Lumen Cove Page 8

  Alex felt her breath fanning his face, panting almost, her large dark eyes gazing into his. It had been a very long time since a woman looked at him like that. Wanting but nervous, that little hesitation– do I want to kiss him or not? She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes falling to his lips and he almost, dipped his head. Almost nuzzled his nose against hers. Almost pressed his mouth fully over her plush lips.

  But as he began to bend his head, his eyes fell to her heaving chest, nothing really to see under her baggy hoodie, but the sight of Blaze, the ridiculous caricature of a fighting lantern, brought him back to his senses. A wave of intense heat scorched through his body, fear and adrenaline and oh shit what the fuck am I doing racing through his veins. He lifted his arms, heaving her up so that she was fully on her feet and let go, stumbling backwards to put three or so feet of space between them.

  The look on her face changed from shy longing to absolute horror and he could practically see his inner monologue playing itself across her face. Her eyes flicked around the room nervously before she put a hand to her face and let out a small giggle, that quickly became a cackle and then she was doubled over, hanging on to the back of the barstool to keep herself upright. Alex began to chuckle himself, the sound of her laughter setting his body at ease. If she was laughing she certainly wasn’t planning on reporting him for misconduct, right?

  “Oh my gosh,” she said trying to regain control of herself, wiping at her streaming eyes with the heel of her hand. “I’m sorry.” She burst into another fit of giggles and then took a deep breath to try and control herself. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too, that was completely inappropriate,” Alex said, slicing his hand through the air for emphasis and she stopped laughing to look at him confused.

  “I only meant that,” she swallowed, fanning her face, “Reva…” she breathed deep, searching for composure. “Reva has this theory that any girl in school who spent this much time alone with you would throw herself at you.” She busted out laughing again, barely comprehensible as she said, “and…and I literally just threw myself into you.”

  Alex watched as she doubled over again, holding her stomach as she laughed so hard no sound escaped her and Alex blinked feeling confused and though he didn’t really want to admit it, terribly amused.

  “Well you technically fell into me,” he replied dryly which only caused Kelsey to laugh harder, her legs giving out and now she was sitting on the floor, hanging on to the leg of the barstool. “If you pee on my floor I’m making you clean it up.” He tried to make his voice stern but he laughed at the end which ruined the effect.

  She finally gained control of herself once more and looked up at him with a sigh. “Oh man, Mr. Danvers, whew.”

  She leaned against the barstool suddenly exhausted from her fit. She’d actually thought for a second that he was going to kiss her. No, no she couldn’t think about that or the laughter would start all over again. Mr. Danvers risking his career and reputation for dorky, science nerd Kelsey Charming. The idea really was hilarious. He took a small step closer to her and extended a hand tentatively. She took it and allowed him to hoist her back to her feet, her body colliding with his again and she stepped back immediately holding a hand out.

  “Seriously don’t get me started again,” she warned, rubbing her stomach and Alex gave her a tight smile. “Wait, what were you apologizing for?” she asked with a stray giggle and his eyes widened, his neck turning red and splotchy along with his ears.

  “Uh…” he chuckled, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck, a gesture she was beginning to understand was a signal of his discomfort. “Nothing. It’s just… something you say… I guess.”

  Kelsey frowned, the little line drawing itself between her eyebrows and Alex looked away, feeling both ashamed and a little frightened. He had never had this happen before. Not even at his first school when the rumors had started. Those truly were only rumors but this. This felt dangerous.

  There was tension between them then and Kelsey wasn’t sure why or where it came from. It had been happening more and more recently though she had no idea what caused it. She watched him shift uncomfortably in front of her, wiping his mouth in a stressed way that made her want to hug him.

  “Ugh I should go,” she said looking over at the clock on the stove and his eyes met hers. He stared blankly at her for a moment before what she said went through and then he nodded enthusiastically.

  “Yeah. Yeah it’s getting late,” he said and she eyed him curiously as she picked up her physics book and began towards the back door. “Uh Kelsey?”

  “Yeah,” she said breathlessly turning back around and he was trying to hide a smile.

  “You’re uh gonna need your shoes,” he said and she looked down at her stockinged feet and laughed.

  “Oh God, what a night,” she muttered, rubbing her face tiredly as she shuffled back over to the seating area, shoving her feet into her shoes and wiggling them around until they were on correctly. She grabbed her bag and stuffed her book inside walking up to him. “Thanks again for letting me study up here. It was really nice. And for the sandwich.”

  Alex smiled and Kelsey returned it, an expression she couldn’t contain when he smiled, especially at her. It was such a rare occurrence, like a comet, beautiful but not visible for long.

  “Anytime,” he said, gesturing for her to walk towards the door. “Stay dry.”

  She gave him a mock salute which the Marine in him still bristled at but found it endearing all the same. This was not good. He watched her walk casually down the stairs and she didn’t look back as she stepped out into the rain, rounding the corner and out of sight. Alex pushed the door closed and ran a hand over his face, letting out a soft chuckle as he shuffled back through the kitchen. He wasn’t the type of person that made poor decisions after drinking but this incident hit a little too close to the potential disaster mark for his comfort. He shook his head and convinced himself he was overreacting. He was helping his project student in a pinch. It was a one-time incident and it wasn’t like it would become a regular thing.

  Chapter Six

  Alex sat behind his desk with a stack of papers in front of him, bouncing his pen idly against the ink blotter. He’d read the same paragraph of Josh Thurlbeck’s argumentative essay - Troll in the Highlighted Mask: Why Contouring Should Be Considered Lying - four times now and couldn’t force himself to focus. He threw the pen down and brought his hands up to his face, rubbing vigorously, as if he were bored and just needed better blood flow to his brain.

  He was in denial about Kelsey Charming. Worst of all he knew he was in denial and was even trying to deny that. He had tried to justify it to himself once, told himself that she was mature for her age, she flirted with him, he couldn’t just turn off the part of his brain the appreciated a beautiful woman. He immediately stopped that train of thought when he realized he sounded like one of those guys on the news for kidnapping his underage student and running with her across state lines.

  Except she wasn’t underage.

  She was just his student. Who trusted him to not be a total creep. But she did flirt with him constantly. She didn’t even deny it anymore. She liked to tease him that she was the only one that could get away with that kind of cheek without receiving his signature death stare. At which he gave her a withering stare and she grimaced, turned back to her book just in time to miss the small smile he couldn’t hold in anymore. There was little risk in it as she only ever did it when they were alone, which seemed to be all the time as of late.

  Kelsey had put her foot down about Sully’s parties, telling him no more than two guests at a time which would have solved the problem with anyone else. Except to Sullivan Charming it only took two to tango and three made it really fun. Pair that with the fact that Kelsey was entering into a very tricky section of linear algebra that needed her complete concentration and they spent nearly every evening of the last week and a half together. It had actually been kind of nice ha
ving someone else around. She worked silently in front of the wood-burning stove and he worked at his desk. They would order take out and she would conveniently have to go to the bathroom when the delivery guy arrived. She sat at the island and he stood across from her to eat standing up, as was his custom, and they chatted about anything and everything before she went back to her math and he sat in the chair opposite her to read. Their silences were comfortable and they liked the same toppings on their pizza. If it wasn’t so morally reprehensible she’d be the perfect girlfriend. He rubbed his face hard as if he could wipe away the thought.

  A series of dull thuds came from the laundry room, something akin to a knock and he felt his heart skip a beat as he stood to answer it. Kelsey was standing outside, laden with shopping bags. Her cheeks were pink from the fall chill, hair damp from the near constant drizzle that had been plaguing Lambency for the past two weeks. She was wearing a black peacoat, jeans and those tan fuzzy boots the girls broke out as soon as the temperature dipped below 70.

  “Again?” Alex asked with a sigh and she gave him an exasperated look as she nudged past him to set her bags down on the kitchen island. “Is he in love with this girl or something?”

  Kelsey laughed dramatically. “Oh, it’s so cute you assume that it’s been only one this whole time.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Seriously?” Alex asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her paw through her bags.

  “They don’t call him Prince Charming for nothing,” Kelsey muttered, pulling boxes and jars out and placing them on the counter.

  “What are you doing?” Alex asked, feeling anticipation curl in his stomach and hating himself for it.

  Kelsey blinked at him. “Making dinner,” she said shucking her coat off and moving to throw it over the back of one of the barstools, setting her purse on top of it. He grimaced.

  “Uh, Kelsey, I don’t-” Alex said his hand going to the back of his neck but she cut him off.

  “It just really pisses me off,” she said as she shuffled around the counter again and grabbed a baguette of French bread. “In my childhood bed, Mr. Danvers I swear to God…” She trailed looking at the ceiling while holding the baguette menacingly as if she were going to use it as a sword.

  “Why is he in your room?” Alex asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste and Kelsey stopped her unpacking to look at him.

  “Uh, I wasn’t about to let him in Gram’s room,” she said, taking her now empty bags and stowing them away beside the counter. “Now, where’s your baking sheets?”

  “Where are,” he corrected on instinct and she gave him a withering look. “Kelsey, you don’t have to make me dinner…” Alex said, watching as she programed his oven to start preheating.

  “I know,” she replied turning back to the items on the island and moving them around, “But we both have to eat and you’ve been paying for most of the take out, so I figured- hey do you have a dutch oven? You know, the big pan with the handles?” She mimed holding a pan, whipping her head around as if she were trying to decide which cabinet it might be in.

  “Miss Charming,” Alex said finally, his tone sharper than he intended. She stood stock straight as she always did when he addressed her as he did all his other students. It was their signal that they’d had their fun but it was time to get back to work. “This is…not…”

  “Appropriate, I know,” Kelsey said with a roll of her eyes. “Look, I just lugged all this stuff here from Greens in the rainy cold. Reva’s on a date. Elliot is at a LAN party, which I didn’t even know they did that anymore, and LoKey is,” she frowned. “Actually, I don’t know where LoKey is. Anyway, if I spend one more night at the Sarno’s, Lavali is going to sign me up for Match.com.”

  “Is that where she thinks you are?” Alex asked, feeling a prickle at the back of his neck which he rubbed hard. “On a date?”

  “No, she doesn’t think I’m anywhere. She doesn’t keep track of me or anything. I’m eighteen,” Kelsey said with a snort and Alex swallowed hard.

  “That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, Miss Charming,” Alex said, his voice tight with stress and he rolled his neck around to try and disperse the tension. “I appreciate your… appreciation of the take-out, but this is very unnecessary.”

  She looked at him and pursed her lips. “So, you’re saying you don’t want the lasagna spirals from Ezio’s?”

  Alex’s eyes widened and he had to stop the moan that threatened to escape him at the mention of Ezio’s lasagna spirals. Ezio’s was one of two fine dining establishments in Lambency and it was by far the best. Ezio Sarno had brought his great grandmother’s recipes over from Italy and it was widely known that once you had Italian food at Ezio’s all other Italian food was ruined for you. It was a special occasions only spot though, pricing set more for the tourists than the locals. Alex ate there about four times a year and he always got the lasagna spirals.

  Kelsey was smirking at him and he shifted from foot to foot, glaring at her. “Ezio wouldn’t give you his recipe. He guards those with his life.”

  “Yeah but Reva would,” she retorted and grinned at him obnoxiously.

  “You told Reva Sarno that you were making me dinner?” he asked, his voice cracking in alarm.

  “Of course not; don’t be stupid,” Kelsey said as the oven beeped behind her. “I said I wanted to make some for Mrs. Konig as an apology for a solid week of Sully’s Discotheque. Which wasn’t entirely untrue.” Kelsey said with a shrug. “They’re her favorite too. So, come on. Pans? Please?”

  She looked at him imploringly and he hated himself for letting her pleading brown eyes melt his resolve. He needed to put his foot down on this. This was wildly inappropriate.

  “The drawer under the stove,” he grumbled, trudging over as she beamed at him and bent to open the drawer. He nearly collided with her as he was trying to skate behind her to get to the cabinet on the other side of the stove.

  “Oops sorry,” she said, straightening again and he tried to breathe normally as he retrieved the dutch oven from under the counter.

  “How can I help?” He asked with a sigh, planting his hands on his hips and surveying the items on the counter.

  “I’m not giving you this recipe,” Kelsey said flatly and he let out a chuckle. “Seriously, Reva practically made me take a blood oath when she gave it to me.”

  “I promise I will not try to decipher whatever it is you are doing with these ingredients,” Alex said and he held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

  Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you even a boy scout?”

  “Kelsey, my dad was in the military. I’m a damn Eagle Scout.”

  Kelsey let out a loud bark of laughter before covering her mouth to quiet it. “Okay, well, then I believe you.”

  The galley kitchen wasn’t exactly built for two people to be working at once. Alex slid behind Kelsey to get into the fridge while she was mixing various ingredients in a bowl, his front sliding against her back and it was that one taste of friction that had his mind going places it really shouldn’t be going. Her jeans were that dark, skin tight variety that was popular among girls her age and her shirt was a thin cotton thing with blue stripes, the shadow of her camisole visible underneath, and a wide neckline that gave him the barest peek at her collarbones. Little silver buttons adorned the shoulders. She had thrown up her hair half way through the cooking process, tiny wisps falling from the hasty knot. He wanted to pull it down and bury his hands in it, use it to gently tug her head back and run his mouth down her neck.

  Kelsey could feel a strange tension settle over them somewhere in the middle of the work. She’d felt him slide behind her, his palms resting lightly on her biceps, chest brushing her back, hips sliding against her backside. She felt her heart beat ratchet up, her breathing coming a little heavier than normal and a strange ache settled in her lower belly. She glanced at him, finding his neck and ears to be red as he rooted around in the fridge for what she didn’t know.

 
They ate in relative silence, Kelsey insisting that he sit down for once like a respectable human being. He felt it would be prudent to keep a chair between them but didn’t want to come off as rude. At least that was what he told himself when his elbow lightly brushed hers. That’s when she realized he was left handed.

  They kept knocking elbows and eventually stopped apologizing, the silence thick between them. Kelsey felt nervous, her stomach fluttering, making it difficult to eat. Something was different between them and she couldn’t place it. They had spent so much time together recently that she thought she’d finally mastered all his silences, but this one was new to her. It felt suffocating, almost as if it were the cause of her shallow breathing, her racing heart.

  He finished before her, seeming to inhale his food which she smiled inwardly at. Guess he liked it. He began cleaning up immediately, his movements quick, almost manic. It was making her nervous.

  “If you hang on a minute I’ll help you,” she said, swallowing her last bite of lasagna.

  “It’s fine,” he said crisply, moving to put some utensils into the dishwasher.

  Kelsey rolled her eyes, stood and picked up her plate to bring it around to the sink. He jumped as she sidled up next to him and he could smell the sweetness of her perfume that reminded him of a sugared peach. He swallowed hard, feeling a pull in his lower belly that he’d been forcing himself to ignore all night. He felt as if he were walking on a wire and she was shaking it underneath his unsteady feet.

  “I’ll wash if you dry and put away,” Kelsey said as she dropped her plate in the sink.