Marked (7 page)

My heart began to race at the sight of him. I stared
at him, wondering how it was possible that the images I’d stored in
the recesses of my mind didn’t even remotely do his looks
justice.

Jace flashed me a crooked grin and took a seat at an
open table near the middle of the diner. I returned his smile with
a small one of my own and continued to refill the ketchup bottle in
front of me. Walking slowly, I returned it to the table it came
from, hoping my heart would have enough time to slow down its rapid
pace before I started to his table. I had no such luck. If
anything, it only beat faster the closer to Jace I got.

“
Hey. What can I get you to drink?”
I asked, my pen and pad ready.

“
Hold on,” he said, holding up a
finger. “Let me just say that I’m sorry for my uncle cutting our
night short last time and for not getting the chance to see you
these last few days.”

“
Okay, and let me just say I’m fine
with that,” I said in a snippier tone than I’d intended.

“
No, you’re not. Or at least you’re
not as okay with it as you’d like me to believe,” he said, a little
smirk forming.

“
Can I get you something to drink?”
I asked, avoiding his statement all together and not wanting to
admit he was right.

His smirk grew. “Can I get you to give me another
shot?”

My heart rate spiked at his words. I shifted my eyes
to the speckled tiles that made up the floor, knowing that if I
looked into those honey-colored eyes of his I’d cave. “Look, I just
broke up with Sam last night. I don’t think I’m ready to go out
with anyone else yet.”

“
Why not? That’s just all the more
reason to say yes,” he pressed.

A war sparked to life in my mind as I silently
debated on what I wanted and what I knew to be right.

“
Come on,” he whispered, reaching
out and gently gripping my elbow. “Please. Tomorrow
night?”

His touch sent flickers of warmth swimming through
my veins and I yearned for his soft lips pressed against mine. “I
don’t know,” I said, still avoiding his gaze.

“
Think about it then. I’ll have a
sweet tea and the usual—a bacon cheeseburger, double the bacon, and
some fries.”

“
Okay,” I said, scratching his
order across my pad of paper.

* * *

“
Seriously, I think that guy has
got perfect timing! I mean, how much better could this be?” Rachel
said, elbowing me in the rib while I poured Jace’s sweet
tea.

“
What are you talking
about?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “You dumped the
a-hole last night, and now Jace is asking you for another shot.
Forget about whatever happened the night you met his uncle and all
the time that’s passed in between and go for it!”

“
Wow, eavesdrop much?”

“
Only when it’s something worthy.”
She winked. “Come on, Tessa, this is your chance to have a
guilt-free date with him. You know you want to.”

I held her stare, attempting to seem serious, but
the smile I couldn’t smother gave me away.

“
See, I knew it,” Rachel said,
jabbing her index finger at my chest. “Now get your skinny ass over
there and tell him yes.”

I didn’t reply. I walked past her toward Jace’s
table, my grin remaining firmly in place.

“
Here’s your tea. Your meal will be
out soon,” I said, setting his glass in front of him.

“
Thanks. So, have you had enough
time to think about it yet?” he questioned, raising his eyebrow
before taking a long swig of his tea.

“
I’ll go out with you again,” I
said, unable to deny him for a third time.

A triumphant smile spread onto his face. “Great. I
know you won’t let me pick you up on my bike, so just meet me at my
house around seven tomorrow night.”

“
All right.”

“
But, you do realize eventually
I’ll have to meet your parents, and when I do they’ll know what I
drive, right?”

“
I know.” I could feel my cheeks
grow warm. “My dad was in a horrible motorcycle accident when he
was nineteen. It was so bad doctors claimed he’d never be able to
walk again, but he did. They say it was a miracle.”

“
A miracle, huh?” Jace repeated
with a distant gleam in his eyes.

“
Yeah, it really was. He doesn’t
even limp. Anyway, that’s why he’s so adamant about me never riding
on one, because he knows firsthand how dangerous they can
be.”

“
Well, I’ve got two more years of
riding experience than what he had.” Jace grinned arrogantly, with
the strange glare still present in his stare.

“
Somehow I don’t think telling him
how old you are is going to earn you any bonus points.” In fact,
he’d just pointed out another reason for my parents not to allow us
to date.

“
I’m sure I’ve got other qualities
he may find comforting.” He smiled.

“
I doubt that. He’ll be so focused
on the bike that I’m sure he won’t notice your charming smile,” I
said, rolling my eyes.

“
You always so negative?” he
asked.

“
You always so full of yourself?” I
countered.

“
Touché.” He grinned as I walked
away.

* * *

By eight o’clock, one hour before my shift was over,
people had finally begun to trickle out and Jace was on his third
glass of sweet tea.

“
You know, you sitting here staring
at me for the last hour and a half is kinda creepy,” I teased while
topping off his tea.

“
I could say the same about you,”
he said, flashing me a crooked grin.

I shook my head and moved two tables away to begin
clearing it off. The bell above the door dinged as someone walked
in. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Sam stumbling in. He had
dark circles underneath his bloodshot eyes and could barely walk
straight—a dead giveaway he’d been drinking.

My eyes darted toward Rachel.
Not good
, she
mouthed to me. I took in a deep breath and continued with what I’d
been doing, stacking up crumbled napkins into the plastic food
baskets left on the table. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I
could feel it pulsating in my fingertips. I knew this would be a
bad end to a good night.

“
Hey,” Sam muttered from directly
behind me. I jumped at his sudden closeness.

“
Hi,” I said, while stacking the
baskets on top of one another.

“
I’m sorry about last night. I
really am, Tessa. I don’t know what came over me.”

“
Please, let’s not do this right
now. I’m at work.” Not only that, but Jace was sitting just a few
tables away.

I stalked past him with the stuff I’d gathered from
the table teetering in my arms. Sam moved quickly to grab my arm,
startling me and causing me to drop everything I’d been
holding.

“
Damn it. I’m sorry, Tessa,” he
said, bending down to help me. “I just really need to talk to
you.”

“
I’m working, Sam. I can’t do this
right now,” I repeated, growing angrier with him by the
second.

“
There’s hardly anyone here,” he
said, throwing up his arms and gesturing around. “You have time,
stop saying you don’t.”

Embarrassment slashed away at my insides as anger
toward him burned through my blood. “Go home, Sam. I don’t feel
like dealing with this crap right now.”

“
What the fuck, Tessa! I said I was
sorry! I know I got a little out of hand and had a little too much
to drink, okay?”

“
Like right now?” I snapped,
swiping up the last napkin off the floor and stalking toward the
counter again.

“
God, I’m sorry, all right,” he
said in a softer tone, following closely behind me. “You just—you
make me crazy lately.”

I set my arm load down on the counter and spun to
face him. “
Crazy
?” I scoffed. “Try asshole-ish and don’t
blame me!”

Anger sparked to life in his baby-blue eyes as he
glared at me. “If you hadn’t been—”

“
What,
dancing
?” I cut him
off, letting anger take rank over the embarrassment tingling
beneath my skin. “It was a party; that’s what people
do.”

“
True, but you didn’t have to dance
like a
whore
!”

“
Oh no you didn’t,” Rachel said,
shaking her index finger at Sam. “You need to leave.
Now
.”

“
Shut the fuck up, Rachel. This has
nothing to do with you,” Sam said, glaring at her.

“
I’m with her; you need to leave,”
Jace said. He stood firmly behind Sam, his face calm and
expressionless, but it was the look in his eyes that worried me.
They were focused directly on Sam and flaring with a wild,
hate-filled look I’d never seen before in them.

“
Everything okay out here, girls?”
Dewey, the cook, asked, leaning his head out the window that
separated the kitchen from the dining area.

“
Yeah, everything’s fine, Dewey.
Thanks,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing enough. The last thing
I wanted was for the cops to get called.

“
Okay,” Dewey said, turning away
and sounding skeptical.

“
And who the hell are you to tell
me what to do?” Sam asked, annoyed as he shifted to face Jace.
“Seriously?
Prince Charming
?” He laughed, realizing who’d
been standing behind him.

Jace took a small step forward. His expression still
remained the same, but the wild gleam in his eyes intensified as a
wicked smile came to his face. He actually seemed to be enjoying
himself. Fear filled my stomach as sudden thoughts of how heated
this situation could potentially get raced through my mind.

“
Look, I don’t know who you think
you are, but this has nothing to do with you either; it’s between
me and my girlfriend,” Sam said through clenched teeth.

“
Girlfriend
, right.” Jace
chuckled. “That’s not what she said a few hours ago.”

My stomach dropped. Things were getting ready to go
from bad to worse.

“
You’ve been
talking
to this
douche?” Sam glared at me.

“
I... well... um...” I had no idea
what to say. I froze.

“
Doesn’t matter. All that matters
right now is that you need to leave,” Jace said.

“
Really?” Sam asked, just before
shoving Jace hard.

Jace barely took a step backward from the movement.
His wicked grin became wider and I saw the wild gleam in his eyes
ignite. “I’ve been waiting for you to do that.” He smirked.

My legs suddenly moved. Before I realized what I was
doing, I was standing in between the two of them with a hand placed
firmly on each of their chests.

“
You
both
should leave,” I
said. I could feel Jace’s heart pounding rapidly beneath my palm
and shifted to face him. “Jace, please don’t,” I whispered, knowing
he was much stronger, both physically and mentally at the moment,
than Sam. It would be easier for him to walk away.

“
Jace?” Sam growled beside me.
“What the hell, now you’re on a first-name basis with Prince
freaking Charming?”

I glanced at Sam then; hurt had swallowed up all the
anger that had consumed his eyes and it tore away at my insides.
“Sam...” Again, my vocal cords froze. I couldn’t think of a way to
describe anything without it sounding absolutely horrible.

“
Don’t explain anything to him. He
doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve you, Tessa,” Jace said, his
voice soft and velvety like the first time I’d met him.

“
I cannot believe this!” Sam
shouted, taking a step back. My hands fell to my sides and I
couldn’t bring myself to look at anything besides the speckled
floor. “I always thought you were better than that. Guess I
couldn’t have been more wrong. Un-fucking believable,” he added,
running his fingers through his hair.

Sam barreled out the door without looking back at me
before I could conjure up anything to say in my mind. As the door
swung closed behind him, I felt the embarrassment from my public
soap opera moment singe my cheeks.

“
Are you okay?” Jace
asked.

My embarrassment quickly shifted to anger at the
sound of his voice. “What is with you? Why did you call him out
like that?” I asked, my voice not sounding nearly as hostile as I
would have liked.

“
He called you a whore, Tessa. What
was I supposed to do, sit there? Maybe it wasn’t my place to out us
like that, but wasn’t it time he learned something?”

“
I should have been the one to tell
him, not you. And I didn’t need your help; I was handling him just
fine. He would have left on his own in another minute or two,” I
said, dumping the trash from the baskets into the trashcan
finally.

“
I’m sorry, Tessa, I am,” he said,
his hands lightly gripping mine and freezing them in
place.

I hated the way his touch made me feel. How it could
dampen all of my anger so quickly, like water pouring onto a fire.
I made the mistake of letting my eyes rise to meet his and felt
every ounce of my anger subside.

“
Where have you been for the last
few days?” I wondered.

“
I had to go out of town for some
unexpected family business,” he answered, removing his hands from
mine.