Twisted (42 page)

"Why should I?"

"I am not going fight with you Abigail.  If you prefer
to fall into traffic, then by all means."

After a brief brooding silence, I clutched his arm.  He
glanced down at me and flashed a sexy, knowing smile.  He smoothly tugged me
across the road and through the city parking lot by the river.  A warm rain
started to sprinkle over us.

"Can you slow down?" I whined, stumbling over my
own two feet.

He slowed his speed to a near stop and flashed me another
smart, but incredibly sexy look, raindrops tipping his spiky hair.  "How's
that?" he asked.

"Better," I stammered, though nothing could stop
the spinning in my head.  It was difficult enough to place one foot in front of
the other.

"I thought maybe you would like to stay dry."

"I really could care less what you think,” I said
crisply, still clung to his arm.  My eyes skimmed over the large parking lot
that mostly serviced the main street businesses by day, but at this hour was nearly
empty.  After passing the last vehicle bundled near the main street, and
listening to Aliah's incessant horn honking as she passed us, I started to
wonder if he had even parked in the lot at all.  "Where's your car?”

Spencer only chuckled, his eyes flashing toward the only car
left in sight.  Beyond the small pockets of light under each of the randomly
spaced lamps, a dark mysterious car sat in the last space lining the river,
surrounded by a foggy mist.  Yes, it was the farthest possible spot in the lot. 
It had to be his.  How annoying.  A blister started to gnaw at my ankle,
causing me to limp in my wet shoes.

"I've been thinking of you lately," Spencer said, his
voice too low, seductive.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and I think you should be inclined to listen to
what I have to say."

"Save it Spencer.  I've got enough shit to deal with."

"Like Edwin?" he asked.

"Yeah.  I guess you could say that."

"It's always about him isn't it?"

"Not this time," I slurred.  "Edwin and I aren’t
together anymore.  There, I said it."

"Glad to hear it.”

"You would be,” I said with a growl, as I pulled away
from him.  “Some things never change."

"Like my feelings for you?" he whispered softly,
more to himself.  Frustrated, he rubbed his hand back and forth through his wet
hair, messing it up.  It only made him look even sexier.

Funny, I didn't care how I looked.  My hair was a mess.  My
night was a mess.  My life was a mess.  "Tell me this one thing," I
asked.  "Why is it that you could have any girl in that place tonight – I mean
they were practically throwing themselves at you, begging you to take them home
– and here you are with good old, bitchy me?"

"Am I that transparent?" he asked, smirking.  Spencer
was as transparent as they come, always saying exactly what was on his mind.

Fine, don’t answer my question.
  "Where are you taking
me?" I pressed, wondering how much longer it would take to get to his car.

"To my love nest.  Where do you think?  To my car."

Startled, I stumbled over a small rock and began to fall in
slow motion.  Alert and agile, Spencer gathered me into his arms before I
landed on the hard ground.

He looked down at me, his icy eyes sparkling.  Dizzily trapped
in his embrace, I let him hold all of my weight in his arms.  So close to the
damp, hot pavement, I thought I would fall into the steamy puddles, but
Spencer’s grip never wavered.  The blue-grey mist that was his eyes wrapped
around me, putting me in a foggy fantasy state.  I felt the urge to kiss him,
but knew it was a very, very bad idea.

"Tripping over reality?" he said, lifting me back
to my feet and dragging me out of my daze.

Feeling defeated, "Yeah, and I smacked my head on the
cold hard truth."

Spencer dug into his pocket.  Lights flashed on the lonely
charcoal Charger as he led me to his car.  Suddenly feeling very lightheaded
again, I linked my arm around his trim waist for support and rested against his
shoulder.  The cool black leather relieved the heat storming my forehead.

Stiff and stunned, mistaking my faintness for affection,
Spencer froze behind his car.  He must have forgotten how friendly I got when I
drank.  He turned to face me and slipped his arms around my waist, drawing me
close.  "Do you still want that answer?" he asked smoothly.

"You've lost me."

"The reason I chase after you, even after all we've been
through Abby, is
this
."

"
This?
”

His breath tickled my ear, his heartbeat pounding strong against
his chest.  He tilted my chin up, to meet his gaze and motioned his index
finger in the small space between us.  "
This
," he said again.

I sunk into his misty grey-blue eyes and found myself falling
into his trap.  He was a beautiful, charming man, with a voice so smooth and
cool that Mother Theresa would have dropped her panties at his request.  I
tried to swallow the sour lump from the back of my throat, but it didn’t go
away.

"I can be myself when I'm around you Abby.  I can say
what I want and you'll tell me like it is.  I like that."

"Ahh, I see.  You're a sucker for punishment," I
said softly.

"I guess I am," he admitted, with a mischievous
grin.  His hypnotic eyes and charming words were leading us to a place I was
sure I didn’t want to go, and yet I couldn’t escape his allure.

My eyes fluttered shut, as his hand swept across my cheek and
along my jaw.  My lips parted, an open invitation, and his lips massaged over
mine, slow and sensual.  Slowly, I drew my mouth away from his, and took a long
breath.  "I'm sorry.  I can't do this," I said, soft and breathless.

"What, you don't like it?" he said, in his erotic
English accent.

God damn that's sexy.
 
"No. 
I definitely like it.  But it goes a lot deeper than that.”

He chuckled to himself.  "Sucker for punishment."

"Can you please take me home?"

Disappointed now, he took my hand, making me feel like a
scorned child as he delivered me to the passenger door.

"You don't have to take care of me Spencer.  I can take
care of myself," I said, as I struggled to open the car door.

"Yeah, I can see that," he replied sarcastically.  He
pulled the door wide and eased me into the seat.  Within seconds he was sitting
next to me.  He slowly reached over and pulled down my seatbelt, inhaling me as
he clicked the belt.  He sat back in his seat and sighed.

"Are you waiting for something?" I asked.

"Yeah.  I'm waiting for you to tell me why you don't
want to give
us
another try."

"Oh Spencer, do we have to do this now?  I really don't
want to get into it."

"Just tell me straight up."

"You’re asking for it!” I warned, ready to let him have
it.

"It can’t be worse than my reality.  Before you left me,
I had dreams.  Plans.  We could've gotten married, maybe do a little
travelling, then start a family…"

"Wait a second.  You’ve been talking to Aliah haven’t
you?" I reminded him.  “And for the record: you left me.”

"What does this have to do with Aliah?"

Great.  He didn’t know about my hang up on having a family,
but he does now.  Why did I have to go and open my big mouth?  "It
doesn’t."

"Still the same old cold shoulder.  What I would give to
know what's going on in that mind of yours right now," he said.

"So I'm selfish.  Sue me!  Besides, what's your damage? 
You realize you’d only be my rebound guy.”

"The only damage I suffer is from a broken heart.  I
thought I was okay.  I thought I was ready to move on.  Then I saw you with
Aliah that one day.  Now, no matter how hard I try, you're all I think
about."  Spencer started the car and stared into the fogged up windshield.

"You've got issues," I said, shaking my head with
disbelief.

“And you don’t?”

"Yeah, maybe I do, but they don’t involve you."

"It
has
to be about Edwin.  It’s always about
Edwin with you.  You two are perfect for each other, you know that?"

"You can't be mad at me.  I didn’t do anything wrong,” I
snapped, while my tummy did a flip-flop.

“Then why aren’t you and Edwin together anymore?” he asked,
selfishly curious.

In the heat of the moment, “Because I gave him an ultimatum
and he made the wrong choice."

"
You
gave
him
an ultimatum?” he said in
disbelief.

"Yes.  I told him if he didn’t plan to put a ring on it
and make me some babies, then I’d to move on with someone who would."

"And he told you no?”  Spencer looked stunned.

"He's not ready for kids.  He loves me, but... blah,
blah, blah.  Edwin did what Edwin does when things get intense.  He backs off. 
You know my theory?  If you don’t know how to swim, then get out of the damn
pool!"

Spencer chuckled.

"Oh you think this is funny?  Am I funny to you?"

"Stop it, you're killing me," he said, still
smirking.  "You fed me this whole story, only for me to find out that you
are completely single.  Forgive me if that makes me sadistically happy."

"For your information Spencer, you’re not in the pool.  In
fact, I’m swimming solo.  Regardless of what you might think, I do have a heart
and it's really hurting right now."

"I'm only asking you to keep an open mind,” he said.

Staring at my feet, I kicked off my shoes.  "And then
what?  I let you back into my life and we live happily ever after?"

"Not necessarily.  There are no guarantees.  But does
that sound so bad to you?"

While the idea of having Spencer's children wasn't revolting,
the fact that I was even considering it so soon after being with Edwin was.  I
felt sick to my stomach and it wasn't from the conversation.  The dry,
moisture-less air in the car began to suffocate me.  I needed fresh air and
fast.  He shifted the car in reverse, not noticing how ill I had become.

“Wait!" I hollered, as I frantically grasped at my seat
belt.

He finally realized something was wrong and turned on the
interior light to investigate.  He anxiously assessed my face, as the light
caused tears to fall from my eyes and I began to gag on my humility.  Urgently
forcing open the door, I burst out of the car, but I couldn't clear the sense
of asphyxiation.  I heard the car power down as I bent over the tall flower
beds and decorated the manicured riverbank with my dinner.

Spencer hurried to my side and held my hair as I dry-heaved a
few more times.  When I finally caught my breath I began to cry.  "See?  I
make myself sick.”

"Either that, or I make you sick.  I shouldn’t have
pushed you so hard.  Now I blew it," he said, releasing my hair.

"You didn't blow it," I said softly, then tip-toed
barefoot a few feet away from his car.  I took a seat on the damp concrete parking
slab and pulled my legs to my chest.  After wiping my mouth with my wrist, I buried
my face in my arms.  Spencer came and sat next to me, but I was empty to the
pit of my stomach.  So very empty.

"So does that mean you'll give me a chance?" he
asked, gently rubbing my back.

I pulled my head from my arms and stared off into the
darkness in disbelief.  "Spencer, I feel like my world has been crushed. 
I just puked my guts out in front of you and yet you're still trying to get
fresh with me?"

"I don't stop feeling this way because you're a little
ill.  If I could have you in my life again Abby, things would just fall back
into place for me."

Spencer was laying the charm on thick and he knew it was my
weakness.  He also knew I was a sucker for that sexy English accent and I
wondered if he was toning it up a notch just to appease me.

"Are you sure I’m the one you’re waiting for?  I see
you've painted this brilliant picture of me and I'm finding it hard to live up
to.  I just wonder where your imagination begins and reality ends."

I looked deep into his eyes so he would truly feel my words. 
Intensity was thick in the humid air and Spencer leaned in for a kiss.  I
turned away.

"Ugh," I groaned, as I shoved him off of me.  "You're
nasty!"

"You worry too much," he said, shaking his head in
disapproval.  With a sigh, "I better get you home before Edwin starts to
worry."

I couldn’t even tell whether or not he was being sarcastic.  "Do
you need your ears cleaned?  I already told you, Edwin and I are done."

"I'd believe it more if you’d stop swooning every time
you heard his name.  It's just as well.  Maybe this will serve as a lesson for
both of us."

I stood up, steadied myself, and then walked back to the car.  
"Why don’t you enlighten me?"  I slipped into the car and Spencer poked
his head in his door, so I could see him before he took a seat.