Part 16 (1/2)

I nodded in Tucker's direction and walked straight to the Box of Joe that Ethan had bought and poured myself some coffee.

Tucker cleared his throat and started barking out commands, ”So, Grace, we are going to be taking your Jeep and Blake's truck. As soon as you are ready, we can leave. I'll drive your Jeep and you can just sit and enjoy the ride.”

I looked up from stirring the sweetener into my coffee. ”I'm driving my Jeep, Tucker. And I have no clothes, since my bedroom somehow caught fire last night, so before I go on your little trip, I'd like to stop at a store and buy some clothes, so I don't have to stay in Shane's tee-s.h.i.+rt and boxers the whole time I'm there. When you guys are ready, you can leave, and I'll be about an hour behind you. Just give me the address. I have a GPS, so I'll be fine.”

Lea started to argue, but a voice I'd not heard before interrupted her, ”Well, that sounds like a plan then. If you'd like, I can stay behind and keep you company, and make sure nothing else happens.”

I snapped my head to the direction of the new voice. It was soft velvet and sweet; reminding me of melted caramel.

Blake stood there casually leaning his back against the cabinets. His skin was so pale it was almost white, until my eyes met his and a splash of crimson shot across his cheeks. He was very handsome, with a lean muscular build. Light brown hair hung messy and s.e.xy over his head, but I barely saw any of it. I fixated on his eyes, his ancient pale blue eyes, which were looking profoundly back into mine.

”Hi,” he said with his cheeks turning brighter. ”I'm Blake, Tucker's cousin.”

I froze, unable to speak. I held his gaze. It was all I could do to keep myself composed and not throw myself at him. I hoped no one noticed how fast my heart was pounding against my chest or how my hands clammed up and balled into fists, trying to hold myself back from reaching out to touch him.

Tucker shot up and leaned into the s.p.a.ce between Blake and me, folding his arms. His face was tight and possessive. ”Thanks cuz, but I don't want to be responsible for your brand new truck,” he said eyeing Blake. ”Besides, Grace doesn't even know you, so I don't think she'd be that comfortable driving with you, since her feelings for her safety have been questioned lately.” c.r.a.p, I hated lawyers. It would look completely horrible for me to drive with someone I just met, but I needed to be alone with him somehow. I needed him to know who I really was. Finally. He had to be Shamsiel!

Blake pushed himself off the counter and looked down at Tucker as if he was trying to scare him. I could smell the testosterone in the air. Everyone in the kitchen had stopped talking and watched the exchange between them.

Shane jumped off the counter and strolled pa.s.sed us as if nothing was going on. When he reached where I stood, he turned to Tucker and Blake, who were standing toe to toe with each other fists clenched. ”Wow, this is like mating season at the zoo. Why don't I go with Grace later after she picks up what she needs? After all, everyone knows there will never be anything between Grace and me. Ever.” He emphasized the word ever and looked at me through his icy blue eyes Shane's words seemed to do something to Blake, because he seemed even angrier, but he backed off Tucker all the same.

Blake stepped towards Shane, but Shane sidestepped him and ignored the advance. Shane just walked closer to me and gently escorted me out of the kitchen and back down the hallway to his room, ”You have a strong effect on people, don't you?”

I could still barely speak. I just stood in the center of his room and stared at the door. My mind tried to formulate coherent thoughts, but I was just grasping for straws. I couldn't think logically, because all I could see in my mind were those ancient blue eyes.

Lea walked in Shane's room and jolted me back to reality. She shot me a wide-eyed look that expressed her concern about what had just happened. ”What in the world was that about?”

Forgetting Shane was in the room with us, I grabbed at her hands, my heart beating wildly. ”Did you see the color of his eyes?”

She gave me a perplexed look. I heard Shane behind us stop what he was doing and he turned to listen. I glanced at him and just shrugged my shoulders like nothing mattered. I leaned in close to Lea and whispered softly, hoping Shane couldn't hear, ”He has the exact color that I've been looking for.”

Lea's eyes danced with understanding, ”Are you effing serious? Are you positive?” She started pacing and dancing around.

”What are you two whispering about? What have you been looking for?” Conner asked walking in. He nodded to Shane after, ”Someone has got to talk to Tucker, he's obsessed. And did you see him and Blake? Dude, I thought it was going to come to blows.”

Shane said nothing; he just stared at me, waiting for me to say something. I let go of Lea and tried to act calm and restrained. ”I just think that everyone is a bit nervous and out of sorts because of what's going on, that's all. Everyone's on edge, so we definitely should get out of the city and up to Tucker's as soon as we can. It'll make everyone relax and we won't have to look over our shoulders for a while.” I watched Shane for a reaction.

”Do you want me to stay here and drive up with you? It's up to you, n.o.body should make the call for you,” Shane said.

”That's fine,” I answered. Turning my head to Lea, I continued, ”I'll just run to the store quickly, I promise I'll be right behind you guys.”

My choice seemed to settle everybody down, even Tucker and Blake. I couldn't keep my eyes off him as they packed his truck with the duffel bags in the falling snow. He couldn't keep his eyes off me either and before he left, he walked past me and looked right into my eyes. ”Be as quick as...humanly possible,” he grinned. I almost fainted. I toyed with the idea of just grabbing a handful of Shane's clothing, or sharing Lea's, but none of it made sense. Just a few more hours, it wasn't as if it would be a few more lifetimes. My heart catapulted through the air.

I took exactly thirty minutes in the department store, grabbing whatever I could, not even trying anything on. Shane just walked beside me wherever I went, holding bags and cracking jokes that made me laugh out loud, literally.

We rushed home and I tossed everything I bought into the huge backpack I had purchased along with my clothes. My phone ringing its sirens, alarming me of a text message, was the only thing that slowed me down.

New Text Message Lea: 2:45 pm Are you sure this is him? He's an a$$hole.

Me: 2:45 pm IDK! Not like anyone gave me a chance to talk 2 him!

Lea: 2:47 pm Bad feeling. Rethink ur options Me: 2:49 pm WTF are you taking about?

Lea: 2:51 pm U decide...

The next message was a multimedia one sent from Lea's phone. I left Shane in the living room watching the news about the slow moving snowstorm, while packing his belongings as slowly as he could. I locked myself in the bathroom and clicked on the message.

She had recorded some of their conversation in Blake's truck. The conversation was between Tucker and Blake placing bets on who would bag me first, and they were up to one thousand dollars. Lea's caption read: Isn't Acting Like Much of an Angel.

The second multimedia message was from Conner's phone. I pressed the icon and immediately heard myself playing my guitar. Conner's camera phone scanned across the studio to Shane's expression. It was an awestruck Shane. I had brought him to his knees. Conner focused in on Shane's face, tears welled in his eyes; desire and love s.h.i.+ning over his face. It made me breathless, watching his perfect features watch me with such intensity and longing.

Shane banged on the bathroom door bringing me to my senses. I needed to get to Blake to see if he was whom I'd been searching for. Yes, G.o.d yes, I loved the way I had just seen Shane look at me, but we all knew that look would only last one night. Even if Blake wasn't my angel, I couldn't settle for someone like Shane. Grace was worth more, I was worth more.

Chapter 14.

I tilted my head up to watch the hushed fall of the feathery white flakes blanketing the earth. Delicate snowy crystals seemed to dance around the air in front of me; moving to music that only they could hear.

Snowcapped windowsills and fluffy snow covered branches made the city look picturesque and hopeful.

Shane brushed off the snow that had collected on the front and back winds.h.i.+elds. I was amazed at how much had already fallen and the news said that the storm wasn't even near us yet. There had to be about a foot of snow on the ground already. Before we left the apartment, we watched as warnings scrolled along the bottom of the television screen to stay indoors and to drive only in cases of emergency.

I didn't know by whose standards we would call this an emergency, but I would have sprouted wings myself and flew to see those ancient blue eyes if I couldn't drive.

Shane opened the pa.s.senger side door and knocked his boots on the side of the well, spraying snow all over.

”Hurry up, just get in, I want to get out on the road ahead of this storm if we can.”

Shane gave me an exasperated look. ”We could just stay here, Grace. We don't have to go to Tucker. I promise, I'll keep you safe.”

”Shane. I'm going. If you want to stay. Stay.”

The inside of the Jeep was still cold, and mist drifted from our lips each time we spoke. I s.h.i.+vered and turned on the heat and defrost, and tried to blow some warmth into my hands. When the air seemed warm enough not to cause my fingers to shake, I plugged in my GPS system and keyed in our destination. Outside the snow fell faster.

I pulled over the snowdrifts with my four-wheel drive; the wind howled against the car. ”Looks like the angels are having one h.e.l.l of a pillow fight!” I laughed.

”Pillow fight?” Shane whispered.

”Yeah, it's an old saying, but Conner said it when it started to snow the other night.” I glanced at his expression, his head hung low and his arms were folded tight across his chest. ”What's wrong? You don't believe in that stuff or just not in old wives tales.”

I stopped at a red light and waited for his answer.

He shrugged and looked out the snowy window. ”I don't give much thought to angels,” he said and s.h.i.+vered.

I took the Lincoln Tunnel and emerged into a wintery wonderland worse than what we came from, nothing that side of the tunnel seemed to have been plowed. Shane buckled himself in his seatbelt, but still sat at the edge of the pa.s.senger seat; knuckles white clutching my dashboard.

Shane's phone went off. When he answered it, I could hear Conner's voice on the other side. The howling winds. .h.i.tting against the Jeep made the rest of the conversation hard to hear.