Greatest Distraction (Distracted #1) (15 page)

Dane broke the heated kiss, his eyes blazing as he stared at me for a moment.

“Food,” he said in explanation and I stifled the urge to tell him to ignore it.
I’ll be your breakfast
, the voice in my head declared proudly.

“Yes.” My voice was breathy and soft as I fought to regain my composure. Wasn’t there something I needed to be doing? My brain had apparently traveled south, only thinking I shouldn’t have put clothes on – less would’ve been better.

“Hungry?” Dane asked, his tone still husky and not quite normal yet. I shook my head to clear it and plugged my phone into the outlet at the bar counter. Call Elle … that’s what I’d forgotten.

“Very.” I deny any accusations that my
reply had
any
sexual innuendo to it. I strictly meant food. Dane’s eyes had snapped to my face though … I’m pretty sure he didn’t believe my ‘no innuendo’ monologue. That’s alright, I didn’t either.

Winking at him, I perched myself on one of the bar stools and dialed Elle.

“You’d better not be dead, Ryen Francis Macek, or I’ll seriously be pissed,” came my friend’s voice, serious and worried all at the same time.

“I’m fine
… geez let a girl recover.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve called
you?! You had me worried sick!”

“
Sixteen, actually, I saw … Sorry, Mom … Elle. I, erm, misplaced my phone. Wouldn’t have mattered anyway. I was asleep until about thirty minutes ago.”

As I spoke, Dane placed a fresh cup of coffee in front of me. I eyed it wearily, the memory of his coffee mutilation still playing in my mind. The color looked right, though. Breathing deeply, I tentatively took a sip.
Ahh, it was perfect.
You learn well, young grasshopper
. I beamed at him, mouthing a silent ‘thank you.’ Dane nodded, returning my smile before stirring his creation again. I had no idea what he was making, but it smelled divine. Watching him move confidently in my kitchen was an added bonus.

“Are you even
listening
to me?” Elle shouted in my ear.

“Um, no? Did you say something important or just continue to scream in my ear and I managed to tune it out?
”

Silence stretched for a minute and I could just picture my friend taking a deep breath to calm down. Elle panicking wasn’t a new occurrence – she’d lost someone she loved very suddenly and it made her
… anxious … with the lives of those she loved. That I was included in that category meant a lot so I dealt with her overreactions. Besides, after losing my father, and my mom by crazy proxy, it felt good to have someone who truly cared about me.

“Sorry
… you know I worry –”

“Yep.
S’okay,” I said, cutting her off.

“So, how was the party last night? Is that where you left your phone?”

“It was fine. And, no, I left my purse in the car,” I told her, my eyes darting from the man at the stove to my coffee. Man … chipper after only a few hours of sleep, showered, cooking, coffee making, and a good kisser … He’s magic, I tell you.
He’s so out of my league.

“The driver waited until today to return it? Is everything in it?
How unprofessional! I’ll call and complain – I know you won’t.”

“Elle, you don’t need to do that. Nothing
’s missing.”

“But they could’ve copied your license! They know where you live now!”

“Overreacting much? Of course they know where I live – they were my driver! They picked me up, remember? Oh yeah, and my license is a Georgia one, with an Atlanta address. S’long way from the big city.”

“Oh. Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“Besides, it wasn’t the car service’s car I forgot it in.”

Dane cleared his throat loudly and I glanced up at him. He was holding a plate, obviously asking permission to use them. Odd, he hadn’t asked to use the pan
… or if he could help himself to the food I’d had delivered.

“Oh
em gee, no you didn’t!” Elle had gone from concerned, almost angrily terrified, to sounding as giddy as a schoolgirl. Seriously, she even squealed. “I heard him too! Ryen, you little hussy! Who is he? Do I know him? What does he look like?”

Her questions were flying at me a mile a minute, leaving me almost dizzy. I could see Dane out of the corner of my eye silently laughing.
That’s
why he asked plate permission! Damn him!

“No, I didn’t. Yes, he’s here. No, you don’t know him, I think. As for his looks?” I paused long enough to glare daggers at the man in question. “He’s short and stout, with a face only a mother could love. I’m pretty sure he’s related to one of those troll dolls – I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a jewel in his belly button and everything.”

Dane abruptly stopped laughing, his jaw dropping to the floor. Pinching his brows, he un-tucked his soft T-shirt and lifted it, giving me a clear view of his stomach. It was cut like a washboard with abs strong enough you could literally wash clothes on. A sprinkling of hair dusted up from the waist of his jeans, leading the happiest trail I’d ever seen to a belly button. I may have stared longer than what was polite but I was nothing if not thorough – I had to be one-hundred-percent positive there wasn’t a gemstone hiding somewhere. Damn.
Trouble, trouble, yummy trouble.

“So he’s actually tall, raw
, and so hot he could melt ice, huh?”

“You’re
gonna fill the guy’s head, Elle. Hush it – pretty sure from the ab show I’m now getting he can hear you.”

“Good view?” she asked, her words
a little louder and alight with humor.

“
Mmm,” I non-answered, instead sipping from my coffee again. It wasn’t hot anymore, which was probably a good thing. My face already felt warm from this whole conversation. Any added warmth would likely make me combust.

“You like him!” I swear if that girl could ever just learn to filter the words that passed through her head. And, of course, the troll-boy himself had heard her newest exclamation. His face snapped to mine, obviously wanting confirmation of her words.

“Maybe,” I told them both. Surely Dane already knew that … I’d just let the man kiss me stupid.

“I knew it! What’s his name?”

“Dane,” I told her, keeping my eyes down. I refused to introduce him as ‘Brian.’ Nope.

“Hi
, Dane!” my best friend yelled through the phone, deafening me.

“Hello
, Elle.”
Damn he sounds sexy
, I thought as he greeted her.

“Damn, he sounds sexy,”
Elle echoed, creepily reading my mind. I neither confirmed nor denied it, just sighed into the phone.

“Good for you, pretty girl,” she continued. “He better treat you right.”

“Elle, stop your rollercoaster – I’ve known him all of
one
day. You know the old saying … Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“But it fell in one. Just like I predicted, you’re going to fall in love.” Elle was positively gushing and my stomach felt sick.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Nothing wrong with it! Forget about -”

“Bye, Elle. I’ll talk to you later.”

Before she could protest or embarrass me further, or bring up discussion topics I wasn’t quite ready to talk about, I hung up. She wouldn’t be happy with me, but she’d get over it
. I hadn’t wanted her to know about Dane yet – soon enough the whole world would know. Huh … she didn’t mention any photos in the news, I realized.

“Have we made the news yet?” I asked Dane as he plated some egg concoction onto two plates.

“Nope,” he answered simply, shrugging his shoulders and carrying them to a now set kitchen table. Orange juice, coffee, and the plates were set on placemats. Wow, when did he do that? It certainly wasn’t set before – he had used the good settings, generally reserved for the holidays or a fancy date. Definitely never used for a brunch in yoga pants and T-shirts.

“What do you mean ‘nope
’?” I followed his lead and sat in the seat beside him. The food he’d made was making me starve, it smelled so good. It looked like he’d made an omelet before giving up and chopping it to bits. Scrambled eggs, onion, ham, bacon, and cheese made a pile of random in front of me. Good thing, for me, that I happened to like random.

“A friend of mine works for
TMZ
. I asked him to not let the photos run.” He looked so intense that I didn’t interrupt him. Instead I kept my mouth shut. See? If I can learn to do it, Elle could too. “Apparently we’re
big news
. Only thing I got from him is he’d hold the story a few hours. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“That doesn’t sound god. We covered you’re not crazy, or a stalker – I’m still on the fence with that one – and you’re not married. What else is there? Killer, rapist, and drug addict go in the ‘crazy’ category for me – oh crap! Are those different things to you?”

“Of course,” he said and I pushed away from the table.
Stupid city!
Why did I even come here? An even better question would be why and how I was lusting and trusting a man I barely knew.

“Jesus, what did he
do
to you?” Dane said incredulously, running his hand through his hair. Despite not knowing him long, I could tell he was frustrated – what I couldn’t tell was if it was with me, the situation he wanted to ‘talk’ about, or himself. Probably me. Wouldn’t surprise me.

“I’m sorry? What did
who
do to me?” I asked, confused and feeling silly still standing two feet from the table. Swallowing hard, I sat back down.

“The man that broke your heart.”

“How do you know a man broke my heart?” I countered, teetering on the line between offended that he could tell something was off about me, and relieved that he knew I was slightly jaded. Coming off emotionally scarred was much better than completely crazy. Maybe I’d still like him even if he was crazy … I was, after all.

“
Ryen, I was born on a day, but it wasn’t yesterday. Look at you. You’re absolutely beautiful, with a fantastic personality, but when it comes to men, you’re as stray as the cat my parents once rescued – emotionally neglected, abused, and completely skittish. You assume the worst about everyone, or maybe just men – I haven’t decided just yet – without having a reason. So tell me, what did he do to you?”

My jaw was practically on the floor as I processed his words. He thought I was beautiful? Not only beautiful, but
absolutely
beautiful? Fantastic personality? Me? I didn’t think I was anything special … perhaps a little sarcastic in the best of ways, but fantastic? After a few seconds of internal girl squealing, I got to the rest of what he said.
Did he really compare me to a stray cat?
I asked the voice in the back of my head.
If the shoe fits, strut your stuff,
was the answer I got.

“I…” I started, my mouth gaping like a fish. I wasn’t sure how to answer him, which story to give him, or what would get me out of discussing any of this.
There was no way I was going to embarrass myself by telling him what had happened with …
Aaron
… I just wouldn’t. “Let’s just say that I thought we were taking a graded test, but apparently it was a group project and answer sharing was fine.”
There,
I thought.
Coward.
That was about as clear as a foggy window,
my subconscious scolded me.

“So you thought you were exclusive and some
dumbass broke your heart by sleeping with other women.” Wow. Okay, so I guess Dane knows Ryen speak – he’s definitely much smarter than I credited him. Not many could understand me … Elle did, of course, but that was a given – besides, Elle and Ryen speak were pretty similar. I’d never had anyone besides the two of us, and perhaps my father, know what I was saying.

Hearing him use the plural of women was almost as painful as actually catching him with one of them. Were there more than just the sheet-wrapped
hooker I saw when I’d been there that night? I didn’t want to know; really, I didn’t want to know. As much as I hated it, though, Dane was probably right.
Women
. Ouch.

“Yes
,” I admitted, albeit reluctantly. “Moving on … you wanted to tell me something? I’ve pretty much decided it’s okay if you’re crazy, or a psycho, because I guess I am too, but please, be gentle with me.”

Dane stood and moved to my chair, towering over me even as he leaned his head down to whisper in my ear. “
Ryen, when the time comes, you won’t be asking me to be gentle.” His lips were a brush of softness and his words heated my skin, my face, and I shivered. “Anyway, I did want to tell you something important,” he told me as he took his seat once more, though the food on his plate had somehow evaporated. Magic, I tell you, in more ways than one.

Struck stupid, I stared and waited patiently for him to speak
. My brain had completely leaked out my ears on the back of his words, and my mind was wandering to the deliciously possibilities that could await me with him. If I closed my eyes I swear I could see him pressing my back against the wall, my legs wrapped around his strong waist, his hands gripping the underside of my thighs. Oh god.
Focus, damn it, you are not a horny nineteen-year-old anymore
. That inner voice and I were about to be mortal enemies if she kept up with absurd thoughts like that. I quite liked the mental image. Dane took a deep breath, drawing my attention back to him.