Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
They never made it past the first big department store.
The clothing they bought was too much to carry in one trip to the car.
Kara’s head was still spinning at the amount of money that must had been charged to Angelo’s credit card.
She’d lost count on the price tags after the first five hundred dollars, and Shana had hidden the receipts from her when Angelo had joined them as the last of her new clothing was rung up.
When she’d tried to ask how much it had been, Angelo had merely leaned into her with a smile and tucked a lock of her red hair behind her ear with gentle fingertips and a mischievous smile, telling her not to worry.
She hadn’t missed the delighted looks of the Shana, Felicity and Veronica who hovered nearby.
It was clear they were all so thrilled that Angelo had found someone.
How could they forget that this isn’t real? That Angelo and I are just pretending?
Kara had no answers, so she forced herself to figure out what she was going to do about the entire wardrobe that Angelo had bought her.
She had more outfits than she would ever have an occasion to wear. It would take four or five large suitcases to carry everything they’d bought today. All Kara could think was that so much of that would need to be left behind if she had to leave.
She hugged Shana, Felicity and Veronica goodbye and then she and Angelo helped Asher load the bags into the back of the SUV.
“Asher, we have one more place we’d like to stop,” Angelo said. “Go here.” He leaned forward toward the driver’s seat and pointed to an address on his phone.
“Sounds good.” Asher said casually as he pulled out into traffic.
Then he settled back and pulled Kara into his side. “Please tell me it’s not more clothes.” It had been fun to shop for a little while; she was definitely done now and refused to try on anything else. She was exhausted.
“I thought a bookstore might make up for the torture of buying a whole new wardrobe.” Angelo pulled her closer to him in the middle seat and put his arm around her waist, tucking her into his side.
She was getting more and more comfortable each time he touched her. Every touch felt so wonderful. She leaned into him, rested her head on his shoulder and nearly fell asleep before they reached the bookstore.
The bookstore was crowded with shoppers and the shelves were full of hundreds of books and almost instantly Kara relaxed.
Normally crowds upset her, but not bookstores.
Books and the stories inside them were the one place that she could truly escape and feel free.
She wasn’t going to buy anything. She couldn’t take anymore of Angelo’s money, so instead she’d just browse and make up a mental wish list for later.
She wound her way over to the romance section and noticed Angelo had followed her.
“Get whatever you want,” Angelo said as he watched her confused face.
“Angelo, you’ve already spent too much money on me.”
Angelo put his hands on her waist and gently pulled her toward him.
He leaned down, nuzzling her neck before he brushed his lips over her cheek.
His eyes were so brown and warm, pulling her into that sense of safety that she couldn’t deny.
His palms were hot enough that his heat sank through the fabric of her clothes.
The corners of his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. “There is no such thing as too many books. I’d buy you the entire store if you asked me to.”
He had such an easy way of being in that moment with her, and she felt herself relax bit by bit until she was leaning into him just as much as he was her. She didn’t care that they were being one of those embarrassing couples who showed public affection.
Someone let out a dreamy sigh behind Kara.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a young woman, with a half a dozen romantasy novels stacked in her arms, watching them.
Kara blushed, burying her face against Angelo’s neck and curled her fingers into his sweater.
His soft, warm chuckle rumbled out of his chest, vibrating her body with his delight.
He reminded her of a lion, stretched out in the sun, golden, warm, and playful but also so protective.
“Now, pick out as many books as you want, and maybe a journal?” He nodded toward a shelf full of incredibly beautiful looking journals and notebooks. “I know that you could use a new one.”
“You did? When?” She hadn’t pulled her notebook out in front of him. How could he know she had only a few pages left to write on?
“I… may have gone through your backpack when I was unpacking your clothes and putting them in my drawers.”
She arched a brow at him. “You know… we never did talk about that. About how you just moved me into your room like that.”
When she’d heard him arguing with his friends, she’d rushed to pack and found none of her clothes were in her suitcase. It had taken her a few minutes to find them in the chest of drawers where Angelo had put them. She hadn’t really had time to think about that until now.
Unabashedly smiling, he only rolled his eyes. “You were staying with me. I made room for you. I have room for you,” he emphasized. “I won’t apologize for that.”
“I heard that most men don’t like giving up the proverbial drawer when a woman moves in,” she said, attempting to tease him and it worked.
“Well,” he laughed softly. “I am quite ready to give up anything for the right woman. For you.” And just like that he was burrowing deeper into her heart and she couldn’t find a way to keep him out.
That terrified her more than anything else.
If she got too attached… her heart might not survive the loss.
Finally Kara released her hold on Angelo’s arms as she walked away to look at the journals.
She wrote poems, sometimes short stories, and until now she’d used cheap spiral notebooks.
The bookstore didn’t carry any basic, affordable notebooks.
They only had beautifully decorated ones with gilded edged pages.
“What are you looking for?” Angelo joined her at the journals, his face scanning the shelves.
“Something cheap, like you can find in a grocery store?” She cursed silently when it came out as a question.
His face turned back to hers, his brown eyes warm and fathoms deep. “Choose one with a cover that speaks to you, to your soul.” He waved his hand before the selection. “Which one says Kara?”
It caught her off guard that he pushed her to think about who she was, what she wanted, what she dreamed of.
Whereas her mother’s lessons for survival had so often suppressed those things, not because her mother had been cruel, but rather because she’d been a mother trying to keep her child alive and safe.
Her mother was gone, and this gorgeous man with a smile that made her knees wobbly, was asking her to find herself, find the Kara that should have been if she’d never had to live on the run.
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Kara turned to the journals with a serious focus and studied each of them carefully.
She finally settled on a journal that had a beautiful illustration of the night sky with constellations on the front and back covers.
Delighted at the promise of all of the pretty empty pages, she returned to Angelo.
He accepted the journal when she asked him to hold it, then she returned to the romance section.
Whenever she picked up a book and glanced his way, he’d wave her over to have her give him the book.
She stopped trying to argue with him after the fourth book.
If she lingered too long on one and then tried to sneak it back on the shelf, he would join her.
With a serious look directly at her, he’d remove the book from the shelf and make a deliberate show of tucking it in the basket he’d found somewhere that was now full of books.
It was a silent battle and she started to like losing when it came to buying books.
Losing meant she came home with more books.
“I think that’s enough,” Kara said with a flash of embarrassment but Angelo only grinned back at her.
He was almost always smiling. It had unnerved her at first, but now…
now she realized that it was simply because he was happy and she longed for some of that joy to come her way.
And that smile, while it could be seen for the rest of the world, seemed to feel like it was really just only for her, a smile that she brought out in him, a smile that bore her name.
He sees me, really sees me. He’s not walking away. He keeps coming back for more of… me.
What a scary, terrifying, wonderful feeling…
“We can always come back for more,” Angelo said matter-of-factly.
Always.
Oh how that single word promised her so much and hurt her at the same time.
“What is it?” he asked as he set the basket down cupped and her cheeks in his hands. Rather than try to hide she leaned into his palms. “Tell me,” he whispered. “What did I say to put that sorrow in your eyes?”
His gaze sought hers.
“I…” his concern was almost too much.
“Kara, talk to me. I need to know what not to say again.”
“It was always. I won’t be coming back here, Angelo. We both know that.” His concerned expression turned suddenly fierce. “You have to stop pretending I’m not leaving at some point.”
“You don’t know that. I’m going to keep you safe. I’ll do whatever I have to so you can stay.”
She didn’t have the strength to argue with him, especially not when he tucked her in his arms for a long hug, one that melted her resistance completely.
He made her feel so vulnerable, and she realized he was freeing her from being in constant survival mode.
With him, she could stop running even if only for a little while, to rest, to breathe, to regain her strength.
“We’ll head home soon. I just want to stop by the restaurant.”