Page 10 (1/2)

Caleb and Katrina arrived back ho break While Caleb had enjoyed his first venture outside of the country, at least the part not relating to being pursued or attacked by vampires, he was nevertheless happy to be safely back hohter disposition that she felt the same She called Alton and Devon Archibald to let thee Unfortunately, he had to leave voicemail for her since she didn&039;t pick up It was yet another unanswered call in a series since February, which bothered hireat deal

I wonder what&039;s up with her? Maybe it&039;s the situation with Gil, he wondered It seemed reasonable to expect that such an event would have disturbed her, at any rate

He spent the re his body&039;s internal clock to their home time zone Naturally, Katrina seee, but she was both understanding and acco adjust a vampire, he considered wistfully

The next as rather hard on hi after such an international experience seee still hadn&039;t returned his repeated calls and voicemails, a fact he mentioned to Katrina Her response had been rather subdued, but it was evident to him that she was equally displeased

Fortunately, Tanisha Browning was only too happy to listen to his overseas experiences, which were naturally devoid of any adventures involving va Alton, whom he described as a close friend of Katrina&039;s who operated an invest their return, Katrina received a request froinia tosummer vampire convention At least, that&039;s how Caleb recalled the explanation In the end, itwith an expected return during the weekend

By that ti into dark corners or eue vampire jump out at him His confidence was bolstered by the appearance of Devon Archibald in and around his office on the evenings that he taught For once, he hadn&039;t esture, Caleb gave Devon a leather-bound trilogy of plays by Willia vaift and even discussed so of late Caleb found their interactions pleasantly unexpected and began to form a tentative appreciation for Devon&039;s co, another of Caleb&039;s failed atte his phone across the roo that he went to pick it up off the floor The situation was starting to get to him, and an idea born of desperation formed in his mind If she refuses to return o hunt her down The only ation to his idea was Katrina; he definitely wanted her buy-in on theAnd he wanted to speak to her in person about it

First, he reserved a late-night flight to Rich the exclusive credit card she had issued to hi, he rushed home and packed a suitcase with a few days&039; worth of clothing He drove his car to the airport, parked in the extended parking area, and flew to Rich, he acquired a key under the auspices of being her fiance The shared credit card account was particularly helpful for convincing the desk clerk, as well as a discreet cash gratuity, so he could surprise her

When Katrina entered the hotel roo on the bed reading a novel he had brought with hi here, my love?" she asked carefully

"Hi, Kat," he offered, setting the book aside "Just wanted to surprise you, that&039;s all"

"I&039;m surprised," she conceded with raised eyebrows as she lanced at the novel he was reading and asked, "What&039;re you reading?"

He grinned "Oh, just Twilight It&039;s a vaood You should read it sometime It&039;s the first in a series"

She shook her head, smirked, and chastisedwith an actual vaer than fiction But what can I say? I&039;m a hopeless romantic, and maybe I can identify a little bit"

"I could use a little of that roested

He s a passionate interlude, hot shower, and tihty subject on hiswhile I was here," he ventured carefully

She heard his heartbeat increase anxiously and lifted her head froaze into his eyes "Oh?" she inquired

"I&039;htly

"Oh, yeah, that," she noted

"I feel like our friendship is on the line And, well, I want to fly out to California and find out what&039;s going on," he explained "Of course, I&039;d like your blessing on the idea first"

Her eyes narrowed, and she regarded him for a few quiet moments "And what if I said no?"

He seemed surprised by her question, but replied earnestly, "Well, I wouldn&039;t go then"

"So, if I forbid it, then you won&039;t go?" she pressed

He looked directly into her eyes and touched the pendant around his neck "I won&039;t defy you, Kat I&039;m your mate"

Her eyes flashed for a htly

He knew immediately that she liked his response

That&039;s exactly what I needed to hear, she thought with satisfaction She kissed hihtly "Fine, I approve" She laid her head down on his chest, appreciating the strong sound of his heartbeat, which had calmed considerably after her issuance of approval "When are you leaving?" she asked quietly

"Well, seeing as it&039;s Thursday night, and I need to be back by Sunday night, I&039;d like to go --"

"To I understand," she interrupted "I suppose you&039;ve already booked a flight from here?"

"Um, just in case you said yes," he replied sheepishly He hadn&039;t counted on her approval, but thought it best to be prepared just in case

She chuckled "You&039;re unpredictable someti, doesn&039;t it?"

Hestupid in response Instead, he settled down to a few hours of sleep before he got up to prepare for his quick shuttle to the airport

His flight to the west coast was aided by the upgrade of his tickets to first class, which Katrina had naturally insisted upon He had initially resisted the suggestion, not wanting her to spend the additional funds, but she had merely smirked

"The cost is of no consequence, you know," she told him It was one of the few times she alluded to her financial state, which he kneas considerable after five hundred years or more of development "Travel under my terms or not at all," she had insisted with an air of superiority She could be quite i when she wanted to, and he felt the better part of valor was to acquiesce peaceably

He had rolled his eyes and agreed, not wanting either to insult her persistent generosity or risk changing her ether Still, he felt that she spent toohe was used to in his life He even felt unco the exclusive credit card in his wallet Still, it made his vacation purchases much easier to abide His personal credit card wouldn&039;t have lasted the trip European vacations sure are expensive, he had reflected on their flight ho back on events, he shook his head Hiswoet so lucky? I certainly don&039;t deserve her

After a change of flights in Denver, the last leg of his journey went by quickly He tried not to think about his upco forward to seeing her He hated confrontation and anticipated that she had been avoiding him for some reason that eluded hiht ht Given his current circumstances, he found the melodrama of the storyline a little too close to ho If only vampire relationships could work out like in the roht darkly as he slipped the book back into his carry-on bag Still, sometimes relationships are just plain difficult, vampires or not

Finally, he watched part of an unre on the small monitor built into the back of the seat in front of hi doith a co, he sat quietly as the flight , and he was thankful for having gained a couple of additional daylight hours by coh he&039;dup his luggage and acquiring a taxi, he gave Paige&039;s address to the driver and sat back in the seat to stare at the passing sites It was re to have changed seasons as well as ti out to California It was his first visit to the west coast, and he momentarily wished that Katrina were there with hi with her and partly because he dreaded his eventual e

He took a moment to text Katrina to let her know he had arrived safely and was on his way to Paige&039;s He had just enough ti sunset before her reply arrived

Glad U R safely on ground Call when U arrivePaige&039;s condo

Well, she&039;s trying, he e arrived: Luv U Kat

He sh hih and tried to enjoy the ride At least he didn&039;t have to drive in an unfaht The traffic was fairly heavy, and he thought it would take the patience of Job to navigate through it on a daily basis Still, it was Los Angeles

Darkness had fallen fully by the tiiven the driver He ale&039;s two-story condominium proved to be one half of a duplex structure and appeared quite ordinary, though relatively new It was aThe surrounding neighborhood was a series of duplexes on both sides of three successive streets with mediuhborhood Sorander, or at least edgier, for Paige

There wasn&039;t a car in the driveway, but perhaps it was already inside the single-car garage He shrugged, paid the driver his fee and a handsoe in hand As the car pulled away, he silently appreciated the large quantity of cash that Katrina had forced upon hi out west The amount of the cab fare had surprised hienerosity

He sat his luggage on Paige&039;s s the doorbell Fortunately, the porch light was on, casting a co darkness He paused and rang the doorbell again Va, so Paige probably isn&039;t hoo, so I must have just missed her," he muttered under his breath He honestly hadn&039;t anticipated that possibility and pursed his lips as he considered his next action I probably should&039;ve called her when I landed Although he admitted he had been too reluctant to do so at the tie Her cell rang until rolling to voiceain Once again it went to voice surprise for you!

He sat on the ooden bench rought iron are&039;s front door and proceeded to call Katrina Unlike Paige, his e&039;s yet?" she asked in a concerned tone

"Yep"

"And? Is she upset?"

He shrugged and replied irritably, "Don&039;t know, Kat She&039;s not here; won&039;t even answer e The sun already set by the ti"

There was a pause at Katrina&039;s end of the phone for a few seconds, and he frowned Are you still there?

"Maybe you should call a cab and check into a hotel, ested

A wave of annoyance flashed through his htly for a rit your teeth?" she asked

That startled hi his jaw "Sorry," he apologized "It wasn&039;t you, naturally I&039;hed wistfully, as if in a sympathetic manner

He considered her advice and made an instant decision basedto just sit here until she comes home," he insisted "After all, she&039;s bound to show up before "

"I don&039;t like that idea," Katrina objected

"I texted her," he countered "She&039;ll see e and either call or textat her condo"

"I&039;m not comfortable with that idea, Caleb," she insisted sternly

There was nothe tone of concern and displeasure in her voice, and he sluive her an hour or so, and then I&039;ll leave another detailed rowling sound at the other end

She just growled at ht ide eyes

"One hour," Katrina stipulated "Then call her again, and call reed"

"Okay," she concurred in a friendlier tone "And please be careful"

"Will do," he pro sound "I love you too"

The call ended, and he shook his head putting his phone away He sighed and settled back to get cohborhood

He watched an occasional car pass by and tried reading the vaain After twenty minutes, he sat it aside and closed his eyes to rest As he relaxed, he failed to notice hilass of blood in her hotel room microwave as she considered her conversation with Caleb It annoyed her that Paige was acting so strange, and it frustrated her that she was disregarding Caleb&039;s calls and text uardian to act, ht about it, the e to act more responsibly towards her and especially towards Caleb

"Dammit!" she cursed and picked up her cell phone to speed dial Paige&039;s nu to voice that, Katrina sent a rapid text e to her: CALL ME NOW! Red

Less than thirty seconds later, the phone rang It was Paige

"&039;Bout time!" Katrina barked into the receiver

She heard the sound of loud rock round as Paige answered, "What? I&039;, I see, Katrina considered irritably

"Sorry to bother you, but et hold of you," she complained "Maybe you could spare hie asked flatly

Katrina&039;s eyes flashed with anger, and she spat, "Wasting his ti to see you, it seems I should&039;ve told hiht she heard a slight intake of breath mixed with the sound of the rockto see you&039;?" Paige de expression and replied, "As in, he&039;s sitting on your front porch right now, and I&039;et his butt to the airport You&039;re obviously too wrapped up in yourself for hietone of voice "Why did you let him do that?" she asked weakly

Katrina inhaled a deep breath, let it out slowly, and answered patiently, "Because he flew all the way to where I&039;m at just to ask my permission He misses you and doesn&039;t understand why you&039;ve been avoiding him As a e asked blankly "I thought you two just got back froether Where are you, anyway?"

"Oh, now you&039;re curious?!" Katrina dee retorted defensively, "Geez, I ht? He&039;s fine on ht and not the point," Katrina objected coldly Given all that had happened recently, she didn&039;t like the idea of Caleb&039;s being left alone in a strange place

Paige e, "Yes, I know, not the point I&039;e"

She ended the call and casually tossed the cell phone onto the nearby bed She removed the warree of satisfaction She sat on the edge of the bed, slipped her feet froh-heeled shoes, and stretched her toes out before her Paige is acting like a spoiled teenager

Paige whipped her red BMW sports coupe into the driveway and i on the bench on her front porch Is he asleep? she wondered as she pulled her car into the garage and sped around the corner to where he sat

Her frown turned into a sainst the back of the bench with his head cocked to one side and his mouth open as he slept He&039;s so damn cuteStop! That&039;s exactly why you feel the way you do about him

She cleared her throat audibly and perched her hands atop her hips as she waited for hi out with the pointed heel of one of her stilettos, tapping hiain

He stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes as he yawned into a closed fist His vision slowly focused on Paige as she stood before hiht-fitted black denim jeans and black leather halter top He also took notice of the sexy, black high-heeled shoes His eyes widened sorin as his pale blue eyes lared at hi up here like this," she threatened

That caught hiuard, and his s with her? And just what&039;ve I done to et up off the bench and coravation evident in her voice, leading the way back around the corner into the garage

He blinked with confusion, picked up his luggage, and followed her into the die He immediately noticed her sports car "Wow! Your car&039;s a past it via the narrow space next to the wall

"Yeah, well, don&039;t scratch it, or I&039;ll take it out of your hide," she challenged

He frowned but didn&039;t say anything as she led hie door button on the wall as she entered She&039;s not usually so e door shut behind them, and she stepped aside in the s into the garage

Caleb appraised his surroundings as he sat his luggage in the s to the front door just outside the kitchen A s roo roo roo up to the second level The living rooly conservative lass coffee and end tables, and leather recliner A plasas fireplace and white-painted wood mantle He noticed that a s, and a fully stocked media equipment rack was built into the wall next to the fireplace

He turned to look at Paige with a hopeful ss," he coed "Thanks"

He bit his lower lip and sighed Damn, she&039;s cold What the hell?

"Why are you here, Caleb?" she asked pointedly before he had a chance to consider the situation further

He was taken aback by her query and noted she hadn&039;t used any of the typical nicknaaht in the eyes with a hurt expression "I had to see you What have I done wrong? Why are you so pissed at hed I can&039;t be near you, that&039;s all I don&039;t want to hurt you or Katrina

When she didn&039;t answer, he reached out to grasp her hand in his own, and her eyes iestured towards the living rooo sit in there or soht have a soda in the fridge, I think"

He felt like she had physically slapped hi roolumly

She immediately noticed how her actions and tone had bothered hih her all at once She never meant to hurt hi for me? Shedown at hireat," he offered "Nice strappy shoes I like theht at the mall last Christmas"

She bit back a s trip he, Katrina, and she had gone on He had helped her pick out so, which were one of her favorite pairs to that day But the h her "Thanks," she replied politely, yet distantly

He paused, uncertain how to proceed, co was a ht sourly I wish Kat were here She&039;d knohat to say or do

Paige studied hi in his mind Actually, his sensitive pale blue eyes spoke volumes to her

Silent moments passed before either spoke

"I&039;m sorry I came," Caleb finally said in a defeated tone of voice "We&039;re supposed to be best friends But I think co you"

He wearily rose froe as his mind raced with how to call for a cab Maybe I can call Katrina for a 1-800 nu in front of him

He looked up with confusion and started to speak but words failed hiet out

"Red would kill ht," she explained

"Well, I&039;ru like crap as it is" He turned to go around the other end of the coffee table, but shea dart of movement He had seen this before, of course, and realized that he wasn&039;t getting past her unless she allowed it

"Coo," he said dejectedly as he looked over to his luggage across the room "I won&039;t bother you anymore" As soon as he said that, a wave of sadness washed over hily that it nearly stopped him dead in his tracks He sed hard and briefly looked into her eyes Why did it have to be this way?

She stared into his eyes, plainly seeing the pain she had generated in theut Well, a lot worse, actually, because few huenerate the kind of impact needed to cause that much pain to a vampire&039;s body She would have smirked at the realization had it not been for the look on his face Instead, she was left with only previously unfelt levels of self-loathing Even killing Gil had caused less turbulent e at that moment

Despite all of her attee to reach out to him Shehim to her in a firm embrace It surprised her that her body had reacted alistered what she had done, and she felt his body&039;s hten in response

"What?" he started to demand

"Sh," she interrupted "I&039;m sorry, kiddo I can&039;t do this to you any hisilent as hisHe felt completely out of his element at the hed and swiftly drew hi hiht him by surprise, and he lost his breath for a moment as he bounced on the cushions She encircled him with one arm as she leaned back into the couch cushions next to hier, it looks like I&039;m damned if I do and dae, what the hell are you talking about?" he demanded in a confused voice What&039;s with the ehed "I&039;ve been trying to avoid you and Katrina lately"

"Um, duh!" he retorted irritably "Like we haven&039;t noticed that"

She sensed his frustration in addition to his exhaustion She took a deep breath and released her tight embrace, but still kept her aro," she began "I&039;s"

He frowned "You? Scared?"

"Yeah You see, I&039;ve never felt like this about a hu"

"And by &039;huoofy," she chided

"Me? But Gil --"

"No," she interrupted "It&039;s not like Gil at all Gil was sex, and partying, and frustration"

"I can be frustrating," he observed

She smirked "On occasion, but not like Gil He was unbearable"

He took a few seconds to digest everything she was telling hi, worrying, and length of tiht up with hih it and try to understand everything and e a friendship in the process

"This is entirely new territory for me," she continued

Another quiet an uncertainly, "maybe if you try to describe it, that&039;ll help Just say the first things that pop into your uess"

She nodded and considered him for a moment with an introspective expression This was a whole new situation to her, and itfor her Usually, she felt uniquely in control at all tis happened around her

"Okay, thinking about you," she said Her eyes narrowed slightly for a brief second, and she stared into his as she opened her mind cohter, fun," she began, but paused for a few contemplative seconds "Anxiety, maybe, obsession?"

"Obsession?" he asked with raised eyebrows

She s a lot about you, kiddo I ht expect"

He was quite flattered and admitted, "I think about you a lot too when you&039;re not around"

"Teasing," she continued with a subtle s, happiness, and protection"