Velvet by Temple West Page A

at him. “You can do that?”
    He smiled his half smile and it looked a little bit wicked. “I can do a lot of things.”
    Well, then.
    We walked side by side in the quiet forest. Before I knew it, we were back at the house. When I opened the front door, Rachel looked frantic as she came and enveloped me in a hug.
    “I thought something had happened to you! Are you all right?” She looked down at me and blinked. “Why are your clothes all wet?”
    “My apologies, Mrs. Master,” Adrian stepped in. “I forgot to give Caitlin her birthday present at school, so I was walking over here when we ran into each other on the road. We started a snowball fight,” he grinned sheepishly, believably, “and I accidentally pushed her into a pile of snow.”
    “Oh,” Rachel said, unsure of what to make of this.
    “It was slushy snow,” I clarified.
    “Very slushy,” Adrian confirmed.
    “Well, come in! Dry yourself off. I was going to start dinner soon; why don’t you stay?”
    “Thank you,” he said, stepping into the house and pulling me with him. “I’d really appreciate that.”
    “Just hang up your wet things on the rack there. Would you like some coffee?”
    He grinned. “I’d love some.”
    Rachel smiled and went off into the kitchen. As soon as she was out of earshot, Adrian murmured, “Consider me your personal shadow from here on out.”
    “Why?” I whispered back.
    He frowned. “I guess I forgot to mention that part.”
    I jumped at the sound of my aunt speaking. “Caitlin, get out of that sweater; it’s soaked! Here you go,” she said, handing Adrian a cup of coffee. “Do you want any sugar or creamer?”
    “No, ma’am; black’s just fine.”
    Rachel grinned at him. Of course he drank it black. And of course he said “ma’am.”
    “I’ll be right back,” I said, hobbling up the stairs as fast as my half-numb limbs would allow. I closed the door to my bedroom and leaned against it.
    What had just happened? I shivered violently and realized I could think about it much better after I got warm. I tugged everything off and threw on dry clothes, then headed downstairs. Adrian was sitting at the kitchen table with his cup of coffee, talking to my aunt. When she saw me, she smiled.
    “Why don’t you and Adrian watch a movie until dinner’s ready?”
    “It’s okay, I can help,” I said, stalling.
    “No, no; it’s your birthday, you’re banned from the kitchen.”
    Adrian smiled. “I’m up for a movie.”
    I narrowed my eyes at him, but there was nothing I could do and he knew it. We headed into the living room.
    “What’d you say to her?” I whispered.
    “Nothing much.”
    I gave him a look.
    He shrugged. “Just that I was very happy you had come to Stony Creek, and I was having a wonderful time getting to know you.”
    I scowled at him and he smiled at me. I rolled my eyes. “Fine then. What do you want to watch?”
    “It’s your birthday,” he said with a lazy smile. “Why don’t you choose?”
    I grabbed a random DVD from the pile, and popped it into the player, then headed for the armchair. Before I could sit, Adrian grabbed my hand and patted the seat next to him on the couch. I looked at him and shook my head no.
    “I’m cold,” he said. “I gave you all my body heat, remember?”
    I snorted. “Way to play the guilt card.”
    But I sat next to him. He took the throw from the back of the couch and wrapped it around me, then leaned into the corner of the couch and pulled me against his chest in a very non-platonic manner.
    “Are you crazy?” I whispered in his ear. “My aunt is right over there!”
    “Do you want to sell the story?” he murmured, looking at the TV. “Wouldn’t you rather have them wonder if something is going on between us than wonder if they should ever let you out of their sight because you might do something stupid?”
    I gaped at him, fishlike.
    “Besides,” he said, settling into the sofa, “I still need to warm up. And if I remember