Finding Orion (14 page)

Jace
frowned, as
if to give it some thought,
then
shook his head.
"Not that I know of.
You were mostly mumbling and
asking for things."

Oh, God.
"Like what?"

"Water."
He nodded to
the half empty glass on the nightstand.
"Blankets.
That sort of thing."

Well, that explained
why I was in bed under the covers, but I'd never asked for things like that
before, especially not after sex. Maybe when I was a kid and I was sick, but
not now. Then again, those were a few things at the top of my aftercare list if
I ever found a Dom. Did my subconscious take over?
Again?

Sighing, I
winced at the throbbing in my temples and silently pointed to the nightstand. "Aspirin,"
I said when
Jace
stared at me.
"Bottom
drawer."

He gave me puzzled
look,
then
dug through the drawer. He offered two of
them to me and kept one for himself. I sat up with his help, took a swig from
the glass, and then
laid
back down. He did the same,
lying on his back.

"What
happened to being careful?" I asked, resting my head against his chest.

"I
figured life's too short. I've given my demons enough time to fester. They've
been controlling my life, and it's about time I took it back." Then in the
same humorous tone I'd picked up from his text the other morning, he said, "And
when I saw you in that skirt..." He trailed off. "Tell you one thing,
you sure surprised me."

"That
makes two of us." Wincing around the throbbing in my temples, I asked, "So,
these demons..."

He shook his
head.
"Another time perhaps.
But for now, I'd
like to live in the present if that's okay with you."

Of course it is.
I nodded.

"So,
does that mean you'd be willing to do this again sometime?"

I yawned,
then
said, "Give me half an hour for the aspirin to
kick in and you've got yourself a deal."

Jace
laughed, and
as he wrapped an arm around me, I closed my eyes. It didn't take long for me to
lose myself in the calming beat of his heart, and before I knew it, I'd fallen
fast asleep.

Chapter Eleven

When I woke,
Jace's
side of the bed was empty. At first I figured he'd
gone to use the bathroom or to take a shower, but when he didn't come back, I
opened my eyes. I squinted at the bright light streaming in from outside my
window and swore I'd get thicker blinds just as soon as I had the money.

"
Jace
?"
I called, disappointed when I didn't get
an answer.

Rolling over,
I noticed a small envelope on the pillow beside mine and sat up to read it. The
food from last night was no longer there, and if it weren't for the slip of
paper I was holding in my hand, I may have mistaken it for another one of my dreams.

I opened the
letter and couldn't help smiling at the small birds
Jace
doodled on the inside of it.

"Had an early
client.
Didn't want to wake you.
See you later?"

Inside the
envelope was a small business card, and on the back a location right here in
town. I looked from his letter, to the card and back to the letter again.
Fuck.
The gig he'd mentioned?
It's tonight!

Scrambling
out of bed, I pulled on a pair of jeans and checked the clock. It was well past
eight, which meant
Karie
would already be at work.
Which also meant I was a dead woman.
I'd never been late,
and unless I came up with some excuse fast, I'd never hear the end of it from
her or
Farrin
.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
.
There was no way I could show up at work looking like this. Given
how
Farrin
took it when the temps called out sick, I
could only imagine how pissed off he'd be if I didn't show.

Running out
into the living room, I silently thanked
Jace
for
picking my clothes up off the floor. He'd folded them on the armrest of the
couch, and after putting my blouse
on,
I searched my
purse for my cell. I had
Karie
on speed dial and let
my phone do all the work as I ran from room to room, picking up a spare article
of clothing here and a hairbrush there.

"B,
where are you?"
Karie
answered. In a whisper, she
said, "You're lucky
Farrin
isn't here. He..."

I let out a
sigh of relief.
"Oh good."

"Are you
even listening to me? B?"

"I'll be
there in twenty."

I hung up the
phone, threw it in my pocket, and was out the door before I could have any
second thoughts. By the sound of it,
Farrin
was
likely out on some business meeting or having breakfast with one of our reps. I
probably had until nine before he got in, which meant no detours.
Straight to work.
I couldn't afford to lose this job.
Not now.
Not with
Jace
and Orion hanging from either of my arms.

Karie
was waiting
for me when I stepped through the door. "You'd better have a good reason
for being late.
Farrin's
been in an accident."

"Wait,
what?" I stumbled in to my register and dropped off my things before booting
up the computer. "What do you mean he was in an accident? Is he okay?
Who's running the floor?"

"You
are,"
Karie
said. "His wife asked for you,
and I wasn't sure what to say."

"What
did you tell her?"

"That
you were in the bathroom, so you better look sick if she drops by.
But what the hell,
Bree
?
Where
were you?"

Great, there go my plans for the evening.
"I...I
think I slept in. My alarm didn't go off."

"And
that's seriously the story you're going with?
God."
Karie
groaned. "You better not expect me to
cover for you again." She was smiling by the time she finished.

It was a
prank.
Thank fuck.
Turns out my plans
wouldn’t be ruined after all. "Okay, I deserved that," I said,
breathing around my relief. "So where is
Farrin
really?"

"Where
else?"
She pointed at the back of the store.

"He’s
here?
Now?"
Not so free after all. "Did you
say anything to him?"

"Only
that you blew a flat."

"Ten
minutes from work?"

"…and
that you didn’t want to ditch your car on the side of the road."

"Okay,
but why didn’t I call?"

"Your
cell was dead."

"Then
how did I get someone to come and change the tire?"

"A
good Samaritan?"

I rolled my
eyes. "
Geeze
,
Karie
.
I’m better off just telling him I overslept. You really need to come up with
better excuses for why either one of us should be late. You know
Farrin
wouldn’t accept the flat tire excuse. Especially
when either of us is here first thing and probably saw the other person stuck
on the side of the road."

"This
coming from one who’s never called out of work.
Even
when she’s sick."

"Okay,
okay. That’s enough." Logging in to my computer, I waited for the main
programs to load, fully aware of the fact that
Karie
hadn’t walked away. "What?"

"So, I
know you slept in and all, but why? You told me last night you had a thing to
get to and then you’re late coming into work? Something’s up." She rested
her elbows on the counter between us and batted her eyes. "Is it a guy?"
She perked up when I didn’t answer. "Is it the dream guy you told me about
before?"

I shook my
head and smiled.

"Another
dream guy?"

"Not
exactly."
I leaned over my register and checked the
nearby isles for any customers. When I could see we wouldn’t get interrupted, I
continued. "I think I found him."

"Found
who?"

"Orion."

Karie’s eyes
held the same light from before. There was no way I was going to let her down
with his story, especially when my gossip usually included a sale at one of the
local thrift stores or the newest recipe I tried out from the Food Network.

"And
what’s his name?"
Karie
asked, glued to the
counter in front of me. "Please tell me it isn’t Orion. That’s just weird."

"It’s
Jace
."

"
Jace
."
She thought on it a bit,
then
said, "Sounds exotic.
Jace
.
I like it, but does
this guy have a last name?"

I bobbed my
head. "His name is
Jace
Evans. I wanted to tell
you about him over the weekend but—"

"Wait a
minute.
Jace
Evans?
As in the lead
singer from The Hooded Crows?"

I opened my
mouth.
Closed it.
I didn’t even know where to begin.
"The what?"
I asked, dumbstruck.

"The
Hooded Crows?"
Karie’s shoulders dropped when I shrugged. "I
gave you a mixed CD of theirs last winter?
Really?
You
don’t remember?" She rushed over to her register for her phone before
coming back to mine. "You said you liked them. They were that alternative,
kind of
trancey
rock band? Local?"

"
Karie
, as many CDs as you’ve given me to try out, it’s a
wonder I get to listen to the radio in the morning. I don’t know. Maybe I
listened to it, but that was over a year ago."

"I kept
wondering why your Orion guy sounded familiar. You must’ve looked them up after
you listened to the tape. Why else would you have a dream about him?"

"I don’t
know. Hell, I’ve had dreams about chasing tornadoes, being run down by an angry
tiger, and flipping my car. I really don’t think it matters what’s in my
dreams."

"Yeah, but
you have to admit, if he’s who you say he is, and if this Orion of yours looks
like him, some part of you must’ve noticed
Jace
way
back when."

"Maybe.
I guess."

"You
guess?"
Karie
glared at me. "You sounded so
excited about him a few minutes ago. What happened?"

"Twenty
questions."

"What?"

"
Nevermind
."
I counted the cash in
my till and entered it in to the system. "Anyway, apparently he’s playing
some gig tonight. He asked me to come."

Karie
beamed. "Are
you going? Can you take me with you?"

"Jesus,
relax will
ya
? I don’t even know how late
Farrin’s
going to want me to work now that I’ve come in
late." I noted the pout of Karie’s lips. "Don’t start. I’ll introduce
you, if this reaches four dates."

"So
tonight would be date number…"

"Two.
Three if you count the first time we met." I shook my head. "Scratch
that. It wasn’t a date. It was awkward, clumsy, and just plain weird."

"Aren’t
all first dates like that though?"

"Not
that one. It was three in the morning. I actually wanted to call you, but you
had to work early on Saturday."

"Well,
while I’m glad you didn’t disrupt my sleep, I wish you would’ve told me sooner.
I didn’t even know he was back in town."

"He
left?"

"Some
recording thing I think. Whatever it was, it hasn’t come out yet."

I licked my
lips and looked back on the night before. Didn’t he say his band was small?
Most of the gigs they’ve ever gotten were
small, non-paying jobs.
Maybe
Karie
was thinking
of the wrong
Jace
Evans or possibly the wrong band.
Yeah, and there just happens to be two
Jace
Evans, in two different bands, in the same town.
Okay,
so it wasn’t possible, but I was sure he would’ve told me if—

"
Helloo
, Earth to B."
Karie
snapped her fingers at me. "Did you hear me?"

"I’m
sorry, what?"