Unravelled (Revealed #2) (20 page)

Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head limply. ‘I’m sorry … I just …
can’t
,’ I murmured pathetically, before summoning up the last of my determination, opening my eyes, and taking a step away from him. Picking up my shopping bag I smiled shakily at him one last time. ‘Bye.’

‘Wait, it’s late. I’ll walk you home,’ he stated as he tucked some money under the bottle to settle our bill and retrieved his jacket, shirt, and tie from my shopping bag with a small smile.

I had some things for Julie at the hostel, but they could wait until morning, so I dismissed his offer with a shake of my head. ‘I’ll be fine, I’m staying with a friend at the Beverly Hills Hotel so I’ll need to get a cab,’ I mumbled, ‘Thanks, for the drinks,’ I added politely before absorbing one last image of him and turning hastily to leave.

‘Caitlin.’ This time Jack’s voice had dropped to a low, warning tone that instantly made me pause. ‘I
am
getting you home safely. No arguments.’ Looking at his resolute face, I sighed in defeat then nodded. To be honest, I always avoided getting a cab late at night when I could, so his company would be preferable to riding alone, although after our near kiss and my subsequent freak-out, I just knew it was going to be incredibly awkward.

Slipping my handbag on my shoulder we turned towards the exit, waving a slightly stiff goodbye towards Joe, who I noticed was watching us with interest. Great, yet another person who’d had the joy of witnessing one of my meltdowns.

For the briefest of seconds, Jack’s hand settled on my back again as he guided me towards the door, but once again he removed it almost immediately with a quiet curse. He was trying so hard not to upset me that it might have made me laugh had I not been so in shock from our close encounter.

Instead of getting in a taxi as I had planned, though, Jack instead made a quick phone call and then ushered me outside, where a black car was already pulling up to the curb. Flynn, the large, suited man from earlier, jumped out and came around to open the door for us, and I noticed that while he still looked quite intimidating, he no longer looked angry, which was a relief.

Sliding into the car with a small whispered thanks, I settled myself on the far seat and did up my seatbelt, feeling nervous, and horribly self-conscious about how the night had ended. Women probably threw themselves at Jack on a daily basis, but what did I do when he tried to kiss me? Stress out like some complete social abnormality and practically burst into tears. A heavy sigh slipped from my lips. Perhaps it was time for a few sessions with a councillor again.

The drive took about fifteen minutes, all of which was in complete silence as a strange tension filled the space between us. I was fairly sure Jack spent the majority of the journey looking at me, at least that’s what it seemed like in my peripheral vision, but I didn’t dare to properly turn my head to find out, instead choosing to stare rigidly out of the window at the passing streets.

As ridiculous as it was, I found myself tempted to reach out and touch him on several occasions, just to see if I got that strange, pleasant tingly feeling again. But thankfully, common sense prevailed and for each minute we drove I sobered up, so that by the time the car pulled up outside the hotel I was feeling certain that I’d made the right decision.

‘OK, well, uh, thanks for seeing me home safely,’ I murmured a little awkwardly.

‘No problem.’ Clearing his throat, Jack turned towards me, the movement making me pull my eyes from my lap to meet his. ‘Do you have a boyfriend? Is that it? Because if that’s the case I would never have made a move. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.’

Staring at him, I blinked several times, my cheeks reddening as I became aware that Flynn was still sitting in the car and was clearly able to hear every word of our conversation. Jack didn’t seem bothered, staring at me intently and awaiting my reply.

Chewing on my lower lip, I met his gaze. He really did seem completely genuine – a regular nice guy, which just made walking away from him even more difficult but still something that I had to do. ‘No. I don’t have a boyfriend,’

‘Is it my age? Am I too old for you?’ he asked almost immediately, his body leaning ever closer with his eagerness.

God. He was really persevering with this, wasn’t he? ‘It has nothing to do with your age,’ I mumbled, wanting to get out of the car, but unable to break away from his gaze.

‘I see.’ He paused thoughtfully, his fingers drumming a brief pattern on his knee. ‘Well, I very much enjoyed tonight, Caitlin. Are you sure I can’t tempt you into meeting up again before you leave? Maybe lunch tomorrow?’

He was persistent, I’d give him that, but I was more sober now and I found my head shaking and fists clenching as my old defence mechanisms clicked back into place like a well-oiled machine. ‘No. Sorry.’ I winced as I heard how blunt I sounded, and quickly felt the need to tag more to my refusal. ‘I’ll be booking flights soon. And, I, um, well, I don’t date …’

His eyebrows rose at this news. ‘Never?’ he enquired curiously.

‘Nope. Never,’ I confirmed, before suddenly worrying that that comment might make it sound like I slept around instead. Wondering if I should try to clarify further and explain that what I meant was that I never got romantically involved in any way shape or form, I brought myself up short and grabbed the handle of the door – it didn’t matter what he thought about me, because I wasn’t going to be seeing him again.

‘Thanks again for the drink. Good night.’ And with that, I slid from the car and practically ran for the safety of the garden bungalow, before I could turn around and say – or do – something stupid.

Chapter Eighteen

Jack

Climbing from the car, I stood in the warm night air and watched as Caitlin walked away from me towards the hotel reception. After a few steps she sped up, her long hair swaying with the increased pace, before she finally broke into an actual run, jogging around a corner until I could no longer see her.

First she walked away from me in the park, and now she runs? Pursing my lips, I leant on the roof of the car, staring at the point where she had disappeared, tempted to follow her and try to help calm her. Jesus. Was I that bad that she had to run away from me? That wasn’t the usual reaction I got from women, that was for sure, but then again, with her nervous twitches and elastic band pinging, Caitlin didn’t seem like a usual kind of girl either. God, did she attract me, though. Her tentative, shy personality was incredibly endearing, and she was so pretty that her image was still burned into my mind even though she was long gone from sight.

Shaking my head, I slammed the back door of the car and instead joined Flynn up front.

‘Mate, you just got burned!’ he taunted, laughing at me when I turned my unamused face to him. He was bloody right too, not only had she asked me not to kiss her – a first for me – she’d also turned down my request for a lunch date. ‘Jack Felton snubbed by a woman, never thought I’d see the day,’ he chuckled with a shake of his head. ‘I could sell that story to the papers for a mint.’

‘Piss off, Flynn,’ I muttered, his remarks too close to the truth for me to stomach at the moment. ‘Let’s get one final drink before heading back,’ I suggested, needing a strong shot of something to dull the ache that Caitlin’s rejection had left. I missed her presence already, which was ridiculous seeing as I barely knew her. What the hell was it about that girl that was affecting me so badly?

Luckily, Flynn let the matter drop and didn’t say another word as he drove us the short distance across town to the small community where I lived when in LA. We might not have been speaking, but my mind was in overdrive for the entire journey, replaying the evening and trying to work out where I’d gone wrong. She’d initially been hesitant to accompany me for the drink, but once we’d arrived at the bar she had seemed to loosen up and I could have sworn I was getting positive signals from her body language.

My eyes narrowed as I suddenly recalled her reactions when I’d touched her. Flinching that violently from a touch on the back was not normal. Neither was the way she had sounded almost apologetic as she’d begged me not to touch her again. Not to kiss her. ‘Please don’t … I’m sorry, but I just can’t …’ Remembering the tremble in her tone made me clench my teeth so hard that they hurt.

And the elastic band pinging? What the hell had that been about? Her skin had gotten so red from the abuse she was giving it that I’d nearly leant across and ripped the bloody things off on several occasions.

When I’d first signed up to the Territorial Army at eighteen, I’d seen an older colleague around the training ground called Brian using an elastic band in a similar way. He’d just returned from active duty and was suffering from PTSD, using the band to ground him when his flashbacks became too severe. A long breath escaped my lips as I remembered his grim expression when he told me that it was his own self-inflicted version of masochism. Fuck. Did that mean Caitlin was using it for a similar reason? Was it her way to hurt herself when in public? Or did she need the pain like Brian had, to help her fight some nightmares from her past?

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat I tried to quell the growing urge to demand that Flynn turn the car around and take me back to the hotel so I could find Caitlin, and persuade her to let me get to know her. Of course I could be massively exaggerating it in my mind, she might simply flick the elastic bands as a nervous habit. Loads of people had nervous ticks, didn’t they? Attempting to persuade myself that that was probably it, I swallowed loudly and tried to clear the suffocating thoughts of her from my mind.

Turning into the gates, Flynn bypassed the road that led to my house and took us down the short, tree-lined boulevard, pulling the car to a stop at a smart, wooden building containing the gym, reception, and a small bar for the residents. This compound was pretty exclusive, consisting of only twenty dwellings, but seeing as we were all high earners paying through the teeth for privacy, the owners had no issues with paying for a barman to remain on site pretty much twenty-four hours a day.

As expected, the bar was practically deserted, with just us, the barman, and one lone figure in the corner frantically tapping away at a laptop. I recognised him as Tim, a computer genius and self-made millionaire. He preferred to work away from his house in the evenings, and was pretty much part of the furniture from eight p.m. onwards.

Taking a seat on a stool towards one end of the bar, Flynn flashed me a quick glance. ‘The usual, Jack?’

I nodded my response, still feeling decidedly put out by the frustrating end to my evening with Caitlin.

‘A double whisky on the rocks, and a sparkling water, please.’

As Flynn sat on the stool beside me I quirked an eyebrow at his order. ‘Water? You’re not joining me?’

‘Nah, better not, I’m still on duty for another two hours.’ He might be a bit of an uptight arsehole at times, but Flynn took his job seriously, and always had done.

Our drinks were served and the barman disappeared again, discreetly leaving us to ourselves. I wasn’t really in the mood for talking, but unfortunately, after just a few minutes of blessed silence Flynn shifted on his seat and smirked in my direction.

‘I can see why you took a liking to her, mate, she’s hot.’ I’d guessed that he wouldn’t let the subject of Caitlin drop, and I sighed as her image blazed in my mind again. He might be my bodyguard, but Flynn Lawton was in no way, shape, or form my mate. He’d been my main training officer in the TA, which had made us close in a sense, and now he worked for me, so that led to us spending time together on a regular basis, but were we mates? No.

We often shared some laddish banter, but the two of us had very different outlooks on life, love, and ladies. Polar opposites, in fact: he was a user, moving from bed to bed whenever he could, whereas I would rather go home to an empty bed than think I was taking advantage of a woman.

My dad had taught me to always try and treat women right, and as such I believed in proper dating instead of going to bed with someone as soon as you met them. I considered myself a gentleman, or as much of a gentleman as I could be, anyway, and had made it a personal rule that I never used my status to get laid or obtain special perks.

‘She’s trying to hide herself under loose clothes, but I reckon she’s trim underneath those layers.’ As much as I hated him passing comment on Caitlin, I had to agree, she had looked pretty tonight, exceptionally so, but her clothes were a bit baggier than they had needed to be, almost as if she were self-conscious or trying to conceal herself.

Grunting my reluctant agreement, I took another sip of whisky and then swilled the amber liquid around the tumbler as I wondered how I could take my mind off the girl now stuck in my thoughts.

‘She’s got that innocent look about her too,’ Flynn pondered, again pointing out something which I too had picked up on. There was something very attractive about Caitlin’s slight vulnerability, although it no doubt appealed to me for very different reasons than it did Flynn – it made me want to care for her, and protect her from whatever it was that put that flicker of fear into her gaze every now and then.

Flynn fell silent beside me and after several moments I cast a glance in his direction to see his lips curling into a leer as he took a drink of his water. That look spoke volumes and I immediately felt my body tense.

‘What are you thinking?’ I asked tightly, fairly sure I already knew exactly his line of thought.

Placing his glass down, he licked his lips and met my gaze as a grin spread across his face. Nudging me with his elbow he then inclined his head and winked at me. ‘You probably don’t want to know.’ Those words combined with his smirk made it perfectly clear that he was thinking of Caitlin in a less than appropriate manner, and I felt anger flood my veins.

Before Flynn could continue with his crude fantasies I found myself on my feet, one of my hands bunching in his suit lapel as I towered over him and glared down at him furiously.

My right fist clenched and unclenched by my side as I got right in his face and spoke in a fierce hiss. ‘Don’t say one more word about her, Flynn. Don’t even fucking think about her, got it?’ I ground out my warning through clenched teeth, every muscle in my body taut with the overwhelming emotions rushing around my system.