Secret Worlds (178 page)

“So who’s the guy?”

I coughed, nearly swallowing the mushroom down the wrong pipe. “Come again?”

He gave me an incredulous look. “I’m a doctor, if you recall. I can read people, and I’m getting a vibe off of you that you have a boyfriend.”

I stared at him. “There is no way in hell you can know that.”

Terrell shrugged. “Well, there’s also the fact that you smell a little like AXE cologne, and as much of a tomboy as you are, that’s not what you’d wear.”

My shoulders relaxed. “Oh. Well if you knew that, why’d you still ask me out?”

He flashed me a grin. “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t think I could steal you from him.”

I rolled my eyes. “You wish. You’re half-right. I have been traveling with a guy, but he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Good. That saves me the trouble of putting the moves on you.”

I kicked him in the shin and he laughed. The room got a little warm when he did. Dammit.

“Alright, so why is your just-a-friend guy traveling with you?”

“I needed a little help covering the costs. Besides, he knew it’d be hard for me. I’m actually in town looking for information about my mother.”

Surprise stole across his face. “What kind of information?”

“Anything I can find. There’s not much, but I finally got the chance to visit the psychiatric hospital she was in.”

He leaned forward. “Did you find anything?”

“A bit. They still had her profile. I had to go to my aunt’s place to get the last of her things.”

Terrell’s handsome face darkened at the mention of Aunt Carmen. “I doubt that went well.”

A bitter smile crossed my lips. “It didn’t, but…at least the trip wasn’t a total disaster.”

“So when are you heading back to Albany?”

“Not sure. I have a couple more things to take care of, and then we’ll go back in a day or two.”

“Well…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck in a self-conscious sort of way. “If you’re not too busy, I need an escort to this event tomorrow night. Black tie affair.”

My breath caught in my throat. Shit. Talk about a blindside. I licked my lips and thought about it. Well, I
could
go. The only thing on my schedule tomorrow would be helping those ghosts we met in the park. I actually did want to go with him. I’d forgotten Terrell’s ability to draw me to him. However, why was I hesitating?

At last, I shook off my thoughts and nodded. “I guess another night out wouldn’t kill me.”

“Great. If you need help finding a dress, give me a call.”

I had to grin. “I also forgot what a metrosexual you are.”

He flicked a bit of rice at me and I ducked, giggling. A nearby waiter gave us a weird look, but I ignored him. After all, this was the most fun I’d had all day.

From there, the not-date sort of glided along on its own. We talked about his job and how things had been going at the hospital he worked at. Working in medicine had always been interesting to me, but it wasn’t something I could do. Granted, people’s lives were as dependent on him as their afterlives were on me, but his job required so many hours and sweat and blood and tears. It had to be something he loved or it would run him ragged.

We also talked about his family, but only for a moment. I’d met his mother and father only once. It hadn’t gone well. He had a younger sister named Grace, though, and she took a shine to me. He said she was doing well, much to my relief. Anyone with a family that judgmental needed all the luck life could get them.

An hour crept by before Terrell glanced at his watch and groaned. “I gotta get back. We start early tomorrow.”

I spared him a sympathetic look. “Sorry to hear that.”

He shrugged. “It’s cool. Company’s paying for this trip anyway.”

Luckily, he had cash so we wouldn’t have to wave down our almost non-existent waitress to pay the check. I didn’t argue about paying for the meal because I knew it’d be fruitless. I could have talked Michael out of it, but not Terrell. He’d been born and bred a true gentleman, and therefore would never allow a lady to pay the check. I thought that was rather archaic thinking, but sweet in its own way. Not that I’d ever tell him or Michael that, ever.

Night had stretched out its limbs and painted the sky black, leaving Jersey to be lit by streetlamps and car headlights. The city itself seemed to be in motion. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, staring determinedly at his chest. If I looked into those dark eyes from this close, he’d surely steal my soul.

“Thanks for dinner. It wasn’t nearly as disastrous as I thought it’d be.”

He chuckled. “You’re welcome. The dinner tomorrow is at seven o’clock sharp. What hotel are you staying in? I’ll pick you up.”

I told him and he copied it down into his Blackberry. We stood there in a brief awkward silence, trying to figure out the most appropriate way to say goodnight. I had been considering the fail-safe handshake, but he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, voice soft in the cool air of night.

“Night, Jordan.”

I watched him walk away towards his car, and the lingering sensation of his lips on my skin didn’t leave until he pulled out of the parking spot and disappeared down the road. My hands fumbled for my cell phone as I shuffled down the sidewalk and collapsed on a nearby street bench, praying for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Tell me I’m an idiot for going on a date with my ex-boyfriend.”

A pause. “What ex-boyfriend?”

“Terrell.”

Another pause. “No way. Tall, dark, handsome, pediatrician, cut-like-Morris-Chestnut Terrell?”

I palmed my forehead. “Do I know any other Terrell’s, Lauren?”

“Hey, I had to be sure. What the hell is he doing in Jersey?”

“Medical conference. We bumped into each other at the park and he asked me to dinner. He just left.”

Lauren let out a rush of breath. “Damn, girl. How are you holding up?”

“He just kissed me on the cheek. This is the first time I’ve breathed in like two minutes.”

“I figured as much. I don’t get it. I thought the two of you didn’t leave on good terms.”

“We didn’t but…I don’t know, Lauren. It seems like he’s not mad anymore.”

“Well, two years is a long time to think about your relationship,” she admitted. Then, all of the sudden, her voice became rather indignant.

“Wait a minute, I thought you took Michael McSexy with you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Would you stop calling him that?”

“I’ll stop calling him that when it stops being true,” Lauren asserted in an irritated tone. “Anyway, is he or is he not with you?”

“Yes, he is. And that has nothing to do with Terrell,” I shot back.

She groaned. “Is it really so terrible that he’s sweet on you, Jordan?”

I raked a hand through my hair, trying my best not to sound exasperated. “I’ve told you before that it wouldn’t work out. It’s too complicated.”

“Oh, and hooking up with your ex who lives in another state is not?”

She had me there. Dammit. “I’m not saying that’s what I want.”

“Then what
do
you want?”

Her question stopped me in my tracks. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t.”

She paused again. “Well, now’s a perfectly good time to find out. You know I only want what’s best for you. This sort of chance doesn’t come along every day.”

“I know,” I said. “But how the hell am I supposed to find out what I want?”

“If I knew, I’d tell you. All I can say is sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow morning you’ll wake up with an answer.”

“I hope so. Thanks.”

“My pleasure. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.” I hung up and pressed the phone to my lips, thinking. She’d been right. If you asked me yesterday, I would have said I’d never think about getting back with Terrell. Today, however, being with him and feeling so at home around him made me reconsider a few things. On the one hand, he knew nothing about my ghost helping, the death of Mr. N, or the demons gunning for me. Being with him would put him in grave danger. On the other hand, he wanted a home, a family, and a life. A long time ago, I had wanted the same thing. We were leagues apart, and yet somehow still reaching for similar goals. God help us.

My feet felt heavy as I dragged myself into the closest bar and plopped down on the stool, signaling the shaggy-haired bartender with a ring in his eyebrow. He raised said eyebrow at my expression.

“Long day?”

“You have no idea.”

Walking home with five Heinekens coursing through my system proved amusing. I swayed so much on the sidewalk that at one point I gave up and played an imaginary game of hopscotch. The funny looks I’d gotten were plentiful, but I was in too good of a mood to care. Thank God our room was on the bottom floor. Not sure if I could handle stairs in my state.

After dropping the card once or twice, I managed to slide it in and kicked the door open with my foot. Michael immediately glanced over at me from the foot of his bed. He wore a grey tank top and faded blue jeans. Some part of me loathed how good the archangel looked day in and day out. For once, I’d love to see him disheveled, even the slightest bit.

“I thought you’d be back hours ago. Where’d you go?” He asked, tossing aside the book he’d been reading—
Proven Guilty
by Jim Butcher, I noted somehow—and standing up.

I hesitated letting go of the door since it seemed to be the only thing keeping me upright. “Bar down the street from the restaurant. They serve really good tequila shots.”

The archangel’s green eyes enlarged as they raked over me. “What?”

I flashed him a grin and shoved the door shut with my heel. “Kidding. I don’t drink tequila. Had some beers. No biggie.”

Michael sighed, sweeping the dark hair off his forehead and giving me a critical once-over. “Great. How many beers is ‘some’?”

“Five. I’m
not
drunk,” I insisted, poking him in the chest. It felt so very nice and warm that I leaned into him. All at once, my knees gave out, and he made a small noise of surprise, catching my arms so that I wouldn’t slide down onto the floor.

“Sure you aren’t,” he grumbled as I snuggled the side of my face against his broad chest. So many muscles and yet I never saw him go to the gym. Damn perfect angel.

“I guess I can just yell at you in the morning, since you’re not gonna listen to me now. In the meantime, you need to sleep this off.” He scooped me up in his arms, bridal style, and carried me towards my bed. Being in his arms was comfortable. When he got to the mattress, he balanced my entire body in one arm and pulled back the covers. Even I had enough clarity left to be impressed by it.

Michael deposited me on the bed and began to pull back, but my arms were stubbornly locked around his neck. He paused, arching an eyebrow.

“You can let go now.”

I shook my head. “Mm-mm. Comfy.”

He let out a nervous chuckle, settling his knees on either side of me so he wouldn’t have to hunch his six-foot-one frame over my body. “Could you try using words with more than two syllables?”

I exhaled, pressing the side of my forehead into his neck. Like his chest, his skin felt warm and smooth, with the light scent of whatever soap he’d used in the shower. Some sort of AXE brand, like the one Terrell said he could smell on me. I preferred the Old Spice Michael normally wore, but it worked for him.

“You think I’m an idiot, huh?”

Some of the tension in his shoulders eased. “Sometimes.”

“No, I meant about seeing my ex. I shouldn’t have seen him. Can’t have him anyway. Not good enough. Besides, nobody wants to date a crazy lady who sees ghosts.” My voice grew softer with every sentence.

Michael let out a small sigh, but I could hear the smile. “You never know. I hear the crazy ones are the most fun to date.”

At last, a grin found its way to my lips. “Like you’d know.”

“Well, I was human for a long while.”

I let my head drop to the pillow, filling my vision with Michael’s smirking visage. “You ever sleep with anyone?”

His eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “No, I…didn’t get into a relationship. I didn’t think it was a good idea. I couldn’t remember who I was and I doubt many girls would understand that.”

An interesting thought materialized in my head. “Was I your first kiss?”

He watched me with a careful expression. After a moment, he closed his eyes and his voice lost its emotion.

“I think you should get some rest.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s late and I don’t think it’s very healthy for me to be around you like this. I might end up breaking rules that are in place for your protection,” he whispered, eyes smoldering with something that made shudders trickle down my back. Normally it would have made me nervous, but tonight I wasn’t. What I saw in Michael’s eyes was the opposite of what I’d seen in Terrell’s. Terrell wanted me because he thought I’d be a good wife and mother. Michael wanted me because…he wanted me. No ulterior motive or future plans. He knew we’d be screwed up if we tried to have a relationship. I knew it too. The only problem was that neither one of us seemed to accept that fact just yet.

Evidence of the latter began to rise as I lifted my face enough to brush a small kiss on the corner of his lips. “What if I don’t want you to protect me?”

Michael let out a long exhale. “Jordan.”

I didn’t know if the alcohol made me do it or if it was my own selfish desire, but I kissed him again and he didn’t move away or tell me to stop. God. His lips were so soft. The tension that had been there when he laid me down returned to his back and shoulders, which I felt coiling beneath my fingertips like mattress springs. We stayed pressed together for a long moment until he let out a low sound—a groan of pleasure—and slipped his tongue past my lips. Just like that, I felt something metaphysical between us snap, and then my entire body became engulfed in an almost palpable heat. It ate at my skin like fire devouring a log, dizzying, torturous, and amazing. All at once, I realized it was his desire. He’d been holding it back from me. I’d never known just how powerful his feelings were when they manifested into physical forms.

His fingers wrapped around my forearms and lowered them from around his neck, pinning them against the pillow on either side of my head. He sighed into my mouth—a warm rush of breath—and broke the kiss, his voice several octaves lower for reasons that made goosebumps roll over the skin along my throat.