The Recruit (26 page)

Jaz and Anna watched her leave, shutting the door behind her, before breaking out into nervous giggles.

‘I’m so nervous, Jaz. I can’t believe I’ve got a date.’

‘I can’t even believe we’re going,’ laughed Jaz. She couldn’t believe she was succumbing to this, being like everyone else, what they expected. Well actually, no one probably expected Jaz to go, let alone wear a dress without boots.

Jaz opened her cupboard and pulled out a silver high heel. ‘Look what Mum brought me,’ said Jaz hanging onto it by the heel. The heels she’d ‘borrowed’ from her mum’s cupboard for that special job of Ryan’s had been a bit taller than these but Anna didn’t know about them.

‘Bloody Hell, my mum wouldn’t let me get anything that high. Your mum is so cool, mine is from the fricken dark ages.’

‘She can’t be that bad, you said your dress is great. Com’on let’s start getting ready, Mum’s got the hairdresser here in half an hour.’

‘I bags first shower,’ said Anna grabbing her bag and heading for the bathroom.

An hour and a half later, the paparazzi had descended.

‘Okay, now just one more against this door, I think the cream will show up your dresses better.’

‘God, Mum, you’ve taken like a hundred already!’ Jaz complained as they shuffled across to the large front doors.

‘Say cheese,’ said Tasha.

‘No.’ Jaz smiled back with her arms crossed.

Tasha sighed and put down her camera. ‘Okay, you win. I’ll stop with the pictures. But you both look so beautiful.’

Anna’s mum was still clicking away, her red hair over her shoulder and halfway down her back. Anna was trying to cover the camera with her hand. ‘Enough Mum.’

A knock at the door sounded, sending the women in the room into a frenzy with their cameras again as Jaz opened the door for the boys.

Taylor had offered to pick up Ricky and drive them to the ball, as he didn’t have a car. Both guys walked in smelling of aftershave and hair gel. Ricky was wearing a white suit and a matching green tie and Taylor looked smashing in his black tux and silver tie. Ricky was quite cute with his normal mop of hazel hair sculpted and trimmed. Jaz felt uncomfortable seeing the way Taylor’s eyes popped from his head as he looked from Jaz to Anna.

‘Holy cow, you girls look fabulous.’ Taylor’s mouth was still open like he wanted to say more but couldn’t remember how to speak.

Anna did look stunning. The emerald green brought out her eyes. Thin straps held up a fitted bodice and skirt and they’d both had their hair done up on top of their heads with soft cascading curls.

‘Well, let’s get this show on the road,’ said Jaz, trying to get everyone to the car. Taylor took Jaz’s arm and had to look up to talk. ‘You are so tall, Jaz.’

‘I know, check out the weapons.’ She hiked up her dress to her knees and showed him the elegant silver shoes.

‘Jasmine, please don’t be doing that all night,’ scoffed her mother. With a sigh, Jaz dropped the material back in place and headed to the car. They hugged their mums goodbye and sat in the back of the Mustang. Some people were going in stretch Hummers but they all agreed the Mustang would do them.

‘Oh my God, I think my mum is wiping away tears,’ said Anna watching out the window.

‘Don’t worry, they will forget all about it by the time they get to the third bottle.’ Jaz leant closer to Anna. ‘I’m so nervous.’

‘Me too.’

They both laughed and for a moment, Jaz forgot about her nerves, until they drove through Dalkeith and arrived at Tawarri, their destination. It was a function centre right on the edge of the Swan River. Green grass and the shimmering river painted a perfect picture.

The guys opened their doors, helped them out, as cold air swirled around Anna’s naked skin as she clung to Taylor’s arm. ‘Wow, how perfect,’ said Anna.

A ‘doof doof’ noise was coming from a pink Hummer that pulled right up to the door of the function centre. The four of them paused and watched Minka and her friends exit with their dates. She strolled through the doors like she was royalty and Jaz and Anna had to stifle laughs.

Minka was still getting more photos taken on the red carpet on the way into the large room. She was in a strapless gold gown, no doubt worth more than a small fortune and probably designed by someone who Jaz had never heard of.

‘Taylor!’ said Minka when she caught sight of him. ‘You look great,’ she smiled as she dragged her very tall date over.

‘Yes, he does,’ said Jaz running her hand over Taylor’s silver tie. She loved rubbing it in, and besides, when she becomes an agent, this part of her life will cease to exist. No more pain-in-her-arse Minka and cronies, instead she will have real life criminals and issues to deal with. Jaz almost wished her last year at school was over. Minka spotted Jaz and then her eyes explodes with green envy.

‘Hi, Minka, great night isn’t it,’ smiled Jaz as she clung to Taylor. ‘Have you finished with your photos? We’d like to get to the dance floor.’ She tried to keep her voice sweet and innocent, just like Minka uses when Taylor’s around. Jaz side-stepped around Minka, taking Taylor with her as they lined up for their photos. Minka grabbed her footballer date and took off towards the drinks table. Jaz hoped the drinks were spiked as she figured Minka would need it.

‘That is so cool,’ said Anna as they looked up at hundreds of tiny lights edged with white silk and chiffon drapes.

‘Yeah, it’s not bad. Worth coming,’ said Jaz as Anna rolled her eyes and pushed her playfully.

‘Com’on, Ricky, let’s check it out.’ Anna grabbed her date’s hand and headed off into the middle of the room with gusto.

‘Anna looks amazing,’ said Taylor over Jaz’s right shoulder before he took her hand. ‘Shall we follow?’

Jaz nodded, feeling like Cinderella as the crowed parted around them. She felt like all eyes were on her. She could only guess what they’d be saying. ‘Why is she with him?’ But Taylor squeezed her hand and whispered, ‘I think I’ve got the hottest date here, look how jealous they all are.’ All of a sudden Jaz didn’t care what anyone thought; hey, she never usually did, why should she start now?

Time spun by fast as they danced the night away. Taylor was teaching Jaz his Funky Chicken and Sprinkler moves when the next song was a slow one. She smiled as Taylor rolled his eyes and motioned her closer.

‘Com’on, partner,’ he said as he put his hands on her hips. Jaz followed suit and put hers on his chest as they side-stepped slowly. She wondered if Anna was putting her dance lessons to good use and searched for her.

Ricky was doing the side-step swing with his arms around Anna awkwardly. In the next second they were lip-to-lip and trying out some major tongue hockey. As first kisses go, it looked kind of sloppy but Jaz cheered internally for Anna and turned back to Taylor to mention it.

But before she could move her lips, Taylor was kissing her. She felt his hands tighten around her back, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.

Jaz went with the flow as her mind ran with a hundred thoughts and none that she could catch long enough to understand. She pulled back for air and searched his eyes for an explanation. Taylor’s eyes darted to the left and back again. Jaz followed the path of his gaze and two things occurred to her in that moment. One, that kissing Taylor wasn’t what she thought it’d be. She’d been dreaming of this moment for years and now that it had happened it wasn’t as earth-shattering as she had expected. Not saying the kiss wasn’t great, it was perfectly fine. But Jaz was waiting for the tingle and it didn’t come. If anything, if she asked herself truthfully, it felt all wrong. Kissing Ryan had been right.

The second thing was Anna. Why had Taylor glanced at Anna? Jaz felt tiny jigsaw pieces fitting themselves into place. Taylor joining them for lunch, being around more often, the photo by his bed, and asking Anna back for a movie. Taylor liked Anna? She questioned herself and then decided her gut instinct was right.

‘Why did you kiss me?’ she asked Taylor as she fiddled with his lapel.

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. ‘It’s our ball, I just thought…?’

‘Yeah, no.’ Then she found herself saying words she never thought would come out of her mouth. ‘You’re my best friend Tay and…I’d like it to stay like that.’ She watched him sigh with relief. ‘Besides, that just wasn’t quite right, hey,’ she laughed.

Taylor smiled and Jaz couldn’t understand why she didn’t want Taylor anymore, he was so cute.

‘Hmm, it so wasn’t right,’ he laughed as the tension eased out of his shoulders.

Jaz was relieved. She was going to need Anna and Taylor, her best friends. Her life as an operative would be complicated but she was sure she could handle it with her friends by her side, even if they didn’t know what was going on. Maybe one day she could share it with them but for now, she wanted to follow the rules and not disappoint Ryan.

Jaz took Taylor’s arm and checked his watch. Five minutes to ten, nearly time to meet Ryan.

She saw Anna standing on her own. Ricky must have gone for drinks so she grabbed Taylor’s hand, dragging him towards her.

‘Hey, Anna. Can you dance with Tay? I’m gonna go wait for Ryan.’ She watched a flush appear on Taylor’s cheeks. Yeah, she was sure he had it bad for Anna.

‘Cool, no worries. Say goodbye for me,’ Anna said before grabbing Taylor’s arm. ‘Come on cowboy, show me your moves,’ she laughed.

Jaz headed to the foyer and out the doors. City lights reflected off the smooth water from the river no more than twenty metres away. In her line of sight was a silhouette against the silvery water, an outline she knew so well. From the short cropped hair, the strong determined shoulders, and imposing height. Ryan was here early. Jaz began to walk towards Ryan. Her chest constricted, causing her breaths to shorten as the cool air touched her lungs.

Reaching out she touched his elbow. ‘Ryan?’

He turned, the path lights illuminating his face enough for her to see those wonderful gold flecks in his eyes.

‘Jaz, you look…’ He held up his hand and touched a strand of her hair tenderly. ‘…amazing.’

Had someone cut off the air? Jaz was struggling to breathe and felt very light-headed.

Ryan’s eyes drank her in from top to bottom. ‘Are you wearing your boots too?’ he asked curiously.

Jaz did what her mum had specifically asked her not to, and hoicked her dress up and showed off her shoes.

Ryan cleared his throat. ‘Very sexy.’ He gave her a wink. ‘Don’t be afraid to use them if you’re ever attacked. They’re quite dangerous.’

‘Hey, you don’t have to tell me that. I nearly broke my ankle earlier. Boots are much safer,’ she laughed as a wave of chills shook her body.

Without a word, Ryan shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, the warmth spreading through her quickly. Jaz breathed in the leather and heady scent of Ryan, and that feeling of safety washed over her.

‘Thanks. I do like this jacket.’

Her shoes made her taller, but not enough to see eye-to-eye with Ryan, but still she caught his raised eyebrow and glare.

‘Yeah, well I like it too,’ he said nudging her shoulder.

‘So how long will you be gone for?’ she asked. Her shoulder rested against his arm as they looked out over the water.

His voice was deep and caused little tremors through her body. ‘It could be a week, it could be a month.’

Oh. Jaz was lost for words as she resisted the urge to wrap herself around Ryan so he couldn’t leave. She knew without a doubt that where he was going and what he was doing could be dangerous…life threatening. Not seeing him for a day sent her mad, how would she cope with months?

‘So, have you made your decision?’ he asked softly.

Jaz nodded as she felt the vein in her neck pulse. ‘Yes, I’ve decided to join.’ She had made her decision but saying the words out loud was the scariest thing. ‘But I want to finish school otherwise Mum would get suss.’

‘I understand, but if you want, that operation we want you for can be done while you’re at school. I’m just saying. In the meantime we will work with you to come up with a cover job after school’s over. And until then you can still do some training on weekends or afternoons, if you like.’

‘What, like what we did in the city that time, following that man?’

‘Yeah, bits like that. They may even use you to retrieve messages or deliver them, maybe keep track on someone. Just little bits that can be a real help, you know.’

She nodded and looped her arm through his, just to be touching him and feel his warmth.

The water was lapping gently against the side of the riverbed, almost musically.

‘So what happens now?’ Jaz asked, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She was fixated on the moon reflection shimmering on the water, so much so her eyes began to well with tears. Well, that’s what she put it down to. Not the whole freaking out session going on in her mind.

‘You will go through the interview stage next. And they will probably brief you on this kid they want you to befriend. I would usually do it but I’ll be away for a while.’

She felt Ryan watching her, his hand gripping her shoulder.

‘Oh, Jaz,’ he said with such emotion that she felt a tear fall from her grasp. He wiped the tear away with his thumb before pulling her into a tight hug. She was trying not to go all soppy but she couldn’t help it. Her life was about to change. She’d reached that fork in the road and had chosen a path. She was about to put her life in some sort of danger while hiding it from all the people she loved.

Jaz clung to Ryan’s chest as her tears soaked through his shirt. His heartbeat was like a percussion concert as she listened to it thrashing out a fast rhythm much like her own.

Ryan was rocking her gently in his arms soothingly as he rubbed her back.

‘It’s okay Jaz, I know exactly how you feel.’

She looked up into his chocolate eyes and felt herself drowning in them.

Jaz wiped away the last of the tears, hoping her make-up wasn’t ruined. ‘I must look a mess,’ she sighed.

Ryan shook his head gently, raised her chin and bent to kiss her forehead but Jaz rose up to meet him and their lips met. The ground shook beneath her feet as her lips tingled against his softness. Ryan pulled back, but she could read the desire in his eyes. She wasn’t the only one feeling something between them, that underlying current that he’d kept at bay. Not letting him pull away, she slid her hand up to his neck.