Rev (Jack 'Em Up #4) (7 page)

“Guess we’re working together tonight.”

Mildred’s Cheshire Cat smile screamed victory. “Well, okay, teacher.”

I spent the next hour rehashing safety, drawing attention to yourself during an attack, hand positioning, and teaching the sensitive points on a male body and how to properly take advantage of them. Mildred was a quick learner, and thankfully, only grazed my groin once. I wasn’t sure it was totally unintentional.

I fought my growing anxiety the entire time, never more thankful for a class to be over in my life. I wished them all a quick goodnight and loped out to my Jeep. Without thinking twice, I headed to Jewel’s apartment. Luckily, I remembered the way from a couple trips there when she and Rachel were roommates. I’d never had a reason to go by once Rachel married Jesse and moved out, but I needed to lay eyes on her tonight for my own sanity.

I ran to her door and pounded, my gaze scanning the parking lot for her white pick-up. When she didn’t answer quickly enough, I knocked again. “Jewel? You home?”

Finally, the door swung open and my eyes drank her in. Boy shorts and a tight V-neck tank top in cotton candy pink, bare feet, not a stitch of makeup.

“Micah?” She checked behind me as if searching for someone else. “What’re you doing here?”

Seeing her safe, sound, and beautiful had me feeling like a fucking idiot. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and took a step back. “You didn’t come to class tonight.”

Her brows curled down. “I know.”

Holy shit, she wasn’t wearing a bra. I forced myself to maintain eye contact. “I’m sorry for barging in on you like this. I was worried.”

“About me?” Her body language folded in on itself as if she couldn’t understand anyone caring.

My gaze skated away. “Yeah.”

“Oh.”

I peered back. Her green eyes sparkled a deep emerald in the dim light as she seemed to see me there for the first time, her gaze raking me up and down. I doubt she even realized she was doing it.

She folded her arms across her chest. “Would you like to come inside?”

I hesitated. The stupidity of my decision to come here was now crystal clear. It was not my job to protect her, though that line was becoming more and more blurred.

“Come on,” she said. “You came all this way.”

I nodded and stepped inside, where I was overcome by the power of her scent. Intoxicating, it was more than mere flowers or sweet fruit. It was succulent and earthy in a way that had my stomach suddenly in knots.

She closed the door quietly behind me and stepped away, her eyes not quite meeting mine. “Let me just go, uh, change. I was getting ready for bed. One sec.”

“Oh. Don’t. I’ll go.”

“No.” That one word stopped me, my hand on the knob. “Stay.”

I slowly pivoted back.

“Please.” It was a breathy whisper, barely a word, but it undid me in a million ways.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” She grinned and spun away to lope down her short hallway and disappear into her bedroom.

I sucked in a breath and took in her apartment and all the changes she’d made since Rachel moved out. The couch was the soft brown of a newborn foal. A single white candle flickered on her low coffee table. More artwork hung on the walls. I stepped to the closest one and studied the haunting charcoal portrait of half a woman’s face. The other side of her face bled down like melted wax, the expression in her good eye one of sheer sorrow. Next, was a bright-eyed girl with pigtails and a mischievous smile.

I felt Jewel before I heard her, but she remained silent behind me, allowing me to study her art. I gently touched the glass covering the girl’s face. “Did you do these?”

“Yes.”

I faced her now. “They’re beautiful.”

Something like sadness crossed her face before she tucked it away. “Thank you.”

I said nothing, not sure how to reach out in any real human way, though the urge was fighting to rip out of me.

“Wanna sit?” She indicated the couch behind her. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Uh, sure.” I moved by her and she practically jumped away. I waved off her offer of a drink and waited to see how this would go down. I was itching to go home to the sanctuary of my lonely apartment.

“I bought green tea.”

I peered up.

Her shrug was adorable. “I noticed it’s what you drank at Starbucks.”

She bought green tea, anticipating I’d be at her apartment? Surely not.

“I’ve never had it before, but it’s pretty good. I prefer good old fashioned sweet tea, but it’s not bad. Kinda citrusy . . .” Her words tapered off. “Sorry. I’m rambling.”

“Tea would be great. Any kind you have.”

Her smile was grateful and I wished I had more words to ease her, though I had no idea why she was so skittish around me. Maybe she was always like this and I’d never noticed? Somehow, I doubted it. I noticed just about everything about her.

She returned with two plastic cups and handed me one before sitting on the other end of the couch, as far as she could get from me. I sipped. She sipped. The silence was painful.

I set my cup down on a coaster. “I really didn’t mean to barge in on you. I just thought . . . well, last time we spoke, you said you’d be at class. I worried something might be wrong when you didn’t make it.”

“Right. That’s sweet.” Her eyes drifted to the blank television screen. “I’m fine. My little brother, John, came to town to visit, plus I had a bad day and came home with a headache. I wasn’t up for crowds or sparring. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Did you take something?”

“Take something?”

“For your head.”

“Oh. Yes. I’m better now.”

“That’s good.” I glanced around and spied a duffel bag tucked in the corner. Must be her brother’s. “So, you have company?”

She smiled, following my eyes. “Yes. John. He showed up and we talked a little while, but he’s gone now visiting friends I think. Guess he figured I wasn’t the best company tonight.”

“Huh.” I idly wondered when was the last time I saw any of my brothers. Not since the week I came home from the war maybe? I lifted my cup for another sip, the cold tea easing my dry throat.

“Micah?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are we acting like this? It’s not like we don’t know each other, but . . .”

“But, what?”

She picked at a string on the yoga pants she’d changed into. “I just don’t understand why it feels awkward.” Pink tinged her cheeks, letting me know she did have a clue why it was awkward.

“I don’t either,” I admitted. “But let’s not let it be.”

Her face softened. “How?”

I glanced around her apartment again, searching for a topic of conversation. My gaze zoned in on the picture of the little girl. “Who’s that?”

“Me.”

“Yeah?” I smiled, seeing the resemblance now. “Cute.”

“I used to be.”

My gaze snapped back to her, but her eyes were focused on the portrait. “What do you mean, ‘
used
to be?’”

Jewel

I
felt Micah’s eyes boring into me like laser beams and fidgeted with my cup. I hadn’t meant to sound so self-depreciating. Just being factual. “Nothing. Just saying.”

His silence was stifling.

I finally met his stormy eyes and was startled by the simmering anger I saw there. I internally curled into a fetal position, not sure what I’d done wrong. I fought the tears that wanted to crowd my eyes. Old habits die hard.

I blinked fiercely and stared at my lap.

“Jewel?” His voice was soft, sweet, belying the fierceness I’d seen on his face. “Look at me please.”

I did as he asked and the confusion I saw in him floored me.

“Why would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

His stare hardened. “No. It’s not.”

I swallowed and stood. “Want a refill?”

“It’s not true, Jewel. You’re more than cute. Surely you know that.”

I managed to nod before grabbing his cup and spinning for the kitchen. He had me all kinds of discombobulated. I peered up from pouring more tea to find him at the kitchen threshold, studying me, a hundred painful questions in his eyes.

I set the tea down on the counter and leaned on my hands, dropping my head. “Look. I appreciate you being so sweet, I do, but there’s no need. I know what I am.”

“And what’s that?”

“Oh, come on, Micah. Let’s not do this, okay?”

“Do what?”

“Argue!”

He snapped back, surprised. “We’re arguing?”

I couldn’t help my smile. Shaking my head, I put the tea back in the fridge. “Guess not.”

“I don’t offer compliments lightly,” he said, his voice granite hard. “And I don’t lie. You are the most beautiful woman I know and it kills me that you can’t see that.”

It was like electricity shot through my body, jumpstarting my heart to beat rapid fire. I had no words.

“Who was he?”

“Who?” My voice was squeaky and I hated how small I sounded.

He tilted his head. “Whoever made you feel this way about yourself.”

“What makes you think there was anybody?”

“I may not talk much and keep to myself, but I’m not ignorant.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

His brow lifted in an ‘oh, really?’ motion.

“Can we not talk about this? Please?”

He watched me for several long moments then finally relented. “Okay.”

Relief made me weak. “Great.” I glanced back at my fridge. “Did you come straight from class? Have you eaten?”

“I did and no.”

I smiled. “Can I fix you something to eat? Oh, shit. Wait. I probably don’t have anything you’d like.” I was currently a bit short on tofu and health shakes.

“You don’t have to go to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. I’m just not sure what you eat other than health food. Is that it?” I wrinkled my nose.

His laugh cut through the kitchen like a balm. “I do take care of myself, but no, that’s not all I eat.” He was still grinning as he walked my way. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I forced myself to stand still as he brushed past and opened the fridge then the freezer. He glanced at me. “Have you eaten?”

I thought back to the peanut butter crackers I’d inhaled right before my shower. “Not really.”

“How about I cook you dinner? Something decidedly not healthy.”

“Wow, you sure know the way to a woman’s heart.” We smiled into each other’s eyes, and for the first time, I saw the real Micah I’d always known was underneath all that mystery and angst.

We chatted about nothing in particular while he pulled out the ingredients for our meal. He waved off my offer of help and poured me a glass of wine instead. I tugged myself up on the countertop and watched him work around my kitchen, his movements concise, frugal, and efficient. Eventually, the scent of chicken fettuccini alfredo and garlic bread filled up my small apartment, making my mouth water.

He poured us both more wine and we sat at my tiny table to eat. He lifted his glass. “Cheers.”

One bite of his pasta and I nearly professed my love. “God,” I moaned around my fork. “This is so good.”

His hot gaze about ate me up, which confused the hell out of me. I wasn’t used to men, particularly men who looked like him, doing anything but looking right through me.

I took another bite and searched for a neutral conversation starter. “Tell me about your family.”

For a minute, I didn’t think he’d answer, but I was quickly learning that Micah was right when he said he wasn’t much of a talker, so I just gave him space. He was opening up to me more than I’d ever dreamed possible and I loved that he felt at ease. Like a wheel just spinning again after being greased, he began to speak. He told me about his three brothers, Adam, Nathaniel, and Ethan, all younger, and how he’d tormented them growing up.

I laughed. “I have three brothers, too, so I know exactly what you’re talking about, except I was the one being tortured. John, the one who’s here, was the nicest. Sometimes.”