Your Gravity: Part One (9 page)

Suddenly, he snatched my hands, tearing them off his neck. He spun me around, placing my back side against him. He swayed with the music, grinding his lower body into my backside, creating a delicious friction. I tossed my head back onto his shoulder surrendering myself to him.

Lifting my arms, I searched for the back of his neck. He ducked his head and slid his nose against the side of my neck. I shivered at the touch of his hot tongue as it swept up the side of my neck, and let out a soft moan when he latched his teeth onto my earlobe.

I ran my fingers through his hair. It was so soft. When I pressed my butt deeper into him, and he let out a soft groan. The sound of it made me throb. I wanted more. I needed more. If this was a dream, I didn’t ever want to wake up.

Skillful hands roamed up my body, rested underneath my breasts, and I melted into him. It felt right having his hands touch me like that. Then his thumbs brushed against the underside of my breasts stroking me.

“Jackson,” I moaned.

He froze. My heart pounded, and I wondered what I’d done wrong. Gently, he turned me to him. His face was a mask as he spoke.

“Let’s get you home, Ms. Ashford.”

C
ooper pulled
his Mercedes into the driveway. Christmas lights cast a soft glow in the front yard. It was the one thing I loved about the house. Rainbow kept the lights up all year round because Meadow loved Christmas. With her still in Tibet, Rainbow felt close to her whenever she saw the lights.

“It’s exactly the same,” Cooper muttered.

My eyes flicked to him. He hadn’t said a word since he’d led me out of the club. I was a jumble of emotions. I was torn between wanting to tell him off and at the same time wanting to beg him to look at me. He kept his eyes on the road, hands gripped to the steering wheel, his face a mask. It wasn’t until we crossed the bridge that his face twisted as if in pain.

“You’ve been here before?”

“I lived in town when I was younger, before moving to Boston.”

Rainbow failed to mention that to me. I wondered if Rainbow knew Cooper more than she was letting on. I’d have to ask her when exactly she moved into town.

“Oh, you have family here?”

“My family—” He paused, swallowing thickly. His face softened and, in that moment, he looked like a boy, so sad and innocent. I wanted to take him in my arms and soothe the grief that filled his face. “Let’s get you inside.”

In a blink, the boy was gone, and Professor Butthead was back. The man was giving me whiplash.

Dashing out of car, he went to my side and opened the door. “Come on.”

“I can walk perfectly fine,” I growled, ignoring his extended hand. To prove him wrong, I took a couple of steps on the graveled driveway, my heels wobbling, and immediately proceeded to fall face first.

“This is so not my night.” I stayed on the ground. If I didn’t move, maybe Cooper would just go away and spare me the, “I told you so.”

“Are you okay?” He squatted beside me.

“Yes,” I mumbled into the dirt.

“Then why aren’t you moving.”

“It’s safer if I just lie here.”

“You can’t lie there all night.”

“Sure I can. You can go home. Don’t worry about me. I’ll just lie here and pretend the world doesn’t exist. I can lie here all day and maybe even for the rest of the semester. Maybe Penny will take pity on me and bring me some food.”

“Who’s Penny?”

“Rainbow’s pet chicken.”

Surprised by his laughter, I looked up. The man was actually smiling and laughing. His face was breathtaking. I felt that sudden pull to him again. “That sentence didn’t make any sense at all. Are you sure you live here?”

“Yeah.” I flipped over, sitting up. “Rainbow is my aunt. She owns the house with Meadow.” I let out a breath. I needed to get inside. He was being way too nice, and when he was nice, it made him even sexier. I was already confused, and he was making it worse. If I didn’t leave soon, I was going to fall for my chemistry professor and hard.

“Here let me help you.”

“No, I can—”

He lifted me as if I were as light as a feather, and then I was suddenly on my feet, looking up at him. Shadows danced across his face. The mask was gone, and gentle blue eyes gazed down at me, so open and raw. It was as if could see the real him underneath the brutal exterior, the real Cooper who volunteered to teach math to high school kids and held babies against his chest.

His gaze drifted to my lips. My heart pulsed frantically as he lifted his hand, brushing my cheek with heart-aching tenderness. His scent, his touch, those eyes . . . was seeing the real Cooper, and I was falling. Falling into love, falling into him, falling into his gravity.

“Nicole,” he whispered.

I titled my head, waiting for him, wanting his kiss so badly I could taste him.

He ducked his head, inching toward me. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip, tugging it. I held a waiting breath.

“No. It’s not you.” His eyes hardened as he pulled away. “You can stop the act, Ms. Ashford.”

No way! Are you freakin’ kidding me? He’d done it again!

“You think I’m making this up? This . . . this . . . whatever is going on between us.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, Ms. Ashford. There is nothing going on between us, and there never will be. I don’t date students.”

I snorted. “Is that right? I happen to know for a fact that you do.”

“Don’t pay attention to gossip.”

“What gossip? I have eyes.” And it was hard for anyone to miss Gianna or Flapper Girl clinging to him. Though I wasn’t sure about Flapper Girl being his student.

“Not everything thing you see is what you think it is.”

“Yeah so what about your date at Jitters? She seemed really anxious to make sure she had you all to yourself.”

“What are you . . .? Oh, my date . . .” his lips quivered.

“It’s not funny,” I snapped. “The woman attacked me!”

“She tends to do that when she thinks someone is after my money. She’s very protective that way.”

“I don’t give a flying monkey about your money . . . or you for that matter.”

He leaned in close to me, eyes blazing. My breath quickened. “You play a very convincing charade,
Nicole
Ashford. If Nicole is your real name.”

Was there a Nicole conspiracy theory or something running around? Flapper Girl had said the same thing.

“I’m not acting! And Nicole is my real name.”

“It’s a shame that your mother doesn’t see your potential. If she did, she would’ve never put you up to something as low as this.”

I sucked in a breath. “You know my mother?”

How did he know her? And how could he possibly know that I was her biggest disappointment?

“I thought I did. You look exactly like her.” His eyes softened as he scanned my face. Then he shook his head as if trying to convince himself of something. “But you’re not her. And I don’t know her, not anymore.”

“Look I don’t know who you think you are talking about my mother like that. I’ve barely talked to her in the last couple years, and she’s never mentioned anything about you to me. She’s too busy with her career.”

“So she abandoned you too?”

The loud crack of my hand slapping against his cheek echoed in the quiet night.

Stunned, I froze, my hand still in midair.

Without another word, Cooper turned and got into his car, his tires squealing as he pulled out of the driveway.

I
slapped Professor Cooper
.

Holy crap! I’d actually slapped him.

I stared after the red glow of the taillights until they disappeared into the darkness.

Was this what Madame Zahra had meant when she warned me about the vortex? If I hadn’t gone to the club, this would’ve never happened. Now, I’ll have to figure out how to withdraw from his class without losing all my tuition. There was no way I could stay in his class and actually think I could pass.

And Travis, that rat! He just left me there. The entire night was a disaster.

Well, happy freakin’ birthday!

I trudged into the house, hoping that Greg was back, hoping that his night had gone better than mine.

When I walked in, the first thing I heard was his loud snoring. That had to mean good news. He’d be up waiting for me if things had gone badly with his mother.

Selfishly, I debated whether to wake him. I sighed and decided to eat my sorrows away instead.

I needed chocolate. Stat. And wine . . . lots of wine.

On my way to the kitchen, I passed by Rainbow’s room. Her door was slightly open. I was surprised to hear the sound of her frantic voice. She was always so Zen.

“You got the photo, right? Are you sure it’s her? Yes, he did freak out. I saw him at Jitters. He’s exactly like you described him . . . No, she doesn’t know . . . I . . . this is crazy. Things like this just aren’t possible . . . You need to come back home soon. I don’t know if I can handle this alone . . . Yes, I baked it. I used everything in the recipe you emailed me.”

Even Rainbow wasn’t making any sense. She knew something about Cooper, but she was hiding it from me. But why would she do that? Somehow it involved my mother. Maybe my mother had had an affair with Cooper when she’d performed in Boston. It was hard for me to believe she’d do that. Not only because she was way older than he was, but because she was so in love with my father. And, more importantly, because Cooper wasn’t a musician.

Laughing, I padded into the kitchen. No, Cooper had my mother mixed up with someone else. I didn’t look at all like my mother. If anything, I looked more like my father.

I spotted a plate stacked with fudge on the counter.

Yes! You rock, Rainbow!

Despite the limited cuisine in the house, Rainbow had a huge sweet tooth and was an excellent baker. Pouring myself a glass of wine, I grabbed a couple of fudge bars and headed to my room. I took a bite. It had an odd bitter aftertaste and it definitely didn’t have any chocolate. It wasn’t fudge. Whatever it was, it tasted really good. I took another bite and a sip of wine. The combination was so good.

I took off my dress and put on a ratty T-shirt. I looked at my cellphone. My parents were in Austria this week. They were probably in rehearsal by now. It wouldn’t hurt to check in on them and maybe ask my mom if she knew Cooper.

I flipped my phone open. My fingers nervously tapped over the buttons.

It was entirely possible that mother could’ve slipped and had an affair with Cooper, maybe even a one-night stand. What was even more surprising was that Cooper would date a much older woman given his last two so-called conquests, Gianna and Flapper Girl. Despite his harsh words, he appeared heartbroken when he alluded that my mother had abandoned him too.

“Forget it.” I tossed the cellphone on the nightstand and turned off the lamp. It was way too late for crazy. I just wanted the night to end. Everything always looked better in the daylight.

Right?

T
here was
a tapping on the window. Or door. It was way too early in the morning and my head was pounding. Either Penny was pecking on the window or Greg at the door. Whoever it was, was going to get a major chewing out.

“Wake up, Nicole! You’re going to be late for work.” My eyes flashed open at the sound of a strange female voice calling from the other side of the door.

My head pounded harder, and I squeezed my eyes shut. It was probably Rainbow, and the massive hangover I had was messing with my head.

I reached out to the nightstand, feeling for my cellphone to check the time. It was Sunday and Lou had given me the day off. I was in no rush to go anywhere, but I knew Greg would want to tell me everything that had happened with his mom last night.

My hand landed on something large, round, and plastic.

My eyes popped open. Sitting on the nightstand where I placed my cellphone last night was a pink telephone. It had a round circle with numbers just like my grandmother used to have years ago. Was this a joke? And where was my cellphone? I picked up the receiver. There was a dial tone.

I rubbed my bleary eyes. When they came into focus, I noticed something different about the room. The walls were lined with Duran Duran and Culture Club posters.

What the hell?

I jumped out of bed. Greg had something to do with this. I was sure of it. It’d been a long time since he’d pulled one of his famous birthday pranks.

“Greg!” I called out, running into this room. When I opened the door to his room, it was filled with moving boxes.

I rubbed my eyes again. Greg really went all out on his prank. He probably got Travis to help him move his things into a storage unit.

I headed for the kitchen, expecting Greg to jump out and yell, “Surprise!”

Instead of Greg, there was a petite girl by the stove, swaying to music as she stirred eggs. On the counter next to her was a small radio, the silver antenna sticking out. Carole King’s voice crooned from the tiny speakers.

“Who are you?”

“Ah!” She jumped, dropping the spoon. Brown eyes looked to mine. Short blond curls framed a pretty heart-shaped face. “You scared me. Remind me to limit your drinking. When you say you can’t handle it, you really do mean it.”

“Who are you? And where’s Greg?” I repeated, looking around the room. Even the kitchen was decorated differently. There was a big-ass microwave with an old fashion knob instead of the small one we’d brought. The silver refrigerator had been replaced with a yellow one.

How much did this prank cost him? Hiring the actress had to have cost a small fortune. She was good. She looked at me like I was the crazy one.

“What’s wrong with you today? Okay, I’ll play. I’m Charlie. The roomie who you said to last night, and I quote, “I love you more than MTV, Charlie.”

I stared at her as she blinked, waiting for my response. I wanted to laugh and congratulate her for a good performance. Instead, I had a sinking feeling that she was telling the truth.

Charlie turned back to the stove. “You slept all day. Sorry I had to wake you, but you promised Lou that you’d open up Magic this afternoon.”

“Don’t you mean Jitters?”

She laughed. “You’re in need of serious caffeine.” There’s a mug for you on the counter.

Sipping my coffee, I watched Charlie as she continued to sing and wondered how long Greg was going to go along with the charade. The song ended and switched to the news.

“And in national news, President Reagan reiterated his presidential record to date in last night’s radio address from Camp David...”

Coffee spewed onto the counter.

President Reagan?

Dashing to the radio, I picked it up and searched for a microchip or USB device that could hold a digital recording.

“Uh, Nicole, what are you doing?” Charlie looked at me funny.

“Is this a new iPod design?”

“What’s an iPod?”

“Never mind. I’ll Google it. Where’s my laptop? I went to the corner desk in the living room where I usually kept it. There was a typewriter sitting where my laptop should have been.

Charlie laughed from behind me. “You’re so funny. iPod, laptop, Google. Where do you come up with these words? Next thing you’ll be asking if I’ve seen your domahicky.”

“Everyone knows what an—” I froze as I took in everything around me: the radio, the phone, the typewriter. “What’s the date?”

“Sunday.”

“Not the day, the date.”

“I don’t know. Who keeps track? There’s a calendar on the side of the fridge. You should know; you put it there.” She shook her head.

I dashed to the fridge and snatched the calendar.

“It’s not possible.” I sank to the floor.

There it was in black and white, a large block of numbers indicating the year.

1984.