Wanderlove

"Wow. Your b.o.o.bs look great in that dress!"

I immediately flinched. Dakota"s voice was just an octave higher than I would have liked it to be, resulting in several nearby people turning their heads in my direction. No doubt, everyone was debating for themselves if my b.o.o.bs really did look as good as she claimed.

"You don"t come with a filter, do you?" I asked, attempting to laugh the comment off and smiling for good show- even though I really just wanted to beat Dakota to death. This feeling increased more and more with each pair of eyes I noticed staring at my chest.

"Nope, sorry, I don"t come with one of those. By the way, doll, I have to say I may like this blue dress better than the silver."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I"m surprised Miriam kept it tucked away all these years. I wonder what else the old woman has hidden. I think I may snoop through her closets tomorrow."

I chuckled at that, this time genuinely amused. Miriam was full of surprises, it seemed. My eyes searched the room for my grandmother. I found her standing not too far away, laughing and telling a story in the midst of a crowd of older people. She looked stunning in her black, vintage ballroom gown. As usual, she continued to defy her age completely.

I scanned the ballroom in awe. It was exactly what I"d always imagined one might look like. . .There were giant, glittering chandeliers. Twinkle lights. A ma.s.sive, marble dance floor. It was like a scene out of a movie. A scene in which I"d never imagined myself playing a part in.

"Champagne?" Dakota asked me as she offered a flute. "Knowing the Constantins, it"s probably the best."

"Sure, thank you. Cheers."

Our gla.s.ses clinked as they touched. "To a night to remember," Dakota toasted before we sipped.

"It"s good," I said after letting the flavor linger on my tongue.

Dakota shrugged. "I wouldn"t know," she told me. "I"m not much of a connoisseur. I"m used to dorm room keg parties."

"Well, you"re not dressed for a keg party tonight. Did I mention how lovely you look? You remind me of a fairy princess."

"Thanks, doll." She smiled. My compliment was no exaggeration. Dakota was wearing a bright pink chiffon dress, which glittered in the light. The color was daring and stood out in the crowd, but it was also flattering, feminine and completely Dakota"s style.

As I looked around some more, I spotted Cam near the buffet tables. I excused myself from Dakota so I could go over there and greet him.

On the way, I happened to pick up pieces of random conversations. One of them caught my attention as soon as I heard who was being talked about.

"Have you seen Gabe tonight?" A blonde girl asked her friend.

"Yes, I did. He looks absolutely gorgeous."

"I agree. Gorgeous-- and newly single."

"Shut up! I thought he was engaged?"

"Nope. He broke it off with that Annika girl."

"OmiG.o.d, I bet she"s devastated."

"I certainly would be."

A short pause pa.s.sed between the friends before one of them suggested, "What do you say we make our rounds? Now that Gabe is single, I think I"ll ask him to dance with me."

"Not if I ask him first."

I shook my head. Stupid, shameless girls, I thought. I had a strange yearning to trip both of them as they walked past me.

And then I shook my head at myself. Who was I kidding? I was the stupid one.

I really needed to curb these bizarre, irrational thoughts. They were starting to freak me out a little bit and I was afraid that one day I might possibly act on them.

Gabe is not yours, I tried reminding myself. Don"t know where you ever got that idea from, but get it out of your head right now! There"s a lot of wine going around here tonight and Annika is somewhere in this room. You don"t want her to ruin your mother"s dress, too, do you?

Eventually, I realized I was standing in the middle of the ballroom talking to myself. But thankfully, not aloud. I quickly continued on to the buffet tables before anyone noticed how crazy I was behaving. When I finally reached Cam, I placed my hands over his eyes as he had done to me earlier.

"Guess," I said to him.

"Could it be the loveliest girl here, wearing that gorgeous blue gown?"

I released my hold on him and grinned. "Good guess. And thank you for the indirect compliments."

Cam turned to face me. "So where did you run off to earlier? I looked for you everywhere, but couldn"t find you. Molly said she thought you went home."

"Did she?" I asked casually. "Well, she was right. I did go home. I had a. . .stomach ache. I think I may have ate too many of those hors d"oeuvres."

He eyed me with concern. "Are you okay now?"

"Yep." I smiled. "I"m feeling much better."

"Well, in that case, care to dance?" Cam offered.

I shook my head warily. "I"m not much of a dancer."

He raised a disbelieving brow. "You"re telling me you"re a Moori gypsy and you don"t know how to dance?"

"First of all, I"ve never danced on stage before. I was never allowed to perform with the troupe. Second of all, I only know some belly dance, because Lina liked company when she practiced," I explained. "But even so, it"s definitely not the same as ballroom dancing. I"m not up for making a fool out of myself in public."

Cam stared at me strangely. After a moment, he offered, "Should I ask the band to play something Arabic?"

I chuckled. "Not on your life. But thanks, anyway."

"Are you sure? I don"t believe I"ve seen a live belly dance performance. In this life, anyway. They may even know a Shakira song."

"Now you"re making fun."

"Not at all," he told me sincerely. "It is something I would definitely be interested in watching."

"I"ll bet," I mumbled.

"So who was this famous belly dancer friend of yours? She was in your tribe?"

"My troupe," I corrected him. "We are a small group of traveling performers. I"m not sure you would consider us large enough to be a tribe. And my friend"s name is Lina Drynski. You can You Tube her and probably find her online. She"s well-known throughout Europe and the Middle East."

"Amazing," he said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"That you wanted to leave. You seemed to have the life we all dream of."

I could see that he would think of my life that way, especially while Cam"s family had opted for a more stationary way of living.

"I had my reasons," I said, not really caring to delve into it any more than that. Thankfully, I didn"t have to because one of Cam"s friends from Frightwell and Black"s approached us.

They exchanged the American slap hug I noticed only men seemed to do with other men. Less touching involved, I supposed.

"How"s it going, bro? The party is awesome, as usual."

"Thanks, Drew. Glad you could make it."

"Wouldn"t dream of missing it," he said. And then he turned his attention to me. "So, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Cam smiled. "Ah, of course. Lola, meet Drew Baskerfield. Drew, meet Lola Moori. I"m surprised you two never ran into each other at school."

Drew was tall with brown hair and an athletic build. I suppose he was attractive, in a nondescript kind of way.

"So this is the new girl everyone is talking about?"

Cam nodded. "This would be her."

I shook Drew"s hand as he offered it to me. "And just what are people saying?" I asked pointedly.

Drew grinned, a little devilishly. "That you"re the most beautiful girl here tonight. And I definitely have to agree."

I didn"t blush, thankfully. But I was certainly surprised by Drew"s forwardness and I momentarily lost my train of thought.

Cam chuckled. "Now look what you did. She"s lost her voice."

"I sometimes have the tendency to that to beautiful women."

I nearly choked on that line. "Cam, are all of your friends so--"

"Smooth?" Drew offered for me, stepping closer.

I took a step backwards. "I was going to say c.o.c.ky."

He shook his head. "No, I"m sure that can"t be the right word."

I had to smile. As smug as this Drew kid seemed to be, he was rather amusing.

"Dance with me?" Drew held out his hand as if I would automatically let him sweep me across the dance floor.

"No, thanks."

Cam chimed in with, "Don"t look so bent out of shape, bro. She wouldn"t say yes to me, either. And I haven"t spent the last few minutes feeding her those so called "smooth" lines."

Drew dramatically placed a hand over his chest, pouting. "You"ve broken my heart."

"I"m positive it will heal all the same," I a.s.sured him very sweetly.

"Course it will," a new voice said from behind Drew and I froze.

Gabe stepped around Drew, standing between us. I held my breath.

"Lola is a neighbor and a friend, which means off limits to you, Baskerfield."

He really was as handsome as I"d heard those girls say earlier. Dressed for the occasion, Gabe was very striking in his black tux with his hair combed back. It took me nearly a whole minute before I remembered how to breathe again.

Drew didn"t take offense to Gabe"s comment. Instead, he grinned and said, "What"s up, policeman?"

Gabe didn"t return Drew"s grin. He only asked, "Cam still hasn"t learned to steer clear of you yet?"

"Nope. Not yet."

"I keep telling him that his friends are supposed to be good influences."

"Ah, but where"s the fun in that?"

Cam rolled his eyes and pushed Drew by the back of his arm, leading him away. "Come on, Drew. I don"t think my brother wants to speak to either one of us."

"Okay, fine. I get the hint." Before they walked away, Drew turned his head around and winked at me. "Hope to catch up with you later, Lola."

"Um. Yeah. Sure," I offered awkwardly.

It took me a moment for it to completely sink in that I had been left alone with Gabe. I wondered why Cam felt it was necessary to do so. This whole situation was extremely uncomfortable and I was more than a little embarra.s.sed. Had Gabe made it clear to his brother he wanted to speak with me?

"I"m glad you came. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Gabe explained. "You know, after what happened last night."

I almost sighed in relief. So Gabe never intended this to look like he wanted to speak with me just for the sole purpose of speaking with me- because that would be weird, obviously. And then everyone would suspect that I was into Gabe. And then they may suspect that Gabe was into me, which would be even weirder considering the age difference.

Nope, this was just polite conversation.

"I"m fine," I breathed, smiling. I"m crazy, irrational and I overa.n.a.lyze every little thing about you, but I"m fine.

"I hope so," he told me. There was a sweet sincerity in his voice. "I just figured I would check up on you and make sure you were all right. I know from personal experience that detachment from one"s tribe can be a very difficult thing to go through."

I wondered what Gabe meant by that. I knew he was an abandoner, like me, but I never knew what his family had gone through to become what they were. I desperately wanted to ask him, to know any little details about his life, and the question lingered on the tip of my tongue for a while...but I stopped myself from asking.

Every time I found out something about Gabe, I only wanted to know more and more. It was better just not asking. Gabe is not yours, I reminded myself for the millionth time. He just happens to be somewhat considerate of others (when he"s not being an arrogant a.s.s). And that is the only reason he is checking up on me.

I was disappointed, but I knew there should be boundaries between us. And for Annika"s sake, I shouldn"t cross them. So I smiled, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice as I said, "Thank you. I appreciate it. But I swear I"m fine. I"m happy with Miriam."

He nodded, solemnly. I wasn"t sure if he believed me or not this time. His face was as expressionless as it was that first day I met him on the docks, and he didn"t say anything.