Wanderlust Read online

  Giggling slightly, she shook her head. “Not on the first date.”

  “Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to wait until the second.”

  She laughed harder and bumped her shoulder into mine. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “No. Just hopeful. But trust me when I say, I’m just messing with you. There’s no pressure, really.”

  “I know. I can tell.”

  “You can?” I was surprised by this remark. “How?”

  “I don’t know. For some reason I just feel like I can . . . trust you.”

  Something tightened in my chest, first from elation that she trusted me, second from self-disgust, knowing that I wasn’t being honest with her. I wanted to be, though. It wasn’t my intent to keep the truth from her; I simply knew that it would change everything if she found out. I couldn’t risk causing her to run before I ever really had the chance to get to know her.

  “I’m glad. I’ll try to be worthy of your trust.” I meant every word.

  “So, where is this place we’re headed, tonight?” Skylar asked, changing the subject.

  “You can see it, just up the road there.” I pointed ahead. “That yellow sign that says Aggie’s. It’s just a little local diner, but they have some amazing seafood as well as some great hamburgers and steaks—if you’re into that sort of thing. They also have some nice salads and fresh fruit.”

  “It sounds great.” Glancing at me, she flashed me another beautiful smile. “How many times have you eaten here?”

  “Well, let’s see. It’s close, I’m fairly new to the area, and cooking isn’t exactly my favorite thing to do—so a lot.” I grinned back at her. That wasn’t entirely true. I could cook, just my personal recipe book didn’t always include ingredients that could be found on Earth. Plus, I was here to experience life on this planet. Trying new things and observing different cultures was part of my lifestyle. I liked searching out new places. For some reason, though, Aggie’s had become one of my fairly regular places to go.

  “I figured as much. What’s your favorite dish?”

  “So far? All of them.” I laughed and she joined me.

  “That good, huh?”

  “Yep, that good.” And now that she was here with me, it was about to get a whole lot better.

  Chapter Five

  Skylar

  The food was exactly as Ryder had described—delicious to the very last mouthful. It took everything I had not to squirm with delight each time I took a bite from my shrimp fettuccine, the creamy Alfredo sauce causing a riot against my tongue with its smooth flavor. If I ate nowhere else while I lived in Arista, I’d die happy.

  Aggie’s reminded me so much of the quaint diner back home in Silver Falls. We’d managed to secure a booth, which suited me just fine. Red-checkered cloths covered each table and oceanic images, along with seascape artwork, hung on the walls, mixing with a variety of fishing nets, anchors and coastal décor.

  Ryder’s legs were long and every time I shifted in my seat, I’d brush against them encroaching under my side of the wooden table. At first he laughed, confessing he merely wanted to play footsies with me; but each time I touched him, his shoe briefly connecting with mine, it served as a reminded that this really was real.

  Every jolt sent a shockwave of excitement careening through me. I was on a date with a sexy-as-hell guy, and he was interested in me. Like honest-to-goodness hanging on every word I said, smiling as I shared more about my childhood and laughing at the funny antics I described between my sister and me.

  I’d never had a conversation like this before—one where I felt completely comfortable being the center of attention. It didn’t matter how many attempts I made at bringing the topic back around to him, Ryder evaded each question and subtly prodded me like an expert. When I finally confronted him about it, teasing him for constantly sidestepping my queries, he simply brushed it off with one of the incredible grins that revealed a deep dimple beside his mouth.

  “Face it, Skylar, I’m just not that interesting. You, on the other hand, intrigue me like no other. Something tells me I could sit here and listen to you talk forever, and always learn something new.”

  It was compliments like that that kept me in a constant state of blushing. I couldn’t tell if this was just who he was or if he was just determined to impress me; but whatever it was, it was definitely working.

  My evening with Ryder was quickly surpassing every date I’d ever gone on during high school. It was becoming increasingly harder to remember any other guy but him. He was perfect; and even though I was a normally optimistic person, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ryder was just too good to be true.

  “Who are you, Ryder?” I blurted out, obviously not content with keeping my quiet musings to myself.

  There was the slightest pause. My question had introduced the first break in the conversation and I leaned forward, ready to find out what caused his hesitation. I didn’t care what it was; I simply wanted something—anything that gave me a deeper glimpse into what made him tick.

  “I’ve told you, Skylar.” He laughed, rearranging his silverware on top of his finished plate before glancing at me. Those bold blue eyes always struck me. They told a story—giving those who took the time to notice a hint of something more. Like he’d seen more than most, or experienced more.

  For someone like me, who’d lived a pretty sheltered life in a small town surrounded by family and friends, it made me somewhat envious of all the travelling he’d confessed to, earlier.

  I couldn’t imagine being so young and having seen so much. He was living my dream—seeing the world with all its wonder and brilliant color. My grandmother had whispered quietly, once, that she suspected I had inherited one of her genes. She’d called it wanderlust: the inability to stay in one place too long because the unknown beckoned like a sweet temptation to be explored and captured.

  She was the reason I’d developed a love of painting and all things artistic. The very first paint box I received was a gift from her, along with a short note encouraging me to break all the rules and have fun. It was a motto I’d held onto all through growing up.

  I was the girl who didn’t like coloring between the lines. If someone said it wasn’t possible, it made me even more determined to prove them wrong.

  “Skylar?” Ryder asked, peering closer at me, his hand grabbing mine from across the table. I wasn’t sure whether it was him saying my name or the electricity that zapped me from his touch that caught my attention.

  “I did it again, didn’t I?” I murmured, releasing a sigh as I rubbed my forehead.

  “Got lost in your thoughts? Yeah, you did. But, in your defense, you looked completely adorable doing it.” Squeezing my fingers lightly, he let them go and took a sip from his soda.

  Adorable. The word made me inwardly cringe. We hadn’t even finished our meal and he was already using terms reserved for little sisters and . . . friends.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No.” I smiled, determined to not let the dreaded word ruin the rest of our evening. “You’re fine. I’m the one daydreaming.”

  “I did, though, say something wrong, that is. You had this beautiful expression on your face like you were thinking of something that made you happy. Then I said you were adorable and poof, it was gone.”

  His concern touched me. “Seriously, I’m okay. Sometimes I get thinking and before I realize what’s happening, I’ve drifted off.” Shaking my head, I let out a laugh. “I guess you’ve uncovered my secret. I’m really crazy.”

  “Then we’re perfect for each other, because I have my own personal brand of crazy going on. There are definitely times when I become so absorbed in something I kind of tune everything else out. In my opinion, you can never be too inquisitive. I think it’s something we both have in common.”

  “So you’re adorable, too?” I added, desperately needing to hear him say any other word but that one. Sitting here in Aggies had intensified the attraction I felt for
him and I wanted him to feel the same way. I needed to know that I was reading his body language correctly.

  “Well, I don’t think that’s the way I’d describe myself.” The corners of his mouth curled into a smile and he winked. “And while I think watching you lose yourself in your thoughts is adorable, it’s definitely not the way I’d describe you, either.”

  Heart leaping at his admission, my breathing stuttered a little and I gripped my hands tightly under the table. “Which is?”

  I wanted to die over how forward I was being. This was definitely not like me. Ryder made me feel brazen—comfortable enough in his presence to speak my mind—even if it was with questions requiring answers that terrified me.

  “That in all my travels, I’ve never met someone who captivates me so completely. I’m drawn to you, Skylar, and while I don’t believe in luck, I feel that our meeting wasn’t by chance. I can tell you feel the same magnetic pull between us. This feels so . . . natural. You are beautiful and I want to be with you.”

  His admission left me speechless, my brain scrambling to process everything he’d so eloquently said.

  I captivated him.

  He felt the same chemistry.

  He thought I was beautiful.

  Not just adorable, cute, or pretty, but beautiful.

  Sitting there with the chatter of other patrons around us, the flickering of the small candles gave the diner a romantic tone. I felt beautiful—he made me feel beautiful. Whatever he saw when he looked at me, he obviously liked and wanted more.

  “You want to be with me?” I asked, not sure how to interpret his last comment. After our brush with the idea of sex earlier, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t say no if I told him to take me home with him; but he could also mean he wanted to go on more dates. It was my newfound responsibility to introduce him to all things Star Wars and Star Trek, so he could’ve simply been referring to that.

  “I do, Blue.” He held out his hand, waiting for me to place mine within his light grip. Without breaking the hold of his gaze, Ryder lifted my fingers to his mouth, kissing them ever so softly. The brush of his lips was like a whisper, but caused a riot of emotions to instantly erupt inside me. If this was what it felt like being kissed on the hand by him, I was in some serious trouble. Enough trouble that the featherlike free fall I’d imagined was coming might now, instead, be the head first plummet into love.

  It wasn’t like a crush or those early moments of being aware of someone. Being with Ryder was more like the feeling of finally reuniting with someone who could look deep inside you and find his rightful place.

  It was exhilarating.

  It was also terrifying. I totally felt like I was in unchartered territory with no safe way to put on the brakes if things started moving too fast. No matter how calm and right this all seemed to resonate within me, there was still a spiral of danger and something else—the sensation of epic vastness, that begged for me to exercise caution.

  When I chose to do something, I did it completely—entirely without reservation. Choosing Ryder might just become my most thrilling adventure, if I were willing to take the risk and leap.

  “You’re doing it, again.” Ryder’s eyes twinkled with merriment. “What I wouldn’t give to be inside your mind and see what you’re thinking on so intently.”

  “Be careful what you wish for,” I teased back, grateful he thought my zoning out was so enchanting.

  “Oh, I’m counting on it. I always get what I wish for.” His response pushed me a little closer to the ledge.

  “And that would be?” He had me completely under his spell.

  Emotion flashed in his eyes—heat, desire, something that suggested more than just talking. If he asked me to go home with him, despite my comments earlier about never having sex on the first date, I wouldn’t even hesitate. He made me feel something—more. And no matter how much I’d like to say I wanted things between us to move slower, I wanted to take whatever he offered.

  In spite of my inexperience, my love life had never looked so promising.

  “Well,” he drawled, my gaze slipping to his mouth as he drew out each word. “Right now, my wish would be . . . ,” The anticipation was killing me. “Ice cream. I want ice cream.”

  “You did that on purpose!” I exclaimed, tipping my head back, laughing.

  “Did what?”

  I wasn’t buying his bewildered expression. He knew exactly what he’d done. “Nothing, let’s go, then. Who am I to stop a guy from his dessert?” Gesturing for the waitress to bring our check, I couldn’t stop laughing at myself.

  Ryder had gotten completely under my skin, taking my usually innocent thoughts and turning them into something much more seductive. Just by the way Ryder looked and talked, I was pretty sure he’d been with other girls, physically.

  With my lack of sexual experience, the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself when, if, we ever became intimate. The mere fact I was even contemplating these thoughts reminded me I wasn’t a little girl, anymore. I was ready to enjoy everything the world had to offer.

  What Ryder has to offer. I sighed to myself. Yep, I was definitely in unchartered territory.

  Watching him pull some bills out of his wallet, I realized that in spite of all the conflicting sensations swirling inside me—some at war with others—there was one thing that stood out boldly—clearly.

  Something was building between Ryder and me—something life changing. I just needed to be brave and embrace it in all its wonderful, complicated glory. I’d come to Arista for exactly this reason.

  To follow my dreams.

  To discover new passions.

  If a new relationship was possible, who was I to walk away?

  As we left Aggies in search of ice cream, the question that lay at the very center of my thoughts was this—how would I ever be able to walk away from Ryder?

  Chapter Six

  Ryder

  Skylar liked me. I could read her emotions like an open book every single time I touched her. Empathic waves radiated off her skin, completely enveloping my senses and giving me a high of epic proportions. I couldn’t recall ever being this in-tune—this affected—by any other woman in my past. It made me excited to see where things might lead. She was like a drink of water to my soul, something cool and refreshing in a vast desert of monotony.

  “What’s your favorite flavor?” I asked, opening the door to The Creamery, just a few blocks down from Aggie’s, and gesturing for her to enter in front of me.

  She shook her head. “I don’t have one. Every time I look into the ice cream case I see all those beautiful colors and it reminds me of my painter’s pallet. A painting done in only one color would pale in comparison to others. Ice cream is the same. I have to love all the flavors or none at all.”

  I laughed, enjoying the glimpse into the way she saw the world through her artistic eye. “Sounds like a pretty big bowl of ice cream to me. Maybe I should’ve brought more money.”

  Elbowing me in the ribs, she laughed. “I don’t eat them all at once, dork.”

  “Dork?” Eyes widening, I stared at her. “Did you just call me a blue whale penis?”

  Snorting, she laughed harder, lightly slapping my shoulder. “Stop it. You know that’s not what I meant.”

  Grinning, I shrugged, understanding enough to know that the word dork was obviously common slang. “I was going to take it as a compliment. I mean¸ I am big . . . I’m just not that big.”

  Face flushing red, she raised a hand over her gaping mouth. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you just went there.”

  “You were the one that went there, not me. I was just clarifying,” I teased.

  A woman wearing a store apron stepped up to the ice cream case. “Can I help you?” she asked politely.

  “Yes. My friend here would like something big and blue that she can lick,” I said, smiling widely.

  “Oh dear heaven above,” Skylar murmured behind her hand, her face turning the color of her hair as her whole b
ody shook with silent mirth.

  “Blue,” the worker repeated. “We have Bubble Gum that’s blue. Blueberry, Birthday Cake, Berry Berry, Out-of-this-World Blast—,”

  “That one!” I interrupted. “The Out-of-this-World Blast.” I glanced at Skylar. “Is that okay with you?”

  Nodding, she smiled. “This date has been pretty out-of-this-world.”

  I couldn’t agree more. “We’ll take two,” I added.

  “Coming right up.”

  Stepping closer to Skylar, I took her by the elbow and led her over to one of the tables. “There’s a nice park near here. Would you like to go eat our ice cream there?”

  She nodded. “That sounds great. Let’s do it.”

  “Not bad,” I said a few minutes later when we both stepped out the door and onto the sidewalk, ice cream in hand.

  “Mmm. It’s delicious,” Skylar agreed.

  “Thanks for not breaking the bank in there. It would’ve taken forever to wait for you to eat every flavor.” I loved teasing her, just to hear her laugh, which she did.

  “You never told me where you work,” she replied.

  That’s because I’d been evading her questions. It looked like I was going to have to give up a little info before things got suspicious. “I work from home. Well, that’s not technically correct. I’m a research analyst, so I’m always observing things and gathering data. I just compile all that research in my computer system at home.” It was the truth, even though I knew it would mislead her thinking.

  “So do you work for a certain company?”

  “No. I’m . . . ,” I searched for the correct word, “I’m a freelancer. It’s not a glamorous job, by any means, but it pays the bills.”

  Actually, my monetary source came from having unlimited access to a certain mineral resource that humans referred to as gold. It was simply a matter of exchanging it for cash and opening a bank account. I exchanged small amounts regularly and deposited them, so it simply looked like a paycheck being deposited to anyone who might be looking. I had eons of experience with blending into societies under my belt, so I knew how to cover my tracks where no one would ever find out who I was—unless I, or another immortal, told them. And that wasn’t likely to happen.