Chapter 42
After her father insisted on paying for dinner, which Kylan was most ardently against, she bid her father farewell with the promise she would come to visit him on his boat tomorrow.
With one final parting hug, she watched as he began the walk back to his apartment that was not far from the Waterfront.
She sighed, folding her arms across her chest, and watching as he disappeared from view.
“Your father is likely the least insufferable man I’ve ever spoken with Kylan said from next to her.
She scoffed at him and shook her head, but she was grinning. “What did you say to him in French at the end? I only understood part of it,” she asked him, turning her body so that she was facing him.
Kylan hummed, taking a deep breath and then reaching a hand out to brush the backs of his fingertips against her cheek. “Vous avez froid” came his murmured reply.
She shivered, but she wasn’t certain if it was because of the cold this time. Tim not that cold, she protested quietly
kylan smiled, actually smiling at her. “No, I don’t suppose you are. I don’t think you have a cold bone in her body, Katrina Morgan,” he whispered
Pping forward and wrapping his arms around her waist suddenly.
She was
was caught off guard, but the gesture wasn’t an unwelcome one. She rested her hands on his chest, picking a piece sweater’s otherwise perfect surface. “I don’t know, Kylan. In the third grade, I stole a candy bar from the convenience store. I didn’t even tell my
stray lint from off his dad about it, either. And then I ate the whole thing in one go.”
Kylan shook his head at her, but his eyes were soft. So soft.
“I’m serious, Kylan, It was king–sized, too. So damn big and delicious. I never felt bad about it. Nope. She smiled up at him, noticing how almost angelic he looked in the glow of both the moonlight and lampposts alike.
“Mmm, you stole a candy bar. What other awful transgressions must you confess to, Kate! Kylan asked quietly, leaning down and resting his forehead against hers
She didn’t blink, didn’t move. Didn’t do anything that might pull him out of the strange mood he was in. It had to be the alcohol in both of their systems, that was the only explanation for any of what was happening.
“Well, I once lied to my childhood best friend when I babysat her betta fish and it died. 1 didn’t have the heart to tell her, and I bought her a new fish that was identical to it instead.” Her voice was soft, her breath brushing over Kylan’s face as she spoke.
“How unbelievable. You should have told her the truth.” Kylan was teasing her, she realized
She smiled at him. I should have. She agreed with him. “What about you, though? What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” she asked him, the wine thrumming through her veins causing her to be bolder than she normally would have the courage to be.
Kylan frowned at her, but he didn’t pull away from where he still rested against her forehead. “A lot of broken hearts, Katrina. A lot of broken promises” was all he offered her.
“There’s a lot of warmth to you too, Kylan. I wish she believed that Even if it was the alcohol talking, she felt it was important he knew and that he honestly believe her.
“You only think that because of her own warmth, Kate.” Kylan lifted his hands and tenderly held either side of her face. “I promise, you like the jagged layers of ice that reside underneath my surface.” He practically ghosted over the words, his sweet–smelling breath caressing her skin
wouldn’t
now.
Instant chills. Instant raised skin. A quickened heart rate. A dizzying, fuzzy, warmth filled her body entirely.
“That’s not true,” she mumbled back, pressing herself closer to Kylan.
So close, she could smell the pi
the pine, the mint, his soap, and hell. She could smell him. Just him. Just Kylan:
“We’re at an impasse then, I suppose,” Kylan whispered
His eyes took in her face, her own eyes mirroring his. The air was charged with that electricity again, only made more intense by the wine she consumed. More than that though, she felt drawn to Kylan Pulled to him. Magnetized by him.
If you don’t kiss me, I’m not certain I’ll be able to sto
And then his lips, his full, soft, beautiful lips, were on hers. Palling, twisting, pushing against hers. And she kissed him back, holding him close, turning her head every which way to deepen the kiss
His fingers gripped her hair, her fingers held his sides, and she stood there kissing. Molding into one another, not caring a single bit about anyone that might still be walking by.
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Chapter 42
She was warm. Impossibly, comfortably, warm.
All too soon, Kylan pulled away from her. He studied her, his grey eyes as convoluted as the sea during a tumultuous storm. “I’m certain someone probably took a picture, right?” He asked quietly, his voice an octave lower than usual.
“Mmm, ‘course. Can’t forget the contract, can we?” she mused, not stepping away from him.
Kylan smiled down at her ever so slightly and then he kissed both of her cheeks softly before he dropped his hands from her face. “Let’s go to bed. Kate.” He took hold of her hand and she held his tightly back.
Her heart felt as busy as Kylan’s eyes had just appeared to be. Her father’s words, and even Aaron’s words, echoed in her mind.
Katrina has a big heart, Kylan
Yeah, and her big heart was about to ruin everything if she wasn’t careful.
Her b
big heart called out to Rylan, and she was only half convinced it was still just because of the alcohol.
If she was honest with herself, she was certain she had actually never felt soberer.
