The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect) (17 page)

Ramon took her arm when the crowds thickened, and leaned in close whenever they stopped to look in a shop window. Now it was crystal clear to her that he was going out of his way to touch her casually whenever possible, and she found herself completely distracted by the contact. She stumbled a few times, suddenly clumsy from the mutual attraction.

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, brushing his lips across her cheek. “You’re going to twist an ankle walking around in those shoes.”

“I’ll be careful,” she promised.

They took a seat on the bench to watch a juggler toss some flaming batons in the air. “Why do you always wear high heels?” he asked.

Layla thought of what the girls at Max’s always said about never being caught dead in flats. They all seemed to think that men preferred heels, and Layla agreed that they were much nicer looking than Cali’s muddy old boots.

She studied her stilettos, rotating one of her fine-boned ankles to reveal the bright red sole. “I think they’re pretty.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but…” he scratched the back of his head. “Wait here a minute… Okay?”

“Sure.” She watched him disappear into a souvenir shop a few yards away. He was back in a few minutes, holding a bag out to her.

“Will you put these on…? For me?”

She reached into the bag to pull out a pair of red silk Chinese slippers. “How did you know my size?” she asked.

He shrugged, “I pay attention to details.”

She smiled wryly, slipping out of her heels and into the flats. She stood up, looking down. “I don’t know how well they go with my outfit.”

He laughed at her and stood, now a few inches taller than her. “Come on, let’s walk around some more.”

She put her heels into the bag with a shrug. “If you insist.”

Soon they were laughing together, caught up in the energy of the crowds and the antics of the street performers. A section of the marina had been overrun by sea lions, and they watched the huge creatures barking and jostling for position on the boat slips, clumsy out of the water, but agile as acrobats once they slipped back into their element.

“Hungry?” Ramon asked her.

They stopped at a stand and bought clam chowder served in a bowls made out of bread, taking them to some tables set up in the sunshine. Sitting by Ramon’s side, watching people wander by and boats sail in and out of the harbor, Layla felt happy for the first time in months. She forgot all about the professor and her troubles with the construction project. She looked over to see that Ramon was feeling just as fine as she was.

A man
in the crowd with bad intentions caught Layla’s eye, his predatory greenish yellow standing out as clear as day. “That man is a thief!” she gasped.

Ramon watched him for a moment, nodding. “You’re absolutely right…
Good eye!”

The man didn’t notice them watching, intent on sidling up to a woman distracted by an infant in a stroller. He jostled her, making it a point to help her pick up her dropped purse. She thanked him and he smiled, turning to leave, but r
unning straight into Ramon.

Layla watched Ramon
flip open his wallet to show the man his badge, holding out his palm. “Hand it over.”

The man was shocked, looking over his shoulder to see the woman strolling away, completely oblivious. He reached into his pocket and handed a pink wallet to Ramon.

“I’m going to let you go with a warning today… But I’m not going to see you around here anymore… Am I?” Ramon asked.

The man, nodded, “Yes sir… I mean, No sir.”

“We’ll be keeping an eye out for you,” Ramon called after him, winking over at Layla. He chased after the woman with the baby, handing her the wallet. “Excuse me, ma’am? I think you dropped this over there.”

The woman took it with a grateful smile, and Ramon hurried back over to Layla’s side, radiating peachy pink satisfaction.

“Why did you let him go?” she asked.

He shrugged, “I’m off duty and out of my jurisdiction. Besides, there’s probably dozens of pickpockets working this crowd. You can’t win ‘em all, but maybe that one will think twice before he does it again.”

Layla was suddenly curious. “Did you always want to be a policeman?”

Ramon chuckled the way he often did, shaking his head. “Nope… Not at all. When I was a kid I ran with the wrong crowd. I smoked pot, cut classes, stole stuff. I was headed for real trouble.”

“You?” she looked skeptical.

“Ye
ah,” he nodded. “My best friend’s older brother was dealing drugs, flashing all kinds of money all over town. He showed us that crime paid, and to be honest with you, I was jealous of all the cool stuff my buddy was getting.” He flashed a melancholy blue at the memory.

“What happened?” she asked, increasingly surprised. 

“My friend was standing out front of his house with his brother one day, and he got shot in the head in a drive by. Died instantly. I was on my way over to hang with them.”

“Oh my gosh… That’s terrible,” she said.

“I got there right after the cops did, and watched the ambulance leave with his body. I guess was in shock, watching the cops do their job. I remember that they were so calm, trying to investigate and console his mother at the same time. There was something so… I don’t know…
right
, about what they were doing. I asked the policeman who questioned me how I could become a cop someday, and he ended up helping me out.”

“Wow,” she breathed.

“That day I decided that I wanted to change the path I was on. To make a difference with my life… Do something good instead of bad. You know?”

“Yes,” her heart swelled with the joy of complete understanding. “Yes I do.”

He looked into her glowing eyes, and without breaking contact, he leaned over to kiss her. His colors flared with powerful emotions, brilliant flashes of pink and purple. When their lips finally parted, she looked down with a smile, suddenly shy.

“What?” he asked, his voice rough.

“I wanted to say… About last night,” she said. “I don’t go around kissing men like that all the time…I hope you don’t think I’m some kind of…” her voice trailed off.

He tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes again. “I think you’re every kind of...”

He kissed her a second time with such open and honest sweetness that her stomach trembled, and she closed her eyes, unable to bear his direct gaze. When their lips parted he slipped his arm around her and snuggled his body closer, facing back out to the water. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them letting everything they felt sink in.

He finally spoke in her ear, his warm breath tickling it, “Have you ever been to the wax museum?”

~

Chapter Fifteen

WAX MUSEUM

~

He held her hand while they walked, and Layla got the distinct impression that she was walking on air. Whether it was Ramon’s comforting grip, or the way he was encasing her in his euphoric colors, she couldn’t say. She did have to admit that her new Chinese slippers were a lot easier to get around in.

Her bun was coming loose in the sea breeze, so she pulled out a few bobby pins, letting her red curls cascade past her shoulders, reflecting the sunlight like a new penny.

“I like your hair down,” Ramon said. “It’s beautiful.”

Her cheeks flushed hot, but she could see there was no calculated flattery or smooth talk with him; he said what he meant and he meant what he said. Before she could thank him they reached their destination and stepped inside the double doors. They paused, letting their eyes adjust to the dimly lit foyer before they could make out a hallway lined with life-sized dioramas of all kinds of famous people. The lights were even lower in the corridors, and the two of them drew closer, enveloped by the anonymity of darkness.

They moved slowly through the waxworks, whispering comments into each other’s ears, trying to focus on something besides their
growing attraction to one another. Layla knew all about the historical figures, but she drew a complete blank at most of the pop culture and modern movie references. When they entered into a section of horror films, Layla recognized Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula, but she had no idea who Freddy Krueger was.

“I loved Halloween when I was a kid,”
Ramon laughed. “I dressed up like Freddy one year.”

“I never had a costume,” Layla admitted. “The professor didn’t believe in celebrating
Halloween.”

“You never went out trick or treating?” Ramon asked.

“No,” she said.

“No Halloween candy?” he asked in horror.

“He said that it was a foolish pagan ritual.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “That’s too bad. It’s a lot of fun.”

She sighed, “I guess so… We never knew much about it until we were too old.”

“You’re never too old for fun,” he told her.

A group of giddy squealing children passed by with their parents chasing after them, and Ramon pulled Layla aside to let the group pass. Suddenly they were alone in the dark, standing much too close to one another. He pivoted to kiss her with her back up against a wall, and this time, it was very different.

He buried his hands in her hair, and she felt his tongue trace lightly inside her lips, opening her mouth to his. It felt nothing like she thought it would, and the sensation encompassed her entire body, sending shivers down her spine
and turning her bones into rubber.

His kiss was like night and day compared to Conrad’s, as different as fire and ice. Where Conrad had been cool and sweet, Ramon was all fire and desire. His mouth telegraphed his intentions, and Layla could feel his barely contained lust wash over her like a wave, intoxicating and emboldening her.

The dark made her less self-conscious too, and she satisfied her curiosity, brushing her lips across his smooth cheeks, tasting the skin on his neck and running her hands up his muscled arms and across his broad shoulders. Her touch aroused him so much it was almost frightening, and she pulled away with a gasp, shocked to realize that she was getting just as excited as he was.

“We better get moving,” he panted, “Or I’m not going to be able to walk.”

“Okay,” she agreed in a daze, feeling exactly the same way.

~

It was well after dark when she pulled up in front of the diner to drop Ramon off, and no sooner did she stop the car than he kissed her again, nuzzling her neck and showering her with so much pink affection mixed with blood-red desire that it sent her head spinning.

“I wish I didn’t have the early shift tomorrow,” he muttered.

“Why?” she asked.

He chuckled, “Because I’d like to stay up all night with you.”

“Oh,” was all she could squeak out, imagining what that would be like. The images didn’t involve pajamas.

“When can I see you again?” he asked, running his lips along her jawline until she couldn’t think straight.

“I don’t know,” she breathed. “When’s your next day off?”

“How about Friday night?” he asked. “We can catch a movie and dinner.”

“Okay,” she nodded, wondering how she could wait almost a whole week. “Sounds good.”

They parted reluctantly, and she watched him walk to his car and turn to wave. She drove the whole way home with a dreamy smile on her face, coming into the house to find Calvin and Cali curled up on the couch, eating ice cream and watching a movie.

“Did you have a nice time with Ramon?” Caledonia inquired out of politeness, without really needing to be told.

“Uhm, yeah… It was fun,” she said, bolting for the stairs before Cali could ask her anything else.

That night Layla lie sprawled across her bed, finally feeling like her luck was really changing. Just when things seemed so dark and depressing, Ramon had come along like a ray of sunshine to break apart the clouds of doom and gloom.

Now t
he future looked brighter than ever, and for the first time since she’d made her escape from Max’s house, Layla was starting to believe that there was nothing but good things coming her way. That night, her dreams were filled with feverish images of Ramon, and she wrapped her arms around her pillow and held on tight.

~

The next morning the buzzer rang for the second time in as many days. His first thought was that Layla had returned, so Professor Reed rushed to answer, surprised to see a middle aged man in a shabby suit standing at his door. He was disappointed, and not in the mood to deal with an annoying salesman.

“Yes?” he snapped, “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for a girl,” the man said, “A redhead named Layla.”

The professor’s eyebrows shot up with surprise. “What do want her for?”

The man’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes betrayed his excitement. He knew he’d hit pay-dirt, and he could certainly use the money. “Why don’t you invite me in?” he asked, “And we can discuss the situation.”

The professor sized him up and took a step back, “Alright. Come in.”