“Star, you have company.” Mom said, walking back into the kitchen with a devilish smirk on her face.
I paled. “Mom, please tell me you didn’t—” my words cut off abruptly as I saw who walked in behind her.
With a predatory gleam in his dark eyes, Andrei walked in, arms crossed across his broad, muscular chest. I felt my breath catch as I locked gazes with him. His eyes slowly traveled over my body, causing me to flush as if he was physically touching every part that his eyes landed on. He paused as he reached my chest. His eyes narrowed, the gold flecks becoming more prominent. He winked as his gaze finally returned to my face.
I snapped my gaze away from him and looked at Rose helplessly. She smirked in return, gesturing for me to talk to Andrei. Lord kill me now.
“Star, where’s your manners?” Mom smiled politely at him, an odd gleam in her eyes. She didn’t miss his perusal.
“Oh, sorry Mom.” I cleared my throat and looked quickly at Andrei. “Mom, this is Andrei. Andrei, this is my mother, Eleanor.”
“Very nice to meet you, Mrs. McKinley.” He said, reaching out to shake her hand with a beautiful smile on his face. My eyes widened as she blushed. Were no women safe around him?
“Nice to meet you.” She got out. She shook her head and threw a look my way. Yeah Mom, I know how you feel. “Star hasn’t mentioned you, so I’m afraid I’m at a loss. Do you two go to school together?”
He chuckled. “No, I go to Rosewood Academy. I met Star over the summer, though I’m surprised she’s never mentioned me.” He raised a brow at me. Please oh Lord, or whomever is up there, just do me a favor and smite me.
I felt both of their gazes on me. I panicked, not knowing who to look at. “Mom, I did mention Andrei to you.”
She frowned and looked at me curiously. “You did? I don’t remember that. All I remember is you saying something about running into a jer—” her eyes widened as she caught on. “Oh, this is who you were talking about.”
I felt my entire face flush. I looked quickly at Andrei. Seeing the amused look on his face, I quickly looked away. “Yup. This is who I was talking about.”
“I see, well—” she looked pointedly to Brandon and Rose who were standing back, taking everything in with amused grins plastered to their faces. “We’ve got to go look for some jewelry to go with your costume.” She gestured for them to go ahead of her, effectively herding them out of the kitchen. “It was nice to meet you, Andrei.” She said on her way out.
“You too, ma’am.”
I clasped my fingers in front of me. “So—” I leaned against the wall. “What are you doing here?”
He walked toward me and ever so slowly looked me over again, taking in even more this time than before. I couldn’t breathe with his hot gaze upon my body. My god, if the outfit doesn’t kill me, he will.
“I haven’t seen you in a while, and I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He stopped when he was only an inch away from me.
I could feel his body heat like a wave moving against me. I wanted to lean into him, become consumed by him. I shook my head, making my body go rigid. I wouldn’t give into the mad rush of desire sweeping through me. Couldn’t.
“I’m okay.”
He tilted his head to the side, studying me. “Somehow, I don’t believe that.”
I felt myself stiffen and returned his gaze evenly. “Well, I am, so no worries. Thanks for stopping by.”
He straightened and traced my cheek lightly with his fingertips, causing a delicious shiver to race through me. I bit my lip and looked up into his eyes.
“Still feisty— Hmm, I like that.” With a wink he lightly tapped my nose, then turned around and headed for the door.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as the door closed behind him. I shook my head and straightened, trying to keep steady on wobbly knees. “Jesus, I’m pathetic.” I was angry at myself for being so affected by him. Angry that even though he was gone, I still felt him with me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I walked out of the kitchen and went in search of Brandon, Rose and Mom. I couldn’t get out of the corset by myself. All I really wanted to do was just curl up in bed and go to sleep.
They were gathered in my parent’s room. Rose lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling while Mom and Brandon went through her massive jewelry case.
“Can someone help me get out of this damn contraption?”
Mom glanced up and laid a piece of jewelry on her dresser. “Did he leave so soon?”
“Yeah, don’t sound so disappointed. Oh, and by the way, thanks for being a traitor.” I glared at her as she made her way behind me to untie the laces.
She sighed and met my gaze. “I wasn’t being a traitor. I just think that you shouldn’t be so shy about how beautiful you are. I’d love it if you would start dating.”
I laughed bitterly and shook my head. “Mom, as I’ve told these goobers,” I gestured to Brandon and Rose, “I’ve got enough going on in my life right now without having to worry about a guy.”
I took a deep breath of life giving oxygen as she pulled the last of the laces free. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I know, Mom.” I stepped out of the skirt, beyond happy to be out of that damn outfit. “Alright guys, I think it’s time for you hit the road. I’ve had enough fun for one day.”
“Finally,” Rose sighed as she stood up. “I’m freaking exhausted.”
“You going to be okay Star?” Brandon asked, concerned.
I waved him off and walked down the stairs with them. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. All of this took my mind off of what happened today.”
“Figured it would.” Rose replied, bumping into my shoulder.
I opened the front door and leaned heavily against the handle. “Rose.” I called softly as they were walking through. Brandon looked back at us and waved as he walked toward his car.
“What’s up, buttercup?” She asked, eyebrow raised.
“Look, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I didn’t mean to say it.”
She brushed it off and started to turn. “No biggie. I’ve heard worse from smarter.”
I reached out and stopped her progress. “No, it is a biggie. I shouldn’t have said it. You’ve been nothing but nice to me and have been dealing with all of this better than I have. You’re a good friend.”
“Great, now if someone can just break out a guitar, we can all sing a rendition of
“Yup, all done. Wouldn’t want to horrify you with gooey love- love stuff.”
“Good, glad we got that out of the way.” She said flippantly. She paused and looked over her shoulder at me. “Did you find anything while you were putting the things away in the attic?” she asked softly, looking quickly at Brandon.
I felt my heart rate speed up. I tried to keep my face and breathing calm. “No,” I lied. “I didn’t find anything except for a massive dust bunny.” I swallowed my guilt and looked levelly at Rose, hoping that she’d buy it.
After a quiet scrutinization, she nodded. “Well, that sucks. Maybe you’re right and there really isn’t anything up there.”
“Yup,” I began to close the door. “I’ll see you later.” Rose waved a final time as I closed it. I let out a ragged sigh of relief. “Why did I lie to her?” I tried to shake off the guilt as I headed to my bedroom door, wanting to hurry and get back to the book.
“Star?” Mom called out, rounding the corner.
I froze and looked longingly at the door. “Yeah, Mom?”
