WILD (Naked, Book 3) (7 page)

She shook her head, smiling with relief, and with unshed tears in her eyes. “I’m fine. Just a little cold is all.”

“Oh, well then—let’s get you in the car. Come on.” He put his arm over her shoulder and started walking back to the truck. “So, aren’t you even going to ask me what I was doing just now?”

She shook her head. “It’s your business. I mean—I trust you.”

“Well, I think you’ll want to know this.”

She looked up at him. “What were you doing?”

He smiled proudly. “I think I just got a job at TGI Fridays.”

“Really? Seriously?”

“Yup.” He nodded. “An old friend of mine works there as a waiter and he was on shift just now. I asked him if they had anything open and he said they’re in dire need of line cooks. He introduced me to the manager and the dude said I can come in tomorrow and start on a trial basis.”

“That’s amazing, Elijah!” she said, and her heart soared with admiration and love for him. She knew he was trying this because of her—he didn’t have to say it.

For a brief millisecond, she felt terrible for suspecting him of trying to steal money from the restaurant when he’d actually been trying to get a job, but her guilt was washed away by excitement and relief.

***

Back at the apartment, even after picking up the mess, Elijah was still cheerful.

“I’ve got some beer if you want,” Elijah said to her as he washed his hands in the kitchen sink.

Caelyn didn’t hesitate. “I’ll have a beer. Sure. We’ve got a lot to celebrate.”

He moved to the fridge and pulled out a six-pack, cracked two cans open, handing one to her. “We do? What are we celebrating? Losing ten grand?”

“No,” she replied. She tasted the beer—it was like drinking seltzer water and old crackers. Caelyn grimaced. “I’m celebrating your new job and the fact that J.D.

somehow managed to get the lock on our door fixed already.”

Elijah thought about it as he drank some of his beer. “Yeah, I guess that’s worth celebrating. Small victories.”

“Cheers,” she said, and they clinked cans of beer.

“Want to go somewhere more comfortable to continue the celebration?” he said.

“I’ll even bring your candle with us.”

“Sure,” Caelyn responded casually, although inside she was aflutter suddenly.

Elijah had a look in his eye, a hunger that she recalled from earlier, when things between them had gotten so intense—before Hayley had barged in.

They went in to the bedroom together, and Elijah lit her candle and placed it on his nightstand. He turned on the TV and put it to a music station and left the lights off otherwise.

Caelyn was already sitting in bed, drinking her beer as best she could.

He sat down beside her, his muscular bicep flexing as he tilted the can to his mouth and sipped it. He gave her a sidelong glance. “You don’t like to drink very much.”

It was a statement of fact. Caelyn nodded. “I’m not very big on beer, anyway.”

“You don’t have to drink with me. In fact, I’ll stop too.” He took her can and his and set them over beside the candle.

Then he turned toward her.

She felt nervous but excited still. She remembered how it had felt to touch his bare chest and stomach. The way he’d effortlessly slid her pants off her hips and unsnapped her bra, his hands gliding over her body with practiced ease.

They made eye contact and moved toward one another simultaneously, nothing more needing to be said.

And then that magical kiss, his lips like hot fire on her skin.

She moaned, her own fire stoked past the point of no return.

Everything felt dreamlike, unreal and more than real all at once. Her hands found their way beneath his shirt, touching his smooth skin, feeling the ridges and valleys of his muscular torso as he continued his kiss down her neck.

Suddenly, everything intensified. She wasn’t sure how it happened—like a small fire that instantly explodes into a four-alarm fire and burns out of control. But one moment things were intense and hot, the next she was gasping and moaning, her whole body twitching with need, and Elijah spun her onto her back and climbed on top of her.

His strong hands grabbed her hands and pressed them against the mattress and over her head as he kissed her on the lips.

She loved it. She wanted it. Her hips thrust into his.

But the next second, in the semi-darkness through partially closed eyes, she caught a glimpse of him and he looked like another person.

His face bathed in shadows, he looked not like Elijah—but somehow more like Jayson.

And then it was as if she’d instantly travelled back in time and everything was a slow motion nightmare.

Don’t fight, she heard him say.

There was the smell of alcohol on his breath and pizza, sweaty and greasy on

his lips.

She screamed and screamed and fought.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Elijah said, moving away as she howled.

“I—I can’t breathe. I’m going to be sick.” Caelyn jumped off the bed, feeling certain that she was about to die. Something horrible was happening to her—a stroke, heart attack—maybe a brain aneurism. Whatever it was, she needed to run from it.

Into the bathroom she went, shutting the door and falling to her knees beside the toilet bowl. She sat there feeling like everything was about to come up—all of that Chinese food that she’d picked at, the beer, everything.

But at the last second, her stomach calmed and she sat back on her heels, breathing heavily.

There was a knock at the door. “Hey, are you all right in there?” His voice sounded deeply concerned.

“I’m okay,” she said.

“Can I come in?”

She hesitated. Part of her wanted him to come in and say that he wasn’t upset with her for ruining what had been happening between them—but another part of her was scared that she would see disgust in his eyes.

“I’m coming in, Caelyn,” he announced. “Okay?”

She nodded weakly, eyes closed. “Yeah.”

She heard the door open and then his footsteps. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?

Food poisoning?”

Caelyn opened her eyes and smiled at him. “No, not food poisoning.”

She was relieved not to see anything but concern on his face. He knelt down next to her. “What happened? Did I do something?”

“Not exactly.”

“So I did do something. It’s okay,” he said, “you can tell me what it was.”

She looked down at the floor, embarrassed. “I had some kind of flashback or something.” She looked up at Elijah again, tears in her eyes and now streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. “I don’t know why. I loved the way you kissed me and touched me, and then…” her voice trailed off.

Elijah reached out and touched her shoulder softly and she felt everything relax and she leaned against him, hugging him desperately as the tears came.

“It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear.

She felt so close to him then—so warm, so taken care of.

“Nobody’s ever treated me like you do,” she said. “Nobody.”

“Everyone should treat you the way you deserve,” he replied.

Not long after that, she got up and they went back to bed, Elijah blowing out the candle and then laying behind her, arms encircling her protectively. He held her like that for the rest of the night, and although she’d thought maybe there would be bad dreams, there weren’t.

She slept as peacefully as if she’d been in a warm, safe cocoon with not a care in the world.

***

They both woke up late the next morning, and Elijah wasn’t very talkative. He took the first shower while Caelyn made coffee, eggs and toast.

When he came out to the kitchen, he was surprised to see that she’d once again made breakfast. “Thanks, kid.”

“Welcome.” She gave him a peck on the cheek.

He grinned at her and kissed her forehead. For a moment, the urge to crawl on him and do unspeakable things, to finish what they’d started the night before, almost overwhelmed her better judgment.

But she didn’t trust herself enough to follow through with it, and she didn’t trust either of them to have enough sense to stop in time for Elijah to make it on time to the first day of his new job.

Elijah poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down to eat, while Caelyn went and took her shower, put on makeup, got dressed in a simple blue skirt and white blouse to go out job hunting herself.

When she came out, Elijah was about to leave. His body language was different than earlier. He seemed edgy and anxious to get going.

“It’s going to take time to get used to it,” she said. “You’ve never cooked at a restaurant before.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” he said, the sarcastic edge in his voice disconcerting to Caelyn.

“I just don’t want you to get down if you struggle a little bit in the beginning.”

“I don’t need a pep talk. The coffee was enough,” he said. “I’ll text you.”

“Okay. Maybe by the time you do, I’ll have found a job myself!”

“Cool.” He smiled, but just barely.

And then he was gone.

Caelyn felt badly that maybe she’d pushed too hard, like some nagging wife.

Elijah was doing the best he could, after all, and the last thing he needed was her pretending to give him advice as though he were some little kid.

But she worried. He hadn’t worked a normal job in a long time—maybe ever—

and line cooks were at the bottom of the totem pole in the kitchen. If he felt attacked because someone criticized him or told him he needed to move faster, what would he do?

How would he respond?

It’s not your job to control his behavior, Caelyn. He got along just fine without
you and he can figure out how to skate by at a TGI Fridays job if he decides to put his
mind to it. He doesn’t need lectures.

She almost texted him an apology, but thought that might just make matters worse. Caelyn was already starting to feel like a burden, some clingy girl prone to hysterics, and texting him would only make that feeling grow stronger.

So she focused on her own day.

There were some job openings posted on Boston.com, but not very many things that she was well qualified for. So Caelyn decided to just walk around to the local businesses and ask if they were hiring first, and if that didn’t pan out, she would reevaluate.

Canvassing the neighborhood took some time. There were a lot of businesses, restaurants, and she went into a bunch of them.

Most people told her they weren’t hiring, or asked her to fill out an application for them to put on file for when something opened up.

Finally, she made it to a Starbucks. Part of her just wanted another cup of coffee—preferably a large iced coffee. She needed the energy. But then she also thought that she might as well see if they were hiring.

Starbucks supposedly had flexible hours, good working conditions, part-time benefits, that sort of thing. And usually the people who worked there seemed nice, and many were around her age.

Walking inside, the line wasn’t very big. When it was her turn, she ordered her drink from a boy with a pimply face and multiple lip rings.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Actually,” she smiled self-consciously, “I was also wondering if you were hiring?”

He seemed unfazed by the question, turning to one of the other workers. “Hey, could you tell Brittney that someone wants to apply for a position?”

The person went immediately to find Brittney, while Caelyn paid. “Do you like it here?” she asked the lip ring boy.

He said he did. “It’s good, lots of cool people and perfect if you’re going to school or something.”

“Yeah, that’s my situation—totally,” she lied, suddenly embarrassed that it wasn’t.

After paying, she got her iced coffee and sat down at a table, waiting for Brittney to come and speak with her.

When Brittney emerged from behind the counter, Caelyn was stunned to recognize the girl. It was Brittney Messier, a girl that Caelyn had actually tutored in high school. Brittney had been in a lower level math class, and as Caelyn recalled, she’d struggled a lot with self-esteem around feeling stupid.

When Brittney saw Caelyn sitting there, her eyes widened. Brittney was dark haired, large in the chest, with a highly expressive face. “Caelyn, oh my God!” she cried, and then came over for a hug.

After the brief hug, she stepped back. “What are you doing here?”

Caelyn felt her cheeks turn red. “Well, I was interested in applying.”

“For a job?”

Caelyn laughed. “Uhh…is there something else I can apply for?”

Brittney rolled her eyes. “Sorry, my brain must not be working. I mean, I’m just surprised to see you and…I don’t know. I guess I figured you’d be doing all kinds of cool stuff. Didn’t you go to Cambridge?”

Caelyn shook her head. “Yeah, I did.”

“So are you looking for part-time work then?”

“Not exactly. I’m sort of taking a…you know…a sabbatical.”

For a brief moment, Caelyn saw a look of realization pass across Brittney’s overly expressive face, as she understood that Caelyn wasn’t perhaps as successful as everyone had assumed she would be.

Brittney regained control of her expression and seemed to become all business.

“So, you’re looking to go full time here. What’s your experience?”

“Just worked at Friendly’s for a while in high school.”

“Well this is a lot different from that. It’s fast-paced and our customers are very knowledgeable about coffee so our employees need to be as well.”

“Of course,” Caelyn said, nodding. “I’m happy to study and learn.”

“I know you’re good at cracking the books,” Brittney said, “but it takes a lot more to work here than just school smarts. To be honest, I do have concerns that you might have trouble with multi-tasking and staying focused on customer service.”

“Really?” Caelyn asked, surprised and a little hurt by the assessment. “Well, I promise you I’d work super hard to overcome any deficiencies, and I’m very open to constructive criticism.”

Brittney’s mouth twitched but she moved on. “When are you available to start?”

she asked.

“Immediately. As soon as possible,” Caelyn said, trying not to sound overeager but failing miserably.

Brittney looked at her with a piteous expression. “You might be in luck, Caelyn.

I really do need a barista and I think, even with your limited experience and skill set in this field, you could eventually learn to be a good addition to our team if you dedicate yourself and listen to your team leaders.”

“Thanks for saying that,” Caelyn said, hating that she had to scrape and beg for a job from this girl, who clearly was getting off on making her feel low.

“I’m going to have you fill out an application, but since I’m the Assistant Store Manager, I can pretty much say that you’re hired if you want the job.”

“Absolutely, I want it. Thank you so much, Brittney.”

Brittney nodded at her. “But just so you know, I can’t cut you any slack because we know each other. I want to be a Store Manager and then a District Manager. I’m on a great career path, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. Totally, I would never ask you to cut corners for me.”

“Good.” Brittney allowed a tiny smile to appear on her lips. “How things change, huh? Who’d have imagined that someday I’d be hiring
you
to work for
me
.”

Caelyn just smiled and held her tongue. She needed this job.

A few minutes later, she was out on the street with coffee in hand. Part of her was upset by how Brittney had treated her, but the other part of her was simply happy that she had a job. She needed the money, and eventually she would move on and get something better. This was purely temporary.

At least, you hope it is, Caelyn. But without a college degree—maybe this is the
best you can do.

She pushed that thought away and headed back to the apartment, trying to stay positive. Looking at the bright side of things, within the space of twenty-four hours, both her and Elijah had gotten work.

Now there was an even better chance that he wouldn’t need to go back to doing anything illegal to make money.

Not to mention, it would likely help Elijah’s court hearing in a couple of days, when he would go before the parole board. They hadn’t spoke much about it, but the fact of the hearing was hanging over Elijah’s head like an axe waiting to fall.

Maybe now the axe wouldn’t fall. He was going to prove that he had his life together. Caelyn would help him do so.

When she got home, she was feeling high from the iced coffee and the thrill of landing a job. She texted Elijah and told him the news but then she was still excited, hyper, wanting to spread the good news to other people. But who would even care?

And then it came to her.

She needed to call her mother and apologize for the way she’d jumped in Elijah’s car and taken off. For running to Florida without explanation, for lying, for not giving her parents the respect they deserved.

Caelyn picked up her cell and quickly dialed her mother without taking enough time as to start to second-guess the idea.

The moment her mother answered, Caelyn knew something was very, very wrong.

“Why are you calling me?” her mother answered, her voice harsh and restrained.

Caelyn was so taken back that she had trouble finding words. She put on a sunny voice, trying to break through whatever anger existed between them. “Look, I wanted to try and explain everything,” she said.

“I don’t think you can.”

“Well I can try.”

“And I don’t think I have any interest in hearing your lies.”

Caelyn felt like she’d been punched. “Mom, look—I know it seems like I’ve been acting crazy. I know that I didn’t do a good job of explaining myself, and I wasn’t totally honest with you in the beginning…”

“Caelyn, just stop it,” her mother said. Her voice was flat, icy cold. “Just stop trying to manipulate me. Your sister told us everything.”

“What did Deena tell you?” Caelyn asked, suddenly knowing that it really had been far too easy to get her purse back from Deena.

“How dare you bring that lowlife criminal into our home?”

“Mom, Deena asked me to bring him in, and that’s the truth. He was in the car—

“

“I’m done, Caelyn. I don’t know what’s happened to you, I don’t know why you’re doing the things you’re doing. But when you bring that man into our home and threaten our daughter until she hands you over what you want…”

“I never threatened her.”

“The two of you intimidated her. She was terrified, when I got home—she was nearly having a nervous breakdown. It took hours to get out of her what had happened, she was so afraid of retribution.”

Caelyn couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it.

“I’m glad you think this is something funny. Why should I be surprised?”

“It’s not funny, Mom, it’s ridiculous. We never threatened Deena. She’s using this to make me look bad. She’s angry at me and she’s lying.”