By Candlelight Read online

  But Jacob Talbot was showing some interest, and Katie’s senses whirled in spite of her general level-headedness. “I don’t know,” she told him, afraid to commit. She couldn’t see herself just walking through Trey’s front door, bold as you please. Besides, she would have to get a ride. She couldn’t afford to waste her money on a car, which reminded her that Andrea was undoubtedly stewing right now, waiting for her to get to her Toyota for her ride home.

  “Would you like to go? I can give you a ride,” Jake said, as if reading her mind.

  “Well, sure,” she said, struggling to tamp down her delight.

  “I’ve gotta change and stuff. I’ll pick you up in about half an hour or so?”

  “Great.”

  “Where do you live?”

  Instantly Katie was sorry she had been so quick to accept. The idea of Jake Talbot pulling up in his black Corvette convertible in front of her parents’ rental sent fear rushing like ice through her veins. She wasn’t embarrassed exactly. It was just the disparity was so vast!

  Still, there was nothing else to do unless she wanted to wait outside the locker room like a pathetic groupie until after he had changed. That, she couldn’t do.

  She rattled off the address as quick as she could, then headed for the parking lot. “My ride’s waiting,” she explained on a yell as she tore away. “See ya soon!”

  If he thought her behavior bizarre, she couldn’t help it. She had to escape before his mind recognized the address as somewhere far less desirable than his own street.

  Once home, she ran into more obstacles. Her mother and father were seated in the living room, mindlessly watching whatever came on the television screen. Katie tried to sneak through to her bedroom, but her mother looked up as she slipped past the living room archway.

  “Why aren’t you at work?” she demanded.

  “I—got a replacement,” she stammered.

  Her mother nodded and turned back to the set. Her father didn’t acknowledge her at all. Katie scurried to the sanctity of her room and closed the door. She didn’t relate to her parents on any level, and neither did they relate to her. It wasn’t teen rebellion on her part. It was more like they had so little interest in her well-being that she was as much a part of the furniture as a member of the household. How it had happened she didn’t rightly know; but over the years the realization that her parents’ feelings for her were lukewarm at best had seeped inside, and in consequence, she returned the feeling. Most of the time it didn’t bother her that much. Only when she saw other parents interacting with their children, laughing and hugging and generally having a good time, only then did a deep pang of misery assail her. Each time that happened she vowed that when and if she ever had children she would give them everything, all her love, caring and worldly possessions. It would not be the same for her and her child. No way.

  Now, she gazed at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. Her hair was in a ponytail. She brushed it down, but the line from the rubber band held firm. With an exclamation of disgust, she relooped the band, then examined her makeup. A dusting of eyeshadow and a bit of mascara. Summer had tanned her skin so that blush was beyond unnecessary. She added lip gloss, then surveyed her white tank top and denim shorts. Though she wore no socks, the elastic Ace Bandage showed above her white sneakers, and with a small cry of annoyance, she ripped off her shoe and unwrapped it. Minor discoloration still appeared on her flesh from the sprained ankle, nothing anyone would notice. On a lark she clipped on a tiny anklet which tinkled so softly that it sounded like an imagined Pan’s pipe off in the distance. A bottle of cologne sat on her scarred vanity. Picking it up, she sprayed a flowery scent against her throat.

  What are you doing? she asked herself. Jake Talbot isn’t going to look at you. He was just being nice. Why are you going to Trey’s? You’ll feel like an idiot. Don’t go.

  Panic filled her. What would she do there? What if they all cut her dead?

  But Jake had invited her. She was being paranoid for no good reason. Bolstering up her courage, she returned to the front room, and this time both of her parents turned her way, scrutinizing her from head to toe.

  “Where are you going?” her father demanded.

  “To a friend’s house.”

  “Which friend?” This was from her mother.

  “His name’s Trey. He’s on the football team.” With a certain amount of pride, she added, “Jake Talbot’s picking me up.”

  “Talbot?” Her mother gaped. The name was way too familiar in Lakehaven for anyone to miss.

  Katie nodded happily.

  “You’re going on a date with one of the Talbot sons?”

  “He ain’t the one who landed in the drunk tank, is he?” her father sneered. “God, he’s a wild one.”

  “He’s on the football team,” Katie said through her teeth. Pride goeth before a fall. Or something like that. She wished she had kept her date with Jake a secret; but no, she’d had to crow, and now her parents were avid with curiosity.

  “Don’t let him get anything,” her father added, turning back to the television, and Katie was affronted.

  “Get anything?” she demanded.

  “You know what your father means. Young men have one-track minds, and especially young men with too much money.”

  “Only a fool buys a cow when he can get the milk for free,” her father threw out over his shoulder.

  Humiliated right down to the soles of her feet, Katie murmured a goodbye and slammed out of the house. Jake wasn’t anywhere in sight, so she walked down the street a ways, just where she could keep her own house in view without actually having to be there. Plucking at some tall grass which bordered this side street into Lakehaven proper, she fought back a tide of anger. She had her own doubts, for crying out loud. She knew Jake Talbot couldn’t be interested in her for Katie Tindel herself. That wasn’t the way it worked.

  But why not? her foolish, romantic heart demanded. Why couldn’t he fall in love with her? She was a nice person. And yes, she was pretty. And she was fun and smart, too.

  These positive affirmations made Katie feel marginally better.

  His Corvette appeared on the street, top down, creeping along as Jake searched out her address. Quickly, Katie hurried forward, hailing him with one arm. Her ankle twinged without its wrap, but she barely noticed. Spying her, he swung to the curb and actually got out of the car to hold the door for her.

  “Thank you,” Katie said, surprised.

  He laughed. “Well, I guess I could have pulled over and told you to climb over the top. I just didn’t think you’d want to.”

  She laughed right back. “Chivalry is not dead.”

  His brows lifted. He seemed surprised by her choice of words, and Katie inwardly congratulated herself that she hadn’t resorted to silly high school flirtation lines, such as “Cool car!” or “I loved watching you tonight.” She had heard her friends line up to deliver the same inanities time and again until she wanted to throw up. She had determined long ago that if ever given the chance, she wasn’t going to blow it.

  And this was her chance.

  Jake softly closed the door behind her as Katie buckled up. While they drove to Trey’s, Katie asked a few questions about football, a sport she knew just enough about to be dangerous.

  “I’m a wide receiver,” Jake explained to her query. “The quarterback has a choice of where to throw the ball. Or, he can hand off to a running back.”

  “How often does he choose to throw to you?”

  “Depends on the other team’s defense. If I’m open, and it’s working, we might run the play a lot. But if they’ve shut me down, or the linemen can’t protect the quarterback long enough for him to make the snap, then he’ll pass off to a running back instead.”

  “Oh,” Katie said, nodding. It made a certain amount of sense, but to tell the truth, she had zero interest in the game, really.

  As if reading her mind, Jake shot her a sidelong look, his lips curving in what could only be descri
bed as a sexy smile. “You don’t care, do you?”

  “Not really.”

  Her candor brought another chuckle from deep within his chest. Katie glanced out the side, letting wind cool her hot face as the convertible traveled faster, away from Lakehaven’s city center.

  Trey’s house was on the lake, near Jake’s. As they passed through two brick pillars which guarded the drive, Katie’s nerves stretched. What would they all think, when she appeared with Jake? It bothered her that she cared so much, but no amount of rationalization would tame her thundering heart.

  Jake swung the Corvette into the semicircle in front of the two-story house and parked to one side. The house itself was a small manor built in the French chateau style. It was sided with flat gray stones, and white-paned, arched windows rose upward to a mansard roof. Katie let herself out of the car, conscious of her denim shorts and tank top. She had just expected to wear regular Lakehaven High gear. What if she were underdressed?

  But no, Jake was in jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his shoulders. They walked up the wide, brick steps together and rang the bell. Ten seconds later footsteps sounded, and Trey threw open the door.

  “Welcome!” he called, his freckled face split by a wide grin. “The party’s downstairs.”

  He didn’t seem surprised in the least to see Katie, and when she descended the stairs after Jake, she saw that many of her classmates were already there. Nobody even noticed her arrival apart from a few hellos. She realized that she had made too much of the whole thing just because she felt somehow inadequate. She was the only one who seemed to worry that she didn’t belong.

  Andrea was there, and she detached herself from a group just long enough to dig her fingers into Katie’s arm and drag her down a short hallway, away from the pool table and refreshments. “You’re with Jake!” she declared. “My God! How’d you work that?”

  “He asked me to come with him. I told you in the car.”

  “No, you didn’t. You said Jake had asked if you were going to Trey’s. That’s all you said.”

  Katie shrugged. She could have reminded her that the reason she hadn’t elaborated was because Andrea had changed the subject—a typical Andrea move. Andrea wasn’t really interested in what someone else was doing unless it affected her in some way. In that respect, she was like nearly every other student at Lakehaven High.

  “So, what gives? Are you dating him? I mean, is this a date?”

  “Don’t ask me. He just offered me a ride, and I took it.”

  “Oh, Katie, if you start seeing Jake Talbot, I’ll just die! Everyone’ll be so jealous. You know, as well as I do, half the girls here have chased after him at one time or another.”

  “You’re making too much of this.” She was starting to grow uncomfortable. Wouldn’t it just be great if Andrea started the rumor that she was with Jake, and then Jake overheard? Like she had been spreading the news herself? She would die of embarrassment!

  “Oh, there’s Donna. Let’s go tell her!”

  Andrea yanked on Katie’s arm, but Katie dug her heels in. “If you say anything, I’ll kill you. He offered me a ride. Period. He’s probably already sorry he did.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be so dumb. This is big news!”

  Swept along on the tide of Andrea’s enthusiasm, Katie was passed from friend to friend, relating how Jake Talbot had asked her to be his “date.” By the time she escaped and could search out Jake himself, she was terribly uneasy that he would get the wrong impression of her. Sure, she had a secret crush on him, but so did everyone else. She couldn’t bear being one of the pack.

  Jake was standing at the pool table, cue in hand. “Could I talk to you a minute?” she asked, when he had finished a shot.

  “Sure.” He regarded her patiently, leaning on his cue.

  The guys had all separated to the pool table with an occasional foray to the trays of food, while the girls were hovering in small groups, just watching. There was no mixing. Though everyone seemed desperate to cross that invisible line, no one knew quite how.

  “When you’re done,” she said, motioning him to continue.

  “You want to be my partner?” Jake asked. “This is about wrapped up.”

  In truth Jake only had a few balls left on the table while his opponent still had a tableful. At that very moment his opponent sank the eight ball, disqualifying himself. He howled in protest.

  Jake appropriated the loser’s cue stick, and another set of guys stepped forward to play Jake and Katie.

  Pool wasn’t something she was good at. She had played a couple of times at a few arcades, but apart from knowing how to hold the cue, she was miserable. “You’ll be sorry,” she warned him.

  “I don’t think so.”

  When it was her turn, Jake leaned over and showed her which ball to select to try to get in the pocket. His arm lay against hers, his hand guiding her wrist. She could smell his musky male scent, a mixture of cologne and something uniquely Jake. The hair on his arm brushed against hers, a soft abrasion. She felt his hips glance against hers, and the sound of his breathing near her ear sent shivers along her skin.

  Katie was so nervous that her hands began to shake again. She stopped and rubbed them together to calm herself.

  “It’s okay if you don’t make it,” he assured her. “I don’t mean to put pressure on you.”

  “Oh, no,” she said, when she realized he intended to back away. “I like having you teach me.”

  Their opponents both made a sound of amusement, but to Katie, they were just part of the wallpaper. With Jake’s help, she sank her first ball. She clapped hands with him in a high five, his fingers hanging on a second longer than necessary. Katie was in seventh heaven.

  After that, she couldn’t remember much about the game. She struggled to sink more balls, failing more than winning, but Jake was there, his arms and body guiding her through each step. By the time they were finished, when Jake called the pocket and sank the eight ball, Katie had forgotten all her earlier fears. All she could see was Jake. If she had thought she had a crush before, she was rapidly spiraling into full-fledged love—and lust.

  All the way home she was supremely conscious of his thigh next to hers. Just the sight of his arms, stretched out to grasp the steering wheel, sent thrills down her spine. His fingers were long and strong, flexing against the wheel, and Katie fantasized about what they would feel like caressing her.

  She was losing her mind. She couldn’t credit it. What was the matter with her?

  At her house, he stopped at the curb. She let herself out only to find him right beside her. He walked her up the weed-choked walk to her concrete porch. It seemed so unkempt and unloved that Katie had to force herself not to spout excuses.

  “Thanks for taking me. It was really worth skipping out on work tonight.” She pulled a guilty face and shrugged, her smile sheepish.

  “How many nights a week do you work?” he asked.

  “Four.”

  “Both weekend nights?”

  Her pulse began pounding in a slow, slow beat. The air was still hot, though it was closing in on midnight. The moon hung low in the sky, illuminating a patch of ground just outside of where her feet stood.

  “Sometimes I can get off,” she admitted. “If I find someone to work for me.”

  “What about next weekend? Maybe like, Saturday? We’ve got a game away on Friday.”

  “I could try,” she said, fighting to hide her runaway eagerness.

  “Okay.” He grinned. She could see his features in the darkness. They both moved at the same moment, awkwardly, toward each other, and Katie’s ankle slipped just enough to shoot pain up her leg.

  Her involuntary gasp stopped him short. “What’s the matter?”

  “Oh, nothing.” She was so frustrated! “I twisted my ankle a few days ago. I do it all the time. It just hurt a bit.”

  “Let me see it.” He bent down to her slim, bare leg.

  “No, really, it’s fine.”

 
; She sucked in a breath when his fingers reached around her left ankle. Goose bumps popped out on her arms and legs. “It’s—it’s the other one,” she breathed, feeling slightly faint.

  Now his fingers probed her right ankle, and the tiny bells of the anklet tinkled in soft protest. “It’s a little bit swollen, I think,” he said uncertainly.

  “It’s a little bit green, if you look closely,” Katie added on a breathless laugh.

  “Better take your weight off it.” Jake straightened just long enough to tug on her arm and help her sit on the step. He sank down beside her, and to her surprise, he propped her right leg over his and examined her ankle more thoroughly.

  “What? Are you my doctor?” She laughed nervously. His hands were warm and gentle.

  “I could be.” In the semidarkness she could see his eyes crinkle at the corners with humor. When he turned to her, his blue eyes were a deeper shade in the darkness, but they caught the moonlight, glimmering like liquid.

  When he leaned forward it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to move toward him. His arms encircled her; his breath feathered her cheek. When his mouth brushed across her skin, searching for hers, Katie’s lips parted instinctively, eager for his kiss. For a moment he rubbed gently, back and forth, teasing her; then his mouth slanted down with searing intensity.

  Katie’s senses went wild. One moment she was afraid her fears would be noticed; the next she was in orbit! Her ears buzzed, and her heart galloped frantically, threatening to escape her chest. Her eyes drifted closed automatically, and her lips quivered as if she were about to cry.

  Jake’s kiss turned her legs to water; her spine lost its strength. When his hand caressed her cheek, holding her in place for another firmer, longer kiss, she could do nothing but lie quiescent in his arms. Yet, a furor of activity was taking place beneath her skin as her magnafoozled brain sorted through too much sensory input.

  Slowly, ever so excruciatingly slowly, he pulled back. She could practically feel her lips sticking to his, as if they refused to let go. She didn’t want him to leave. She couldn’t bear it!