“You live next door?” her mom asked.
Seeing my end, I twisted around and smiled broadly. “My name is Daemon Black.”
“Kellie Swartz. Nice to meet you.” She glanced at her daughter. “You two can come inside if you want. You don’t have to sit outside in the heat.”
“That’s really nice of you.” I stood, knocking my elbow into her. “Maybe we should go inside and finish talking about our plans.”
“No,” she replied immediately. “That won’t be necessary.”
“What plans?” her mom asked. “I support plans.”
I liked her mom.
“I’m trying to get your lovely daughter to go swimming with me tomorrow, but I think she’s worried you wouldn’t like the idea.” I gave her a little love tap on the arm, biting down on my lip when she moved half a foot. “And I think she’s shy.”
“What? I have no problem with her going swimming with you. I think it’s a great idea. I’ve been telling her she needs to get out. Hanging out with your sister is great, but—”
“Mom,” Katy gasped. “That’s not really—”
“I was just telling Katy here the same thing.” Unable to stop myself, I draped my arm over her shoulders. She stiffened. “My sister is out of town for the next week, so I thought I’d hang with Katy.”
Ms. Swartz smiled and her eyes got all big. “That is so sweet of you.”
Katy wrapped her arm around my waist and surprise flicked through me. Then I felt it. Her tiny fingers digging into my side. “Yeah, that’s sweet of you, Daemon.”
Her little nails were freaking sharp. “You know what they say about boys next door…”
“Well, I know Katy doesn’t have plans tomorrow,” her mom said. “She’s free to go swimming.”
She dropped her hand and squirmed her way out from under my arm. “Mom…”
“It’s okay, honey.” Her mom turned, winking at me. “It was nice to finally meet you.”
“You, too.” I braced myself.
Her mom closed the door, and in a nanosecond, she whirled around and shoved her hands into my chest. I didn’t budge. “You jerk.”
Knowing when to retreat helped win the war. I backed down the steps. “I’ll see you at noon, Kitten.”
“I hate you,” she spat.
“The feeling’s mutual.” Pausing, I looked over my shoulder. “Twenty bucks says you wear a one-piece swimsuit.”
Katy let out an outraged shriek.
I sort of hoped I would be out twenty bucks tomorrow.
Chapter 5
U want company today?
Glancing down at my cell as I tugged a pair of jeans on over the swim trunks, I was at once grateful that Ash knew better than to just show up at our house announced. If she found me heading off to the lake with Katy, she’d go off like a nuclear rocket.
And it wouldn’t be because Katy was human, but because I’d never taken Ash to the lake when we’d dated. The lake had been a sanctuary for just Dee, Dawson, and me since we moved here. Part of me couldn’t even believe that was the plan I’d come up with to spend the day with Katy. Thinking with the wrong head, most likely.
I reached down, sending a quick text back. Can’t.
Ash’s response was immediate. What are u doing?
Got stuff to do.
Walking over to my closet to grab a shirt, I smiled slightly when I saw her response. So? I’m bored. Entertain me.
Can’t.
I’d made it downstairs before she replied. You suck.
We have that in common then, I replied back.
UR an ass. Whatever. Go do ur STUFF.
Planned on it. Leaving my phone on the counter, I didn’t worry about locking up after I grabbed a towel and then left the house, heading toward…Kat’s.
Huh.
I guess she was no longer “that girl” every time I thought of her. For some reason, I didn’t like the name Katy. It didn’t suit her. Kat did, I decided. So did Kitten. I smirked, recalling how much she hated that nickname.
Last night, I’d texted Dee and let her know what I was doing. Her series of exclamation points and shocked emoticons was a little on the excessive side. She would play along with the whole keys thing, but I wasn’t looking forward to the million questions she was going to have when she got home.
I wasn’t sure how today was going to end, either. The potential outcomes varied. Maybe I would get lucky and discover something about her that would steer Dee away. What, I had no idea, but damn I was hopeful.
Climbing the porch steps, I knew I was early when I banged on the door with a closed fist, but it amused me to keep her on her toes. A handful of moments passed and the door opened.
Kat appeared, her gray eyes wide as they met mine for a fleeting second.
“I’m a little early,” I told her.
“I can see.” She sounded like she was about to leave for a dental appointment. “Change your mind? You could always try lying.”
“I’m not a liar.” I was totally a liar right now.
“Just give me a second to grab my stuff.” Then she slammed the door in my face.
I coughed out a laugh. She really was like a prickly, pissed-off little kitten. A part of me actually wanted to show her I could be a nice guy. I hadn’t been an ass to her because of who she was—well, other than her being human. While she’d given as good as she’d gotten, though, I’d noticed the flickers of hurt in her eyes at being attacked for no reason. The whole situation was messed up. If I wasn’t mean to her, I could be putting us in danger, but being mean to her was upsetting as well. There was no win here for anyone.
She finally reappeared, careful to not brush against me as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her. I wondered what she had on under the shirt and shorts.
“Okay, so where are you taking me?” she asked, not looking at me.
“What fun would it be if you knew? You won’t be surprised then.”
We stepped off the porch and started down the driveway. “I’m new to town, remember? Everywhere is going to be a surprise for me.”
“Then why ask?” I raised a brow.
She bristled as I led her past the cars. “We aren’t driving?”
Picturing us trying to drive around the trees, I laughed. “No. Where we’re going, you can’t drive. It’s not a well-known spot. Most locals don’t even know about it.”
“Oh, I’m special, then.”
I looked over at her, studying her profile as we walked down the driveway, and I found that I had a hard time looking away. She was something all right. “You know what I think, Kat?”
She glanced over, catching me staring at her. The tips of her cheeks flushed. We passed the empty house at the end of the road. “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.”
“I think my sister finds you very special.” The next words came out without my really even thinking about it, but once I said them, I figured they were true. “I’m starting to wonder if she’s onto something.”
A humorless smile appeared on her lips. “But then there’s all kinds of special now, isn’t there, Daemon?”
I jolted at the sound of my name. Was this the first time she had said it? I liked the sound of my name on her tongue. Looking away, I exhaled slowly as I led her across the main highway and into the dense tree line on the other side of the road.
“Are you taking me out to the woods as a trick?” she asked.
I glanced over my shoulder at her, lowering my lashes. “And what would I do out here to you, Kitten?”
She didn’t reply immediately. “The possibilities are endless.”
I winked. “Aren’t they?”
She didn’t answer as she tripped through the thick brush, avoiding the mass of vines tangled along the floor of the woods. “Can we pretend we did this?”
Pretend to go on a walk with me? I blinked, speechless for probably the first time in like…ever. I was actually being nice right now. She didn’t like Dickhead Daemon and she didn’t
like Nice Daemon? What the hell ever. My God, this girl had me coming and going so much, I didn’t know what I was thinking. Did I want to be nice to her now? Or was I just being nice to get closer to her and drive Dee away? Jesus, all this thinking about my feelings and hers was probably going to give me a period. “Trust me, I don’t want to be doing this, either.” I jumped over a fallen tree. Spinning around, I offered her my hand. “But bitching about it isn’t going to make it any easier.”
“You’re such a joy to talk to.” Her gaze dropped to my hand and she sucked in her lower lip between her teeth, drawing my attention. The burst of heat low in my gut had nothing to do with aggravation.
She wasn’t going to take my hand. She shouldn’t.
But she did.
Kat placed her hand in mine, offering a tiny bit of trust, and there was a shock of static from the contact. It happened sometimes, when humans touched us, as if they had dragged their feet along carpet. I ignored it and how incredibly small that hand was in mine. I helped her over the log.
“Thank you,” she murmured when I let go.
I ignored how my chest tightened at being her hero, no matter how small. “Are you excited about school?”
“It’s not exciting being the newbie. You know, the whole sticking out like a sore thumb. Not fun.”
“I can see that.”
“You can?” Surprise colored her tone.
She had no idea. “Yeah, I can. We only have a little bit more to go.”
“A little bit? How long have we been walking?”
“About twenty minutes, maybe a little longer. I told you it was fairly hidden.” A wry grin twisted my lips as she followed me around an uprooted tree. I stepped aside, revealing the clearing we were entering, still a little shocked that I’d actually brought her here. “Welcome to our little piece of paradise.”
Kat was silent as she walked past me, her gaze darting all over the place, taking everything in as I felt tension creep into my muscles.
A thin creek cut across the clearing, expanding into a small, natural lake. The water rippled in the soft breeze. Flat, large rocks erupted from the middle. Wildflowers, purple and blue ones, surrounded the lake.
Did she see what I saw? I knew Dee did. Ash, if I’d ever brought her here, would’ve just been bored. Dawson got it. Matthew might’ve.
“Wow,” she whispered. “This place is beautiful.”
“It is.” Standing next to her, I raised my hand, blocking the glare of the sun bouncing off the surface of the lake. Peaceful. This place had always been a source of peace. I could come here and escape everything, even if it was just for a few hours. I lowered my hand.
Her soft touch on my arm drew my attention. I looked down to where her hand rested, and then my gaze flicked to hers.
“Thank you for bringing me,” she said, and then quickly removed her hand as she looked away.
I didn’t know what to say. And that damn tight feeling expanded in my chest a little more.
Kat wandered to the water’s edge. “How deep is it?”
“About ten feet in most parts, twenty feet on the other side of the rocks.” I ghosted up behind her. “Dee loves it here. Before you came, she spent most of her days here.”
Her brows pinched together as she stared at the lake, and then she took a deep breath. “You know, I’m not going to get your sister in trouble.”
“We’ll see.”
“I’m not a bad influence,” she stated. “I haven’t ever gotten into trouble before.”
I walked around her. I could tell she was trying to, well, get past our initial run-ins with each other, but I doubted Bethany ever thought she’d be Dawson’s downfall. You could be a weapon without ever realizing you were one. “She doesn’t need a friend like you.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with me,” she snapped. “You know what? Forget this.”
When she started to turn, I stopped her the best way I could. “Why do you garden?”
Her hands clenched as she faced me. “What?”
“Why do you garden?” I stared at the lake, wondering what in the hell I was really accomplishing by getting to know her, but that question didn’t stop me. “Dee said you do it so you don’t think. What do you want to avoid thinking about?”
She exhaled roughly. “It’s none of your business.”
Well then. “Then let’s go swimming.”
When I glanced at her, she looked like she wanted to strangle me a little. I dipped my chin before she saw the grin, because I doubted that would help. Stepping to the side, I kicked off my sneakers and then reached down, unbuttoning my jeans. I didn’t need to look at her to know she was watching. I could feel her gaze on me as I shed my jeans and then my shirt.
And I knew she was really staring when the only article of clothing that remained were the swim trunks.
I didn’t look back at her as I stepped to the very edge and then dived in. The rush of cool water immediately scattered all my thoughts, washing them away as I swam underwater. I loved the water. Swimming was a lot like flying, and I could move fast enough that it was damn near close to flying.
When I broke the surface, Kat was still standing there, her face the color of a tomato. I started to tease her, but then decided I really didn’t want to have to chase her ass down when she left. “Are you coming in?”
She dragged the toe of her sneaker in the loose soil at the lake’s edge as she nibbled on her lower lip. Uncertainty bled out from her as her gaze met mine and then fleeted away. Cute. That was kind of cute.
“You sure are shy, aren’t you, Kitten?”
Her foot stilled. “Why do you call me that?”
“Because it makes your hair stand up, like a kitten.” Pushing onto my back, I swam a few feet away. “So? Are you coming in?” When she didn’t move, I figured I was going to have to motivate her. “I’m giving you one minute to get in here.”
Kat squinted. “Or what?”
Twisting around, I moved closer to the bank of the lake, no longer on my back. “Or I come and get you.”
Her mouth pinched. “I’d like to see you try that.”
“Forty seconds.”
Did she really think I wouldn’t do it?
“Thirty seconds.” I smiled, hoping she didn’t do it.
Because I totally would toss her ass into the lake and I would thoroughly enjoy myself.
She snapped into action, muttering under her breath as she reached down with a quick, jerky motion and grabbed the hem of her shirt. She yanked it off and then quickly pulled off her shorts. Then she straightened, her hands on her hips. “Happy?”
Holy shit.
She was not wearing a one-piece, and I got my wish. It was a two-piece red bikini, and yeah, holy shit. All I could do was stare. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
Under the plain shorts and shapeless shirts I’d seen her in, Kat was hiding a…a magnificent body full of the kind of curves that made me want to do stupid things. Fun things, but damn, things that would be really stupid considering everything.
I wasn’t staring. I didn’t notice how the blood-red bathing suit stretched across her chest, reminding me of the top part of a heart. I didn’t notice how her body was reacting to the way I was staring at her, because neither of us was moving, and there was something tangible in that moment, like a physical caress. And I sure as hell didn’t count the inch and a half, maybe two inches of skin between her navel and the top of her bottoms.
Aw hell.
Now was a good time to drown myself.