‘Umm, Ren? We have something important we need to discuss. Meet me on the veranda at sundown, okay?’
He froze with his sandwich halfway to his mouth. ‘A secret rendezvous? On the veranda? At sundown?’ He arched an eyebrow at me. ‘Why, Kelsey, are you trying to seduce me?’
‘Hardly,’ I dryly muttered.
He laughed, ‘Well, I’m all yours. But be gentle with me tonight, fair maiden. I’m new at this whole being human business.’
Exasperated, I threw out, ‘I am not your fair maiden.’
He ignored my comment and went back to devouring his lunch. He also took the other half of my discarded peanut butter sandwich and ate that too, commenting, ‘Hey! This stuff’s pretty good.’
Finished, I walked over to the kitchen island and began clearing away Ren’s mess. When he was done eating, he stood to help me. We worked well together. It was almost like we knew what the other person was going to do before he or she did it. The kitchen was spotless in no time. Ren took off his apron and threw it into the laundry basket. Then, he came up behind me while I was putting away some glasses and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me up against him.
He smelled my hair, kissed my neck, and murmured softly in my ear, ‘Mmm, definitely peaches and cream, but with a hint of spice. I’ll go be a tiger for a while and take a nap, and then I can save all my hours for you this evening.’
I grimaced. He was probably expecting a make-out session, and I was planning to break up with him. He wanted to spend time with a girlfriend, and my intention was to explain to him how we weren’t meant to be together. Not that we were ever officially together. Still, it felt like a break up.
Why does this have to be so hard?
Ren rocked me and whispered, ‘“How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night, Like soft music to attending ears.”’
I turned around in his arms, shocked. ‘How did you remember that? That’s Romeo and Juliet!’
He shrugged. ‘I paid attention when you were reading it to me. I liked it.’
He kissed my cheek. ‘See you tonight, iadala,’ and left me stand-ing there.
The rest of the afternoon, I couldn’t focus on anything. Nothing held my attention for more than a few minutes. I rehearsed some sen-tences in front of the mirror, but they all sounded pretty lame to me: ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ ‘There are plenty of other fish in the sea,’ ‘I need to find myself,’ ‘Our differences are too big,’ ‘I’m not the one,’ ‘There’s someone else.’ Heck, I even tried ‘I’m allergic to cats.’
None of the excuses I came up with would work with Ren. I decided the best thing to do was be straightforward with him, and tell him the truth. That’s who I was. I faced things, got on with the hard parts, and moved on with life.
Mr. Kadam was gone all day. The Jeep was missing. I was hoping that he’d be around to distract me a little bit, maybe give me some advice, but he was MIA.
Sundown came too quickly, and I nervously headed upstairs. I walked in the bathroom, took out my braids, and brushed out my hair until it fell down my back in loose waves. I put on some lip gloss and eyeliner and then searched through my closet for something nicer to wear than a T-shirt. Apparently, someone had been adding designer clothing to my wardrobe. I came out with a mulberry, small-scale, plaid, cotton blouse trimmed in black silk, and some slim-leg black pants cropped at the ankles.
The charitable thing to do would be to make myself as homely looking as possible, which would probably make it much easier on him, but I didn’t want his parting memories of me to be that I was a frumpy mess dressed in tomboy clothes.
I do have some feminine pride after all. I still want him to squirm. At least a little.
Satisfied with my appearance, I passed Fanindra, patted her head, and asked her to wish me luck. I slid open the glass door and stepped outside. The air was warm and fragrant with the scent of jasmine and the woodsy aroma of the jungle. I watched the sun dip down below the horizon, leaving the sky carnation pink and clementine orange. The pool and fountain lights clicked on below as I sat back on the cushioned patio loveseat and rocked gently, enjoying the balmy, sweet-smelling breeze as it wafted over my skin.
I sighed and spoke aloud, ‘The only thing missing is one of those fruity, tropical drinks with pineapple, cherries, and an umbrella.’ Some-thing fizzed next to me on a side table. It was a curved, frosty glass containing a cold red-orange fruit drink, complete with umbrella and cherries! I picked it up to see if it was real. It was. I sipped it cautiously, and the bubbly sweet juice was perfect.
Something weird is going on. Nobody else is here, so how did this drink get here?
Right then, Ren appeared, and I forgot all about my mysterious beverage. He was barefoot, dressed in black slacks with a thin belt and a sea-green silk shirt. His hair was damp, and he’d brushed it back away from his face. He sat down beside me on the loveseat and snuck his arm around my shoulders. He smelled fantastic. That warm summery sandalwood scent of his mixed with the jasmine.
That’s got to be what heaven smells like.
Ren propped his foot up on a side table and started to rock us back and forth. He seemed content to just sit, relax, and enjoy the breeze and sunset, so we stayed that way for a while, sitting comfortably together for several minutes. It was nice. Maybe we could still be friends like this afterward. I hoped so. I liked his companionship.
He reached over and took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. He toyed with my fingers for a while, then brought my hand up to his lips and kissed them slowly, one by one.
‘What did you want to talk about tonight, Kelsey?’
‘Uh . . .’ What the heck did I want to talk about? For the life of me, I couldn’t remember. Oh yeah. I shook off my reaction to him and braced myself.
‘Ren, I would kind of prefer it if you would sit across from me so I can see you. You’re a little less distracting from over there.’
He laughed at me. ‘Okay, Kells. Whatever you say.’
He slid a chair across from me and then sat down. Leaning over, he picked up my foot and brought it up to his lap.
I twitched my leg. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Relax. You seem tense.’ He began massaging my foot. I started to protest, but he just gave me a look.
He twisted my foot one way and then another. ‘You have blisters all over your feet. We need to get you better shoes if you’re going to be hiking in the jungle this often.’
‘The hiking boots gave me blisters too. It probably doesn’t matter what shoes you get me. I’ve been hiking more in the last few weeks than I have my entire life. My feet aren’t used to it.’
He frowned and softly traced my arch with his finger, which shot tingly sensations up my leg. Then he wrapped his hands around my foot and started massaging, being careful to avoid any tender places. I was going to object again, but it felt good. Besides, it could be a good distraction during an uncomfortable conversation, so I let him continue. I glanced at his face. He was studying me curiously.
What was I thinking? I thought him sitting across from me would make it easier. Stupid me! Now I have to stare right at the warrior archangel and try to stay focused. I closed my eyes for a minute. Come on, Kells. Focus. Focus. You can do this!
‘Okay, Ren, there really is something that we need to discuss.’
‘Alright. Go ahead.’
I blew out a breath. ‘You see, I can’t . . . reciprocate your feelings. Or your, umm, affections.’
He laughed. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well, what I mean is, I—’
He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, full of meaning, ‘Kelsey, I know you reciprocate my feelings. Don’t pretend anymore that you don’t have them.’
When did he figure all this out? Maybe when you were kissing him like an idiot, Kells. I’d hoped that I’d fooled him, but he could see right through me. I decided to play dumb and pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about.
I waved my hand in the air. ‘Okay! Yes! I admit that I’m attracted to you.’