Something Witchy This Way Comes (11 page)

Chapter Twelve

Tessa

Sitting in the car just watching Hayden and Nadia talk bored me to distraction, especially since I couldn’t hear what they were saying and couldn’t participate. At least it gave me time to sober up. Mostly.

I stuck my head out the window. “Hey, are we leaving or not?” Not that I wanted to, but I wanted to do
something
.

“One second.” Hayden held up a finger and continued talking to Nadia in a hushed voice. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt and when his arm had moved, his bicep flexed. And I loved the way the muscle at his hip flanked six-pack abs just above the waistband of his jeans.

When Skyler returned a couple minutes later, it occurred to me that I’d spent that entire time happily studying Hayden’s body. The horror of that knowledge cleared my head the rest of the way, but the anxiety didn’t return. I felt good, relaxed. Being at the party was a piece of cake. I just needed to avoid Hayden.

Wait. I’d told him I could read minds. Worse, I’d admitted to imagining kissing him. How embarrassing. God, I needed another drink to carry me through the humiliation. Never mind — that’s what landed me there in the first place. But what’s done is done and I couldn’t change any of it. Hayden would never like me seriously anyway, so why worry what he thought?

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Coffee,” Hayden said, getting inside and closing the car door. “Figured you’d feel better with some caffeine in you.”

“To sober me up?”

“Yes,” Hayden answered.

Grabbing my purse, I opened the door on my side and got out before he could start the car. “I’m fine now,” I told them through the window. “But if you guys want to go, I’ll wait here with Corinne.”

“All sobered up, are you?” Hayden asked, eyes narrowed.

“Yes, completely.” I backed up so he didn’t have to worry about hitting me with the car. “I’ll see you guys later.”

As if waiting for me to say that, he jumped out of the car and slinked toward me like a panther — never taking his eyes off me. The look on his face was anything but mild. Uh-oh. What was up with that? He’d been pretty cool all night, hadn’t flirted and had only touched me to lead me somewhere.

Hayden didn’t slow down as he passed me. Instead, he gripped my hand again and dragged me along. Leaving the partiers behind, we went back up the driveway, and into the garage. He left the door slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of light so we didn’t have to fumble. He finally stopped in a secluded spot in the far corner of the garage and leaned against a work table. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Refusing never occurred to me. Like a pliant doll, I lifted my chin and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him to me. He swooped and covered my mouth with his, his hot tongue assaulting mine.

Oh, crap. It was perfect — like his fantasies had melded with mine.

Except this was better.

I drowned in the feel of his lips, and his hands brought shivers as they skated up my back. When his mouth deserted mine, his eyes seemed to absorb the details of my face, his hands planted firmly on my hips. Then, in one swift move, he lifted me up onto the work table and kissed me again. Harder, hungrier…

I set my purse aside to free my hands. They skimmed his bare arms, moving on to explore his naked chest, my thumb sneaking into the waistband of his jeans.

What was I doing?

I couldn’t let him get any more than he’d already gotten from me. With my palms flat against his chest, I shoved him away. “Uh… I have to go.” Jumping off the table, I bolted.

“Tessa, wait.”

Once out of the garage and into the safety of the crowd, I halted. “Yeah?”

He caught up to me. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re smart enough to figure it out.” I put my hands on my hips.

“I thought we were having fun.”

“If I remember correctly, you promised several days ago that you wouldn’t hit on me. I’m pretty sure that includes kissing.”

“I assumed that only applied to school, when I was on duty.”

I flinched. Sadly, he made sense in a weird way.

“Besides, I may have said I was going to kiss you, but
you
kissed
me
.” He grinned.

I wanted to slap the smugness right off his face.

“I’ll make you a deal. If they play a slow song, you dance with me. And I won’t try to kiss you again tonight unless you want me to.” He paused like he was thinking. “If you refuse the dance, I’ll pursue you relentlessly all night and tomorrow too.”

“Put on a shirt and it’s a deal.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “Not on your life.”

“Fine. But they’ve been playing fast stuff since I got here. Good luck getting something slow on.” It was my turn to gloat.

“I know the DJ. Let’s go inside.”

Damn.

Sure enough, Hayden made a beeline to the DJ and as soon as that song ended, a slow one began.

“A deal’s a deal, McClean.” He pulled me against him and began moving slowly to the music.

It wasn’t only my stomach anymore, but the rest of my insides and limbs that felt it. Tingling, burning, yearning. If he’d been fully dressed, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

Oh, who was I kidding? I would have made out with him, dressed or not.

“I don’t think we should do this.” I withdrew slightly so I couldn’t feel his every movement or his thighs against mine. Maybe my thinking would be clearer if he wasn’t touching me. I wasn’t drunk on vodka anymore, but instead I was drunk with lust for Hayden.

He nodded slowly, searching my face. “You think if you keep your distance, you’ll get over wanting me.”

Yes, but I wasn’t going to say that. He didn’t need the encouragement. I attempted to disengage, but he yanked me back. “A dance, Tessa. That was the deal. Not half a dance. The song’s not over yet.”

Bastard. “You’re a pompous ass, Hayden.” If I kept talking, maybe I wouldn’t succumb. “Not
every
girl is madly in love with you.”

He ignored that. “It’s not going to go away on its own. If anything, knowing we can’t have what we want makes it worse. It’ll interfere with our classes, my tutoring and it’ll be awkward as hell every day at school.”

He painted an unpleasant picture. I didn’t want to imagine my infatuation for him festering.

“Maybe we should ride it out—”

“I’m not going to sleep with you, Hayden.”

“That’s not what I was going to say, although I’m not opposed to it. I meant that maybe we should… indulge. Just for a while until we cool off. Make a pact that once one of us says it’s over, the other respects it.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “No one even has to know.”

I smir
ked. “Oh, I bet you’d love that. I could be your dirty little secret.”

He pressed m
e closer. “Now why would I want to keep us a secret if it meant I wouldn’t be able to kiss you any time I felt like it?”

I swallowed, really wanting to get started with that arrangement. But I couldn’t. If nothing else, the humiliation of being dumped two days or a week from now kept me on the straight and narrow.

“That’s a nice offer for a girl who’s beneath you, but I’ll pass.” Like my infatuation would sooner or later. It couldn’t last forever.

The song wound down and he released me. “You win this round, McClean. But tomorrow, you’re fair game.”

“It’s not a
game
, Hayden. I’ll admit, you’re really freakin’ hot, but the fact remains that no matter how you reword your offer to make it
seem
better, it would still be a fling. I want what I want and you’re the way you are. Nothing’s changed.” I blew out a breath. “If I don’t see you again before I leave, I’ll be at your house tomorrow morning at nine.”

I strolled off in search of my friends and found Nadia in the kitchen making herself a new drink. Alcohol free, I hoped, since she was supposed to drive. I didn’t want to miss curfew and stay longer.

As soon as she saw me, she stopped everything to huddle. “How did it go with Hayden?”

I checked to make sure no one stood close enough to hear. “He lured me into a dark corner of the garage and we made out for a couple minutes. Then he offered to keep doing it for a few days until we got bored, no strings attached.”

“He’s not here, so I assume you told him to piss off?”

“Yeah.”

She laughed. “Should I make you a drink?”

More truth serum? No, thank you. “No, I’m good. Where’s Corinne?”

She set the OJ carton down. “Jared cracked open a bottle of Cuervo and did body shots on her. And vice versa.” She shook her head. “She threw up before she got much of a buzz. I stuffed her in the car with a barf bucket and locked the doors. She fell asleep right away.”

“Hope she doesn’t puke and miss the bucket. You sure she’s okay?”

“Let’s go check.”

On our way to the front door, Jared stopped us, waving a nearly empty tequila bottle. By his flushed face and the way he swayed, I guessed he’d drank a lot of it. “You lovely ladies want to do a shot with me?”

“No, they don’t.” Hayden gently pushed Jared away from us then folded his arms over his chest until the drunk was a safe distance away. “Are you guys leaving?”

“We’re checking on Corinne.” I fled, before I softened up over him getting rid of Jared.

We trudged to Nadia’s car to find Corinne still sleeping. I spotted Blane at the end of the driveway, but he averted his eyes and disappeared. I couldn’t help but smile. My amusement vanished when I saw Brad speeding toward us.

“You two beauties are stunning. May I have this dance, Tessa?”

Would he keep his hands to himself? I thought not. His huge grin and glazed eyes hinted that he’d hit the kegs. Hard.

“Tessa only dances with me. Hands off, Brad. She’s mine.”

Brad staggered, turned and went inside. I gawked at Hayden who was still standing next to me.

“I said I wouldn’t hit on you but that doesn’t mean I’ll let others do it.” One side of his mouth lifted.

“You think you’re pretty clever,” I said.

“Why, yes I do.” He chuckled. His cell phone chimed and he dug it from his pocket. I leaned over to spy, reading the caller’s name:
Back Up Plan
. He touched a button and silenced it. Back Up Plan… Whatever could that mean?

“Thanks for getting rid of them,” I said.

“So, she’s your property now?” Nadia asked Hayden.

“No,” he answered. “I could say anything and they wouldn’t remember. They’re all too drunk.”

“Unlike you,” I pointed out. Hayden didn’t have a drink in hand. In fact, I hadn’t seen him with anything other than water all night. I thought the whole reason he arranged for me to pick him up the next morning was to avoid driving with a hangover. “Did you quit drinking?”