Pulled(20)
Author: A.L. Jackson

Everything whizzed by. I looked at the

speedometer and was topping one hundred. I jammed on the brakes.

I sat rigid in my seat, tension rol ing from me as I clutched the wheel. I really didn’t care what Vanessa thought about me, but I didn’t need to be putting her and her baby’s lives in danger, either.

“Yeah, you’re really good at that, aren’t you?” I mocked myself somewhere inside my head, self-hatred burning in my veins.

I stared ahead and muttered, “Sorry,” under my breath.

Minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant, pulling up to the valet. I tried to regain my composure before I went in there and screwed everything up. Today had been the single hardest day I’d had since coming back from Dal as, and it seemed thoughts of Melanie would not be kept at bay. I would have to smile and fake my way through this night. I prayed they’d do all the talking, and I could just sit there, nod, and sign on the dotted line.

I groaned when I caught my reflection in the mirror.

I was a complete disaster. My hair was sticking up in every possible way, not one strand in accord with another, my eyes puffy and red from this afternoon, my hands visibly shaking.

I grabbed my bag as the valet opened my door.

He gave me my tag, and I went around to gather Vanessa.

We entered, greeted by a hostess wearing a black cocktail dress and heels. I hated places like this.

“Do you have a reservation, sir?”

“Yeah, I have a business meeting with Nicholas Borel i and Shane Preston. I’m not sure if they’ve arrived yet.” I glanced around the restaurant. I’d never met either of them, so I had no idea who I was looking for.

She studied the black book on her stand and shook her head. “No, they haven’t arrived yet, but we can show you to your table.”

She led us to a round table for six near a large bank of windows. Vanessa and I went to the far side, facing the room. The hostess handed us our menus and told us to enjoy our meals as she walked away. “This is very nice, Daniel.” Vanessa pretended to appreciate the room and then looked back at me through her eyelashes.

Was she trying to flirt with me? I uttered a barely audible, “Mm hm,” before turning my attention to the menu, wary of making eye contact with her. This had been a complete mistake. I should have just come alone. It was becoming much too obvious that Vanessa thought this dinner meant more to me than just a need to have somebody accompany me to a dinner meeting. The accidental brush of her leg against mine under the table confirmed that.

“Shit,” I swore at myself. This day just got worse by the minute.

A waiter arrived and asked what we’d like to drink. Vanessa gave him an exaggerated smile and ordered a water.

“Whiskey, no ice.” I was in dire need of a drink.

Vanessa started to make comments about the menu, trying to draw me into conversation, but her words didn’t register. I couldn’t think straight. My head started to spin, my skin prickling all over. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I tried to shake it off.

Apparently, I had thought too much about Melanie Apparently, I had thought too much about Melanie today because my body was reacting as if she were near.

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to brush off the feeling. I began to panic when I realized I was finally going to lose it. My hands started to tingle with the palpable energy that connected Melanie and me and made us one, an intense longing fil ing my chest.

I had to pul myself together.

I stood to take a few minutes to clear my head when a strangled sob grounded me to the floor. My head jerked up, my eyes desperate to find what I so longed to see.

My knees went weak, and I grasped the table for support when my eyes met with the emerald that owned my soul.

Chapter 08

The ride to the restaurant was tense.

My outright refusal had set Nicholas on edge, and I wasn’t sure he knew how to deal with it.

Nicholas pulled up to the restaurant valet. Katie and Shane waited on the sidewalk for us as the attendant helped me from the car.

“Hey, Mel.” Shane’s smile was infectious. I could never resist it, my own spreading across my face as he brought me into a huge hug, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. If I hadn’t known him, I might have been a little scared of him, given that he resembled a younger version of my dad. He was just as tall and shaved his head, though his eyes were green where Dad’s were brown. He was muscular from years of hard construction work and so tanned, it nearly washed out the tattoos covering the entirety of his arms.

“Hey, Shane. Are you ready for this?” I patted his back as I hugged him, giving him encouragement for the evening.

“Yep, I have a good feeling about it.” This would change everything for them. It was ironic that the one thing Nicholas thought was going to bring him power and recognition would actually bring him to his knees if everything went as planned.

I gave a knowing smile to Katie before stepping to her for a quick hug.

“Let’s go take care of some business.” Nicholas took charge, leading us inside. He held the door as Shane and Katie entered in front of us, placing his hand on the smal of my back as I fol owed.

Once inside I felt that pul , the energy that bound my soul to Daniel’s, and I smiled as I brought my hand to the pendant. I fingered it, knowing it had somehow been brought back into my life to give me comfort.

As the hostess led us deeper into the restaurant, the pul grew, fil ing my chest. My skin began to tingle, goose bumps popping up all over my arms, and the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.

I ran my hands up each arm trying to chase away the feeling, hugging myself. Something was wrong. I’d never felt Daniel like this unless he was actually nearby.

Maybe finding the pendant had brought too many memories to the surface, and my mind had lost touch with reality.

With each step, the feeling grew, almost

suffocating.

“Get it together, Melanie,” I scolded myself, trying to snap myself out of it.

As I rounded the corner, my eyes landed on the head of hair that could only belong to one man. A cry escaped from my throat, my heart pounding through my chest.

I reached out to grasp Katie’s shoulder for support, my other arm clutching my stomach as I tried to keep from fal ing to my knees. Energy surged, and I could almost see it connect with him. His head snapped up, and my eyes locked with his soul.

I couldn’t look away. Every emotion I’d had in the last nine years flowed between us—the pain, the longing, the desire, the lost love, each one crashing upon us in waves.