Heart Waves Read online

  “I wouldn’t do that to you.” He sounded sincere, like he really meant what he said. But I wasn’t that gullible. After all, he was Mike’s friend.

  “And I have your word on that right?” I smirked.

  He sat silent for a minute, but I could see in the look of consternation he wore, the wheels of his mind spinning.

  “Haven’t you ever been wrong? I mean with the fortune telling?”

  I pressed my lips tight into a thin line and shook my head. “I honestly don’t know. No one ever comes up and says, ‘you suck,’ or ‘you got it all wrong.’ Except for that jerk who cheated on his girlfriend. And clearly I hit the nail on the head with that one.”

  We both smiled at the memory.

  “I don’t normally predict things, just lottery numbers thirty seconds before they’re picked. Usually it’s what’s going on with the person at the moment, like what they’re feeling, or things about their character.”

  He took a deep breath before asking me the next question. His eyes were downcast as he twisted the ring on his finger. “Have you ever found yourself involved in the reading? A part of it? The way you were in mine?”

  “Never. That was the first time.”

  “Is it possible you were overwhelmed by whatever you felt and misinterpreted it?” His solemn eyes turned playful. “After all, I seem to have that effect on you,” he joked.

  I didn’t answer immediately. I knew what he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t give it to him. “No.”

  “Can the future change?”

  “I guess. I’m no expert, and besides, there’s no exact science to it as far as I know.”

  He pulled the ring off his finger, reached for my hand and placed it in my palm. My heart zoomed in the erratic way it did every time we made contact. I closed my eyes and felt a healing warmth spreading throughout my body, affection and compassion, an overabundance of love and happiness. Perfection.

  I felt myself tremble as my skin tingled against it, an undying attraction and blinding flames burning fiercely. I couldn’t keep myself from smiling, I never felt anything so pure, or magnificent.

  The ring itself seemed to be charged with white electricity, blinding and dangerous, lethal. Overwhelming fear. Searing pain. Indescribable, life-altering heartache.

  I opened my eyes. My vision blurred from squeezing them so tight. I handed him back the ring.

  “Well?” he asked anxiously.

  “It’s the same.”

  “It can’t be.” He argued. “I don’t want anything to do with Rebecca.”

  I nodded. “That part changed. But the end result is the same.” I searched for a way to simplify it quickly. “The pain and sadness are still there. Only stronger. As if they’ve been magnified.”

  He covered his face with his hands and rubbed his forehead. “That doesn’t sound like Romeo and Juliet.”

  “I didn’t know you were looking for a love story. If you are, that might not be the one you want to emulate,” I tried to joke.

  He reached for my hand and rubbed it between both of his. I didn’t realize I felt a chill, until he sent a heating rod through my body just by holding my hand.

  “What if the heartache is because you’re fighting this, whatever is going on between us, so hard?”

  “I’m being safe. Smart.” I argued.

  “How do you figure?” He sounded exasperated.

  “You saw me and you thought I could distract you,” I said with more attitude than I should have.

  “Sort of.” He looked down, and then focused his eyes on mine, captivating me, entrancing me with his hypnotic power. “I saw you and something happened. I don’t know exactly what, or how to explain it. Your eyes burned into mine. I felt like you looked into my soul and knew everything about me. From that moment, Rebecca began to fade.”

  He could talk a good game. I had to tread carefully, I so wanted to believe him.

  “You asked Mike about me and he said you had no shot. He threw the gauntlet down, you accepted. Game on.”

  He shook his head, “There is no game.”

  “Where Mike and guys are concerned, there is always a game.”

  “What kind of guys have you gone out with? Is that why I make you so nervous?”

  “You don’t make me nervous.” I lied.

  “Really? Because every time I touch you, you flinch. Last night you had a full blown panic attack when you thought I would kiss you.”

  “I did not.” Deny, deny, deny.

  “So then it doesn’t bother you when I get close to you?” He asked, moving from his lounge onto the side of mine.

  I moved over to the edge, as far as I could without falling off.

  “Of course it doesn’t,” I snickered knowing he would see through my lie.

  “And if I want a better look at your face,” he took one hand off mine, and leaned forward to brush my hair back behind my ear, making me shudder. “You are perfectly fine with that too.”

  Déjà vu. I had to hold it together. I didn’t want him to win. No matter how good it felt to be with him or how wonderful he promised to be, I knew in the end when he left my life, it would tear me up, shred my heart, and I didn’t want to feel that pain.

  With only inches between us, he searched my eyes in silence. Neither of us moved. His eyes dropped to my lips and I saw him moving closer. Before I had time to panic or protest his lips brushed ever so softly against mine.

  “And if I kiss you,” his voice, full of seductive allure, was little more than a whisper, “you’re perfectly fine.”

  But I wasn’t perfectly fine and he knew it. Every cell of my body woke and yearned for more. More tingling and heat from his hands, more of the brilliant sparks of light he’s just caused, all out more.

  He knew I wouldn’t want to stop at just a tender brush of his lips. That was his point. He wanted to prove once he roused the sleeping dragon within, I’d be hungry, ravenous for more. And he was right.

  I lifted my head and decided to meet his lips again. He didn’t let me. Reece pulled away just enough to keep the slightest bit of distance between us. My heart stung like he squeezed and wrung it with his hands. Disappointment flashed across my face or in my eyes, because his lips curled into a soft smile. He found the reaction he’d been looking for and looked smug again.

  “What if you give me a chance, give us a chance to see what happens?” He whispered over the cricket chorus, his forehead leaning against mine. “What if we go out? Just you and me, on one date, and see what happens.”

  I couldn’t say no. I didn’t want to. I lost the will to fight; I just wanted to surrender. I didn’t want to flee from his arms. I wanted them wrapped tight around me. I didn’t want to turn from his lips, I wanted to possess them. No matter how precarious I thought our future together was, I wanted to live it, to feel every nuance of it.

  “Okay fine. I’ll go out with you.”

  Chapter 8

  The doorbell rang. I didn’t know which way to run. Reece stood on the other side the door, and while I’d been wild with anticipation since the previous evening, thinking of nothing else, I knew this would be my last chance to turn and walk away. My last chance to keep my heart from breaking. I just couldn’t decide which was stronger, my need for self-preservation, or my overwhelming desire to be with him.

  Frozen with indecision, I did nothing until my father let him in and I darted into the bathroom for a quick, last minute, once over.

  What does one wear for a Sunday afternoon first date? I hoped my white tee shirt and denim skort were okay. I didn’t want to be underdressed, and I had absolutely no idea where we were going. And my hair! I pulled it up one last time, just to let it fall again past my shoulders. I felt as ready as I could be.

  “Jenna,” my father called.

  I walked down the half flight of steps leading from the upstairs bedrooms to the main floor, and then another half flight to the lower level where Reece stood in hall speaking with my dad.

  As our eyes met I
realized I’d never seen him in bright daylight before. Every time we’d been together, it had been at night, under the moon and stars, or dim lighting. Seeing him with the rays of the sun splaying through the door behind him, he appeared to be a celestial offering.

  For a moment I lost my voice. He looked so striking and perfect in his khaki shorts and v neck tee, every hair in place, his eyes shining.

  “Hi.” I said breaking up the conversation, and glad to do so before my father started his, “Do you mind if I run a security check on you,” spiel.

  “Hello.” He smiled and I felt the room brighten.

  I liked the approving look in Reece’s warm honey eyes as they fell on me. I didn’t realize until now the full intensity of his eyes, or how they could make me melt.

  “Any idea when you’ll be home?” My father asked.

  “I’ll have her home by nine Sir,” Reece answered, shaking my father’s hand.

  Nine o’clock, that gave us six hours all by ourselves. Six hours for a first date! All of a sudden my chest felt heavy. I tried not to panic. How were we going to fill that much time?

  “Ready?” Reece turned his attention back to me and smiled again, easing my anxiety and setting my pulse racing.

  “Ready,” I agreed. What reason did I have to delay? Why not just jump, take the free fall and hope it wouldn’t leave me splattered on the cement like a raw egg. It was time to go for it and enjoy the thrill rising inside me.

  Reece pulled his seatbelt down into the buckle, “We’re going to have a great time. I promise.” He started the car and pulled away.

  I didn’t respond. I looked over at him, and wondered at what point exactly I relinquished my control. He looked so arrogant and full of himself.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked glancing over, his smile fading. “You look upset.”

  “Nothing.” I had to think quickly and throw a wrench his way to wipe that look of triumph off his face. “But, last night you proved I can’t trust you.”

  His brow creased and became serious again. “How?”

  “What happened to, ‘You have to tell me you want it?’”

  His eyes scrunched up, his lips pursed together. I stared thinking he looked incredibly sexy. I waited for him to catch on.

  “Oh, the kiss?” He grinned, like I just told a really funny joke.

  “Yes the kiss.” I tried my hardest to mimic his voice, sound angry, and keep a straight face all at the same time, and failed miserably.

  “That was hardly a kiss.” He countered.

  “Our lips touched, it counts,” I went back at him biting my bottom lip to try and keep from smiling.

  He shook his head. “Seriously, if that’s what you consider a kiss, you are in for quite a surprise.”

  Wonderful. Now I had images racing through my head, and heat surging through my body. I should have kept quiet. While Reece’s mouth kept moving, I couldn’t hear what he said, I just imagined his lips on mine and how much better his idea of a kiss would be than what we shared the previous evening.

  “The point is you gave your word.”

  “I did say that didn’t I?” He paused, “That was when I thought you were physically afraid of me.”

  “All that counts is you went back on it.”

  He still looked amused. “It’s a simple misunderstanding. You think it was a kiss, I think it was a tease, a preview, like a movie trailer. It doesn’t count.”

  A coming attraction? Was he for real? Did girls really buy into this? If I were any indication, the answer was clear: absolutely!

  “Of course it counts,” I couldn’t just let him off the hook, or acknowledge I couldn’t wait for the main feature.

  “I said that because you were shaking,” he began to explain. “And the closer I got, the more nervous you seemed. I wanted you to feel safe and secure.”

  I shifted in my seat serious once again. “What changed?”

  I watched his face light up, “I realized last night when I came to help you, you were more than capable of handling yourself. And I knew if I did anything you weren’t okay with, you’d hurt me.”

  “School gave us the opportunity to take self-defense as Phys Ed for a semester,” I explained.

  “Bet you got an A.”

  I laughed not feeling at all like he was judging me.

  “So if there are no traumatizing memories, and you could beat me into the ground, then I guess it’s my good looks that drive you crazy,” he sniggered.

  “You’re not that good looking.” I felt certain my flaming hot checks were bright red, giving away my embarrassment.

  “So how good looking am I?” He winked.

  “Shut up and drive.”

  He brought a hand up to his chest and feigned being insulted.

  Sitting in the car, I couldn’t help but stare at Reece. There was an element of comfort with him that I never experienced with a guy before. Never ever. For the first time, I could relax and be myself.

  The more I found myself in his company the more I enjoyed it. I looked forward to his lighthearted jabs, knowing he could take them as easily as he gave them.

  “Where are we going?” I finally asked when the car veered onto the highway.

  “Wait and see.”

  “I don’t like to wait.”

  “Why not? You have a hot date you need to rush home for?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have an incredibly hot date,” my heart skipped a beat and I thought I was going to die leaving myself so vulnerable. “I’m just not so sure I want to share him with anyone else.”

  For a change he had nothing to say. No witty come back, no towing the line to see what he could get away with, just silence. Reece took a deep breath and turned the air conditioning up.

  He cleared his throat.

  “What?” I asked uncertain I wanted to hear the answer.

  “I think it’s a very good thing we’ll be in a public place!”

  A light bulb went on. I realized I could make him as off kilter as he made me. I’d just have to step out of my comfort zone and flirt. Shamelessly. I could enjoy this. A little practice, that’s all I needed. I didn’t think he’d mind me flirting and cajoling him. I stared at Reece with a big smile on my face as the silence lingered.

  I decided to take a page out of his book, “Everything okay?”

  “Fantastic,” He said giving me a sideward glance and a big smile. “Just surprised.” It took him another minute to recoup. “I never know what to expect from you.”

  “And that’s a good thing?” I couldn’t be certain.

  “It’s a great thing.” He smiled and that was all he needed to do, to have me in his power. “Incredible,” I heard under his breath. He reached over and took my hand in his. We were in it together.

  Partners.

  Chapter 9

  We didn’t speak much for the next twenty minutes, just listened to the radio and watched the trees pass us by. As soon as he got off the parkway I had a good idea we were going to Six Flags. There isn’t much else to do in that end of Jackson, especially on a first date.

  It didn’t take long to park the car and walk past the decorative shrubbery and flowers. The lines at the entrance weren’t as long as I anticipated. Just to be sure we would get in without much delay, Reece purchased the tickets on line. A security check through the turnstile and metal detectors and we were officially in the park.

  We walked straight ahead and were quickly stopped by the park photographers offering to take our picture. Reece asked if we could have it taken with Daffy Duck who was being escorted to his next destination.

  With a little help by our picture taker, we had Daffy before the line of impatient children waiting for him. Reece and I faced each other, his arms circling my waist, and Daffy on my other side.

  “A keepsake to remember our first date,” he suggested.

  “You say that like I’ll want to remember,” I teased.

  “You will,” he smiled, and led me by the hand to the game area
.

  Reece looked around and stopped in front of a game with old fashioned Coke bottles and the biggest stuffed animal prizes in the area. He pulled out money and paid the attendant for three chances to get a ring around the neck of the bottle.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Winning a prize for you.”

  “Oh please, you don’t really think you’ll win, do you? They rig these, make them impossible, or close to it.”

  “You need to have more faith in me. Just wait and see.”

  I watched with an “I told you so,” attitude and snickered when he overthrew the first ring. He wasn’t even close! It careened past the square of play all together, and hit the back wall.

  “That’s okay, I’m just warming up.”

  Again he tossed a ring, this one stayed in the general area he meant it for, but didn’t come near the top of any bottles. By the time he pitched the last one he’d gotten so close it circled the top just before falling to the ground.

  “Three more.” Once again he handed the attendant money, and then glanced at me. “Think I can do it?”

  He won me over. How could I root against him? In anything? I wanted so much to be in his corner. “I know you can.”

  I watched as he tossed the next circle out with quiet precision. My mouth hung open as the ring circled the top of a bottle and fell around its neck. He did it. I jumped up and clapped full of excitement. He looked at me, his eyes dancing.

  “Which one would you like?” He gestured toward the array of three foot stuffed animals.

  I chose an overstuffed brown and white patched dog. Without thinking, I stood on my toes and gave Reece a quick kiss on the cheek. He circled his arm around my waist and pulled me close, taking my breath away.

  From there we went to see the live dolphin show, we raced go karts, took a ride on the cable cars with my large stuffed dog. We walked around the park, taking in the different sights, held hands and joked about men wearing tights after the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder charged passed us.

  I continued to follow Reece’s lead. He’d done a great job so far. I didn’t know if he had everything planned out or if he just played it by ear, according to my reactions. It didn’t really matter. I couldn’t have imagined a better time. Until he led me to a roller coaster.