We found a table in the furthest corner of the place. Music was going, the place was full, and the aroma of marinara, basil and bread baking filled the air. I felt utterly terrified. Still new to the Centaur world, I asked Bianca, “Are you sure it’s okay for us to meet Gage and Drake?”
“We just can’t go anywhere alone with a guy. Look around you: there are at least a hundred people here.” Bianca ordered the pizza at the counter, then came back to take a seat.
Drake was the first to arrive. His jeans were covered in a white powder. Drake had told Will that his dad’s construction business was going well; maybe he worked with his father, too. His bright blue eyes were wide when he realized I was their escort. I did my best not to make eye contact with him, but my eyes refused to cooperate, and I stole more glances than I’d like to admit as he approached our table.
Bianca, still maintaining the façade that she was here to spend time with her fiancé, welcomed him with, “Hello, Darling, I’m so glad you could break away and meet us.”
Drake mumbled something, but my heart was racing so fast I didn’t hear him. This was an awful idea, one of the worst I’d ever been a part of. My stomach was slowly knotting itself. I wanted to blend into the wall, disappear into the background, or better yet—go outside and wait in the car.
Without warning, Bianca stood up and excused herself. She told us she was going to the ladies room, but I knew she wanted to leave us alone. It was strained silence initially before Drake murmured, “About Sunday, I . . . I. . .we shouldn’t. . .you two are. . .I’m sorry.” When he looked at me, I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I couldn’t be angry with him no matter how hard I tried.
He couldn’t get a coherent sentence out, and I wasn’t confident I’d be able to either. Instead, I simply told him, “She knows.”
Alarm spread across his face, “She knows? What’s she know?”
“She knows we kissed on the yacht.”
His alarm turned to panic, “What’d she say?”
“Ha! You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Drake looked toward the ladies room, willing her to emerge. “Is she going to break off the engagement?” I didn’t say a word, and Drake reached across the table, putting his hand on my wrist, “Seriously, Camille, is she dumping me?”
Before I could answer, I saw a tall, slender, light complexioned man come through the front door. He had dark hair, and a nicely trimmed goatee and mustache; his eyes scanned the room looking in all directions. I couldn’t be sure, but if I were a betting person, it was probably Gage. Drake saw that I was watching the door, and when he saw the man who had just arrived, he confirmed my suspicion, “I guess I got my answer: there’s Gage. Dammit! . . . I’m screwed. I am so screwed.”
I didn’t see Bianca come out of the restroom, but within a few seconds she had met Gage at the door. The two stepped to the side and took a seat in a small booth on the opposite side of the room. When it was clear that Drake and I had been given some privacy, I thought it best to clue him in. “Okay, you’re screwed, but so are Gage, Bianca and I.”
His elbows were on the table, and his hands propped up his head as if it weighed thirty pounds. “How do you figure?”
“Bianca wants you to break your engagement off with her. She wants it to be a fairly elaborate break up, enough so her mother is embarrassed enough to overlook the fact that she dislikes Gage’s grandfather. Then she thinks her mother will let her choose Gage.”
“And then what? I break the engagement, and then I’m forced to marry a human. The Nash bloodline comes to an abrupt end. I’d be lucky if my parents ever speak to me again.”
“Yeah, I didn’t say it was a great plan.”
Drake’s eyes narrowed, “You’re leaving something out. How are Gage, Bianca and you screwed in this scenario?”
“Bianca is in love with Gage.” I watched to see if he flinched with this little news flash – he didn’t, so he must have already known. “She won’t break off the engagement with you because her mother doesn’t approve of him. If Gage isn’t chosen by a Centauride before his twenty-ninth birthday, I have to marry him as payment of my mother’s blood debt to Gage’s dad. So yes – if you marry Bianca, you do it knowing she’s in love with another guy. If you marry her, I’ll more than likely get jammed into marrying the man my best friend is in love with. Clear enough picture for you?”
“Wait, when did you agree to marry Gage?”
“Saturday night, but I don’t know if there was much of a choice. I’ve never met Gage, but his dad said if he didn’t get married by the time he was twenty-nine, I would have to marry him.”
“But if Bianca marries Gage, you’re in the clear. You can choose anyone you want, right?”
“Yes.” I could feel my face growing warmer. I wanted to shout, “But I don’t want to choose anyone!” No matter how badly I wanted to shout it out, I said nothing. My “yes” hung in the air, and I saw that Drake had jumped to the same conclusion that Bianca had.
The full weight of his eyes was unleashed, and his stare stopped my breathing. I felt Drake’s hand under the table as his fingertips gently wound around mine. His light touch caressing my knuckles instantly brought a flashback of Sunday afternoon in my mind. At first I thought it was me reliving those few forbidden minutes, but I realized it was his memory of it that was pushed to me through his touch.
“Drake, don’t.”
He whispered conspiratorially, “Tell me you haven’t thought about me, and I’ll stop.” I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. His fingertips continued lightly caressing my knuckles. My heart was still racing; I pulled my hand away from him and put them both on top of the table.
Feigning a resolve I didn’t feel, “I haven’t thought of you.”
“Not at all?” He didn’t look wounded—more like he didn’t believe me.
I straightened my back, and shook my head. “Not on purpose.” Holy crap, I’m an idiot.
Drake leaned way over the table. He was only inches away from me, his voice low, “That’s too bad. Every time I shut my eyes, I see you stretched out on the deck chair.”
My resolve started to seep from my voice when I reminded him, “You do realize you’re still engaged to Bianca, right?”
“From what you said—not for long.”
“I’m not going to be a rebound. Whatever you decide is between you two. Leave me out of it.”
“Rebound? I’m not in love with her, Camille.”
“Then you shouldn’t be marrying her.”
“Not to state the obvious, but I think that plan will be off the table soon.”
“Look, I don’t know what happened on Sunday or why, but I’m not looking for anyone right now.”
“I know what happened on Sunday. You felt the same sparks I did. You acted without thinking first – probably for the first time in your life. You’ve been beating yourself up about it ever since.”
“You haven’t?”
“Sure, until a couple minutes ago. Things happen for a reason, Camille.” Drake reached across the table and took both my hands in his. His hands were calloused and weathered, strong, yet his thumbs caressed the top of my hands as light as a feather. I could feel my frozen sensibility thawing “As much as you hate that you lost control for a few amazing seconds, maybe it was supposed to happen.”
We sat there watching each other. I’d noticed his eyes before; it was impossible not to: the light blue pierced me, my resolve ebbing away. I had always had a thing for guys with long hair: Drake’s was short, definitely too short for my liking. I’d do nearly anything in the world for a big smile with dimples: Drake wasn’t even giving me a grin. It creeped me out when men stared at me, but Drake wouldn’t drop my gaze. With all this, I should have heard warning bells, an internal siren telling me to hightail it out of there, but I didn’t. I knew that my face mirrored the same irrational longing that he had for me.
I remembered my conversation with Daniel from Sunday night, my confession of everything and his w
arning that no man only cheats once. “So what happens if you’re sitting next to another woman and you get the urge to kiss her? Losing control is okay as long as it’s supposed to happen?”
Drake was still holding my hands, still caressing the top of them with his thumbs. He pulled both of them across the table toward him, closed his eyes, as his soft lips grazed my knuckles. When his eyes opened, he still held my hands to his lips. I waited for him to deny it, to tell me that he’d never be unfaithful, that he was a decent guy. Instead, he pushed an image of the two of us to me without words.
We were again on the yacht, no one with us. I was wrapped in a towel staring out into the ocean. Drake came up behind me, circled his arms around me and pressed his body to mine. His lips swept my neck, our skin only separated by the towel covering me. His strong arms glistened in the sun, and I heard him whisper in my ear, “I want you, Camille.” I pulled my hands away from him, and the fantasy evaporated instantly.
I tried to shoot him a fiery response, but I couldn’t do it. The best I could do was, “That wasn’t an answer.”
“Anyone can tell you what you want to hear. I thought you’d rather see how I felt.”
“It still wasn’t an answer.”
Drake shook his head and confessed, “You’re the only person I’ve ever lost control with. You’re the only person who I’ve dreamt about while I was awake. I can’t get you out of my head, and if I could, I wouldn’t want you out.”
So he wasn’t a poet, but my willpower wasn’t as strong as it had been. His back was to the approaching Bianca and Gage. I knew she had let Gage in on her little plan, too—they were both all smiles. Gage, Drake, and Bianca seemed nearly giddy with the idea. I still wasn’t convinced. When the two sat down to join us, I moved to the seat to the right of Drake. We ate our pizza chatting about everything but Bianca’s plan.
I couldn’t get the image Drake had pushed to me out of my head. It was as if it was on a continuous loop in my mind, and I had trouble keeping up with the conversation. I figured out that Drake was purposely touching his knee to mine. Every time our knees touched, the fantasy he shared with me went a little further. When the “Fantasy Drake” whispered in my ear, “You’re beautiful, Camille. Tell me you want me, too,” I abruptly pulled my knee away from him. The three talked about football, the beach, Bruce’s wedding, and I don’t know how many subjects I couldn’t pay attention to. Every few minutes Drake would touch his knee to mine, and I’d be back on the yacht, alone in his arms. I figured with all the talking going on at the table, eventually someone would bring up Bianca’s plan—not a word.
I felt Drake’s hand under the table. He discreetly wove his fingers with mine, and just as before, lightly caressed my hand with his thumb. This time the image he pushed had changed. It was evening, the stars were out, not a single cloud blocked the night’s sky. The grass was cool and wet; we lay on a blanket overlooking a pond. A single candle’s light glowed beside us, a bottle of wine chilled off to our side. “Fantasy Drake” combed his fingers through my hair, his lips skimmed my neck, his breath was warm in my ear as he whispered, “Give me a chance, Camille.” I let his hand go, and once again I found myself back to reality, seated at Andolini’s with Bianca, Gage and Drake. I was embarrassed, wondering if the other two could see what he’d been doing, but they were still chatting about nothing I was interested in. My eyes met Drake’s in disbelief. He returned a shy grin before turning his attention back to Gage, who was still talking about a baseball game.
As the waitress cleared the table, Drake leaned over and quietly whispered directly into my ear, “Can you meet me tonight?”
I caught myself starting to feel the same excitement that it looked like the others were feeling. I should have said no. I should have told him I needed to think about it, but the desire I felt for him wouldn’t let me. “Where?”
“The pond, just to the south of your parent’s estate. Meet me at ten.”
I nodded my silent consent, wondering if his image had been pushed to me to ensure I’d say yes. Despite the logical part of my brain screaming that I needed to get to know him better, the illogical, hormone-infested part began pumping adrenaline steadily through my body. I needed the gentle kick under the table from Bianca to remind me to block my thoughts! When lunch was over, it was clear that Bianca and Gage were ready to rekindle the romance that neither wanted to give up on a month ago. I was sure public displays while dating were way over the line, but Bianca left with Gage, and Drake followed me to my car.
I sat in my car’s driver’s seat. Drake stood outside my door and motioned for me to roll the window down. As the window rolled into the door, I saw Drake look from left to right through the parking lot. He was satisfied that no eyes were watching, at least none he was concerned with. He reached his left hand through the window and gently pulled my face toward his. I thought his lips would seek mine out, but instead he moved his lips to my ear. In a heavy whisper, “Don’t be late tonight. If I don’t see you soon, I may combust.” His lips kissed my ear lobe gently before he pulled away. Tingles ripped through my whole body as I watched him walk to his car.
I hated it when my girlfriends got overly infatuated with guys they hardly knew. I didn’t believe in, nor was I ever someone who wanted to hear about love-at-first-sight: the whole idea was a crock of crap. There was something different about Drake, seriously different from anyone I’d dated, or for that matter – ever met before. The way he could push a fantasy to my consciousness and it be so vivid made my toes curl. I couldn’t imagine what would happen with the two of us alone, experimenting with this particular skill. I shook my head at myself as I looked in the rear view mirror; I knew I couldn’t wait to find out.
I was still new to the area. I was on a street that was vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I would find Will and Gretchen’s house immediately. Normally Brent drove when we went anywhere. When Bianca and I left for the restaurant, she had been navigating. I felt like I was in the general vicinity of the estate, but I was equally certain I had taken the long way back. I told myself it didn’t matter: the long way back would give me a chance to think through everything – in reality it just got me more excited for tonight.
Chapter 23
Camille Benning – Charleston, SC