Unbreakable Love (2 page)

“I’m Jennie,” she said, genuinely smiling now, “but you already knew that.”

Suddenly, Nate realized he’d been sloppy in the surprise of the accident. He had to cover his tracks. “Yes, I heard someone call you that by our lockers.”

Jennie looked confused. “They’re right next to each other,” he offered.

Jennie scanned her memory; she must’ve missed seeing him, although she wasn’t sure how. Now that she’d peeled her eyes away from her damaged car, she noticed for the first time how good looking he was. He was considerably taller than she, and she was tall at five foot nine inches. He had a crop of sandy blond hair that he wore just short enough to tame the sides but not the top, leaving the individual strands to do whatever they wanted. At the moment, they were blowing carelessly in the wind, further distracting her. Once she got past his hair, she noticed how his sun-kissed complexion set off his brilliant blue eyes, which held her captivated the minute they connected with hers. Jace was blond. Normally she hated blonds, but there was something different about Nate—although at the moment she couldn’t put her finger on why she was drawn to him. Maybe it was that feeling, the comforting one. After all, he was still holding her hand in his.

When Jennie didn’t respond Nate wondered if he’d made her feel uncomfortable and released her fingers. Her hand fell numbly to her side and all at once, her mind cleared up and refocused.

“Oh, that’s how you know my name,” she finally said.

“I know you probably have somewhere to be.” Nate took back control of the conversation. “Why don’t we trade cars for the night and I’ll get yours fixed?”

“Okay,” Jennie responded hesitantly, recognizing that he was guiding the conversation and surprised by the fact that she didn’t feel threatened. When she came back from getting her keys, she still looked a little dazed. Nate had gone to get his keys and handed them to her wrapped in a piece of paper with his name and phone number on it. Suddenly something about their interaction triggered Jennie’s skepticism and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“How do I know you will give me back my car?” She questioned abruptly.

A good-natured laugh escaped from Nate’s lips. “Don’t worry, Jennie. I don’t want anything from you but your friendship. Besides, I love my car. I had to beg my Aunt Celeste to let me have it and I’m never giving it up.”

His remark didn’t soothe all her fears, but she was at least willing to give Nate the benefit of the doubt. Still a little bewildered by the entire experience, Jennie took his keys and traded cars with him. As she settled into the stiff bucket seats of the classic Mustang, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu wash over her. He was waiting patiently for her to drive off when she rolled down the window and called out to him over the roar of the Mustang’s engine.

“Meet me here ten minutes before school?”

Nate answered with a smile and nod to say yes. As he watched her drive away, he realized that now he had to figure out how to get her car fixed by tomorrow. He already could tell working with Jennie Townsend would be a much bigger challenge then he’d anticipated. He hadn’t expected her to be so kind and beautiful and, worst of all, he had been completely caught off guard by the feel of her hand in his. He never should’ve touched her fingers. No skin contact, that rule had been made painfully clear to him. Already he’d been too cavalier. He would be more careful next time.

Nate easily maneuvered her car through the parking lot now that it was mostly empty and drove home, where he knew he would eventually have to face Celeste, not to mention find someone willing to stay open late enough to fix Jennie’s car. No matter how he looked at it, he had a long night ahead of him.

The next morning Nate found Jennie waiting in the parking lot where they’d previously agreed to meet. She greeted him with a warm smile as she climbed out of his car. She looked beautiful, somehow happier more full of life than she had just twenty-four hours earlier. Nate knew his angelic presence could have that effect on people. After he pulled her small car into the spot she’d saved, she walked around to inspect the repairs. She was stunned—the car looked untouched, and the metal of the bumper was perfect and unblemished. Jennie looked at him with naked surprise showing in her eyes.

“It looks amazing,” she said.

“I told you I had connections,” he bragged playfully.

“Yeah; they’re good, too.”

Jennie walked back over and gently placed his keys in the palm of his hand wrapped in a piece of paper that had her name and phone number written on it.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, leaning in so he could hear it. Nate could smell the scent of her perfume, something with jasmine blended with a sweet citrus. He tried not to think about it.

“You’re welcome,” he said, stepping back a little to help clear his head. “I try to always keep my promises.”

Again, his words triggered her suspicion. Teenage boys rarely kept their promises unless they got something out of it. Who was this guy? She intended to find out, if nothing else to quiet her curiosity, which was piqued the minute he took her hand. In fact, she had been thinking about it all night.

“So,” she began, trying to keep it casual, “where do you eat lunch?”

Nate saw the opportunity that was coming. “I’m so new here; I haven’t really found a great place to eat yet. Any suggestions?” As if the entire discussion were preplanned, her response was perfect.

“Why don’t you come to lunch with us today? My treat. Besides, I really do owe you. Neither of us was paying attention yesterday; it was partly my fault.”

Nate grinned at her confession, causing her to blush. “I was wondering when you would take responsibility,” he teased.

Jennie couldn’t think of a good comeback so she just laughed. Across the parking lot, the warning bell rang, letting them know it was almost time for school to begin. Jennie grabbed her backpack out of Nate’s car and made sure her own car was locked before walking with Nate toward the entrance of the school.

“Meet me here at lunch,” she said as they walked briskly side by side. When they reached the gates, Jennie knew they would need to go their separate ways soon. Just before they walked through, she reached out and put her hand on Nate’s bare forearm to get his attention. Immediately, that same sensation began to course through her but left as soon as she recoiled in surprise.

“What is it?” he asked, completely unaware that his touch was affecting her.

Quickly she forced herself to focus on her original question. There was one question that had burdened her all night and now was her chance to get an answer from Nate.

“Did you mean it when you said you just wanted my friendship?”

Nate turned to her and locked into her gaze. Her eyes gave away her vulnerability. Nate had been thinking about her all night, too. Nate quickly reminded himself why he was here—to protect her from her vulnerabilities, not to exploit them.

“Yes,” he said keeping his voice perfectly level, “I would love to have you as a friend.”

Jennie felt a great sense of relief from his words. They seemed to rekindle a tiny flicker of hope despite her sworn contempt for the opposite sex, and although she was unwilling to admit it to herself, she felt drawn to Nate.

“Good,” she replied, “I could really use a friend right now.” As Jennie stayed fixed on his eyes, he could see that she was scared, probably hurt by someone before. He didn’t know who or why, but it didn’t matter. If he handled things well from here on out, she would allow the friendship to grow, but carefully. At least she was giving him a chance. He could accomplish his assignment, and Celeste would be proud.

Nate and Jennie separated just beyond the gate. Jennie waved as she walked off. “Friends, then,” she called across the growing distance between them.

“Yes,” he responded firmly. “Definitely friends.”

As promised, at lunch Nate found Jennie waiting for him by her car with two other people. The girl was short with a thick head of jet-black hair and intense hazel eyes. The boy, who had his arm wrapped protectively around the girl, was much taller with short, no-nonsense light brown hair and unassuming light brown eyes. They both watched him arrive as if they were expecting him, yet didn’t completely trust him. By their distrust alone, Nate could tell that these friends cared about Jennie. He would have to prove himself to them as well as to her.

Once he reached the car, Jennie opened the doors and they all crammed in. The lunch period was short so they couldn’t afford to waste any time. As Jennie drove, she introduced everyone.

“Nate, this is Marissa, my best friend, and her boyfriend, Braiden.” Nate turned around in his seat to look at them.

“Hey,” he responded.

While they drove to Jennie’s favorite lunch spot, Nicolino’s Pizza, Nate listened to three friends chatter about their teachers and activities at school. He learned that Marissa was involved in the drama club and Braiden was the captain of the basketball team, but he learned very little about Jennie. After they quickly ate and were on their way back to school, the conversation turned to the upcoming weekend.

“Hey, Jen,” Marissa called out over the music Jennie was blasting. Jennie turned down the volume but didn’t take her hand off of the button.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to Ainsley’s house this weekend?”

Nate decided now was the time to get involved in the conversation. “Who’s Ainsley?” He asked.

Jennie finally gave up and took her hand off the volume button. “She’s a senior this year. Every year her parents throw this amazing back to school party.”

“Really?” Nate said, obviously surprised that anyone’s parents would throw a party.

“Yeah, man,” Braiden chimed in from the back seat. “They have this monster infinity pool that overlooks the valley. Every year they do this thing where they blow a whistle and everyone at the party tries to get into the pool at once. One time we counted and there were 211 people packed in there.”

“Do her parents stay during the party?” Nate asked.

Jennie laughed. “What?” Nate asked, starting to feel uncomfortably naive. Jennie glanced at him as she was pulling into the school parking lot and then turned her focus back to finding a parking place.

Marissa spoke up this time. “Of course, they supply the alcohol.”

“Wow,” was all Nate could come up with.

Jennie pulled into a space near the back and everyone piled out. As they walked toward school, Nate turned to Jennie. “Are you going to the party?” he asked.

Jennie looked at Marissa before answering, and some unspoken communication passed between them. “Yeah, I think so…you know, for awhile, anyway.”

“You’ve gotta go, Nate,” Marissa broke in, “if nothing else, just to see the pool and the house. They had to blast into the side of the mountain just to build it.”

“It does sound impressive,” Nate admitted, “but I don’t know where it is or if I’m invited.”

Marissa scoffed this time. “Everyone’s invited, Nate. We’ll pick you up. Jen has your number, right?”

Before Nate could even answer, Marissa jogged off, trying to make it across campus before the bell rang.

“I’d better get going,” Jennie said to Nate. “I’ll call you later.” Once everyone had gone their own way, Nate took a second to check his phone for texts or messages. He winced. Celeste had been trying to reach him since yesterday and he knew if he didn’t call back soon she would show up at school to get his attention.

Her latest text read:
Meet me at home right after school
.

It was time to face his supervisor. Now all he could hope was that she could see past his failures to acknowledge his progress so far.

Nate lived on the first floor of an older apartment complex about two miles from school. Even though his birth certificate showed him as eighteen years old, a façade had been created to make it look as if he lived with his Aunt Celeste. People seemed to ask fewer questions that way, especially at the high school.

As with everything else in Nate’s life, there were rules about his apartment. No one was allowed to stay past midnight. No one could borrow his belongings. They weren’t really his anyway. In the past few hundred years he’d come to see them as props, stuff that added to the validity of the role he was playing. The things lying around his house were just more reminders that everything in his life was temporary. He was here only until his job was complete, and he’d been told it would be sometime in early March. Still, he’d done a few things to personalize the place, including hanging some of the photographs that he had taken when he worked with a photographer in Europe. He’d enjoyed that job, both the kid he’d protected and the photography.

Just as he poured himself a bowl of cereal as an afternoon snack, the doorbell rang. He groaned inwardly as he crossed the small room and approached the door. He opened it to find Celeste standing on the doorstep, her hands on her hips and a scowl firmly planted on her face.

“Celeste,” he began, trying to stay upbeat. “It’s so good to see you.”

She made a noise that sounded a lot like a snort and pushed her way past him. Her observant light brown eyes made a quick sweep of the room, taking note of the framed photography. She tisked but didn’t say anything to Nate directly. She already knew Nate was infamous for his inability to follow the rules.

No evidence of past jobs, that was the rule. While his devotion to the ones he protected was enduring, it ensured that his cases had to be chosen carefully for him. An unpredictable angel could cause a lot of problems for people on earth.

Celeste settled herself on the shabby grey couch in the cramped living room and let out an exasperated sigh so big that Nate could actually hear it all the way across the room. He decided to get right to it.

“I know, I hit her with my car. Well, I mean I hit her car with my car and then I sent you the bill for the repairs.” Celeste still didn’t say anything. Instead she glared at him with such intensity anyone would feel guilty even if he wasn’t.

“That was really bad, huh?” Nate picked up the uncomfortable slack in the conversation. “But on the up side, she invited me to a party this weekend, so I am well on my way…” Nate’s rambling trailed off. Celeste ran her fingers impatiently through her thick wavy hair.