True Faces (7 page)

I swallowed. “You want me to be exclusive
with you?”

He shrugged. “It’s your decision, but I would
like it.”

It wasn’t a tough decision. I smiled. “I’m
not seeing anyone.”

He smiled. “Except me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Right.”

He exhaled a loud breath. “Good.” He fiercely
kissed me then whispered, “I don’t like the idea of having to share
you.”

I smiled. “Me either.”

He rolled his eyes. “I noticed the
pencil.”

I blushed. “Anger is a natural emotion.”

He licked my top lip. “And very attractive on
you.”

I knew if I didn’t move away from him soon
that I would find out just how attractive he thought it was. It
took all of my willpower to pull away from him, “We can go to
dinner straight from work if you want.”

He smiled. “Sure. I have a change of clothes
here.”

I grabbed the file and walked back to my
desk. What the hell had I started? I didn’t even know what he
wanted in life. I took my anger out on the keyboard and didn’t stop
the rest of the day. At six Eric made me stop so I could change. I
shut down my computer and organized my desk and grabbed my backpack
with my change of clothes. I changed quickly and re-brushed my hair
and reapplied makeup. When I walked out of the bathroom Eric was
leaning against the opposite wall of the hallway looking as
scrumptious as ever. He looked even sexier in jeans and a t-shirt
than I could have imagined. And he was definitely muscular. He
smiled. “Are you ready?”

I nodded my head and followed him out of the
back door to the employee parking lot. He held the car door open
for me and I climbed in. He set a black velvet bag in my lap and
started the car. I stared at the bag in shock. “What’s this?”

He smiled as he got in. “A gift.”

I frowned. “But you didn’t know I was going
out with you tonight.”

He shrugged. “I was hoping you would some
time this week so I kept it in here. Go on, open it.”

I untied the black velvet bag and tipped it
upside down. A small white gold ring with a claddaugh symbol on it
fell in to my hand. My eyes widened in shock and I stared at Eric.
He held up his hand stopping me from talking. “It’s not an
engagement ring. It’s a claddaugh. If you are taken you wear the
ring with the heart pointing towards you. If you’re single you wear
the ring with the heart pointing away from you. You don’t have to
wear it if you don’t like.”

I stared at the ring in shock remembering a
scene from my favorite television show where the man had given the
ring to his girlfriend. I was well aware of its meaning. I slipped
the ring onto my left hand with the heart pointing towards me.
“It’s beautiful.” He drove us to the most expensive Mexican
restaurant in town and let a valet park the car. I was pleased as
we walked to our table that he hadn’t tried to hold my hand, but
also a little disappointed. I knew I couldn’t have it both ways,
but my feelings didn’t.

We sat in a booth in the back of the
restaurant, but a waitress quickly came over, drooling over Eric.
“Are you ready to order or would you like to order drinks
first?”

Eric smiled. “Ciara?”

I smiled back at him, loving the envious look
the waitress was giving me. “I’ll have the steak fajitas and a
mudslide.”

Eric raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have fajitas as
well, but make mine chicken and a glass of water.”

The waitress smiled at him. “Of course. I’ll
be right back with your drinks.”

I shook my head. “That’s the first time I
haven’t been carded.”

He laughed. “Trust me when you get older you
want them to card you. So, a mudslide, huh?”

I nodded my head. “What isn’t there to like
about a drink that tastes like a milkshake but is alcoholic? It’s
perfect.”

The waitress brought our drinks and a basket
of chips and salsa. I ate two chips and sipped my drink. Eric
smiled at me. “So, have you always wanted to be a legal
secretary?”

I laughed. “No. I didn’t
really
want
to be
anything growing up.” Except normal. “But the job was the easiest
for me in my circumstance.”

Eric frowned. “You keep talking about your
circumstances, but not what they are.”

“
It’s better if you don’t
know.”

“
Ciara, I’m not as fragile
as you think.”

I chewed up another chip and asked, “Did you
always want to be an attorney?”

He frowned at me for changing the subject.
“No, I was in the military for awhile, and then decided I needed a
change of pace.”

I looked down at my drink. “So, what do you
want now?”

He was quiet for a moment and then spoke
quietly, “I want someone to spend the rest of my life with. Just
one person who will stay with me through the tough spots and love
me for who I am. Right now I can’t imagine having kids, but things
change and I wouldn’t presume to be set on having kids or not
without consulting my significant other. What about you?”

“
Are you opposed to
getting married?” I asked.

Eric smiled. “Not at all. Of course there are
some women nowadays who feel marriage is just a way for men to tie
them down. So, I’m open.”

The waitress came back with our food, giving
me a chance to be silent. The food was delicious and filled me up.
Eric paid and then we drove to the bowling alley. After obtaining
our rental shoes and picking out our balls we set up the game in
lane sixteen, the lane I tried to reserve each time. Eric stood on
the edge of the lane holding the ball in his hands. He took two
steps forward then released the ball. I watched as every single pin
fell. Eric smiled. “Strike.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you’re good at
bowling. Is there anything you aren’t good at?”

Eric tapped his chin thoughtfully as I waited
for the pins to be reset. “Nothing comes to mind.”

I rolled my eyes again. “You are no
Wesley.”

Eric smiled. “No, I believe I am much more
handsome and better educated than Wesley.”

I took a step toward the lane. “Wesley
couldn’t be educated except for what he taught himself because he
was just a farm boy. Buttercup still loved him though.” I threw the
ball down the lane and sighed as it took out only four pins. It was
actually fun to banter about the movie Princess Bride.

I walked back and waited for the ball to come
up. Eric sighed. “If only women were so easy today.”

I scoffed. “Some still are. As long as you’re
human, straight and kind, you pass my tests.”

Eric’s face fell slightly. “You are very
persistent about human. Are you aware of aliens living here that
I’m not?”

I picked my ball up as it was pushed up out
of the floor on the conveyer. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told
you.” I threw the ball and smiled happily as the rest of the pins
fell. “Spare.”

Eric stood up and stopped in front of me
blocking my path. “Ciara, I wish you would talk to me.”

I looked up in to his sincere face and tried
to open my third eye. Nothing happened. “What if I told you that
the fairy tales we had been told when we were children, are true?
That fairy tales were meant as warnings to humans? What if I told
you that fifty percent of the people in this town aren’t
human?”

Eric smiled. “I’d believe you. I’d also be
curious as to how you would know.”

I shrugged. “Some call it a gift. I think
it’s a curse. Either way it draws their attention and that is never
a good thing.”

Eric frowned. “So you can see them when
humans can’t?”

“
Even when other beings
can’t,” I whispered.

Eric took my hand in his. “And that makes you
a target? Which is why you said I shouldn’t be around you?”

“
Especially why you
shouldn’t be around me. If they were to hurt you I…”

Eric kissed my lips softly. “I can protect
myself.”

“
How can you protect
yourself from something you can’t See? They look completely human
to others, but their real faces are often horrible.”

Eric frowned. “Are they all bad?”

“
Oh, no. Everyone on our
first floor is a preternatural and none of them have tried to harm
me, yet.”

Eric’s eyes opened in surprise. “That’s why
Mr. Wallace attacked you. He knew you could see what he really
looked like.”

I nodded my head. “Yep. He thought I was sent
there to find him and take him back to the wereanimals.”

Eric frowned. “Why would the wereanimals want
him?”

“
He was probably a slave
or something. Preternaturals aren’t humanitarians like the humans.
Most are very barbaric and animalistic, but that’s to be expected
from some who are animals half of the time.”

Eric asked, “And what do you think about
wereanimals?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t really talked to many
of them, but the ones that I have are very single minded.”

Eric raised an eyebrow in question. “How
so?”

I took his ball and tossed it in to the
gutter. “Sex is all they think about.”

Eric frowned. “That was my shot.”

I shrugged. “You took too long.”

Eric waited for his ball to come and then
tossed it down the center of the lane getting a strike. Bastard.
“So, what happens if they find out you can see them?”

I looked down at the ground. “I try not to
think about that. Let’s just say that there aren’t very many
positive possibilities.”

Eric reached out to console me, but I pulled
away and grabbed my ball. I tossed it down the lane and grimaced as
it swung in to the gutter. Eric laughed quietly and I spun around
glaring at him. “Not all of us can be perfect you know.”

Eric’s laughter faded and his smile
disappeared. “I’m far from perfect.”

“
Right. Because there’s
nothing you aren’t good at?”

He shook his head. “That was bantering. If I
wasn’t so selfish I would be pushing you away and telling you to
run, but I can’t push you away.”

He started walking toward me and I couldn’t
move. The openness of his words and the fragile look on his face as
if he expected me to turn him away forced me to stay and listen. He
stopped in front of me. “I’ve never felt this way about a woman
before. I know you’re worried for my safety, but I assure you that
I can take care of myself. It is much more damaging for me to be
away from you. I’ve tried to ignore it, but you are too much. Your
scent, your face, your body. It all draws me in and I can’t ignore
my cravings.”

I swallowed. “Eric, I…”

He put his finger over my lips. “I don’t want
you to say anything. I just want you to know how I feel.” His
finger was replaced by his lips as he kissed me.

I kissed him back then whispered, “Let’s go
to my house.”

He smiled and nodded his head. “Okay.” We
hurried out of the bowling alley and into his car. He drove fifty
the entire way and slammed on his brakes in front of my house. I
grabbed his hand and led him to my front door then stopped. The
door wasn’t closed and the handle was missing. Eric looked at the
door handle and pulled me behind him. “Wait here.”

I shook my head and grabbed his arm. “No.
Let’s just go.”

Eric frowned. “Ciara, just stay here.” He
pulled out of my grip and entered the house, opening the door
silently. I danced from foot to foot as I waited for the scream I
knew I would hear. Two minutes passed before the first growl came,
but it wasn’t inside. I turned to the right slowly and tensed. Two
set of glowing eyes looked at me from the forest. I started to take
a step toward the front door when another growl sounded and a large
rat hissed at me.

“
Oh come on. Rodents of
unusual size? Why me?” I asked angrily. I backed up slowly and then
saw Eric run out of the front door. He grabbed the wererat around
the throat and tossed it out of the house toward the trees and his
friends. Eric picked me up and started running. “Eric, you can’t
outrun them!” I yelled.

He smiled. “I can try.” He picked up a little
speed, but when I looked behind us the rats were right on our
tails.

“
What did they use in the
fireswamp?” I asked out loud.

Eric sighed. “Ciara, that’s just a book
turned into a movie.”

“
Shows what you know.
Stories stem from truth. Now find some fire and a sword. Oh, the
dojo! Straight up the street five blocks and on the
left.”

Eric sighed in disbelief. “Ciara…”

I smiled. “Oh come on Wesley.”

He smiled at me. “As you wish.” He picked up
even more speed just keeping the rats out of reach of us. They were
hideous monstrosities. Rats the size of Saint Bernard’s with beady
red eyes.

Eric ran up the dojo’s steps and I yelled,
“Akio! Rats!”

Akio flung open the door to the dojo and Eric
darted inside. Akio snapped, “Turn away.”

Eric set me down and I turned him to face the
back wall. “He doesn’t like an audience when he’s working.”

Eric raised a questioning eyebrow, but stayed
facing the wall with me. Bones popped and snapped and the air
heated up around us as Akio changed. The rats’ nails clicked on the
steps as they charged up and then they hissed in fear. A roar of
rage sounded and then the oxygen was sucked from the air and fire
plumed behind us. Eric started to turn his head, but I stepped
between him and the wall and pulled his face down to mine. He
kissed me back like he was taking his first breath of air. I
wrapped my hands in his thick hair and pressed my body to his. He
pressed me against the wall and the kiss intensified as he searched
every part of my mouth as if to memorize me. His hands ran up and
down my body and settled on my lower back and neck. The sound of
dying rats and burning hair was barely noticeable in the moment of
our kiss. Nothing mattered, but Eric.