REBORN (Metamorphosis Book 1) (2 page)

I had some energy now and decided to go out and buy a few groceries before crashing for the day.  Both my fridge and cupboards were empty, so I made a quick list of basic necessities.  Who knew at what time I was going to wake up feeling hungry; after all I was still on Parisian time! I needed to get a few things to hold me for the next couple of days.  With my purse and cell phone in hand, I headed for the elevator.  A car going down stopped in front of me a few seconds later.  I turned on the phone and decided it was time to start listening to my messages. 

"A hundred and fifty nine!  What's wrong with people, didn’t everyone know that I was out of town?  At least everyone I cared about."

I was scrolling down the list and began erasing some of the repeated messages when the elevator door opened and I walked out, still looking at my phone, and bumped into a solid wall, making me drop the phone and purse.  I looked up and found my eyes staring into the most stunning set of green eyes that I had ever seen.  Our gazes locked and I was awestruck, frozen in place by the force of his eyes, which seemed to look into my soul.

"I am so sorry.  Here, let me help you." I heard a reassuring voice through a daze.  We both bent down at the same time, bumping heads.  He extended his hand to balance me and as his hand brushed mine briefly, the shock I felt was instant, sending tiny volts of electricity to every cell of my body.  My body quivered ever so slightly yet I knew he noticed. An almost imperceptible smile adorned his lips, and he moved a fraction of an inch closer.  At that moment my nostrils caught a whiff of his masculine scent and an inaudible moan escaped my lips.  His lips parted as if to speak but no words came out of his mouth.  We were two bodies trapped in an alternate universe.

I came to worry that the poor man must have a concussion.  Yet, I still could not say a word; I was hypnotized, enthralled by him.  His eyes continued to gaze into mine, stirring feelings in me that I had not felt in years.  I felt myself getting warm to my core. My heart was pounding, my hands sweaty and images of him taking me into his arms and plastering his mouth into mine began dancing in my head.

In the distance I heard him say, "Are you okay?"  I took a deep breath to steady myself and after a second managed to respond,   "I'm fine, but it appears my phone is not," looking at the mess around me.  My phone had shattered into a million minuscule pieces, leaving me with the painful realization that I had just added one more thing to my to-do list.

"What can I do to make amends? I was distracted and should have been paying more attention.  Let me give you my card, I'll be more than happy to replace your phone.  These days no one should be without a cell phone." His voice sounded breathless, rhythmic almost.  He had a slight accent, Italian or maybe Portuguese, all I knew was that it made him sound sexy as hell.

He extended his hand to give me his card and when I took it our fingers touched briefly again.  It was a light touch, almost like that of a feather but for the second time it sent electricity through my veins.  "Oh God, he could only mean trouble," I thought to myself.

He introduced himself, "Kayden Hale, twenty-sixth floor." After a second I responded in kind, "Ellie McCabe, 14 B."  He took my hand and held it far longer than is customary.  His gaze raked my body slowly and seductively, and beamed at me with approval.  I could not take my eyes away from his mouth as he spoke.  In all honesty I couldn't hear what he was saying, all I could see was beautiful white teeth and full lips.  I kept feeling drawn from his eyes to those lips and playing in my mind all sorts of scenarios of how they would feel on me.  As if reading my mind he gave me a predatory smile. 

Carried away by my own response, I failed to notice that there was a woman at his side, and she cleared her throat.  It was only then that I realized that he was not alone.  She was a beautiful blonde, blue eyes, tall and slender, wearing these six-inch stilettos that made her look like she was ready for anything.  Her hair was shoulder length and cut to precision.  She was young, certainly younger than him, but not obscenely younger, perhaps twenty-six, twenty-eight.  As I stood there staring at both of them, I realized they made a striking couple. 

He was in his thirties, or maybe his forties, with dark sable hair cut short, and striking emerald green eyes that reminded me of beautiful country fields. His skin was a dark olive, perhaps of Italian or Latino descent, tall and slender, but with the perfect amount of muscular tone.  This man was the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen.  And his smile, oh God, that smile could melt the polar caps!  He was also taken, I sensed by the possessive look on the face of the blonde who was standing next to him.

"What was I thinking?" I asked myself.  I wasn't some star-struck sixteen-year-old, head over heels over the class president.  I was a sophisticated, experienced woman with too much on her plate to contemplate idle thoughts.  Enough of this, I had to get to the store and away from this man before I said or did something that I would regret later. Unfortunately I was so entranced that I could not stop staring at his beautiful eyes and lips. And yet, he seemed to be peering at me intently, staring with such longing, such intensity …  enough, this man was obviously taken.

"Don’t worry about the phone, I'll replace it myself.  It wasn’t your fault I was distracted.  I should have never been looking at my messages while walking," I said to him, trying to regain my composure. 

"Precisely; Kayden, we need to get going," said the blonde. 

Kayden bent down and picked up my purse and phone SIM card.  "Here, you'll need these," he said to me with an air of authority.   "I've taken enough of your time.  Nice to meet you, Ellie." And they were gone, leaving me breathless.

Chapter Two

I stood there, looking at the elevator doors close; what the heck had just happened?  I shook my head and headed for the streets and the noisy sounds of downtown Chicago.  As I stepped outside, a cool breeze caressed my skin.  "Oh, Lake Michigan; thank you for bringing me back to reality," I said out loud. What was I thinking!  For a brief moment, a nanosecond perhaps, I saw myself as a young woman looking into the eyes of this spectacularly handsome man and so many possibilities raced through my mind.  But I was in a different place in my life now, so I was silently grateful that the blonde and now the lake had brought me down to earth.

Checking my watch I noticed that it was five p.m. and the streets were crowded with pedestrians returning from work.  I would be one of those in just a couple of weeks.  But first, I needed to stop at the store and pick up the groceries and then get home for some much needed sleep.  Tomorrow I would get a new phone.  By now the kids and Julian must be going crazy calling me.  If I didn’t send them an email, they would end up coming to check on me, and that would be the end of any hope I had for rest.

I bought flowers to brighten the apartment, a couple of bottles of Pinot Noir, Brie, fruit, and a French baguette.  I also bought some Belgian chocolate, coffee, and tea, knowing that I would now be ready for the next twenty-four hours! 

As I entered the building and passed the security desk, the young woman manning the desk called my name. 

"Ms. McCabe, Ms. McCabe."  Not sure what she wanted, I turned around. 

"Welcome back, Ms. McCabe." she said in a cheerful voice.  "A package arrived for you while you were gone." 

"A package; hmm."  Puzzled by what it could be and from whom, I picked it up and headed upstairs. 

I decided to open a bottle of wine first so it could breathe, and then proceeded to find a vase for the flowers and prepare a small plate of cheese, fruit, and bread.  The next order of business was a quick shower and comfortable sweat-pants and T-shirt.  I wanted to be relaxed for the night ahead; the package was the last thing on my mind. When I finally opened it, I was shocked.

"What in the world?" I was mystified.  It was the latest model iPhone!  Who could have sent it? Then it dawned on me; it had to be him.  A note fell from the package.

Call me when you get this.  I'll come down and install the SIM card.  K

My assumption was that it was from Kayden. No kidding Sherlock!  But, wasn’t he married or at the very least attached to the blonde from this afternoon?
The right thing to do was to call and say thank you, but no thank you, I couldn’t accept a present of this nature from him.  It was too much from a stranger, or so I told myself.

I looked for his card and dialed his number. "Hello, this is Ellie McCabe; I just wanted to thank you for the phone and to say…"

"Ellie, you are back.  I'll be right down."  His voice was low, velvety and oh so sexy.  He hung up the phone, leaving me stunned for the second time in mere hours.  What had just happened?  Could his interest be other than polite?  Then it dawned on me that he was coming over!  I took a second to assess myself in the entryway mirror.  Oh my god, look at me, my hair is tied a mess, I have no makeup, and I am wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt! 

And then the doorbell rang!  I felt the pressure build up in my chest, my heart began to palpitate, and an ache sparked in my belly.  It was him, at my apartment, and I looked like crap! 

I took a deep cleansing breath. "He's just here to make sure the phone is in working order; nothing more.  No need to get excited," I soothed myself.  "Act your age; you are too old for all this nonsense.  Just open the door.  Who cares what you look like, he is not here for you."  I kept repeating the mantra, as I tried to move to the door but found myself frozen in place.  Then I heard a loud knock.

I opened the door and my mouth dropped open as I took in the sight of him. Kayden stood there, looking at me with a smile on his face, or was it a smirk?  He was even more handsome up close, if that was possible, than I had originally thought. Not the pretty face of a boy, but the confident face of a man who'd seen life.  He had dimples in both cheeks and a strong square jaw with a slight indentation in his chin.  His hair was slightly wet and for the first time I noticed a sprinkle of grey on the temples. 

He was wearing a light grey T-shirt that showed the contour of his muscles and his broad shoulders. And his eyes, oh god, those beautiful bright green eyes; for a split second I was yet again lost in them. Unabashed my gaze moved down over his body; the one thing I had not noticed before were his hands.  They were big and strong but not rough.  I realized that I had been checking him out from head to toe.  Unfortunately, he realized it too; my face flushed a deep red.  Then I heard his voice, yet again waking me up from a fantasy.

"Can I come in?" he asked, sounding slightly amused, as he moved inside without waiting for me to answer.  He walked with the confidence of one used to being in charge and getting his way.

"Where is the SIM card?" he asked.  I moved to my purse and found it for him, without saying a word; the truth was that I had not spoken a word since I opened the door.  So unlike me!

Kayden proceeded to go to the table and begin tinkering with the phone as if he were in his own home.  After several minutes he announced that he was all done.  "You have a working phone again, just don’t text and walk!" he announced with a mocking tone.  "My work here is done."

"Kayden, Mr. Hale, I can't accept the phone.  Your generosity is very much appreciated, you did not have to go to all that trouble," I muttered when I finally came to my senses.

"First, Mr. Hale is my father, so please call me Kayden. You don’t hear me calling you Ms. McCabe.  Second, I feel personally responsible for your loss of the phone and I take my responsibilities very seriously.  And third, were you going to offer me a glass of that wine on the kitchen island?  Regardless, I can't return it, it's already activated."

"I am so sorry, where are my manners, would you like a glass of wine?" But of course, I mumbled to myself; he asked for it!  "At the very least let me reimburse you for it," I reconciled to myself.

"You will do no such thing; if you want to make amends you can go to dinner with me tomorrow night."  With that he moved to the kitchen island and served two glasses of wine; without flinching he took one for himself and handed me one.

"What should we toast to?  What about, new possibilities?" he said with a smile.

I clinked the glass and gulped the wine, faster than I normally would.

"I am sorry Kayden but I am not available tomorrow night. Besides, shouldn’t you consult with your wife first?"

"My wife?"  He looked puzzled.  "I would love to consult with her but that would be a little difficult.  Besides, I think she would approve."

"I beg your pardon?  I'm sorry but I'm not accustomed to going out with married men, whether their wives approve or not."  I was irritated by his cool, aloof manner.

"Forgive me Ellie, I was just teasing you.  I am a widower; my wife passed away thirteen years ago.  Why did you think I was married?"

Then it dawned on him.  "Oh, you think that the woman who was with me earlier today is my wife.  No, she is a business associate who came over to pick up a contract.  Strictly work.  Ellie, I am not in the habit of dating women I work with.  So, Saturday night then?"