“Darla, your daughter and I are on a date,” he said, promising sensual retribution that made her toes curl, while giving her more of the evil eye, “to discuss the fact she’s seen me in a vision getting murdered in a kitchen. It is a date.”
She heard her mama laughing through the phone.
“Oh, my,” Darla sighed, still laughing. “Kyle. May I call you Kyle? I most certainly know you are on a date. Aislinn is not the only one who can see things. I just wanted to hear her say it.” She chuckled again. “She’s a tough nut to crack though and David hasn’t made things easy for you.”
“Yes, ma’am, I know that.”
“Right. Well then, I think I need to get off the phone so you can finish your date. How’s your steak, dear?”
Aislinn had heard it all and she got the smug satisfaction of seeing him whip the phone off his ear and stare at it, then his steak, then back at the phone as if it had grown horns.
“My mother’s talent is far more advanced than mine,” she explained and stuck her tongue out at him.
“It’s fine,” he answered Darla calmly.
“Good. Good. I’ll say goodbye now.”
“Goodbye, Mama,” Aislinn called, loud enough her mother could hear.
“Ma’am.” Kyle nodded and flipped the lid closed before sticking the phone back in its holster. “You happy now?”
Was she happy? Couldn’t he tell? She was ecstatic, bouncing in her seat. Hearing her mother’s voice was a balm to her senses.
She tilted her head and studied him as he picked up his fork again. “Thank you.”
He eyed her over his wineglass, took a sip, set it carefully down and said, “You’re welcome.” His face radiated sincerity and her heart thumped. This man was absolutely the polar opposite of David.
David had told her what she’d wanted to hear. After pondering what had gone wrong in the relationship, she’d realized everything David had done to her had been brainwashing, plain and simple. Post escape—because it had been an escape from the bastard—it had taken her a long time to come to terms with her inability to see through his exterior to the man he truly was.
Kyle was different. At least, so far he hadn’t tried to act anything like David, who in hindsight had basically stalked her from the moment they met. At first she’d seen him as sweet, showering her with gifts and taking her to shows and dinner all the time. She’d thought it was because he liked spending time with her. Instead, he’d wanted to mold her into his perfect idea of a wife. It wasn’t until they were married his true colors had come out.
Kyle pointed at her plate with his fork. “Eat. Your food’s getting cold.”
She looked down at the creamy pasta and her stomach growled. Kyle snorted and she laughed. A few minutes ago she’d thought she’d choke if she took a bite, now she found herself ravenous.
Scooping up a spoonful, she savored the richness. She’d never eaten here before, couldn’t afford to. It was a different taste than any other Pasta con Broccoli dish she’d had before. Almost had a kick to it. She shrugged and dug in.
“Good?”
Aislinn nodded. “It’s different,” she said, echoing her thoughts.
“You should try the lasagna next time, it’s excellent. What they’re known for.”
She raised a brow. “Next time?”
“Yes.” His eyes begged her to disagree. He dug into his steak again. “You love your mother.”
“Well, yeah, don’t you love your mother?”
“Sure, but you have a different relationship with your mom then I do with mine. My parents worked hard all their lives providing for us and doing whatever they could to give my sister and me the best life possible. She cried when I told her I wanted to join the Navy and be a SEAL. She supported me and the pride was evident, but deep down I knew she hated my decision.”
“What mother wouldn’t?” Hers probably. Darla Campbell would have already seen it in a vision, along with any outcomes and would have kissed her daughter on the forehead and told her to go forth and make a difference. God only knows why her mother hadn’t seen the disaster David would become. “Wondering if you were safe every second of the day while you were gone must have been sheer torture for her.”
“I’m sure it was,” he agreed, “but I get the feeling you had an entirely different upbringing. And I can see you being much closer to your mother than I am to mine.”
“Maybe that’s because I’m a girl.”
Fork halfway to his mouth, he paused. “My sister doesn’t get along with Mom.”
“Your sister is fifteen. I didn’t get along with mine either at fifteen.”
“Good point.” His eyes twinkled and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Now. Tell me about this kitchen.”
Aislinn choked on the piece of broccoli she’d been chewing. The man needed the word persistent tattooed on his forehead. He already knew about the clairvoyance but that didn’t make it any easier to talk about.
“Maybe it was just a dream.”
“Do you always dream of killing off your employers?”
“I bet more than three-quarters of the world dream of killing the people they work for.”
“Perhaps,” he spoke around a bite of potato. “But you don’t just dream. I’ve watched you at work.”
Her face paled as she searched her memory for anything she might have said or done at work. No specific instances came to mind.
“You’re very good at covering yourself, and the couple of times you weren’t capable, I stepped in. Don’t worry, sweetheart.”
“Don’t worry? Not many people outside of my mother know what I can do, and I’d kinda like to keep it that way,” she said through gritted teeth. No sense in letting the entire restaurant in on her secret. “You have no idea how people treat you when they know. I become some kind of carnival freak show.”
“I don’t—”
“Not to mention all the people who want to test you and poke you and prod you like a pincushion.”
“Ais—”
“And then there are the people who’d like to lock you up in a loony bin on the premise of, ‘We don’t want you to hurt yourself’, all the while patting you on the back and twirling their finger in a circle beside their ear. So you’ll have to excuse me if I worry about people getting too close.”
Kyle sat back in his chair and studied her for a moment. She felt like a newfound species.
“Are you done?”
Aislinn straightened from her position leaning over the table so she wouldn’t have to shout. A quick glance around showed she hadn’t succeeded. Several patrons whispered and stared.
Great.
“I can honestly say I’ve never seen the temper. I think I like it.” Kyle looked ready to drag her out of here. His eyes glowed with heated promises.
“You would,” she muttered.
“For the record, I don’t think any of those things about you. Okay, I’m lying, I don’t want you to hurt yourself, but I promise not to lock you away. Keep eating so everyone will stop looking at you.”
She did. The food was good, no reason it should go to waste because she’d had a hissy fit.
“If you’ve seen something pertaining to me and, oh I don’t know, my death, then yes, I want to know about it. I’m not ready to die, sweetheart. I haven’t gotten the chance to sink my cock so deep inside you, you don’t know where you end and I begin yet. Trust me, that time is coming.”
Aislinn sucked in a breath at his outrageously sincere comment as he looked at her from beneath his lashes.
“What makes you think I’ll allow you to?” Christ, her pussy creamed just thinking about him stretching her and getting as close as two people could. She squeezed her thighs together, but she was afraid nothing would dissipate the ache there except the man sitting across from her.
“If you think it won’t happen, maybe you do belong in a loony bin. Right now, however, I’m more interested in how I’m going to die.”
“You are infuriating.
”
He grinned. “Thank you.”
She buried her head in her hands. “I give up.”
“I knew you would.”
“There isn’t much to tell,” Aislinn capitulated.
“Anything would be more than the cryptic email saying ‘stay out of the kitchen’.”
He was laughing at her! She glanced up, her eyes narrowed, only to find no sign of a smile on his face. “What did you want me to say? I predict you will die in a kitchen by the knife of a madman in the very near future?”
Kyle pointed at her. “Anything spoken to my face would have been better than the email, sweetheart. The knife of a madman, huh?”
“And if I had said that, TJ and Jonathan would have wrapped me in a straitjacket the minute the words left my mouth.”
“And I already told you, TJ and Jon aren’t my bodyguards.”
“Can I get you anything else? Perhaps some dessert?” the waiter interrupted, his gaze straying to her mostly uneaten plate of food. “Or a box?” He looked worried. “Was there something wrong with the dish, ma’am?”
Guilty color stained her cheeks. “No, not at all. I had a…I just haven’t been able to eat it yet, thank you.”
His shoulders relaxing visibly, he nodded before turning to Kyle. “Another glass of wine, sir?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you.”
The waiter nodded again and turned, leaving Aislinn and Kyle alone.
“Continue,” Kyle urged.
Aislinn sighed and rubbed at a spot of pain blooming at her temple. It was congruent with the one forming in her tummy. “It was dark, but there was enough moonlight to see the knife. The intruder was wearing all black and you were…not.”
“Not? What am I wearing?”
She gulped. “Very little.”
“Yeah?” he said with a smirk. “How little?”
Blowing her bangs off her forehead, Aislinn held on to her temper. It turned him on more than anything anyways, and wouldn’t get her very far in the current situation. He was starting to piss her off by not being serious. He said he believed her, so why wasn’t he concerned?
“Come on, tell me how little I was wearing,” he whispered, hovering over his empty plate.
“Boxers,” she ground out. “Is that all you care about?”
“Boxers, huh?” His face turned serious. “No, but sweetheart, there’s nothing I can do about it except follow your advice and stay out of kitchens for a while. I’ll do anything you tell me to concerning this.”
Her shoulders drooped. There really wasn’t anything else she could do. If he believed her, it had to be enough.
“Okay?” he asked, concern lacing his tone.
She bit her lip and nodded.
“I did warn you what I’d do if you didn’t stop biting that lip, didn’t I?” he growled.
Chapter Five
Kyle parked the car in Aislinn’s driveway and studied the small ranch-style house. The porch light was on. Nothing looked disturbed. Even the light he remembered seeing on in what was probably a bathroom window still glowed.
Didn’t make him want to leave her here though. “Come home with me,” he asked again, reaching over and dragging her closer with a hand around the back of her neck. He caressed her forehead with his lips and inhaled the strawberry scent of her hair. This made the third time he’d tried to convince her to stay the night with him. It killed him that she kept saying no.
She shook her head and peered up at him. “I can’t,” she sighed. “Not yet.” Aislinn pulled away and the soft strands of her hair trailed along his arm. “I…”
“What?”
“It’s just too fast.”
Throwing his head back, Kyle groaned. “It’s been six months.”
“For you maybe. We haven’t been seeing each other, Kyle. I still feel weird because I just had dinner with my boss. For me our relationship’s only like six hours old.”
He snorted. “You can’t tell me you’ve felt nothing all this time. I see it when I walk in the room, sweetheart.” He traced her cheek with his thumb. “Your breath hitches”—he moved down and laid his fingers on her chest—“here, just like this.” Kyle smiled at her sharp inhalation before covering her breast. “Your nipples harden into stiff peaks the way they’re stabbing into my palm now.”
Aislinn bit her lip. Her eyes slid shut and her back arched into his touch. He wasn’t lying about her response to him. Getting her to see it and believe it and to forget everything in her past was the key.
“Your pussy creams,” he whispered, feathering kisses on her nose and lips.
“I can’t.” Her voice wobbled in desire and her thighs clenched with the thought.
He smelled her in the confines of the car and wanted to spread her legs and dive between them to feast on the offering he knew he’d find there. They didn’t serve any dessert as good as what lay nestled at the juncture of her thighs.
Kyle rubbed his forehead on hers. Close but no cigar. If he pushed any harder, he was afraid he might lose her. She wasn’t going anywhere. Not tonight anyway. Tomorrow morning he’d show up bright and early, ready to ease her more fully into his life. Spend the day with her, maybe surprise her and buy a birthday present before his annual Fourth of July party tomorrow night. Anything her little heart desired. And he was getting sappy.
“Fine,” he gave in, “I’m going in with you. I want to make sure you get in okay before I go.” And give himself time to walk off the erection painfully pressed against his fly.
“But, I—”
“Don’t argue with me on this, Aislinn. You won’t win.” He threw the door open and stepped out, sucking in a lungful of night air to replace the scent of her skin and her sopping pussy. Tonight would be long and restless, and tomorrow probably longer because of the party. She’d be there, but he wouldn’t have much time alone with her. Not with the entire Turner Industries staff hanging around.
Kyle didn’t care about the attention they’d garner by being close, but Aislinn would and he wasn’t willing to risk her bolting.
He walked around the hood of the car, already sticky with sweat from the early July heat. The impatient woman had one foot out her door before he reached her side.
“I’ll be fine, Kyle.”
“And I’m going to check the house out.” Shutting the door, he directed her up the path with a hand on the small of her back. He felt her shiver.
“Don’t tell me you’re cold.”
“Uh-uh.” She shook her head and stumbled, nearly losing her boxed-up pasta.
Kyle reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. “Whoa, you okay?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed at her temple, something he’d seen her do earlier at dinner. “Just got a headache.”
“All right then, let’s get you inside and into bed.” Bye-bye erection. Now he knew the cure. Let the woman he loved not feel well.
Love? Damn. Did he love her? Kyle took the key she dug out of her purse and unlocked the front door. Pushing it open, he stood for a moment, listening for anything out of place. He ushered her inside and propped her against the wall.
“Stay. For me, please. I’ll be right back. Yes?”
She nodded, eyeing him as if he’d lost his mind. Kyle shrugged it off. This was part of his nature. Ingrained from his years as a SEAL. The need to watch his back and that of his family and friends would probably never fade.
“Don’t be long,” she whispered. “I’m tired.”
He growled at her. “Don’t move.”
He heard the loud snap of her finger and thumb and then, “Oh, shit.”
“What?” He swung back around, hands fisted, ready to drop someone when he saw her expression was really one of a light bulb going off in her head.
“Umm…” Her cheeks colored to an impossible shade of red. “My room. Uh, yeah, the clothes, my fault. Sorry. Just didn’t want you to think someone had been in there.”
He chuckled. “Are you a slob, Aislinn?”
It didn’t take long to go through her house. Not near as long as it took for him to stop staring at the massive amount of clothes piled on her floor. Slob was an understatement. Everything she owned had to be thrown on the heap. What the hell had she been doing? The rest of her house hadn’t looked this way.
Along the way, he stopped in the bathroom off her bedroom and grabbed a couple of aspirin from the very precise medicine cabinet and a glass of water.
“Here.” Kyle handed her the glass and relieved her of the to-go box before giving her the pills, then turned to the kitchen to stuff her dinner in the fridge.
“You are a god,” she moaned.
“I heard that.”
“As if you didn’t know it,” she muttered.
“I heard that too,” he called over his shoulder and tried to figure out a place to stash the box in her crowded refrigerator.
“Whatever.”
By the time he came back into the room, she was gone. He traipsed down the hallway to find her slumping on her bed, leaving the mess for later. Must be a killer headache. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Kyle put his hands on his hips. “That’s it.”
She glanced at him from one eye. “What?”
“Come home with me.”
“No.”
“Lord you’re stubborn.”
Her smile was laced with pain. “My mama says stubborn is my middle name. Must have something to do with the red hair.”
“I don’t want to leave you here when you’re not feeling well.”
“I’ll be fine.” She grabbed the back of her neck and rolled it on her shoulders. “It’s a headache for heaven’s sake.”
“Do you have them a lot?”
“Only when I’m about to have a vision,” she answered with complete nonchalance.
Kyle counted on his years of training to keep him from exploding. “God damn it, Aislinn—”
“I’m kidding, Kyle. It’s a headache, that’s all. Everyone gets them. A good night’s sleep and I’ll be good as new.”
He took a deep breath. What else could he do? Sleep on her couch. In his car. No. She was right. Staying would only show her he didn’t think she could handle herself. He didn’t want to betray the trust they were developing.
Two Sighted Page 5
