The Carver's Magic (16 page)

Oh really? I smirk at how Cory is trying to act all secretive. I put the phone back in my pocket and push off the counter to pull out two frozen vanilla waffles from my freezer and pop them down in the toaster. After plotting how best to get her to go out with me, I pick my phone out of my pocket and text back.

Me: Eh. Fine. What r u doing tonight?

Cory: None of your business.

I smiled inwardly. She has no idea how persistent I can be. Me: Come out w/me 2night.

Even if she told me no all day, I was going to find a way to see her.

Cory: No more bars for me.

Me: I didn't say bar. I said come out with me.

Cory: No.

Me: Y?

Cory: Because.

Me: Because I make u nervous?

Cory: Yes

Me: I can fix that. Come out w/me.

Then she doesn't answer me. I take the waffles out of the toaster and slather on some Jiffy creamy peanut butter. I take a bite and put in two more waffles in the toaster. Cory still hasn't texted back.

Rude.

I eat both waffle sandwiches and grab my bag for the gym. More than fifteen minutes had gone by before I text her again.

Me: Still scared?

Cory: Yes

I roll my eyes.

Me: I just want to go for a drive. No questions. No small talk. Just relaxing on a drive.

Cory: No talking?

Me: I’ll put music on. What do u listen to?

Cory: Okay. Anything.

I laugh to myself.
Got her.

Me: Have u been to 11 mile Ress?

Cory: No

Me: Good. What’s ur address? I’ll pick u up after work.

Cory: My sister drove us to work today, you can pick me up here.

Beth was a biologist too? No way. I wasn’t going to dwell on how that little bit of information miffed me.

Me: I will pick u up from work.

Cory: Okay. I get off at 3:00.

I ask for the address next, and where was best to pick her up. I close my phone and my smile fades.

What the hell am I doing?

I really should not be doing this. Shaking my head, and once more going against my better judgment, I call Charles, another bartender, and ask him to work my shift tonight.

I teleport to my car, reminding myself that this is only temporary. Cory is only interesting right now but once I get to know her, the interest will fizzle out.

* * *

Cory walks out in a white dress, blue cardigan and matching blue flats.

My stomach tightens and I know, I just know, I am walking a fine line. I probably could have, over time, accepted all the dumb things I have told myself about her, and what a bad idea this is, and gotten over this little thing I had about her. I could have, I think. But not now, I can’t walk away from what I am looking at.

All the comments, all the feelings about her that I have ignored, can’t be denied right now. Right now, she is absolutely lovely as she blushes lightly while chewing the side of her lip.

I push off my passenger side door and stand straight so she can see me clearly. I wait until she’s closer before I open the door. She’s trying to hide a smile. She tucks her dress underneath her as she slides into the leather passenger seat. I take a good look at her sweet, soft legs and confirm once more this is the best and stupidest thing I have ever done.

I walk around to the driver side, open the door, and sit down. I can see her nervousness, or at least I think I can. I promised not to ask questions so I keep in the few words that I have, wondering if they would have soothed her. We are just going to drive and relax. I turn up the radio, looking to make sure she is okay with my choice. She smiles with one side of her mouth, her hands are in a tight ball in her lap and I can’t help but want to frown.

She can’t be that afraid of me. I mean we do work together, right? I let my question go and pull out of the parking spot.

I take the back way, or better yet, the longest way possible, to Eleven Mile Reservoir. I can tell that Cory’s stiff posture that she’s uncomfortable. I want to say something, but I don’t want to go back on my promise.

After an hour, Cory is fiddling with her phone and has her shoes off, sitting Indian style next to me. She must not be that uncomfortable anymore. Although I’m not sure what I did to change that.

I hate that I said we wouldn’t be talking. It feels like she is ignoring me and there is a huge emptiness in the car that the music has not helped.

I look over and Cory taps the window. "Can we stop real quick?"

I slow the car and pull over. She opens the door quickly and gets out. I follow after her slowly, not sure what she is doing or if she wants me to join her. Cory makes her way down the small hill to the creek that runs along side the road. I stop walking the second I hear her camera phone snap a picture. I think she takes about two before she hits the thing and growls. "Gggggaaa! Battery died."

I walk back to my car and pull out my camera from the glove box. I haven't used it in a long time. I walk back to her and hand her the camera without saying anything. She takes it then she turns to the creek and snaps a few more pictures.

Cory half smiles as she reviews her pictures on the camera. Satisfied, apparently, she heads back to the car with me in tow. After five more minutes in the car she taps the window again, and asks to stop with a little more excitement. I smile and shake my head and pull over again.

She hops out and takes several more photos. This time I stop and rest against the hood of the car instead of following her all the way to the creek.

I watch her take snapshots and then I see her starting to review the pictures she has taken, right about the time I wonder if she will see mine.

Cory gasps. She looks at me with wide eyes. "Did you take these?" I nod at her but I didn’t say anything else, because apparently I am the only one who remembered the no-talking policy.

Ignoring the rules we preplanned, the little hypocrite walks back up to me and asks, "How long have you been into photography?"

I shake my head. "No questions."

Her jaw drops mockingly. "What? Come on! You just talked so the rules really don’t matter in this instance. Plus you only said that so I would say yes."

She’s right. I did, but I shake my head again and she frowns. Her forced frown is adorable.

"Fine.”

I open the door for her again and she gets in, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

I’m an idiot. I don’t even know why I am enforcing this rule when I didn’t like the rule to begin with. What the hell is wrong with me?

The rest of the drive is in silence and I worry I am royally messing this up.

Probably.

We finally arrive at Eleven Mile Reservoir. I get out and open her door, but she has her eyes cast down to her phone and didn’t acknowledge me. Taking the rejection, I walk to the picnic table near my parking spot. I hoped she would follow me, but I have not heard the door shut. I turn around to see what’s keeping her and I see her holding the camera in my direction, and then the distinct sound of clicking. I turn, giving her my back, casting my eyes skyward.

She’s taking pictures of me
.

"No pictures," I try to say without a growl, but I still growl.

"Too late," she says, with a little sass and, even though I can’t see it, I can hear the shit-eating-grin.

Trying not to smile from her cuteness, I call out, "Delete it."

She makes a noise with her throat and says. "Um, no."

Then I hear her snap a few more pictures. I turn around and give her an annoyed look. She smiles at me like an innocent girl. "What? I was taking pictures of the lake."

I raise my eyebrows. I don't believe her. I stand up in effort to get my camera back, when my phone rings. She backs up slowly with a smirk. She must think that my phone call will stop me. It won’t. I continue to walk in her direction.

I hit the answer button as she holds the camera at me and I raise my eyebrows daring her to… she takes a picture. I shake my head in warning because as soon as I catch her I am going to take some very naughty pictures of her. I walk faster in her direction as she runs away with a girly laugh.

"Who is that?" Aaron asks through the phone. I look at my phone that I had yet to put up to my ear, and wonder why I even answered it.

"What’s up?"

Aaron is a buddy of mine from the gym. He invites me to his bashes every so often, and I turn him down three out of the four times he calls.

"Party my house. Stop by." He says, as if he is ordering me and not asking. But he is hopeful. He’s in luck because if it gets me more time with Cory, then I’m all in.

"Okay." I agree for the first time in several weeks. I can see Cory on the other side of the boulders taking photos, but she is constantly looking back to make sure I am behind her. I stopped walking a second ago and now my plans are starting to change from just a drive to the reservoir, to something more eventful.

"Really?" He sounds shocked and pleased at he same time.

"Yeah."

"Awesome. See you later." I slide the phone into my pocket eyeing my prey.

I wait for Cory to finish snapping pictures and I teleport next to her. I grab her and the camera. Her girly laugh is rumbling on my chest and I am fighting myself not to kiss her.

I am not sure if she will be as soft and sweet like she was in my dreams last night but I am pretty sure that no matter how she tastes, I am going to like it.

I pull her back into my chest and touch her ear with my lips; she stops squirming immediately. In a low voice I whisper, “Now it’s my turn to take your picture.”

“I’m not very photogenic,” she says, weakly.

I take a deep breath of her skin and see small bumps rise all over her neck. I brush my lips below her ear, “We’ll see.”

Cory arches her back and I can envision all her sweet curves that I want to get to know… intimately. I spin her around, grab the side of her cheek and make her face me. I want to see if she has the look, I have to see if she feels the same way.

Her eyes are guarded.

I hate that.

I let her go and take a small step back. I watch her as I hold out the camera in my palm. Then I telepathically lift the camera into the air, and she drops her jaw. Mentally, I connect with the lens, so it takes pictures of what I see through my eyes instead of through the lens. It’s a neat trick I found several years ago.

I know she’s guarded, but I can’t help my need to touch her. I step back up to her and wrap my arm around her waist. She lets me. I lean down and brush my lips over hers. She lets me. I promise myself I won’t push her… too far. I won’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. Right now she needs to make a move. I have shown her my intentions, she needs to accept, she has to take the next step if tonight is going to go anywhere.

She moves her lips against mine, not exactly kissing me back, and yet not shying away either.

Confounding woman.

I pull back and see her biting her bottom lip. I take a picture. Then I look over her, adjust the focus in my eyes, and take several more. She has no idea what I am doing because the ‘click’ sound is on silent.

I push her light jacket off her shoulders and let it fall on the grass. She lets me, even though her eyes are asking me questions. I teleport us to a hip high boulder, to where the back of her thighs are flush against the smooth rock. I lean down and slowly guide her body down and back on a malformed rock, perfect for us to lie down on. I slide my fingers slowly over her skin, giving her more goose bumps and taking more pictures. I push her left knee away from me so that her legs open just a small degree.

Her chest is rising and falling slowly, possibly fighting with herself and what she wants to do, versus what she should do. I can see the tick in her jaw and how much she is trying to maintain a calm demeanor, but this is my art, this is my passion. To see beauty where no one else dares to look.

I lean down and smell her skin without touching her. I begin at her knees, and slowly breath in her soft thighs, lower belly, up past her arching chest to her neck.

I peer up at her eyes and they are closed. She is succumbing to her feelings. I smile and press a small kiss to just below her chest and then I back up to take another picture.

I move her several times and the camera is following me, so she must know what I am doing, but I am not explaining and she is not asking. For the first time tonight the silence is no longer a heavy weight of discomfort, instead it’s a weight of physical intrigue.

I run my fingers over her shoulders and down her arm. I swallow, knowing how her delicate skin might feel against my mouth. I push the thought away and focus on every picture I can take of her, without her feeling too exposed.

I see her pressing her right hand flat against the rock, her body is stiff and I can tell she is struggling internally. I finally get the picture I have been dying to get; I look over and see her hungry eyes. I snap my last picture.

I pull her up, teleport us to my car and open the passenger door quickly, knowing that I could have taken the kiss. I could have possibly made it into something more, but I don’t just want her hungry for a small taste. I want her starving for me.

She slides in with a forced smile. I don’t like being the reason she is uncomfortable, but if I kissed her right now, I wouldn’t stop.

Cory isn’t speaking. I am trying to keep my eyes on the road, but I can’t stop the voice in my head calling me a lot of names that all boil down to being a world-class idiot.

I had her.
What is wrong with me?

But I just knew, in my fucking gut, that if I took her then, she would regret it. I don’t want regrets.

I look over and see Cory flipping through the pictures. She’s biting her bottom lip and I think I see a small blush. Her slow, shallow breaths are the only indication of how hot and bothered I believe she is. It takes her a while before she stops looking at the pictures and pays attention to the road.

After an hour she unfolds her legs and narrows her eyes at the road, "Where are we going?"

I try not to smirk, but I can’t help it. "Your penalty for not listening to me."