Page 7 of Siren’s Mark (The Siren’s Mark Duology #1)

AVA

“Uhhh…” Jen says with wide eyes. “Nothing.”

Yep. This is reeaaally awkward.

“Have a theory you care to share?” Zane asks.

Jen seems to be internally debating how to handle this.

“Just talking about this lame-ass guy who made out with Ava and then panicked and bailed on her. Gotta be gay, right?”

She must be drunk enough to have hit the ‘particularly bold’ threshold. My cheeks feel hot with embarrassment. Zane raises his eyebrows and smirks.

“Fair dues,” he says, taking a seat next to me at the bar. “That guy does sound like a lame arse.”

He smiles at me and I instantly melt.

“What do you think, Ava? You think you might give this bloke a second chance?”

I can’t even think straight when this man is talking to me, let alone smiling at me.

“Um… I guess we’ll see.”

In a moment, Kieran appears and slings his arm around Zane’s shoulder.

“What’s up, ladies?” he asks. “This guy giving you a hard time?”

“Hey Kieran!” Jen says. “How’s it going?”

“Better now,” he says, smiling at us both. “We weren’t planning on staying long, I was just grabbing my paycheck, but if you gals are here I could be persuaded to stick around.”

This guy is such a smooth talker. Kieran looks at me for a moment and touches a loose strand of my hair.

“You know,” he says. “This purple is quickly becoming my favorite color.”

Zane’s eyes narrow and I see that same green shade in them that I saw the other night.

“Hey,” he says, with a hand to Kieran’s chest. “Pretty sure nobody asked.”

“Touchy touchy!” Kieran says, taking a step back. “It’s nice seeing you, Ava.”

Kieran smiles then leans in to me and whispers, “I’d love to get to know you better, but my friend here is literally crazy about you, so I better not.” He walks away toward the bar’s back office.

Zane is crazy about me? Is that what he means? My chest fills with warmth and butterflies.

“What was that about?” Zane asks.

“Nothing,” I say. I can tell it’s already driving him nuts not knowing, but after he ducked out on me so suddenly last weekend I’m happy to get a little revenge. He shifts uneasily in his seat.

“Do you want to go somewhere?” he asks. “I feel like it’s impossible to talk in here.”

I don’t know why I feel like agreeing to this, but I’m drawn to him.

“Where?” I ask.

“I know a place.”

Zane pulls his car into the Powell Center parking structure. His cobalt-blue Challenger with racing stripes along its hood was out of place in the Pike’s parking lot, but in this area of town it’s just one of many flashy cars.

The Powell Center is the tallest building in the city and houses the big financial offices and law firms. He hops out and makes his way over to the lot attendant. By the time I reach them, the attendant is scanning a card at the elevator.

What are we doing here?

We step inside the elevator and my mind is lost as to why we’re here. Does he work here? Did he say what he does for a living? I can’t remember. The floor numbers continue to climb. 22… 23… 24…

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Well, I’d tell you, love,” he says with a grin. “But that would spoil the surprise.”

I’m pretty sure he’s not leading me here to be murdered in this high rise office building. Pretty sure. We continue upward, passing 30, then 40.

The elevator finally dings as we reach level R. Does that mean roof? I mean, if you were going to kill someone, I feel like throwing them off the roof would be a pretty good way to do it. But he’s not going to murder me—right?

Pretty sure.

The elevator opens to a barren concrete rooftop overlooking the shining city below.

“So love, what do you think?” he asks.

“It’s beautiful,” I say. “How do you know about this place? Do you work here?”

“No,” he says. “The, uh, attendant lets me up here sometimes.”

“Are you friends?”

“In a sense.”

“Ah, so we’re going with the brooding and mysterious answers then?”

He laughs. “I wasn’t aiming for that, no. I’m trying to answer your question honestly. You said you prefer people to be honest.”

He does seem like he’s choosing his words carefully. Why would he not want to tell me how he knows this guy?

“So then you and the parking guy are… together then?”

He chokes on a laugh.

“No. Me and the parking guy are not together . I take it your conversation with Jen led you in this direction?”

“I uh… maybe?”

He steps closer to me until we’re just inches apart, putting one hand on my hip and bringing the other to my neck. He pulls me in closer, his lips nearly touching mine.

“Do you think I’m gay, love?”

I struggle to find words. All I can think about is how his hand feels at my waist, his touch on my skin.

Nope. The signals I’m picking up are pretty much the opposite of gay.

“I… uh… no. Not particularly.”

“Good,” he says with a smile as he steps away. “Just wanted to make sure you know where my interest lies.” His eyes roam across my figure. With most men, this would be an unwanted intrusion, but with Zane I find myself wanting every last bit of his attention.

I’m speechless. One look from him has obliterated my ability to form a coherent sentence.

“I have a way with people,” he says. “I’ve only met that bloke once or twice. I just talked him into letting me up.”

“Really?” I ask. “Don’t buildings like this have super tough security?”

“Like I said, love. I have a way with people.”

“I guess you do,” I say. I can’t deny he certainly seems to have a way with me. We both sit down on the ground with our backs against a cement structure of some kind.

“So if we’re asking questions, does that make it my turn?” he asks.

“I guess so. What do you want to know?”

“Where are you from?”

“That’s your big deep question?” I ask with a laugh. “I grew up here in Port Charlotte, went to college in California, and came back here a little over a year ago after I got my degree. What about you?”

“Oh yeah, um… a little bit of everywhere. I was born in Greece but I didn’t stay there long. Lived in England for a long time. One of my mates ran into some trouble over there and she asked me if I wanted to come to the States with her a few years back, so we did.”

“What kind of trouble?” I ask. “Like, with the mob trouble?

“No,” he says with a laugh. “There was a group of people there that weren’t pleased with her. We needed some time away from all that.”

“For someone who says they’re not talking about the mob, you sure sound like you’re talking about the mob.”

He laughs again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s my turn,” he says.

“Fine. Ask away.”

“Why are you with that guy?” he asks.

Oh geez. I really didn’t expect that.

“Sorry,” he says before I have a chance to answer. “It’s none of my business.”

“I’m not,” I say. “With him, that is.”

“Is that because of…”

“No, no. It was uh… a long time coming.”

A smile creeps into his expression. If he’s trying to look disappointed, he’s failing miserably.

“Well, love, I want to say I’m sorry about that, but I’m not. Not one bit.”

“Yeah, I can tell. You’re clearly real torn up about it.”

“Well, you know how I feel about him. And I think I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about you .”

I feel my cheeks redden and I rush to change the subject.

“So my turn. What do you do?”

“That’s such an American thing to ask,” he says.

“Well, I am an American, so I guess that makes sense then.”

He pauses and wrings his hands for a moment.

“I don’t technically have a job right now. I’ve been investing money and I used to be involved in several different things back in England, but I’m not officially working right now. What about you?”

“I do freelance coding and web design,” I say.

“Ahh, so you’re a nerd then.”

I roll my eyes and playfully sock him in the shoulder. He turns and his eyes meet mine.

“What’s something you love to do?” I ask.

“Hmm…” he says, combing a hand through his hair. “I collect coins. I like to keep coins from all the places I’ve lived and traveled.”

“So you’re a nerd then,” I say with a smirk.

“Oi!” He laughs. “Cheeky girl.”

When he smiles at me, all the feelings I felt on Friday come bubbling to the surface.

“Why did you leave Friday night?” I ask. The second the words leave my mouth I want to scoop them up and shove them back in.

His eyes widen and his mouth pinches shut.

“Was it because I had a boyfriend?” I ask.

My stupid mouth just keeps spouting out words.

“I uh… I think it was my turn,” he says.

“Oh yeah, okay. Right, sorry.”

“Why were you at the hospital the other day?” he asks.

Great, the one question I didn’t want him to ask.

Now it’s out there. There’s a voice in my head, maybe even Mike’s voice, telling me he’ll never accept me if I tell him the truth.

That I’ll cease being a normal girl in his eyes.

That from here on I’ll be the poor sick girl, not the sexy love interest.

There’s yet another voice that tells me I’ve made a point about honesty now and I can’t very well just lie. That voice is also saying, ‘Fuck Mike and his bullshit.’

“I went in for some blood tests. I’ve been having a lot of unexplained muscle pain and exhaustion and other stuff.”

Well, it’s out there now.

“Did they figure it out? With the tests?” he asks.

“I think you have to answer my question first.”

He sighs and then smirks.

“Touché,” he says, letting out another sigh. “Well, I didn’t give a shit about that douche, I’ll tell you that.”

He sighs again, this time long and heavy, as he runs a hand through his hair. “I left because I’m a coward. Because I felt something with you that I hadn’t felt in a really long time and I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

I want to ask him what it was that he felt, but I know he’s going to insist on me answering his question first. So instead, I lean in close and kiss him.