Save My Soul (26 page)

I huffed.

"What?" he said, his grin spreading.
He shrugged those perfect shoulders. "You said you wanted food." He
stepped into my personal space and looked down into my eyes. The
smile was replaced by a sense of seriousness. "Let's go eat, then
we can come back, and I'll finish what I started. I
promise."

"I don't take too well to broken
promises." I said, meeting his stare.

"I'll try not to disappoint you then."
He smiled and kissed my forehead. "And I'll try to behave until we
get back, but no promises there. I only said I would
try."

I smiled and got out of the shower so
he could rinse off. "Where are we going so I can dress
appropriately?"

"The Villa if you like Italian. If you
don't, then you can choose where we go," he said.

"The Villa is fine with me," I said,
and went into my room to find some clothes and change.

After I got dressed, I went to the
kitchen to see if Kobhye had found the breakfast that I'd left in
the microwave for her. The empty plate and fork were in the sink. I
heard the shower cut off, and I went back to the bathroom. I had to
dry my hair, and I couldn't flat iron it with the humidity from the
shower, so I had waited for Adam to finish up.

He had the towel wrapped around his
waist, and I had a sudden urge to grab it and bare that beautiful
ass of his. Damn, it was hard to behave with a half naked man
around that was so sexy.

"You look great," he said.

"With this towel on my head? Yeah, I'm
sure great isn't the word for it." I laughed and then went to
finish getting ready.

I had already fixed my hair and was
applying the last of my makeup when Adam came in and sat on the
stool. "You don't really need that stuff, you know. I think you're
gorgeous without it."

"I can't go out in public and let my
date look better than I do." I smiled then searched for my
mascara.

"I got the impression that I was more
than a date to you," he said. I didn't want for him to get all
defensive about me living through tomorrow again. I wanted to have
a good night with him.

I finished applying my mascara and
then put it back in my makeup bag before responding. I looked at
him and shrugged. "This is all new to me. I've never let myself get
tied to only one guy. So, forgive me if I don't know the first
thing about relationships. I do consider you more than a date. I
just don't know how all of this works." I made a back and forth
motion with my hand in between us. "Tell me how it
works."

He shrugged and smiled back at me. "I
don't know, but we'll figure it out together."

I nodded then looked down at what he
was wearing. He had on the white button-up he'd been wearing when
he got to my house this morning, but he was wearing the pajama
bottoms with black dress shoes. I giggled. "Are you going to The
Villa dressed like that?"

He gave me a hurt look. "You don't
like what I'm wearing?"

"I would prefer you out of what you're
wearing, but I'll behave myself, as well, until we get
back."

His eyes danced with laughter as he
looked at me. "I need to run by my apartment to change and get a
few things. I'm not leaving you alone for even a second until all
of this shit with Mason is over."

I only nodded then looked away from
him to apply my lip gloss. I couldn't look him in the eye with him
being in such denial. I knew what was going to happen, and he still
thought he could fix it his way.

"I need to call my parents and let
them know I'm all right. The only way I convinced my dad to let me
leave the hospital last night was to tell him that I was in love
and going after you. He said if you hurt me that he would
personally knock your head off your shoulders."

Adam laughed nervously. "Is he a big
man?"

"Very," I said with fake horror in my
eyes.

"Well, I guess he needs to see that
his baby girl is unharmed in person. I would like to meet your
parents if that's okay with you."

My jaw dropped, and he laughed. "You
want to meet my parents? I've never taken a guy to meet my
parents."

He shrugged. "How else am I going to
get permission to marry their daughter?"

My jaw went ahead and fell to the
floor, and I stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. Did he just
say what I thought he said?

"Yeah…he did,"
Rhyan said unhappily in my mind.

Adam stood up from the stool, walked
to me, kissed my forehead and said, "I'll wait for you at the door,
honey."

I braced myself on the vanity then
maneuvered my way to the stool to sit down. I felt lightheaded all
of a sudden, and I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. Married?
I couldn't get married.

"Are you coming, Kendra?" Adam shouted
from the living room.

Was I coming? I thought as I tried to
stifle a panic attack.

"Yes, you are going. Just
get up and start moving. Typically, when two people fall in love,
they get married,"
Rhyan said.

"He's only been in love
with me since last night, Rhyan. How can he already be thinking
marriage?"

"Maybe because he knows he
wants to be with you forever,"
h
e said.

"Yeah? Well, there is a
little problem with that. My forever ends tomorrow,"
I said rudely.

He sighed.
"You don't know that yet. You still have four to
twenty-eight hours left to change his mind."

"Yeah, hours; I only have
hours, not years, not months, not even days. I have hours, and soon
it will be minutes. Adam loves me, but that won't be enough, will
it?"

He sighed again.
"Just have a good night, will you? Don't ruin
this for him, Kendra. If he's in denial, you saying anything about
dying in a few hours will just piss him off. Just tell him you will
marry him. You don't have to set a date tonight. If you end up
pulling through this thing, the two of you can set a date later
after you've calmed down."
He paused for a
moment.
"He's coming back to the bathroom
to make sure that you're all right. Stand up and make yourself be
all right."

I listened to Rhyan without responding
to him. I stood up and had on a bright smiling face when Adam
rounded the corner. "I'm ready," I said a little too
cheerfully.

He gave me a suspicious look then
nodded. "All right, let's go then."

I started walking then suddenly
stopped. "Wait…do we have to go see my parents?"

He smiled. "I think that would be
best, don't you? Like you said, we need to show your dad that my
intentions are to never hurt you."

"We don't have to get married for them
to see that, Adam."

He grinned. "That isn't the reason I
want to marry you. I just can't imagine my life without you in it
anymore. I want to go to sleep beside you every night and wake up
beside you every morning."

"And what happens if my last morning
is tomorrow?" I asked, and my eyes began to tear up.

He walked to me and wrapped me in his
arms. "Then I will go through Hell to find you and bring you back.
I promise."

I began to sob. "That's
impossible."

He tilted my chin up so I didn't have
a choice but to look at him. "I thought it would be impossible for
me to ever love anyone again. You made that possible for me,
Kendra. If that's possible, then anything is possible."

I nodded. I didn't believe he could do
anything about it when it happened, but I nodded anyway. "Let's go
eat, and then I'll introduce you to my parents."

He wiped my tears away and smiled. "I
need to go change first, or would you rather me go to The Villa
with you looking like this?"

I laughed. "No. You most definitely
need to change."

We left my house and went to his
apartment. I was still nervous all the way there, not about being
around Adam. I was worried about how my dad would react about a guy
he didn't know, and I barely knew, asking for my hand in marriage.
It was not going to be a good night.

We were only a few miles from his
apartment when he touched my hand. I jumped. "Jeez. Relax, will ya.
Your dad isn't going to hurt me or yell at you."

"You don't know him, Adam," I said,
and he smiled.

"You're right, I don't, but don't you
think he just wants his daughter to be happy?" He said this as he
pulled into the parking garage of his apartment complex. He cut the
engine then turned and looked at me.

I slumped in my seat and huffed. "I
guess you're right. I'm just not looking forward to it." I looked
at him. "You know, you haven't asked me if I would marry you
yet."

He smiled. "I need to get permission
from your father first, don't I?"

I sulked in my seat and looked out the
window at the Chevy we'd parked beside. "I guess he would
appreciate it."

"Okay then, let's go up so I can get
changed, then we will go see if your parents want to eat with
us."

My head shot around so fast, I was
sure to have whiplash. "What? No…we can go eat then go talk to my
parents. I want to be able to leave if things get too
hairy."

He laughed. "Okay, what are your
parents' names?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Larkin," I said with a
smirk. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, their names are Diane and Robert.
My dad's friends call him Bobby, but he's Robert to you until he
tells you otherwise."

"Aven called him Bobby when they found
me in the cave. Did you take Aven home to meet your
folks?"

"Yeah, when I was five. He's been one
of my best friends since we were kids. Aven and my dad are pretty
close, but it isn't because of me." He gave me a quick kiss then
got out of the car.

We got in the elevator and I turned to
look at him. "What?" he asked.

"Don't do it,
Kendra."

"When did you pick up the magazine
that has the article about me in it?" I ignored Rhyan and watched
Adam's face closely.

He shrugged. "After you left me at the
restaurant Monday. Why?"

"When did you read it and lay it on
your nightstand?" I asked.

"I was reading it when Mason popped
into my room. That's when he took me to your room where you and
Rhyan were…"

"So, you believe you have a guardian
demon, and you believe I have a guardian angel, but you don't
believe there is a God?"

"Kendra, can we not do this tonight?"
he said, and I could tell he was getting agitated, but I didn't
care, so was I.

"When can we do it? After I'm dead?"
My voice was louder than I'd intended, but I couldn't help
it.

He spoke calmly, but there was a hint
of anger behind it. "I believe there is a God, Kendra. I always
have. I just refuse to follow him."

"You won't even do it to keep me! You
say you love me, but do you really? You may not believe me, but I
really will die in a few hours if you can't do this for me. You are
the only one who can prevent that from happening. They aren't
trying to trick you. This is a done deal; a deal I made with your
ignorant-ass guardian angel!" I'd been shouting at him, but I made
myself stop and take a few breaths before I said anything else.
When I spoke again, I was considerably calmer. "I love you, and I
believe that we are soulmates. I would do anything to save you. If
you love me the way you say you do, then why can't you do what's
necessary to save me?"

He gave me a stern look as the
elevator doors opened to his floor. "I will save you, just not that
way."

"I told you that you should
have kept your mouth shut."

"Shut up, Rhyan,"
I said, then hung my head.

Adam stepped out and I followed him to
his apartment. He opened the door and just left it wide open so I
could enter on my own. He was angry. I got that. I didn't like it,
but I got it.

I walked back to his room where he had
disappeared to, and sat on his bed as he rummaged through his
closet. He was pushing the hangers excessively hard while he looked
for something to wear.

"I'm sorry," I said in a cracked
whisper.

He froze and dropped his head with his
back still to me. "I know if something happens to you…and I can't
save you for some reason, that it will be my fault. But I've built
up so much hatred for your God that I can't do it." When he turned
to me, he had tears in his eyes; he didn't turn away from me this
time. "I want to…for you, but I can't. How does a God, that's
supposedly so good, hold you to a deal like that when you were
tricked? Answer me that."

"It wasn't made through God. I made
the deal with your guardian angel. The main guardians are holding
me to that deal. They aren't so lenient."

"And God is? I was thirteen,
Kendra…thirteen when I lost my whole…damn…family." He crumbled to
his knees in front of me. My hand went to my mouth and I touched
his shoulder with my other one. He didn't pull away from me, so I
dropped to the floor and hugged him tight. He grabbed a hold of me
and sobbed.