Chapter 17 #2
“Nope. Kendra doesn’t need me until the raffle, so I’m free as a bird. And you already know what services I provide to the elderly.”
Kate rolls her lips in and clamps down, but I swear there’s an amused flicker before it’s snuffed out. Her date’s smile remains uncertain as he glances between us.
Since Kate has obviously forgotten her manners, I breeze closer and shake the guy’s hand. I’m the bigger man after all—by at least two inches and twenty pounds of muscle, but who’s counting?
“I’m Brandon, Kate’s co-worker.” I catch myself before I wink again, because Kate’s already confirmed she’s packing heat and won’t hesitate to pepper spray me.
“I’m Tanner Evans, Kate’s… date.”
So, they’re not ready for labels but serious enough for a plus-one?
“And how did you two meet?” I ask through an easy smile.
“I work at the hospital with her dad, and her mom…” Tanner grins cheekily down at Kate, who chuckles and swats his shoulder like they have an inside joke. “Well, let’s just say we got Vivian Rochester-Chenned, and it’s been roses ever since.”
Jealousy turns my smile brittle. I never got to meet any of Kate’s family.
“How adorable. So, you’ve met her parents?” I ask.
“Yeah, and her sister. Oh, and Liza’s fiancé, too, I guess.”
Understanding grows and gathers like a snowball down a mountain.
Liza’s getting married? Kate must be shattered. No wonder she’s acting weird.
Concern for her wells in my chest. Without thinking, I reach out to touch her arm, but I rally and scratch my nose instead.
“That’s awesome,” I say.
Kate isn’t buying it, but Tanner looks relieved.
I adopt a professional tone. “And Kate, Kendra told me to update you on the ‘No Touchy Emergency Protocol’ right away.” My face is an apologetic mask as I turn to Tanner. “This will only take a minute, but it is proprietary museum information, so…” I tip my head toward the exit.
Kate starts to argue right as Tanner says, “Okay, I’ll give you guys some privacy. I’ll just move on to the next checkbox. Where is it?”
Kate levels me with the cutest glare as she grits out, “Venetian exhibit. Third floor.”
Tanner’s halfway down the hall when I shout, “Actually, it’s the second floor. They moved it.”
She shoves the shoulders of my tuxedo with her small hands. “What are you doing? They didn’t move an entire exhibit, you idiot.”
“I know.” I smirk. “He’ll figure it out.”
“Did you forget about my right hook? Or do you want me to punch you again?”
“You can do anything you want to me, love.”
She scowls harder, and I grin.
“And the ‘No Touchy Protocol?’ What are you, twelve?” she says.
“Thirteen, actually. And you forgot ‘Emergency.’”
Her arms smack her sides. “There is no emergency!”
“Yes, there is. I clearly said, ‘No Touchy Emergency Protocol.’”
Frustration draws her closer to me like a magnet.
“What do you want, Brandon?” Her gravelly voice is dead serious, and her eyes hold mine in a death grip.
The tiniest whiff of strawberries from her lips carries on her breath, and my bow tie is suddenly too tight. A tiny voice in the back of my mind screams at me to move on. Stop setting myself up for rejection.
My five-foot-four kryptonite blinks up at me, and I can’t admit defeat. I may never get over Kate, but I’m sure going to try to get through to her.
“Who are you pretending to be?”
She cocks her head to the side, black curls grazing her shoulder. “What?”
“Whoever this is”—I zigzag a finger through the air across her face, and she shoves it away—“it’s not Kate.”
Her cheeks flush and her left knee bounces, but she throws her shoulders back. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t, do you?” I step closer, neck craned, as Kate backs against the entryway wall. I swear her breath quickens as I rest a forearm above her head, but her expression looks bored.
“If you can truly be yourself with him, prove it.”
“I don’t need to prove anything to you,” she snaps.
“I dare you,” I whisper, and her wide eyes flit to mine.
“Show him the real you. The goofy, sassy, sexy Kate. The one who hates losing. Speaking of which, I’m sure that the real you would just hate”—I tap a fingernail against my clipboard on my thigh—“if I happened to finish this list before you and your boyfriend.”
“He’s not—” Kate’s smart mouth responds before she can clamp her lips shut.
“He’s not?” My smirk tips sideways.
“Not yet, anyway,” she says cooly. “But he will be. And you really think I’m so childish to race through a museum to prove a point that I don’t need to prove?”
“Not childish. Spontaneous.” My gaze languidly roves over every inch of her face as I murmur, “Bold. Independent. Someone who makes up her own mind about what she wants.” I lean closer. “What do you want?”
“I-I…” Her breath comes in uneven bursts. She watches me like I’m a caged tiger: dangerous enough to be wary of, but also interesting and exciting. “I-I think… I want to do this.”
She slaps the clipboard out of my hand, and it clatters to the marble tile. I’ve barely scooped it up before I see her long hair whipping around the corner to the elevator.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I chuckle darkly.
But the dumb pen from my clipboard is nowhere to be found, and after too many seconds, I spot it and chase after her. I can hear her genuine laugh echoing down the hall as I barrel down it at breakneck speed. Thankfully, this wing of the museum is devoid of guests at the moment.
The elevator doors are closing with Kate inside, still laughing her head off.
My smile is so big it hurts, and I try to memorize the sound of her laugh. It’s been an eternity since I’ve heard it.
Just before the sliver of Kate’s face disappears, she waggles her fingers and blows me a kiss.
I’m so shocked that I almost slam into the closed elevator. Did I imagine that? Did I fall and bash my head while I was running, and now I’m hallucinating?
My chest is heaving, but my thoughts keep racing. She didn’t mean that. Of course she didn’t. She’s a tease—always has been.
I jab the elevator button, pacing and slapping the clipboard against my thigh.
I’m ninety percent positive she didn’t mean it. She’s likely cussing herself out, but she still did it. In her reckless, most real version of herself, she still did it.
Because on some level, she wanted to.
A smile blooms on my face.
I’ll let her win this time, since I’m a gentleman and all.
But give me time, and I’m going to win her back.