Freeing Destiny (Fate #2) (4 page)

Stella

“Yes, Mom, we’ll be fine.” I dug my fingers into my mother’s arms and hugged her even tighter this time.

“Are you sure?” she purred into the crook of my neck. For the thousandth time.

“Yes, I’m sure. We’re not five anymore. Nina and I can hold down the fort while you’re gone. Enjoy your honeymoon and don’t worry about us.”
And get the hell out of here already so I can call Jack.

Just as I was about to push her out the door, Caleb entered the kitchen, his tuxedo shirt half undone and wrinkled. “Babe, the car’s all packed. Are you ready yet?”

“She’s ready!” I declared in a loud, excited sing-song voice.
Sayonara, adios, arrivederci, au revoir. Good-freaking-bye!

Caleb reached out to my mother, his open palm so inviting
I
nearly grabbed it. “Then let’s go. We’re in desperate need of a few days at the beach . . .
alone
. Between the rushed wedding plans and preparing for the move, soaking up the sun with a beer in one hand and my wife at my side sounds like perfection.”

“It does.” I hummed. With all the stress surrounding us these days, a lazy day at the beach sounded positively divine. Nina and Ryan had already made plans for the week, and Aunt Gina was leaving tomorrow. I’d have to spend my day at the seashore alone with a good book and my iPod, and nothing but the sound of the crashing waves to distract me.
Or
, I could ask Jack to join me, depending on how well tonight went.
Talk about jumping the gun.

“Okay, honey. I love you. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Is there a reason you’re rushing this trip already, Gabby? I thought you were looking forward to it?”

Leave it to my mother to make her new husband worry he wasn’t doing his job of making her happy—on the night of their wedding, no less. “Haven’t you figured out what a homebody she is yet, Caleb? She’s content within these four walls. She doesn’t like to venture far.”

“
Didn’t
like to venture far,” my mother corrected, pointing her finger in my face before snuggling into her husband’s embrace. “That was before this wonderful man right here. Now I’m ready to see the world.”

Caleb wrapped his arms around my mother, her head leaning against his chest. They were so cute together. Mom was bursting with new life because of him, and it was wonderfully refreshing. A welcome change of pace for our family.

After gazing into each other’s eyes for a little too long, their lips met and they became engrossed in their marital bliss. I didn’t need all the PDA. I was still getting used to it. So, I interrupted their consummation to tell them to get lost. “Would you two go already?” I flailed my hands, pushing them toward the door.

“Stells, you got a hot date or something? I’ve never seen you so eager to get rid of us before.”

Damn you, Caleb
. He was more like a ball busting older brother than a loving stepfather. I could kill him for his bluntness sometimes. And I wondered how he’d grown to read me so well in such a short amount of time. There was no use in denying it. I was sure Jack had told his friend we’d made plans to get together. “And what if I do?” I smarted.

Mom’s eyes lit up at the prospect of her single daughter going out on a date. “Really? With whom?”

Caleb interjected before I had the chance to come clean. “I’m just teasing her, Gabby. Go ahead to the car and I’ll be right there. I think I left my shades in the bedroom.”

With another kiss and a long, drawn out hug, Mom made her way out to the car to head off for her well-deserved honeymoon. I smiled as I watched her check her makeup in the sun visor’s mirror, and felt a wave of relief wash over me. She would be taken care of; she was in good hands; she was happy again—that was all that mattered.

As I turned to walk back inside, I collided with Caleb in the doorway. “I saw you and Jack talking earlier,” he admitted with a grin that pulled at the right corner of his mouth.

“And?”

“And he’s a great guy, Stella. A good friend to have in your corner. He seemed pretty smitten by you, too. You think you’ll give him a shot?”

Did I really want to talk relationships and hook-ups with my new stepdad? The answer was no. But Caleb was more than that. He’d become a good friend. I could trust him with this little bit of classified information.

“We’re hanging out tonight. I don’t know if it’ll be more than two people chilling out, though. He’s definitely a nice guy, but I don’t plan to get involved with someone
here,
when I plan to be
there
in two weeks.” It was a loaded statement and it sucked. Had I met Jack a few months earlier, things might have been different. But I wasn’t about to change all my well-laid plans for a guy I’d only known a few hours—no matter how good he made me feel.

“Wise thoughts, as always. Enjoy your time with him.”

“I will,” I sang, and motioned for him to go meet his waiting bride. As he crossed the threshold with his hands in his pockets, I called out to him, “Caleb?”

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“For everything.”

I didn’t have to gush or prattle on about all the reasons I was grateful for him—he knew. That alone was one of the reasons I was beginning to love my mother’s new husband.

Jack

“Wanna tell me why you never formally introduced me to Stella Edwards before?” As soon as I left the wedding, my sister Emma was the first person I dialed.

“I
tried
, if you recall.”

“When?”

A loud huff came through the phone. “The night her mother met Caleb. At the club. You were there, me and Aubrey were there, the twins were there . . . ringing a bell yet, dimwit?”

Shit!
She was right. “How the hell did I miss her?” It wasn’t really a question for her, more for myself. It was impossible that I hadn’t spotted her that night. Someone like Stella didn’t deserve to go unnoticed.

“Maybe because you’re always looking for the
wrong
girl. And what’s your sudden fascination with Stella, anyway?” I pictured her eyes narrowing and her wheels turning; my sister was the ultimate gossip, and this was right up her alley.

“None of your business. Bye, Em.”

“Not so fast, jerk. You called
me
and now you’re not going to tell me
why
? I don’t think so. What the hell is—
Oh!
The wedding! I almost forgot.” The light bulb finally flicked on.

If I tried to avoid the inevitable she’d just be more relentless; it was wise to tell her the truth now. If I didn’t, she’d probably hang up and call Stella, anyway. “Yes, the wedding. I spent some time with Stella and we kind of hit it off. We have plans to hang out tonight.”

“Eeeeeeeeek!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and hoped I’d regain hearing sometime soon. The girl could shriek like no other.

“Oh my God, this is so amazing! Stella’s awesome, Jack. You two would make such a cute couple and then you and Caleb and Ms. Edwards . . . I mean, Mrs.
Waters
. . . you could all double date and . . .
Shit!
What about Aubrey?” She rambled her motor mouth on and on, and only came to a halt when she mentioned our other sister.

“What
about
Aubrey?”

“Are you kidding, Jack? If Aubrey ever comes back from wherever the hell she is and finds out you’re dating Gabriella’s daughter—she’s going to flip the fuck out!”

Emma was a twenty-one year old girl, still a little immature for her age and kind of on the dramatic side. My other sister was definitely the more theatrical of the two, but I didn’t think it mattered to her
whom
I dated. And we were getting ahead of ourselves with all this dating talk. “I’m not
dating
Stella, Em. We’re just spending time together. Besides, we don’t have time to start anything serious. She leaves for New York in a couple of weeks, remember?” I couldn’t even try to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“I know.” Emma sounded equally bummed; she and Stella were good friends before all the Aubrey stuff. They still spoke, but it had been a while since they hung out.

“So, that’s all. Can I go now?” I wanted to hurry home, change into something that didn’t make me look like some James Bond wanna-be, and get to Stella.

“Promise to call me after?”

“I make no such promise.”

“Fine, then I’ll call Stella.”

“You’re going to call her anyway.”

“True! Okay, Jacky pants, go have fun. And be nice or I’ll hear about it tomorrow.” She was a pain in the ass, but still my favorite sibling.
Sorry, Aubs, crazy gets you to the back of the line.

“Bye, Em. Love ya.”

“Love ya, too.” She ended the call with her signature smooching sound and hung up.

I’d bet my right arm her fingers were already dialing Stella’s number.

When I pulled up to the address Stella had texted to me earlier, the front door flung open and she hurried down the driveway to my car. She did a quick check behind her, as if to make sure no one had followed, and then gave me a bright, heart-stopping smile as she opened the passenger door.

With my hands still on the keys that dangled in the ignition, I narrowed my eyes at the flustered bombshell now sitting beside me in my Jeep Wrangler. “Where’s the fire? I was going to come to your door, like a gentleman.”

Fastening her seat belt across her lap—her barely covered lap, might I add—she took a deep breath and leaned forward to spy out the window. “Change of plans. Just go. We have lurkers and I’m not in the mood.”

Turning the keys to start the engine, I laughed. “Lurkers?”

“Yes, stage five, peeping-Tom-type, lurking nosey bodies.”

“Huh?” She’d lost me at
yes.

“My sister and her fiancé came home early and Aunt Gina started with an obnoxious and overbearing round of questions. I thought we’d have the house to ourselves when I invited you over earlier, but as it turns out, we’re out of luck.”

“Nonsense,” I murmured, placing my hand on her knee.
Ahhhh
,
right back where it belongs.
I didn’t want to move it from her buttery smooth skin all night. “There’s no possible way to be out of luck with you, doll.”

Her gaze focused on the placement of my hand and when her eyes met mine, she bit her lower lip as she smiled.
I need to taste that lip, preferably both of them, before this night is over.

Backing out of the driveway, one hand still on her knee, I asked, “So, where to?” I could suggest my apartment, but something about the phrase ‘wanna go back to my place’ didn’t seem appropriate for Stella. Sure, I wanted her there, but I didn’t want her to think this was about getting in her pants. I enjoyed talking to her at the wedding earlier and wanted to continue that without any expectations of sex. Shit, had I really just discounted anything physical happening with Stella tonight?
What was it about this girl that had the
right
head
manning the ship when I was around her?

Punching something into her phone, she asked, “Have you ever tried hookah?”

“Stella! What kind of guy do you think I am? I’m way too good looking to pay a hooker for sex, don’t you think?”

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she playfully slapped my arm. “Hook
ah
, you jerk, not hook
er
.”