Golden Blood (2 page)

Chapter Two

St. Augustine, Florida
- 2011AD

Harrison Granger knew he shouldn’t be
running. Pride should have made him stand his ground and take the
pounding, but the situation was so ridiculous, he didn’t think it
warranted a black eye.

Ducking around an elderly lady admiring the
antique storefront, he threw a glance over his shoulder and swore.
Picking up his pace he wove through a clump of tourists and tried
to make it back to the safety of his car.

Jordan Monroe was a frickin’ idiot if he
thought Harrison was after Dana. One false move with that
vindictive gossip and the rep he’d been building over the last four
months would be terminally tarnished. Not that he needed to be the
most popular guy in school or anything, he just didn’t want to be
the lone freak again.

Besides, he’d promised himself no more
relationships. At the age of seventeen he’d had one that he’d
considered worthwhile and ending it had been painful. Admittedly,
he’d been a fourteen year old, lovesick puppy, but it was enough to
swear off girls for the rest of high school. Having a mother with
the irritating compulsion to move all the time was hardly conducive
to settling in.

It wasn’t his fault that girls kept throwing
themselves at him. It’s not like he’d led Dana on, if anything she
was struggling to grasp the meaning of the word no.

Harrison paused beside a huge gumball machine
and crouched low. When he’d tried to calmly explain his stance to
Jordan, the guy’s face had turned beet red and his three gorilla
buddies had bunched their fists. Harrison rolled his eyes. This was
hardly the way he’d planned to spend his Saturday morning. He’d
fled the house in a bid for peace. His stepsister and his mother
were in the throes of an all out war over the state of her bedroom
and the four males of the house had wisely retreated.

“Granger! C’mere you weed.”

His pulse jumped before his feet did.
Skirting around a couple with backpacks, he pushed through a bunch
of boys and threw himself around the corner. His car was only three
blocks away, but if they caught him there he couldn’t guarantee
that his prize possession would remain safe during the scuffle.
Deciding not to risk it, he turned left down a quiet lane and
plowed straight into an unsuspecting girl.

“Sorry, sorry. Oh crap, I’m sorry.” Harrison
reached out a hand.

The girl ignored his gesture and stood up on
her own, brushing the dirt from her jeans.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Her voice was a soft murmur. She
collected up the new book and DVD that had flown from her bag,
keeping her gaze on the pavement.

Harrison glanced behind him, quickly
assessing if he had time to linger. Turning back to the girl, he
faced her for one final apology and recognized her.

“Oh hey. Gemma, right? We’re in History
together.”

Her smile was fleeting. Flicking her long,
glossy ponytail back over her shoulder, she bit the corner of her
mouth and nodded. He’d often wondered about her. She was a strange
girl, never talked to anyone and always spent her lunchtime holed
up in the library. Her stunning beauty was intimidating. When he’d
first noticed her he’d been swiftly warned off by his new friends.
According to them she was a total freak, an expert snob and the
meanest girl in school.

“Oh great.” She frowned.

Harrison glanced behind him and swore. Jordan
and his buddies were coming around the corner.

Gemma’s green eyes were a mix of curious
amusement at his reaction.

“Come on.” He pointed to “Camilla’s Closet,”
a second hand clothing store. The bell tinkled loudly as they
entered. He shone the lady behind the counter a smile and grabbed a
couple of things off the nearest rack. Gemma followed him to the
change rooms.

Glancing back, he saw Jordan scowling outside
the store window then nodding to the others. They branched away,
entering stores in what looked like a systematic search. Grabbing a
couple more things from the next rack, he led Gemma to the nearest
change room and locked the door behind them.

Harrison hung the clothes on the hook and
pressed his ear to the door.

“I don’t think they saw us. It won’t take
them long to check in here though.”

Gemma was leaning against the wall, studying
him with that intense gaze of hers. Her full lips twitched as she
pulled the top of her shirt closer together. He smiled, hoping to
make her more comfortable.

“So, I take it since you followed me in here
that you don’t like running into Jordan Monroe.”

Her lips toyed with a smile. “I can’t afford
to.”

He tipped his head and raised his
eyebrows.

She let out a short sigh. “He’s always trying
to hit on me and it gets really annoying. Before you know it he’s
running home to mommy with a blood nose and I get a week’s
detention.”

“You… you beat up Jordan Monroe?”

Her cheeks turned red and she lowered her
gaze. “It’s not that hard if you know what you’re doing.”

“And you do?”

“My father does a little martial arts. He
showed me a few moves.” She flicked her hand in an obvious bid for
casualness.

“You’ll have to show me sometime. I hate
running.”

“It can be the better option. I don’t think
less of you for doing it.”

Harrison gave her a slow smile. She jerked
her collar together with a frown.

The bell tinkled loudly and Harrison tensed,
suddenly aware that their feet were obvious if anyone stooped to
look under the change room doors.

“Quick.” He jumped up onto the seat and
beckoned Gemma to do the same.

Her hesitation was subtle, but he noticed. He
moved aside to give her room to step up. With not much space, he
tucked her against the wall and placed his arms either side of her
head.

Sure the close proximity was making her
uncomfortable, he turned his head and locked his eyes on the door.
Her soft breath tickled his chin and he was soon unable to resist.
He gazed down at her, struck like he was the first time, by her
stunning beauty. Her smooth skin was a light cocoa making her green
eyes a powerful contrast. Her petite straight nose and full lips
were perfectly proportioned on her long oval face and he didn’t
even want to get started on the body that he knew lived beneath her
baggy clothing. He’d watched her train. She was a cheetah on the
track and there’s no way a girl like that didn’t have a fine
figure. Dana’s constant griping from the bleachers had to be out of
sheer jealousy.

Heavy footsteps approached the door and they
both went still. They waited in breathless silence until they heard
a string of curses followed by a sharp command to leave the store.
A moment later the bell tinkled, followed by a heavy slam of the
door.

Harrison let out his breath and chuckled. He
knew he should be jumping from the seat and helping Gemma down, but
he didn’t want to move. He was surprised by how much he liked
having the school’s freak this close to him.

Gemma’s eyes rose to meet his.

“What?”

He kept his smile in place. “I’ve always
wondered what it’d be like to talk to you.”

“Is that a line?”

“No,” he chuckled and ran a hand through his
hair.

Her eyes went stormy and she bit her lip.
Flustered, she pushed him away and jumped down. She collected her
bag and reached for the lock. “I gotta go.”

“No wait.” He grabbed her hand and froze. His
skin was on fire. Looking down at his fingers, he felt the warm
licks of flame curl up each digit and spread over his hand.

Gemma’s eyes were huge as she jerked away and
rubbed her thumb over her fingertips.

“What was that?”

She shook her head with a frown and backed
away from him, crashing into the door. With fumbling fingers she
undid the lock and burst out, weaving around the clothing racks and
shooting out the door.

Harrison leaned against the frame to watch
her. He curled his fingers into a fist then flexed them straight.
The warm lick of flame was rapidly cooling. His disappointment
surprised him.

Harrison reached his car without incident.
Jordan and his thugs were either lost in the maze of streets still
looking for him or they had given up. A black Ducati bike grabbed
his attention as it tore past. Harrison recognized Gemma’s sleek
frame. He still couldn’t believe the girl owned such a powerful
machine. What kind of parent buys their kid something like
that?

His definitely wouldn’t.

He ran his hand over the roof of his beloved
1978 Corvette Stingray. He’d found it in an old junkyard and his
stepfather, Bryan, had convinced him to go for it. They’d hauled it
home to much laughter, making Harrison seriously doubt Bryan’s
ability as a mechanic, but piece-by-piece they had worked on it and
he now owned a well-tuned classic. Dropping into the driver’s seat,
he ran his hands over the wheel and smiled as the engine rumbled to
life.

As usual, the drive home was the best part of
his day. He hadn’t admitted it to his mother yet, but he loved
Florida’s eastern coastline. Driving over the Bridge of Lions, he
headed south down the waterfront. The sun kissed ocean sparkled
like diamonds. It was a far cry from the inner cities of Pittsburgh
and Atlanta. He could almost forgive his mother for uprooting them
yet again. Maybe this time it would be worth it.

He thought of Gemma as he pulled into his
street. How in awe he’d been when he’d first seen her. He didn’t
want to believe the rumors for a second, but when four or five of
his best smiles earned him nothing more than a sharp frown, he
decided to give up. But now…

He rubbed his fingertips together. The fire
feeling had gone, but not the simmering in his brain. For the first
time since he was fourteen, he felt that yearning. His forehead
creased with a frown.

Pulling into his driveway, he turned off the
engine and gazed up at his house. It was a large, white, two-story
box. A smaller, white one-story box sat next to it and was Bryan’s
beloved double garage. The house could not be plainer, but it was
functional, sunny and starting to feel like home. They all seemed
happy here.

The front door slammed with vibrating force.
An irate Rosie marched down the steps with a garbage sack in each
hand. Her blonde bangs flicked back and forth and her lips moved in
a torrent of words that weren’t allowed inside the house.

Harrison grinned at his stepsister as he
stepped out of the car.

She paused. “Welcome to the tyranny that is
this house!”

“I told you not to ask Mom for any favors
before ten am, but you just couldn’t wait, could ya?”

“Shut up.”

He tipped his head with a gentle smile. “Need
a hand?”

She sighed and grinned. He helped her lift
the heavy bags into the trash cans against the garage wall then
followed her through the glass kitchen door. As soon as they
entered the house her scowl returned and she stomped past her
stepmother and up the stairs.

Helen smiled serenely at the huffy fourteen
year old, then folded a pair of shorts from the huge pile of
washing overtaking the kitchen table. The kitchen smelled fresh
from frenzied cleaning, another reason to flee the house on
Saturday mornings. Harrison closed the door behind him.

“How do you do that, you little tin-ass
freak?” Justin’s loud voice shot from the living room.

“I am not. You just can’t handle being beaten
by a six year old!” Sam yelled back.

Harrison threw his keys into the bowl on the
counter as Helen let out a groan and Bryan sauntered into the
kitchen.

“Tin-ass freak? Honey! They get that from
you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, sweetie.”

“I’m not thanking you, you big oaf!” She
threw the towel she’d just folded at him and laughed.

He grabbed it off his head and jumped around
the table, wrapping his arms around her waist and raspberrying her
neck. She giggled like a schoolgirl. Harrison folded his arms and
leaned his hip against the counter, watching with a smile.

Bryan had brought his mother back to life.
Harrison had been nine when Bryan came on the scene, before that
they’d just been a duo. His father had died before he was born.

Harrison had wanted to hate the guy and his
two annoying kids, but fell in love with them before he could stop
himself. Two years later Sam was born and his mother officially
became Mrs. Helen Chatsworth.

Harrison’s cell phone beeped, pulling the
canoodling couple apart.

“Oh hey sweetie. How was town?”

“Good.” He slid open his phone.

Rosie crashed down the stairs and into the
kitchen. “Okay, I’m done. Can I have my life back now?”

She stood in front of Helen with an
outstretched hand. Her stepmother held out the fuchsia pink cell
phone.

“Thank you.” She snatched it back and
retreated up the stairs.

Bryan shook his head as he closed the
fridge.

“She’s your daughter.” Helen kissed his cheek
as he walked past. He slapped her on the butt and headed back out
to the garage, a cold beer in hand.

“You home for dinner, hon?” Helen placed a
folded shirt onto Justin’s pile.

Harrison slid his phone shut. “No, looks like
I’m going to the movies with Darren and the girls. I’ll just grab
something on the way.”

“Please don’t have chili fries and a
coke.”

“What do you want me to eat, Mom? Sushi?”

“Sushi would be great.” She beamed.

“I’m not eating seaweed.”

“Well could you at least have something with
vegetables in it?”

Harrison laughed as he grabbed a chocolate
chip cookie from the jar. “I love you too, Mom.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She placed a folded shirt
on Sam’s pile and grimaced as he ate the cookie in one bite. “How
did I get such a charming son?”