Enchant Me (9 page)

“I want you to be really careful. No running
around at night by yourself and make sure to let your mom know that
you saw him at school.”

He didn’t have to worry. I had no desire to
become some domestic abuse statistic. Looking away from the clear
agitation in his eyes, I considered whether I should mention it to
a couple of cops I was friends with and decided I would. Better to
be safe than sorry. I was kind of relieved that I wouldn’t be
home alone, I could see my mom’s car and several others in the
driveway and all the lights were on. I realized she must be having
one of her game nights with her co-workers. That should be
entertaining. I smiled in spite of myself. Turning to
Christian, I decided to lighten his mood or darken it with desire
whichever worked. I didn’t want him worrying all night. I grabbed
his arms and yanked him against me, twining one leg around one of
his.

“Mmm… I wish I could spend the night with
you,” I said as provocatively as I could. 

His arms wrapped around me but the look in
his eyes was incredulous. Like he couldn’t believe I was taunting
him.

“You are just asking for trouble. No, you’re
begging for it,” he growled, his voice low and gravelly.

He really was lovely and
perfect. Deciding not to push my luck, I swiftly kissed him on
the lips and ran into the house. I could feel him watching my
retreat like he couldn’t decide whether to pick me up and carry me
back to his house or let me escape for the night. I kind of hoped
he would pick the former. But that was my wicked side
talking. Mom looked at me suspiciously as I rushed into the
house, but no doubt seeing nothing of concern she turned back to
the poker game with her friends. I waved to everyone at the table
and made my way to the kitchen. My mom followed soon
after. 

“Where were you?” she asked, puttering around
the kitchen, trying to find an excuse to be in there.

“I met a really nice guy at school named
Christian. We were hanging out at his house. It’s not far from
here. It’s the big white house near Saltar’s, kind of rundown.”

 She nodded her head at this, and looked
like she wanted to ask more questions but didn’t know what to start
with. She really was out of practice. I thought I better head her
off at the pass. 

“Mom,” I said hesitantly, “I think I saw
Nicolas today at school watching me in the parking lot.”

“What!” she loudly exclaimed and took a
concerned step towards me. 

Oh lord, what had I done? I was so not in the
mood for drama tonight. Which unfortunately was one of her great
gifts-or more accurately curse.

“The guy was far away so I can’t be positive,
but I am having Tina ask around to see if anyone knows if he’s
back.”

She looked back at her friends and then at
me. She sighed, “let me know if we need to file a restraining
order.”

I looked at her like she was deranged. “Of
course.”

I wondered how she could even doubt
it. Glad that awkward conversation was over, I hurried to my
room to spend some time with the other man of my life. It looked
like he had been quite the hellion while I was gone. Eyeliners that
had been on my vanity were spread across the floor, the tassels on
my curtain tiebacks were now just scraggly threads and some of my
pillows looked a lot worse for wear. He was lucky he was so damn
cute. Curled in a tight little gray ball on my bed, I nudged him
over and lay down next to him. So content it was ridiculous, I fell
asleep instantly. 

CHAPTER 5

Sunday morning I woke up insanely late since
Saturday night’s dance performance had gone longer than I thought
it would. The Indian bridal party my troupe and I performed for
invited us to stay and celebrate. None of us wanted to leave--those
Indians really know how to party. And the money I had made was
sorely needed for new clothes and more airbrush ink. I glanced over
at my alarm clock. Crap! If I didn’t get out of the house in about
fifteen minutes I would be late for Christian’s soccer
game. As Cody chased his ball around the room I quickly
considered my look for the day. Since the field next to Pioneer
Middle School, where they were playing soccer, wasn’t too far away,
I could walk there instead of ride. I decided to wear a short
little white cotton dress and I would do minimal makeup and a
classic sort of ponytail. I even took the diamond stud out of my
nose. I smiled at my reflection. I barely recognized myself, aside
from the flaming red hair; I no longer looked like punk rock
Barbie- instead I looked like naughty Catholic school girl Barbie.
I wondered what Christian would think.

 I decided to bring Cody with me and was
glad my mom had the foresight to buy a leash and tiny harness for
him. Unfortunately, just getting the harness on him was an exercise
in frustration. He wiggled and flopped over on his back and did
basically anything that could make the job impossible. After what
seemed like an eternity, it was finally on and I gently tugged on
the leash to get him to walk which seemed to be his cue to flop
over on top of the leash and start gnawing on it. Giving up on
the notion I would be lucky enough to have a dog-like cat, I picked
him up, grabbed my bag that I had packed with a towel and other
random supplies for both of us and headed out the door. It looked
like mom must have already left for the day, which was probably a
blessing since I was sure she would try to talk me out of taking
Cody with me. 

All the way there Cody protested with loud
meows and pushing his little paws against me in an attempt to get
down. The claws actually came out every time he saw a bird that
looked appetizing. I was ridiculously relieved when I finally got
to the field and I could put Cody down; I laid out my towel and set
down my bag which I tied his leash to. I smiled at how the grass
was almost as tall as he was. He seemed perfectly content romping
through the flowers and weeds. Looking out over the field I
eventually found Christian, his back to me, in some sort of huddle
with the guys. I almost didn’t recognize him in shorts, t-shirt and
baseball cap which covered up a good part of his dark hair. I
glanced around the field; it seemed I was the only girlfriend who
had deigned to show up. I almost blushed when I turned back
towards the knot of guys and noticed that they were looking and
pointing at me. I watched as Christian finally located me and a big
smile spread across his face. And I couldn’t do a thing to stop my
answering one. 

My eyes feasted on him possessively as he
loped over to me. There was something about Christian in casual
wear that just made me want to cuddle with him like crazy. He
stopped about a foot away from me and looked me over.

“You look almost a little too innocent for
your own good,” he sighed, the warmth in his eyes leaving me no
doubt as to what he meant. 

I raised a brow at him, “Keep it up and we
won’t be staying,” I playfully murmured. 

Closing the distance between us, he wrapped
his arms around my waist, hugged me and gave me a quick kiss on the
lips, not nearly enough to tantalize me though. It occurred to me
then that he was a pretty private person. He wasn’t one of those
guys that wanted to show off or needed to prove his possession. I
respected him even more for it and decided not to tease him as I
originally had planned, or… I would try not to. 

He drew away, keeping one arm around me, his
face bent towards mine, as he turned in the direction of the guys
warming up. “They wanted to come and meet you but I threatened
their lives if they took one step near you.”

 I heard the laugh in his voice and
smiled. “That would have been ok.”

He looked at me incredulous, “ah-- no it
wouldn’t have,” he laughed.

I pulled away from his arm and put my hands
on my hips. “Are you telling me I am not supposed to talk to them
all day?”

He laughed at my pathetic attempt to look
angry. I loved how I could make him laugh. He was completely
relaxed, his happiness reflecting deeply in his dark brown eyes.
“Some of them I wouldn’t trust around my own grandmother.”

 I burst out laughing. “You’ll have
a chance to talk to them at the barbeque tonight. I am sure they
will tell you a ton of reasons why you should dump me and give them
a chance.”

He didn’t look too worried-- actually he was
almost a little too confident. Feeling a little wicked. I
looked over at the guys stretching and pretended to admire a tall
blond guy. “Well…I guess a couple might have potential,” I
mused. 

Only to find myself snatched up into his arms
and he kissed me a little more demandingly this time. When he
finally pulled away, he wound his fingers through my ponytail,
caressing the strands and then slowly released them, looking back
into my eyes.

“Please behave yourself.”

I rose up and kissed his adorable nose and
found myself assuring him, “of course.”

His body suddenly jerked away from me in
surprise and uncomprehending the reason, I followed his gaze as he
looked down to find Cody on the ground staring up at him. He was
walking in-between his legs brushing his tiny tail around
Christian’s leg. Christian looked at me like I was insane for
bringing him but bent down and started petting him. Cody reveled in
the attention, lifting his tiny head so Christian could scratch
under his chin. My heart melted as I watched him being so gentle
with my baby cat. Oh god, I think I am falling in love with
him. 

“You know, there really is something special
about him. When he looks at you—it’s not like an animal looking at
you but like a person. You know what I mean.”

“I thought I was the only one that thought
that,” I said softly.

When Christian looked back up at me, the
expression on his face happy and content, I vowed again to do
whatever in my power to bring him that everyday. For a moment we
just stared at each other and then--I felt the mood change. It
felt like the whole world shook and suddenly everything I thought I
knew about my life, my priorities was gone. To be replaced by
something more powerful… a new bond that would surpass all others.
I felt my heart being bound to his like a physical thing. It was so
strong that I feared the pain that I would feel, should anything
ever break it. 

“Christian!”

We both kind of jumped when one of the guys
yelled for him to come out to the field. He picked up Cody and
handed him to me. His eyes as they met mine were a little hazy,
like he was having difficulty too, processing what had just
happened. I wondered if he had felt it as strongly as I had or had
felt it at all. He patted Cody on the head one last time.

“Keep an eye on him. I don’t want him to get
hurt by a stray ball. I will do what I can to keep it out of the
area.” 

I was horrified, I hadn’t thought of that.
What kind of cat mother was I? “Maybe I should take him back
home.”

 “Don’t worry, I will protect you both,”
he said and chucked me lightly under the chin and ran out to the
field. 

Smiling and enjoying the view of him running,
I thought that we both probably needed some time apart to absorb
what was happening between us. Even with Nicolas, whom I had truly
really cared about, it had been nothing compared to this. My
feelings for Christian were growing so fast and powerful it was
almost frightening. Thinking of Nicolas, I took a quick glance
around but I didn’t see anyone of concern. Not that there weren’t
any places to hide, there was swamp land just off to the right side
of the field but I didn’t feel that sick sensation I had felt on
Friday.

Abruptly there was a roar of appreciation on
the field, I glanced back over to find Christian on the ground, he
was looking back at me smiling but as he realized I obviously
hadn’t been paying attention, it faded. I had a feeling he had just
lived up to his word and saved Cody and I from being smacked by a
stray soccer ball and he knew I had missed it. I tried to erase the
worry that had probably still been on my face but I wasn’t sure
that I fooled him. In appreciation, I smiled and attempted to
clap my hands while still holding Cody, but I had a feeling he
would question me on it later. As they resumed play, I lay down on
the towel and placed Cody protectively behind my body, hoping he
could be satisfied with the lawn and whatever bugs existed back
there. Not wanting to lose cool girlfriend points, I
diligently watched every minute of the game from that point on. I
wasn’t an expert but from what I could tell, Christian wasn’t the
best player but he made up for that with pure passion and focus. He
was just so ridiculously beautiful no matter what he was doing. I
was completely infatuated.

Eventually they called a break and Christian
ran over to his car and grabbed a cooler and brought it over to
Cody and me. I felt pretty guilty that I was pulling him away from
his friends. I got up in preparation to pack and move to where they
were. 

“What are you doing?” He asked confused.

 “I can move over to where everyone else
is. I don’t want to seem unfriendly.”

He smirked at this. “They’ll get over it. I
didn’t make enough for everyone.”

I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my
voice, “you cooked today? What did you make?”

He laughed at me and sat cross legged on the
towel, being careful to not squash Cody, who was now bored with the
lawn and wanted to see what we were up to. Christian reached up,
grabbed my arm, pulled me down to the towel too, and started
pulling his Tupperware out of the cooler. He revealed a homemade
potato salad, chicken salad sandwiches and some kind of gourmet
chips that were amazing. 

He seemed amused by how I devoured his food;
his mouth was quirking up at the corners. “I take it your mom
doesn’t cook much either. What do you eat when I am not providing
for you?”