping?” I asked Luke
sweetly.

Shaking his head
instantly, he shuddered. “Oh, God no. I hate shopping!”

He shivered again and I
grinned. “You’re exaggerating.”

Why are all the guys I
know so against shopping? Apart from Ahmed, that is.

“I would rather be dipped
in honey and fed to fire ants than hit the mall,” Luke proclaimed dramatically.
“I hate shopping that much. Most guys do- I guess we’re conditioned to.”

Perfecto.

“If you’re my soul mate,
you’ll have to accompany me to every sale, every shopping spree and every store
opening I want to go to,” I said, feeling deliciously evil and loving it. I
barely even went shopping because my credit was practically imaginary, and on
the rare occasions that I did shop, I never bought more than three or four
items at once. Grinning at the scared look that flitted across Luke’s face, I
continued. “And you’ll carry all my bags and you will like it.”

“You wouldn’t,” Luke
breathed, sounding absolutely terrified. So if he hated shopping that much, who
bought him his clothes? Maybe he was an online shopper.

Finally feeling like I had
the upper hand, I gave a self-satisfied chuckle. “Oh, yes I would. We can go to
the big sale at Macy’s too. It’ll be fun!”

Running a hand through his
hair, Luke shook his head. “Dude, that’s scary. We’ll have to have an in-depth
discussion about that when we’re alone.”

“I’m guessing that’s a
hell no.”

“Not even the pleasure of
your company could turn shopping into something remotely fun,” Luke said,
giving me a lopsided smile and making my heart thump erratically.
He thinks
my company is pleasurable! I guess I’m either not as weird as I thought or he
likes that I’m weird.
“I hate it.”

Enjoying myself immensely
and conveniently forgetting that at the end of the dance, I was going to have
to join Mr. Astor’s company again, I came up with another idea to put Luke off.
“Here’s another one. You won’t complain when I take hours to take ready.”

Even though I take
about 5 minutes to put on my makeup. Now Robyn, on the other hand....

“I can do that,” Luke said
triumphantly.
Dammit!
He nodded in Joanna’s direction and leaned in
closer to whisper in my ear. “Miss Diva over there used to spend 2 hours
getting her hair right. I was patient. And if you’re going to all that trouble
to look good for me, I wouldn’t be a jerk about it.”

Ugh. Was he trying to be
my Mr. Right?
Stupid boy.

Rolling my eyes at how
unjust Luke was being (gorgeous, friendly
and
understanding? Why????) I
decided to play my trump card. There was no possible way he would agree to do
this one. Only one of Robyn’s many boyfriends had agreed to this and after
everything popped off, he never talked to her again. Ever.

“Last but definitely not
least, you’ll have to watch Titanic and The Notebook with me.” Luke’s eyes
widened and he licked his lips, looking horrified. I burst out laughing.

“Celsiana Sawyer, I give
up,” he said, talking over my giggles. “I can handle the piggy backs, we could
talk the shopping one over and I
really
wouldn’t mind waiting for you to
get ready. But watching Titanic
and
The Notebook- forget about it. No
way.”