Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series)

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It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her. The girl with the shiny black hair and distinctive blue eyes that seemed to see right down to my very soul. No, the first time I’d seen her was as she stood across the street from my house staring at me as I pulled my ’69 classic Vette out of the garage. It had been the cause of my first real fight with Jenny.

Jenny was my girlfriend. I say was because we broke up that day. She didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t know the girl. The next time I saw her was a week later, just standing outside of my school, watching. I only saw her for a second because when I blinked she was gone. For a while I thought I might have been imagining her. Jenny and I tried working things out; we were tentatively dating again, when the girl appeared again. This time though, I knew I wasn’t imagining things when she walked into my homeroom class, her gorgeous black hair hanging loosely down her back, grazing the pockets of her designer jeans. Okay, I didn’t know at the time they were designer, I just figured with a body like hers it would be a sin to put it in anything else.

She was talking with Mr. Jackson when her deep blue gaze connected with mine. It was as if we had both been waiting for this exact moment in time. I couldn’t breathe for fear that she would disappear again. A slow sensuous smile curved her rose colored lips, lips that I was suddenly dying to kiss. I was so enthralled I nearly took my former best friend’s head off when he commented “Dude, check out the hot chick!”

“Shut the hell up Steve,” I growled under my breath as I glanced back at her, but she was back to listening to Mr. Jackson.

“Whoa Dude! I see fireworks coming! Jenny is gonna be pissed!”

I’d forgotten Jenny in those fifteen magical seconds. Steve was right. Jenny wasn’t going to be happy to see the girl we’d fought about weeks ago. But there was something about her that drew me to her. It was cosmic, or fate or something and I knew she felt it too as she walked down the aisle toward me.

“Class this is Anna Lissa Felidae, from Quebec, please make her feel welcome.”

Her name suited her, she moved in a feline kind of way. Her hips swayed just a bit as she got closer to me and I started breathing hard as I realized she was headed straight toward me. I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what to say, me, president of the student council, captain of the debate team and star athlete, was for once at a loss for words.

“Bonjour,” she said as she took the seat directly behind me, her eyes never leaving my face. Her soft French accent sent chills down my back.

I felt like a brain dead geek. I tried concentrating on just breathing, but her scent was all around me, she smelled dangerous and delicious at that same time. I cleared my throat trying to form words that would make sense. “Ummm, err… Hi. I’m Max. Max Fergus.”

“Max,” she smiled this wicked little smile that made my heart beat even faster. “I’m Anna.”

“Anna,” I breathed her name like a prayer. I felt something inside me shift as I gazed at her and I knew I had just met someone that was going to change my life. I heard nothing for the remainder of homeroom. It was all I could do to stay in my seat and face forward when all I really wanted to do was turn around and take in every ounce of her.

So you can imagine my surprise when I felt her hand on my shoulder and her soft words whispering in my ear. “Max, would you show me to my next class?”

“Uh, sure. What, err… what’s your next class?” I asked still feeling like that brain dead geek I mentioned.

She glanced down at her schedule, her impossibly long black lashes grazed her cheeks for a moment and then she met my gaze again with another smile that made me wonder what she was thinking. “I am supposed to go to Madame Lancaster’s class, Anglaise.”

“English?”

“Oui, Anglaise.” She smiled and my heart melted.

“Yeah… yeah, I can… um… yeah,” I said blinking like an idiot and nodding. “I’ve got old Mrs. Lancaster first period too.”

“Magnifique!” she replied, her blue eyes twinkling brightly.

I held my breath as she slipped her arm through mine and we stepped out of homeroom together. I scanned the hall and faltered for a moment. A feeling of guilt washed over me. Jenny stood across the hall, waiting on me to walk her to class. She looked…
pissed
.

“Max.”

“Uh… hey Jenny,” I said nervously. “This is uh… Anna Lissa Felidae. She’s new around here.”

Jenny glanced at Anna’s arm securely tucked through mine and narrowed her eyes. “Thought you didn‘t know her, Max,” she said, ice dripping from each syllable.

My gaze shifted to Anna’s and I felt her stiffen. I quickly disentangled our arms and read the question in her deep blue eyes. Apparently she was used to getting what she wanted as much as I was, but she turned her attention to Jenny and it looked like she was ready to challenge her. Suddenly I was fed up with Jenny’s accusations and attitude.

“I wasn’t lying,” I said angrily. “We just met this morning.”

Jenny blinked and her cheeks reddened a little and she gave me her favorite go to hell look. “I guess you won’t be walking me to class this morning?”

She didn’t really expect me to answer. I could tell by the way she turned on her heel and strode off with her shadows, Katelyn and Vanessa.

“We’ll talk after practice,” I called down the hall after her.

I didn’t really care for her one fingered reply, but it was typical Jenny. She didn’t get her way, so she ran. I was tired of bending over backward to make her happy, but I couldn’t leave things as they were. I had to at least try and break things off cleanly.

“Your Jennifer is pas amicalement.”

“Huh?” I asked confused by Anna’s French.

She smiled and I swear I heard her words in my head before she spoke them. “How you say… not… nice… friends?”

“Oh, well… yeah, I guess she isn’t being a nice friend right now,” I said, the corner of my lip lifted in a half smile. “She’s usually not so… yeah.”

Anna took my arm again and smiled that sexy little smile that I’d quickly come to discover made my heart melt and suddenly I couldn’t have cared less that Jenny was pissed off at me. As long as Anna smiled at me in that way, the world was good.

“Anglaise?”

“Yeah,” I replied guiding her down the hall in the opposite direction from where Jenny went, all the while wondering what the hell was going on. Where had this dream girl come from? And how did I get so lucky to have her want
me
to show her around? And from the way she was looking at me, well… let’s just say I felt like the grand prize on the ‘Price is Right'.

We stepped across the entrance of the classroom together, our bodies perfectly in sync, as if we were made for each other. My brain seemed to be functioning better now. At least I thought it was, so I took another moment to contemplate what might possibly be going on.

Was someone messing with me? Maybe someone from the Huskies thought it’d be a good way to screw with me before the big game. Send a hot girl in to get my mind off of football. Of course that would be a completely asinine way to win the game. Not that I wouldn’t put it past them, but still, somehow I doubted that was the answer.

Could be I was just enamored of the new hot girl, like every other guy in the building. I’m not kidding, I’ve seen them staring at her. But for some reason this felt like it was more than that. As if the Irish luck my father always claimed our family was blessed with and fate were working overtime to bring her into my life. I really love having all that Irish luck too, believe me, it has come in handy on too many occasions to count.

“Max?” Anna asked, staring at me quizzically.

I shook my head and smiled, clearing my thoughts. “What do you have after English?” I asked her. No way in hell was I gonna let another guy get close to her if I could help it, but there were a few girls I could ask to help her out.

“After Anglaise?” Anna shrugged her delicate shoulders and handed me her schedule.

That Irish luck of mine was definitely at work I thought as my eyes traveled down the list of her classes. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy having an overly abundant amount of Irish luck? I do. I really, really do. Anna’s class list was the exact same as mine, it was a bit strange, but who was I to question Irish luck?

“Weird, we have the exact same schedule,” I said, the hair on my arms felt as though it was standing straight up and I was covered in goose bumps.

“Mais, oui.” Anna smiled, her eyes dancing in delight at some secret she was keeping. And once again I heard her voice in my head saying words that she was not speaking with her mouth.

But of course, mate. Where you go is where I go. I do not intend to lose you now that I have finally found you after all of this time. And with only three weeks left, you can be sure I am going to fight hard for you.

I shook my head, and frowned. She couldn’t possibly have said that. It was just too strange. Her deep blue gaze never left mine as she slipped into the empty seat across the room from mine and smiled again, this time it was a tiny little secret smile, as though she were laughing but trying not to let me know it.

All through English I wondered if I was losing my mind. I tried not to look at her, not to fall into her hypnotic gaze. Maybe she was a witch… maybe I was bewitched… maybe… maybe I was insane.

You
’
re
not
insane,
Max
.
And
I
’
m
most
definitely
not
a
witch.
I heard in my head along with a lilting giggle.