Chapter Four
Annalise
It was cold. It was dark. It was also quite creepy.
Yet for some reason Annalise couldn’t force herself to leave. None of the arguments she used on herself seemed to hold any real power. Not when compared to the knowledge that if she waited, Caine would eventually return.
Caine, who was not senior-citizen Caine, like she’d initially assumed. No, he was young, handsome, and with that mane of white hair, oddly unique. It hung down to his ears, classic and messy, as she’d finally seen in the light. It was a good look when draped over his god-given features, a bone structure carved by one of the heavenly beings themselves.
The light had acted like the flash of a camera, his face burned into her retinas so that she could see it even as the darkness returned. He had a beard, something she’d not noticed in the dark either. Close-cropped and thick, it had darker brown in it. How did that work with his white hair? She couldn’t remember his eyebrows, because her attention had been drawn away by the icy circles of blue underneath them. Pools of frozen water that had locked in a hurt she wondered if she’d ever understand.
Despite all her awe, there was one unsettling thought that she couldn’t seem to shake. Caine didn’t scare her. She wasn’t terrified at being in his presence. Yes, she’d run at first, but now she was waiting outside for him to return from a wedding he didn’t want a part of. What was it about this mysterious man that made her feel like it was okay to stay close, to tell him truths she’d spoken to almost nobody? That scared her, and she resolved to keep her distance.
“Come on.”
The words startled her and she let out a little cry, spinning around to see a towering giant who could only be Caine striding toward her.
“All done?”
He nodded. “All done. Apparently they’ve had enough practice in getting married that they’re ready to do it for real.” Caine snorted. “I still don’t understand that silly custom, but things are different now I suppose.”
Annalise carefully didn’t say anything or let her face react. Things are different? From when? Although she had no actual experience, she was fairly positive rehearsal dinners were not something new. Where was he from that this was a new experience to him?
“Marriage is for suckers anyway,” she muttered bitterly.
Caine looked at her strangely. “Now why would you say something like that?”
She shrugged. It didn’t matter. Although she felt eerily at peace around Caine, it didn’t mean he knew her or was allowed to be privy to her life.
“Right.” He jerked his head toward the front of the church. “Let’s go, shall we?”
Annalise stood rooted to the spot. “Where are we going?” She wasn’t about to blindly follow anyone, even Caine.
“Food. I’m hungry. I’m sure you are too, though who knows what you have hidden in that outfit.”
“This outfit is all I own,” she snapped. “Well, almost all I own. Besides, I’m not hungry.” She didn’t have the money to go get food, though she didn’t want him to know that.
Caine’s eyebrows rose slowly, taking just as long to come back down to a resting position as he looked her over yet again, a habit he seemed to be forming. She hated the scrutiny, feeling that he saw much more than the darkness revealed.
“The food is on me,” he said, as if reading her mind.
“Excuse me?”
Frustrated, he squared up to face her. “If that’s all you own, it means you’re having a rough go of it. Which means you have no money for food. But you’re still hungry.”
“I am—” Her stomach betrayed her, rumbling loudly in the quiet night.
Caine looked pointedly at her belly. “You were saying? Come on, it’s just some food. Don’t let your pride get in the way. I’m not going to judge you one way or another. I just want to make sure you’re properly fed.”
“I guess…”
She was hungry.
“It’s settled then. Food today, and then tomorrow we’ll go get you a dress.”
Annalise, whose feet had slowly been leading her in the same direction as Caine, came to a sudden halt. “A what?”
“A dress. You know, you put it on in summer or for fancy occasions, and then all you girls compliment each other about them like it’s some sort of revelation, even though it’s the same thing but in different cuts and patterns?”
“Ah, a real fashion connoisseur are you?” She rolled her eyes, the lids flaring slightly. He was just a typical male; he wouldn’t understand.
Caine looked her up and down. “Are you sure you’re qualified to be so snarky about what’s fashionable?”
Annalise’s jaw dropped open hard enough she had to scoop it off the ground.
“Anyway,” he continued, not giving her a chance to respond. “Yes, a dress. Think about it. Neither of us can do weddings. So we should just do it together. I’ll say you’re my date, that gives you a reason to be there, and if you feel comfortable, you talk to Violet.”
“Won’t you be busy, though? Your brother is getting married.”
Caine waved that off. “I have a middle brother too. He thinks he’s hot shit and knows how to do everything best. It’ll be easy to give him all the responsibility and make him think he’s manipulating me. After all, I got the brains of the trio.”
She giggled at his casual explanation of how he’d make it work. She suspected his brothers might not agree about who had gotten the brains.
“Does that mean it’s a deal?”
It was time she made a decision. “I’ll come for food,” she said. “And I’ll consider going dress shopping.”
She had no intention of doing that, but it would stop him from asking. Annalise wasn’t about to owe anyone anything.
“Good enough for me. Come on, there’s a diner I went to for lunch maybe ten minutes down the street.”
They fell in step together, Annalise taking two steps for every one of his long strides. She felt tiny next to him, barely coming up to his broad chest. His very toned chest, easily visible thanks to the T-shirt he wore.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, wondering why he wasn’t wearing a jacket. She had multiple layers on to ward off the cold, and still she wished to be somewhere heated.
“Always.” A smile teased at his lips.
Was it an inside joke she didn’t get? How was him always being cold funny? They didn’t speak much during the walk, but there was a companionable silence about it that didn’t leave her feeling awkward and out of place. Caine was someone who didn’t do a lot of talking, she surmised. He was someone comfortable in his own mind, in simply being, and didn’t need noise to fill the silence because of it.
It probably came with being the oldest brother as well. He learned that sharing the spotlight was fine, and then he slowly pulled away from it as his third brother came into the picture. That was something they may have in common. Annalise disliked being the focus of anything, and avoided it like the plague.
“Let’s eat,” he said gruffly, pulling open the door and holding it for her. “You look hungry.”
Annalise frowned as she walked through the door, nodding politely to the middle-aged man visible through a hole in the wall. She looked hungry? “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She picked a table and sat at it, not waiting to see where Caine went. “Are you calling me fat? I know you aren’t calling me skinny. You aren’t that blind.”
“Blinded by your beauty, perhaps.” He eased himself into a chair across from her, the table rocking on its uneven legs as he rested his arms on it. “I would never call you fat. You’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid my eyes upon, if I am to be honest. Not that I expect you to believe me.”
“You’re right, I don’t.”
“I know. But sometimes these things have to be said.”
Secretly Annalise was flattered by his words. Her denial was borne out of a distinct lack of belief in herself and not knowing how to react. How could Caine be serious about it when he looked the way he did? Supermodels probably flocked to his side when he went out in public. How could he think that she was beautiful compared to them?
They were tall, skinny, and all leg. She was short, round, and all stomach. Not to mention pasty-skinned and covered in freckles. There wasn’t a whole lot about her that would appeal to someone like him. This made her all the more wary about his compliments, trying to decipher the real meaning behind them. What exactly was he getting at with his nice-guy attitude? People didn’t treat others like that unless they wanted something from them.
“You know what, I can’t take your money,” she said, moving to stand. “I should go. I’ve overstayed my welcome already.”
“Sit down.”
His voice was calm and commanding, velvet draped over iron. It spoke of someone used to being obeyed and followed. Annalise fought it, but too many years of being expected to follow made it tough. She sat unhappily, figuring that to be better than pissing off Caine. He seemed nice, but she could easily envision him turning mean. Everyone had it in them, and she just wanted to avoid it.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I didn’t want you to leave, and I reacted before I’d had time to think it through.”
Who was he? Apologizing? Annalise was more concerned than anything. There were two sides to Caine, but he seemed determined to use the polite and proper side with her at all times. Curious as to his motives, she relaxed into her seat.
“Please, eat some food. At the risk of sounding arrogant, the money is nothing to me. I wish to spend more time with you, and this seems like the best way.”
It was arrogant. But also upfront, which certainly diluted it. Then there was the question of why he wanted to spend more time with her. There was nothing interesting about Annalise. She knew that, because she worked hard to make it that way. The less interesting she was, the less attention she would attract. It was a formula that had worked well for her the past few years. It was how she’d remained free.
Her stomach rumbled again, reminding her that it was excited at the prospect of food.
“Okay, I’ll stay and eat,” she agreed, giving in to her bodily demands. “But I don’t have the money to pay you back. I want that known up front.”
Caine nodded. “I wasn’t expecting you to.”
“I hate charity.” She was hungry. Starving really, and he seemed so determined to feed her. It wasn’t a situation she liked to find herself in.
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“A motel,” she said evasively, not wanting to give him an answer.
“Okay, I was just trying to figure out if it was near here or back toward Barton City.”
Annalise relaxed. He wasn’t after her exact location. That was good. “Near town. I was going to hitchhike back.”
Caine looked immediately unhappy at that idea. “Can you drive?”
“Yes…I don’t have a license, but I know how.”
“Fine. I’ll give you my car to get home. As payment for all that—if it’s acceptable with you—show up at Barton Heights Mall tomorrow at say, nine thirty in the morning.”
Annalise frowned. “Why?”
Caine smiled, though he kept his lips together, giving him a rather mischievous look. She wondered just what she was getting herself into.
“We’re going dress shopping.”