Fallen (10 page)

Beneath the halo of the street lamps, I found that i
t was someone far more annoying -
the
lofty guy
I
ha
d
nearly ran over
the night before.

My breath caught in my throat as I recognized him. I couldn’t mistake the elegant contours of his facial features or the way he stood straight
, being so
comfortable
in his own skin. He swaggered
toward
me, thumbs tucked
into
the pockets of his dark jeans – jeans that fit him perfectly in all the right places. His blue shirt was pulled out to cool him off because he wore a buttoned up black vest
. The clothes he wore fit
the
mold
of his muscles
and
defined
his body
,
which beneath them was clearly perfect. I watched him approach, my breath
still
caught, knowing that only he could pull off that type of style on a summer evening in New Orleans.

He
was smirking at me
. “What are you planning on doing with that?”
he asked in his thick English accent
.
I could feel my heart quicken.

“Defend myself,” I retorted, stowing the chair next to the other one.
I
found myself
trying to
avoid
staring at him and hoping he wasn’t realizing it.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded
,
while standing up to face him.

He freed one hand to tip the rim of
his
cap
toward
me, which
must have been his version of a greeting.
I thought it was
a haughty gesture
…
yet
charming at the same time.

He was a foot away now
,
and I could feel myself be
ing
drawn
toward
him,
enticed by him
.

“I’ve actually been here
for a while,” he said, casually,
as he leaned
back
against the gate.

I felt his eyes on me
even as
I looked for something else to do
, trying to keep him from seeing what he was doing to me
. In the end, he was unavoidable.

“But
why? W
hat are you doing here?” I persisted.

“Well,” he said, struggling not to grin
at my obvious irritation
. “Despite your sentiment last time
we saw each other
, I came by to see if you needed help.”

I sighed, loudly. “
You were checking up on me?”

He shrugged, a guilty expression marring his handsome face,
al
though I knew he didn’t feel an ounce of remorse.

“Didn’t I tell you I could take care of myself?”

“Yes, yes, you did
…
” He nodded
in
agreement. “
I still came.”

Neither of us moved, allowing silence to surround us. It was as if we were staring each other down, willing the other to speak first.

His sultry eyes watched me, curious and teasing. How could anyone be this
beautiful
and aggravating at the same time? I was sure he missed nothing…my now rapidly beating heart,
my
visible shortness of
breath,
and
my
busy
eyes flickering away from his.

In the end, I decided it would be me to break the silence
,
or I was going to pass out right there.

“I’ve been in
dangerous situations before
,
you know.”

He seemed unimpressed.
He nodded his head downward once, submissively, and uttered, “I’m sure you have.”

Apparently he wasn’t getting my
implied
point. He wasn’t moving
;
instead
,
he remained
poised against the fence. Maybe he needed further clarification.

“I can take care of myself,” I insisted. It was something I meant and intended to prove
,
if I ever got the chance.

“You’ve made that clear,” he replied, flatly.

I wasn’t sure if he was being facetious or sincere
,
but
I
decided either way
,
it didn’t matter. The message I wanted to get across was that I emphatically did not want him to think I was so weak that I needed
someone watching over me,
trying to
be
a savior.

“Well, you can stick around if you want…waiting for a building to collapse on me…but you’re going to be sorely disappointed.” I said this even as I
realized my body was still feeling the effects of Sharar,
and
I
noticed that the goose bumps hadn
’
t disappeared from my arms
yet
.

“Are you in that much of a hurry to get rid of me?” he asked, disrupting my
thoughts and
drawing
my attention
back to him.
It seemed like
he was a bit appalled, possibly even hurt at the idea.

“Get rid of…
n
o…I just don’t want you to waste your time.”

I certainly didn’t want him to leave, even if I was a bit conflicted by his presence.
I liked him
being here…anywhere really so long as I was there too. I felt
comfortable
in his presence as if I had known him my entire life and could
say nearly anything that was on my mind.

I
simply
wanted him to be here for a different reason, a reason that didn’t include me being a damsel in distress.
H
e
obviously
saw himself
as a hero, but a hero
was only a hero if the person being saved wasn’t strong enough to save themselves. I was certainly capable of saving myself.

He
folded his arms across his solid chest and
settled back
against the rails -
into
what I was finding to be his natural
, smug
demeanor
. “
Well…
I don’t believe I’m wasting my time.
Eventually you’ll need saving.
”

My mouth fell open at his audacity.
“See
that…
that belief is truly wrong. You do understand that I’ve survived
eighteen
years without your assistance
. R
ight?”

“I do,” he agreed
readily
,
and
to my relief
it seemed that
he finally understood my point. Then he went a step further, eradicating
any
good will. “I just don’t know how.”

I clenched my jaw in response
,
and seeing this, he bowed his head to chuckle.

I
knew I
had
three
options. I could
release the torrent of words and curses
that were
racing through
my mind
and
make it unmistakably
clear that I did not need a sav
ior
.
I could silently
suppress
the emotions brewing in
side
me, pick up my backpack, and head home,
although
this
wasn’t really an option
for me,
or I could change the subject
to
avoid further aggravating myself. I chose the final
alternative
.

“
So are you going to tell me your name?” I shrugged, trying to
break
his stare
. I began to realize
that
,
whenever he was near
,
I was so conscious of him I forgot to
breathe
;
as a result,
I took a deep breath
for good measure.

A wide smirk
contorted his face;
that
,
I was learning
,
must be
his trademark expression
.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask.
I’m
Eran.”

“Maggie,” I said.
It could have
been the fact that he simply stared back,
showing no sign
that he was storing my name in the back of his mind,
but I got the distinct
, albeit
irrational
,
feeling that he somehow already knew
my name
.

My
instinct
was to
extend my hand in greeting,
even though I knew
this was not typical behavior for someone my age
.
Nevertheless
,
living on the road you grow up quickly.

He seemed to have the same inhibition because he didn’t immediately take my
hand
. Instead, he stared at
it
as
if
he
was
torn between
being cordial
and being
rude
.