Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (20 page)

“Come on,” I told
Brand taking his hand and following Michelle to see if we could help her.

I saw her run into
the ladies bathroom and asked Brand to wait outside for me.

When I found
Michelle, she was pulling out handfuls of paper towels and desperately trying
to dry her shirt in between sobs.

“Michelle?” I said
approaching her.  “Can I do anything to help?”

“No,” she cried. 
“It’s ruined.”

“Hold on a sec,” I
ran to the entrance of the bathroom.

“Would you go down
to the concession stand and buy her one of the t-shirts they’re selling?  Her
shirt is pretty much toast.”

Before I knew what
he was doing, Brand peeled off his black polo shirt and handed it to me.  “Here
give her this to wear for now.  I’ll go get her a t-shirt in case she would
rather wear that instead of this.”

I couldn’t
protest.  Seeing Brand standing half naked was enough to make any woman
speechless.  He was walking away before I knew it.

When I went back
to Michelle she had stopped crying and was standing in front of the mirror with
the most pitiful, dejected expression I’ve ever seen.

“Would you like to
wear this shirt? It’s Brands.”

“Why would he give
me his shirt?” She sniffed.

“He’s like that,”
I shrugged.  “But you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.  He’s
bringing you a new t-shirt from the vendor.”

“No, I think I’d
rather get my shirt off as soon as I can.”

Michelle took the
shirt out of my hands and did one of the oddest things.  She held the shirt up
to her face and inhaled as deeply as she could.  When I could see her face
again, she had the strangest look of ecstasy in her eyes.  It was almost like
she was on drugs or something.  She quickly went into one of the stalls to
change. 

“So who was the
guy who spilled his drink on you?”  I leaned against the counter facing the
stall she was in.

“Nora’s date,
Ricky Norris.”

“Honestly
Michelle, I don’t know why you hang around with Nora.”

“I know she can be
mean sometimes,” Michelle came out of the stall with her wet shirt in her hands
and Brand’s shirt on.  “But we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. 
She can be nice when she wants.”

“Well, you know
you’re always welcomed to do stuff with me and Tara anytime you want.”

“I appreciate the
offer.  Actually I’m pretty sure I’ll have someone new to hang out with soon.”

“That guy you
like?”

“Yeah.  I think
he’ll be free to tell me how he really feels this week.”

“Free?”

“Lilly!”  I heard
Brand call to me from the entrance to the bathroom.  When I went to where he
stood, I saw he had bought himself a t-shirt and was wearing it. I have to say
I was a little disappointed by that.  He held a smaller t-shirt in his hands.

“Here,” he said
handing me the shirt.  “I just guessed at her size.”

“Thanks.” I leaned
up and kissed him on the cheek.  He really was the most thoughtful person I had
ever met.

Before I even had
a chance to turn around and head back into the bathroom, Michelle came out and
stood beside us.

“Thanks for
lending me your shirt,” she said to Brand looking up to him like he was her own
personal savior.  I think it was the first time I’d ever heard her say a full
sentence to him.

“You’re more than
welcomed.  We bought you a t-shirt if you’d rather wear that.”

“No, I like your
shirt.  Do you mind if I keep it on?”

“It’s yours,”
Brand told her.  “In fact, you can just throw it away when you’re done with
it.”

“Thanks.  Well, I
should be getting back to Nora.  See you guys later.”  She waved goodbye and
headed back out to the bleachers.

“Do you want to
see the rest of the game?” Brand asked taking my hand.

“No, I think I’ve
had enough. I’d rather see another one of your favorites.”

By the time we got
back to Brand’s house, it was almost six.

“Are you hungry?”
he asked.

“Starving.”

“Come on then, we
can’t have you withering away on my watch.” 

We walked out to
the back of his house and down by the lake shore.  About 100 yards away I could
see a boat dock with a sail boat moored to it.  The dock and the boat were lit
up with strands of twinkling white lights like it was Christmas.

“I didn’t even
know this was out here,” I confessed.

“Yeah, you can’t
see it from the house.  But this is one of my favorite things to do, go sailing.”

  “We’re not going
to go out on the lake are we?”

“No, I wasn’t
planning on it.  Why?”

“I don’t like
being on the water.”

“What’s wrong with
the water?”

“Nothing really. 
It’s just ever since that time I almost drowned in the lake back home I’ve
never liked water much.”

“That’s
understandable.  No we’re just going to have supper on the boat.  We won’t be
taking her out.”

Brand helped me
climb into his boat and sat me down on a bench made for two by the wheel.  He
went below deck and came back up with a large pizza box and two sodas.

“I thought this
was supposed to be a day of your favorites.  Isn’t that one of mine?”

“Well, I thought I
would share my favorite pizza with you.  You can only find it in upper state New York.”

“New York?  But
how…”

“I had it flown in
today.”

“You had a pizza
flown in from New York?” I shook my head in exasperation.  “Just how rich
are
you?”

“Filthy, remember. 
I disclosed that at our first lunch together.”  He smiled.

The pizza was the
best I’d ever had.  It had just the right amount of everything, perfectly
balanced with meats, vegetables, sauce and cheeses.  The crust was chewy and
crunchy at the same time.

After we ate our
fill, we sat back on the bench and finished our sodas.

“Did you put the
lights up?” I asked watching the lights bob and weave with the movement of the
boat.

“No, Abby did. 
She thought it would add a touch of romance.”

“She was right,” I
agreed putting my soda can down and deciding to try my hand at seducing Brand
into kissing me.  I took his can out of his hand and placed it beside mine.  I
stood up and straddled his lap putting my hands behind his neck and gently
massaging it with my thumbs.  He placed his hands on top of my thighs, having
no other place to lay them.

“I’ve had a
wonderful day,” I whispered in his ear kissing the little area between his ear
and cheek.

I saw Brand’s eyes
close obviously finding my attention pleasurable.

“It’s not over
yet,” he sighed.  “I still have a couple of things to share with you.”

“They can wait a
little while,” I said finding the tender flesh at the base of his neck with my
lips.

“Yeah, they can
wait,” he agreed, slowly rubbing his hands up and down my thighs. 

I continued my
assault and finally kissed my way back up to his face playing around the edges
of his lips.

“Lilly,” he said
in a voice that warned he knew what I was trying to do.  Before I knew it, he
gently pushed me to an upright position.  “That’s not going to work.”

I could see in his
eyes that he was slightly amused by my attempt at seducing him but that he was
resolute in not kissing me on the lips first.

I let out a
disappointed sigh.  “Well, I had to try.”

“It was an
excellent attempt,” he kissed me on the cheek.  “But don’t tempt me anymore,
please.  You know how much our first kiss means to me.”

I stood up from
his lap feeling a bit embarrassed at my failed attempt at playing Mata Hari. 
My discomfort must have been written all over my face.  Before I knew it, he
pulled me back down to sit on his lap again.

“Don’t look like
that,” he whispered.  “You know under any other circumstances I wouldn’t be
able to resist you.  But a kiss isn’t just a kiss for us.  It’s so much more.”

“I know.  I was
just hoping I could make you forget all that for just a few minutes.”

Brand chuckled. 
“It does make me feel good to know you want it so badly.  Was that your first
time trying to seduce a man?”

I couldn’t meet
his eyes.  I stared at his chest and nodded.

“Would it make you
feel any better to know I almost gave in?”

I looked into his
eyes then and saw that he was telling the truth.

“How close was I?”
I asked, pleased I had actually done it right.

“Too close,” he
admitted.  “In fact, I think it’s time we went back up to the house for the
next of my favorites.”

Reluctantly, I let
Brand lead me back across the lakeshore to his house.  When we got there I saw
the fire pit had been lit and an inflatable screen was up in front of one of
the couches.  The other couch had been removed to make room for it.

“Are we watching
your favorite movie?” I asked.

“Yes.  Sit down
while I put it on.”

I didn’t have to
wait long to see what Brand’s favorite movie was:  Casablanca.

It had been a long
time since I saw it and wasn’t surprised that it was his favorite.  When he sat
down with me on the sofa, I snuggled up to him and watched Humphrey Bogart’s
tortured character pretend he didn’t care about Ingrid Bergman anymore.  About
half way through the movie, I must have fallen asleep.  The next thing I knew
Brand was carrying me in his arms into a room I’d never been in before and laid
me on a bed.

“Is the movie
over?” I asked trying to force my eyes open.  I didn’t want the day to be over
so soon.  I had intended to stay awake the whole 24 hours but knew that wasn’t
going to happen.

“Yes, my love. 
It’s over.”

I snuggled up to
the pillow my head was laying on.  “Is this your bed?”

“It’s my favorite
mattress.  In fact, the Queen of England sleeps on a mattress just like this one.”

“Umm,” I moaned
feeling completely at ease resting on Brand’s bed.  I finally opened my eyes
enough to see him looking down at me and taking his shoes off.  After he lay
down beside me, I cuddled up next to him cherishing his warmth.

The last words I
heard him say before I drifted off to sleep were, “I love you.”
     I don’t know why but I had the best dream of my life that night.  Maybe it
was the bed or maybe it was spending the night in Brand’s arms.  But the dream
felt more real than any I’d ever had before.

It started out
with Brand and I finally kissing. The feel of his lips against mine was even
more excruciatingly pleasurable than I could have possibly imagined.  It was
odd but it was like I was looking out of Brand’s eyes and feeling his emotions. 
The way he saw me was the way I looked in his paintings:  soft, beautiful,
almost ethereal.  His love for me was endless and I knew the true depths of his
emotions concerning our first kiss.  It was incredibly important to him that I
give myself to him freely with no strings attached, no doubts that he was the
one I loved.  The happiness he felt as my lips moved against his was unlike
anything I’d ever experienced in my short life.  If true ecstasy existed, he
would experience it when I kissed him for the first time and unreservedly gave
him my heart. 

The next image was
of me in a wedding dress walking down an aisle strewn with red rose petals.  I
could feel how proud Brand was standing at the alter waiting for me to declare
my love for him in front of God and all our friends.  Before I knew it we were
making love on the bed I slept in now.  Would making love with Brand really be
like this?  He was gentle and attentive to every reaction my body made against
him.  It was important to him to make it a beautiful experience for me that I
would remember for the rest of our lives.

The dream
continued and I saw myself cradling a baby girl in my arms. The pride Brand
felt was indescribable.   I saw Brand playing with our child making her laugh
as he played a game of chase with her.  He loved her as much as he did me and
marveled at how happy she was.  In what in reality were probably just a few
minutes, I watched Brand and I raise our little girl to adulthood and saw her
walking down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams, leaving us to start a
life of her own.

By the end of the
dream, Brand and I had spent a lifetime together loving one another and
enjoying the joys and heartaches of being parents, grandparents, and
great-grandparents.  We were old, wrinkled and grey of hair lying side by side
in a bed.  After spending a lifetime together, we knew we had lived.  Death was
just a new beginning for us as we died cradled in each others arms.  The next
thing I knew we were ascending through the clouds in bodiless forms toward a
misty swirl of colors like in the painting of Brand’s father.  

When I woke up, I
was crying.  Brand woke up shortly after me and tried to soothe away my tears.

“What’s wrong?” he
asked.  “Did you have a bad dream?”

“No,” I sobbed. 
“I had the most beautiful dream I’ve ever had.”

“Do you want to
tell me about it?”

I shook my head. 
“I don’t want to jinx anything.  If I talk about it, it might not come true.”

I glanced at the
clock on the bedside table and noticed it was already seven in the morning.

“Our day’s almost
over,” I whispered hugging him tightly, not wanting our perfect day to be over
just yet.

“We’ll have other
days like this, Lilly.  All you have to do is ask.”

I smiled and laid
my head on his chest, completely content for the first time in my life.  The
images of my dream kept playing through my mind.  What was I waiting for?  How
could I find anyone more perfect for me than Brand?  Even if we had half the
happiness I saw in my dream, it would be enough for me.  Maybe my subconscious
was telling my conscience mind what it should know.   In that moment, I knew my
decision was made.  But should I kiss him now?  It just didn’t seem like the
right time.  If I could wait this long, I could wait a little longer.  I would
kiss him after the Black and White ball.  It would be the perfect setting.  A
moment we would remember for the rest of our lives.