Just before he backed out of the door, the man smiled again, like he had a thought pop into his head.
“You’re Fischer’s daughter, right?” An alarm sounded in my head. Who was this guy?
“What?” I managed.
The bell on the door chimed when he leaned his back against the door frame.
“You look just like him.”
I was stunned into silence. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Please, please leave, I silently begged him. He turned around and hovered in the doorway. And in that moment, just as the door was slowly pulling closed, Kael appeared on the sidewalk. I thought I was going to pass out at the sight of him there.
Kael was illuminated under the streetlights. I wasn’t alone anymore.
“Martin?” The man knew Kael’s name. I don’t know why this web just kept surprising me.
Kael’s eyes searched my face.
“Are you okay?” he asked me, as he walked directly toward me, ignoring the man.
I nodded, confused, but felt my heart slow; the effect Kael had on me hadn’t diminished one bit. It was such a relief to have him here. Not only because of what had just happened, but because I wanted to see him. I knew I wanted to see him. I felt the air disappear from my lungs. They burned and my heart sped as I looked at him. His eyes took me in slowly before they darted around the lobby and he stepped inside. The man, Nielson, had taken off by the time I looked past Kael a moment later.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
He was dressed in all black, except for his typical stark-white sneakers. His hair was freshly buzzed and he was undeniably handsome, as always.
“You texted me. Did you not want me to come?” He took a step toward me.
I scoffed. “You didn’t reply.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked again. Nothing.
I held the phone up to show him the blank screen. Just my wallpaper of a sunset was there.
He shrugged his broad shoulders and looked into my eyes. “I came.”
“Why?” I was getting emotional already. I tried to reel it in and give him a moment to speak.
Kael’s expression softened and he shook his head slowly. I wished I could read his mind. “I’m sorry, I should have responded to your text. If you want me to go—”
I held my hand up. “No, I don’t want you to go,” I admitted.
The corner of his full lips twitched and pulled into a half-smile. “Good.”
I laughed, surprising myself. God, it felt so good to be near him. I grabbed my purse and walked toward him. I wanted to hug him, I wanted to hold on to him, I wanted to yell at him and laugh with him, I wanted to cry and scream and giggle and sit in silence. I didn’t have a fucking clue what I wanted. I didn’t know what to say to Kael or what the first step should be.
He seemed to sense my hesitation as he pushed the door open. “Shall we?” He waved his hand for me to go first.
I followed him outside and locked the shop door, forgetting about everything and everyone except Kael Martin.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Kael opened the door and I climbed into his truck. The familiar smell of him saturated my senses; my nerves were unwinding second by second. I tried not to think about how much was left unresolved between us or how much I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I didn’t know what the hell to say or do, so I just sat there, leaning my back against the seat, trying to gather my thoughts.
Kings of Leon’s first album was playing low through the speakers. I rolled down the passenger window to get some air. It smelled a little like fresh rain and earthworms. It helped calm me. The wind blowing, Kael driving, the loud thrum of the engine in this beast of a truck. It all helped calm me.
“Are you hot?” Kael’s voice was smooth as he put his seatbelt on.
“No. I’m okay.”
He smiled at me and I had to look away. I hated that my guard was slipping and slipping fast, but I felt a burst of relief when he looked at me, head tilted and lips parted. His eyes stayed on me. I could feel them but didn’t meet them.
“What?” I asked him, tucking my chin to my shoulder to hide my mouth.
“It feels good to breathe again,” he responded, and as I turned to look at him, his eyes were locked onto mine. I didn’t know how I could look away.
“You can’t just say something like that,” I teased him softly.
“I thought you wanted answers from me.”
I stared out the window as he continued to drive. “I do.”
Silence passed between us as he turned onto the main street, heading the opposite way from my house. I didn’t ask where we were going.
“Where do you want me to start?” His voice was so calming, so deep and comforting, even in this raw and uncertain moment.
“Well, how many lies were there?”
Kael sighed and the turn signal dinged as he waited at a red light. His eyes were on the road in front of us.
“I didn’t tell you about knowing your dad because when I went there that first week, I had no fucking idea that he was your dad, honest to God, Karina. I didn’t know before we walked in. I didn’t know anything about you. Yeah, I knew he had twins, but I didn’t know you or your brother. I thought you were just Elodie’s friend.”
Kael’s words gave me a hint of reassurance, but didn’t address why he had stayed silent about it for days and weeks after. “You’ve had plenty of time to talk to me and tell me what happened with my dad. But you never did.”
His jaw clenched, but his voice came out even. “At first, I didn’t tell you because you seemed so kind and my history with your dad was really complicated. It seemed easier not to get into all of that. Then we kept hanging out and then I started to—” He stopped as a flash of light illuminated the windshield.
He had swerved into another lane. A horn blared as Kael jerked the wheel to straighten the car and I caught my breath.
“Fuck, sorry.” Kael was looking straight ahead, his hands strangling the steering wheel.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
His chest was moving up and down like he was bursting with adrenaline and fear.
“Let’s just pull over here.” I pointed to a Dollar Tree across the intersection. He parked the car, but kept the ignition on. He switched the music off and turned his body to me.
“Are you okay?” he repeated. I nodded and he sighed, blowing air out of puckered lips.
We sat under the dim parking lot light and looked at each other, barely blinking, before I spoke, breaking the silence.
“Atlanta? Were you really not going to tell me that you bought a house there? You made me look like such an idiot in front of my dad, and you know how shitty that was for me.”
“I just closed on the property, literally the day your dad came to your house. I don’t know how he even knew that, but I had every intention of telling you that day. I came hoping to celebrate with you, actually. Hell, I even thought about trying to convince you to go with me . . . . The house is in bad shape, it’ll take me at least a year to get it ready to live in or sell.”
“Okay . . .” was all I could come up with. Deep down I really believed that he was telling the truth. I didn’t know why, but I just had a gut feeling that he wasn’t lying to me. Not about Atlanta, at least.