Davis, Liz - Slivers of Moonlight (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

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It was half an hour later and Maya was still wide awake, staring up at the ceiling as she thought about Evan. She still felt stimulated from the conversation they’d had, and could hardly wait for the next twenty-four hours to pass. Friday had always been her favorite day of the week, but now more than ever, she longed for its arrival. Words he said kept replaying in her mind, and the memory of his deep, sexy voice sent jolts of pleasure between her legs. She’d just closed her eyes and started to indulge herself in a fantasy of him when she heard the phone ring. Reaching for the receiver, she lifted it off the cradle and placed it against her ear.

“Hello?”

”Hey, babe. What are you up to?”

Giving a little groan, she flopped back onto the bed and replied, “I
was
sleeping. What do you want?”

“I just felt like talking to you. I’ve been trying to reach you on your cell phone all day, but you refuse to pick up.”

“Well, now you see how it feels.”

“I’m sorry, okay? I really want us to work things out, so please stop ignoring me and give me another chance.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you, and I want you to move in with me.”

She tried to ignore the fact that the pace of her heart had increased. She also tried to pretend that excitement wasn’t building in her stomach. Did he actually just ask her to move in with him? Dylan had been hinting that maybe one day they should have a talk about trying to move in together, but he’d never actually asked her to do it—until now. Why was he always doing this to her? Just when she was certain she’d finally cut him loose and flushed him out of her system, he seemed to find a way to get back into her heart.

Rolling onto her side, she responded, “I don’t know, Dylan. We have such an unstable relationship, that I’m just not sure if that would be a good idea.”

“I’m not completely sure if it will work out either, but I’m still willing to give it a try. I really want us to do this, Maya.”

Sighing heavily, she tried to ignore the emotions inside of her, but was unable. She’d been wanting this for so long, but never actually expected it to happen, and now here he was, asking her to take that next step. They’d had a lot of ups and downs over the past four years they’d been dating, but she’d stuck through it and put up with all of it. She’d been hoping that one day it would all be worth it and that they would finally reach that point of having a committed relationship. But now that he was finally asking her, she wasn’t so sure. Part of the reason they’d had so much trouble was the distance between them. Dylan lived almost an hour away, which made it difficult for them to see each other as often as they would have liked. So if they moved in together, would things take a turn for the better or would they only get worse? She wasn’t so sure if it would be worth the risk.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Truth be told, a part of her wanted to say yes, but the other half was thinking about the new man in her life. If she got back with Dylan, she would lose Evan, and she really didn’t want that. Although they’d only known each other a few days, there was something about him that she really liked. There was a strong masculinity about him, and he also possessed a certain confidence that was irresistible. Yet despite that virile side of him, he also had an underlying sensitivity, something that seemed so in tune with her own needs and desires.

“Why not? I thought you wanted that.”

She could hear the puzzlement in his voice and knew he was wondering why she was no longer interested in taking things to the next level. He was so used to getting his way with her that he hadn’t even considered the idea of
her
turning him down.

“I just don’t think it would work out.”

He was silent for a few moments and then said, “Please just give it some thought, okay?”

“No, Dylan. I already said I didn’t want to.”

“Maya, come on. The least you can do is think about it.”

“I said no. Now please just leave me alone. I need to sleep.”

“I’m not giving up on us, Maya.”

“Well, that’s too bad, because I am.”

“I’m coming over.”

“Dylan, no. It’s nearly midnight.

“I don’t care what time it is, I need to see you. I’m willing to drive over there right now.”

Maya released a deep sigh of frustration. He could be so damn annoying sometimes, so unbelievably persistent. But the weird thing was, he acted this way when she was seeing someone new. It was as if he had some sort of built-in system that detected when other men were trying to date her.

“All right, fine. I’ll think about it, okay? ”

The truth of it was that she really had no intentions of doing so.

“Good, I was hoping you would say that. Because I miss you, Maya. A lot.”

She felt a fluttering in her stomach but did her best to ignore it. “I need to get off the phone now. I’m really tired, and I have work tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll let you go. But let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”

“I’d really rather not. Good-bye, Dylan.” She hung up before he could say anything else.

She started to turn off the light, but decided to open the drawer of her bedside table instead. As she did it, a voice inside of her told her to close the drawer and just go to sleep, but she ignored it. Once her fingers found the piece of glossy photo paper, she retrieved it, pulling it out of the drawer. She needed to look at it one more time to see if she was truly ready to move on, once and for all.

As she studied the photo, she found that her gaze was drawn to his eyes, which were large and of a cold, gray color. They weren’t soft and warm, like Evan’s eyes were, and now that she was closely studying his image, she noticed something else. The expression on his face was one of blankness, and his eyes seemed to be void of emotion.

She found it funny that she was just now realizing these things about him, and began to wonder how she could have ever been so infatuated with him in the first place.

Realizing she was spending too much time looking at the picture, she snapped herself back into the present moment and tossed it into the wastecan. It was over between them, so why did she still need to hold onto it? The only purpose it served was to hold her back from moving on. She was just reaching her arm out to turn off the lamp, when her eyes fell on the photograph in the trash. The voice in her head was telling her to just leave it there, but of course she went against it and pulled it out anyways. She’d keep it as a memento and nothing more.

Maya slipped the photograph back into the drawer and buried it beneath a pile of papers, that way it would be hidden from her eyes. Just because she was keeping his picture didn’t mean that she couldn’t still make a clean break from him.

After pushing the drawer closed, she turned the light off and settled into bed, giving a contented sigh as she laid her head against the pillows.

Chapter 4

That Friday at work, Maya found that Evan was constantly on her mind. She went through the daily routine of being a waitress—serving drinks and taking orders—but she wasn’t completely rooted in the present moment at all. Her thoughts kept flashing back to the time she and Evan had spent as he’d driven her to work. Lost in her thoughts, she was thinking about the funny things he’d said and remembering the way his eyes seemed to brighten when he laughed. She tried to concentrate on the tasks at hand and push thoughts of him out of her head, but it was very difficult.

They’d known each other for barely a week now, and already she was beginning to feel like a lovesick fool. Every time a customer came through the door, her eyes would dart toward it, wondering if it would be him. Then once she saw that it wasn’t, she would feel disappointed and tell herself that she had to settle down and be cool. She wasn’t used to getting this worked up over a guy, and even when she and Dylan had first started dating, she hadn’t acted this foolish. So what was it about Evan that made her feel all warm and fluttery inside?

She was half an hour away from quitting time when she noticed one of the other waitresses approaching her.

“Hey Brenda, what’s up?”

“There’s someone here to see you. He said he knows you, so I sat him in your station. I hope that’s okay.”

Maya felt a spark of elation go through her when Brenda said the word “him.”

“No problem, thanks for telling me.” She grabbed the plates from the pickup counter and then went to drop the food off to the young couple who had ordered it.

She was just turning away from the table and heading over to check on one of her other customers when she caught sight of a familiar face. As his face came into view, she felt her heart sink in her chest and her throat grew tight. Taking reluctant steps toward him, she headed to where he was.

“Dylan, what are you doing here?” Maya’s heart beat quickly in her chest.

“I came to see you, of course. What’s wrong, you’re not happy to see me?”

“I just don’t understand why you came to my place of work. I don’t have time to talk to you.” She handed him a menu, then pulled out a pad to write down his order.

“I’ve been here before, so what difference does it make?”

“We aren’t together anymore.”

“I thought we were. We just talked on the phone last night.”

“Dylan, please. I’m trying to work here, so either give me your order or leave. You’re going to get me fired.” She glanced over her shoulder to see if her boss was anywhere in sight.

“I didn’t come here to eat. I came here to talk.”

“Last time I checked, my phone was working.”

“But you never answer it.”

Giving a heavy sigh, she stared him straight in the eyes and said, “This isn’t the time nor the place, Dylan. Now please just order something.”

When Maya heard the sound of the restaurant door squeaking open, her head whipped around so quickly it nearly made her pull a neck muscle.

When she saw a middle-aged couple walk through the door, she felt a huge sense of relief, and her heart began to resume its normal rhythm. She didn’t want Evan coming in here seeing her talking to Dylan. He might get the wrong idea and think she was still interested, when in reality, she would much rather end this relationship and put it in the past, once and for all.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You’re kinda jumpy tonight. Everything okay?”

Brushing it off, she said, “I’m fine, just a little tired after a long shift. Now what’ll you have?”

“Just give me a Coke and cheeseburger. But I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”

Grabbing the menu from him, she said, “We are talking.” Then she turned to go, but he grabbed her by the wrist.

“Hey wait, what time do you get off?”

She slipped out of his grasp and answered, “Late, so don’t bother waiting around.”

As she was walking away from Dylan’s table, she found herself formulating a plan. How the heck was she supposed to slip out of here with Evan when Dylan was hanging around? It wasn’t that she cared about sparing Dylan’s feelings, she just didn’t want him making a scene. Glancing at the clock, she saw that only thirty minutes remained of her shift. She was uncertain of just when Evan was going to arrive, but she had a feeling that he’d probably want to come in and walk her out to the car, so that could prove to be difficult. Which meant the only chance she had was to get Dylan out of here as soon as possible. But how was she going to do that? He’d just barely put in his order, and she knew he wasn’t going anywhere until she gave him the attention he wanted.

Each time the restaurant door squeaked open, it filled her with a sense of dread. If Evan came in and noticed her interacting with Dylan, it wouldn’t be very difficult for him to figure out that something was wrong, so she would have to let him know the truth. Then Dylan would find out that she and Evan were seeing each other, and there was no telling how he would react. He’d never seen her out with another guy before, but she knew what Dylan was like. She could imagine him doing or saying something to embarrass her, something to make Evan think that they were still together, and then everything would be ruined. Now that she was on the verge of finally having a good man in her life, she needed to make sure that nothing would mess that up for her.

The remainder of her shift seemed to go by at warp speed, and although she attempted to be quick and efficient, her efforts seemed to be thwarted at every turn. Dylan knew she was trying to get rid of him, so he did everything in his power to slow her down. He sent her back to the kitchen numerous times, complaining that the burger wasn’t cooked well enough and that the fries were too soggy. Then he told her that the Coke had too much ice in it. She’d begun to feel hopeful when he’d finally finished his meal and asked for the check, but at the last minute he’d suddenly decided that he wanted to order pie. By that time, it was getting dangerously close to nine o’clock, and she was certain that she’d lost any hope of getting out of this situation.

But by some stroke of good luck, Dylan finally finished his dessert and signaled for his check. Inwardly sighing in relief, she’d made her way over to him and gave him his total for the meal. Making a last ditch effort to get back on her good side, he’d given her some lame speech about how he was trying to become a better man. He’d also made her promise that she would call him once she got home, and she’d agreed. Of course, she had no intentions of doing so, but it seemed to work because soon he was out the door and on his way.