“No. I wanted to people watch for a while and do some thinking. I met
Santa.”
“The real one or the ones that walk around the store?”
“So you believe in Santa?”
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “So you believe in angels?”
She smiled; she couldn’t help herself. Maybe he knew Santa because that was basically what Santa had said to her.
“I met the real one. He was interesting.”
“He’s not as jovial as he allows the world to think he is. If he told you something, then you better believe he meant it. The thing about Santa is everything doesn’t work the way we think it will when he gets involved.” “I’m not sure if I like that.” She placed her hand on his chest before she leaned over and laid her body against his. There was no way to know what would happen tomorrow but today she wanted to get to know Kore better.
“We still have to go shopping for food.”
She could hear the rumble of his words in his chest and her body, the traitor, liked it.
“Food it is.” She sat up and looked at him liking the possessive gleam in his eyes. “Are we also getting a turkey and all the trimmings?”
“Only if we want Christmas dinner.” He stood up and started walking before he turned his head to look at her. That sexy-as-hell smile was back making her heart pound.
“Hey.” She stood and started to chase him through the mall. He walked a little faster, throwing her smiles over his shoulder.
She stopped almost knocking into someone. He’s playing with me. He’s making me laugh, making me happy. She was amazed at what was happening. This was nice; it was better than nice. It touched her heart making her wish one more time for something that couldn’t be.
“Are you okay?” He approached her, a frown on his face.”
“I’m fine.” She threw herself into his arms and held him for a few minutes before backing away.
“Last one to the car is a rotten egg.” She took off running and laughing. He chased her, but she made it to the car first by an inch.
He let her win, and her heart let him in just a little more.
The music from the radio filled the car as she sang along. She sang one of her favorite songs shooting him looks to see if he were grimacing.
“Sing, I like your voice.”
“Do you sing in the car when you’re alone?”
“I rarely take the Jeep, but I am enjoying the sound of your voice.”
“I love to sing, but somewhere along the way I forgot that. It feels like I haven’t sung in forever. It feels weird to say, but I almost feel like I’m starting my life over and I like it.” She shook her head and lapsed into silence as he pulled into the parking spot.
“So this is a grocery store,” she said looking out the window.
“You’ve never been to one?”
“When I was a child. I have a vague memory of being in one. I’ve never been in one after I turned five because my dad’s company took off and our lives changed dramatically.”
“Well, let’s remedy that.” He got out of the Jeep and came around to her side to help her down.
Opening the door and helping her down was something that gentlemen were supposed to do. But she couldn’t remember one time Marcus helped her out of the car. Most of the times he waited until the doorman opened his side of the car before he got out.
They walked through the sliding doors of the store to find a few shopping carts that weren’t in use. Considering how large the area for carts was and how few were left, the store was full.
“I get to push the cart,” she said, hurrying to one with a wonky wheel.
“Not this one, let’s try another.”
She couldn’t find any that seemed to glide along silently, so she decided to settle for the first one with the wonky wheel. As she pushed it into the store, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kore raised his hand and directed it at the cart. Once he put his hand down the cart moved like a graceful dancer over the floor.
She was beginning to realize this was Kore. He didn’t draw attention to the things he could do; he simply did them. He wouldn’t be in the paper tomorrow because he helped someone. In fact, she was beginning to believe that no one would ever know the help came from him. She liked that.
Eden looked at him with a smile that made the other males in the store stop and stare at her. She never noticed. All she could see was Kore.
“What do we need first?” She was running with the cart allowing herself to feel a freedom she wasn’t used to. Her hand went up to her hat and made sure it was tugged down over her face so no one would recognize her.
“Let’s start with vegetables.” They went through the aisle picking them up and looking at each one to try and figure out which would taste the best.
“Why do we need celery?”
“Stuffing.”
“Aww.”
“No awws, you’re going to be helping me make Christmas dinner.” Her face fell. “I can’t cook.”
His hand came up to caress her. “I’ll be right by your side; it will be fun.”
Fun? Like chasing him through the mall or riding the shopping cart in the store. Cooking with him could be fun, but what was more important was that he didn’t let her lack of skill stop him from inviting her to join him.
When she had cleaned the kitchen and the fridge earlier, she kept thinking off all the things he would say to her, and none of them were nice.
Eden, you don’t know how to clean. That’s why you have a maid.
Eden, have you ever gotten your hands dirty before?
Eden, stay in your place. Look pretty, smile for the camera.
Eden, don’t give money to the homeless, they should get a job.
Eden, don’t touch that dog, he’s dirty!
Eden, stop trying to be someone you’re not.
Eden, you’re not staying, you’re not worthy of love. If you were your fiancé wouldn’t have tried to kill you.
“Eden?”
“Eden?”
Kore’s voice pulled her out of her head.
“Sorry, I was thinking of something.”
“Whatever it was wasn’t pleasant. Your face looked so sad. Tell me what’s wrong; let me help you fix it.”
“I don’t think anyone can fix what is wrong with me.” She gave him a sad smile and looked around her. “Oh look! Turkeys.”
She moved away and started looking at the turkeys wondering which one to buy.
“What’s your favorite part of the turkey? Mine is the breast.”
“I like both dark and light meat. I think we should buy a whole turkey just in case we have a guest this year.”
“Guest?” She perked up looking at him.
He simply shrugged. “You never know who may come to dinner.”
They picked up a turkey and everything else they needed and started towards the cashier when a small family came into view.
The mother was smiling as her two small children trailed behind her a boy and a girl. The woman had dark brown skin while her children’s skin was much lighter.
Eden got a little closer to them, intrigued for some reason. “Are we going to have turkey this year, mommy?”
“Not this year, baby. Next year when mommy gets back on her feet.”
“We can’t have turkey because daddy went away.” The boy was younger than the girl, and he was sick.
“Daddy went to heaven. God called him home even though he didn’t want to go.” The little girl defended her father.
“Cancer,” the little boy whispered. “Just like me. I don’t want to leave you, Mommy.”
He threw his arms around her leg and the mother blinked real fast to keep her tears from falling.
“I don’t want you to leave me either, Greg.” She leaned down and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll find a way, baby. I’ll find a way.”
“Kore.” Eden was crying, and she didn’t care when she looked at him.
/> He took her hand and pulled her away. They went to the cashier and bought their food. The look she gave him was full of disappointment when they loaded their purchases in the jeep. He took her back into the store standing in a corner where no one would pay attention to them.
The family that had a handheld basket now had two carts overflowing with food.
“Are you sure?” the mother asked. She still had a stunned look on her face as if she had won the lottery.
“I’m sure. Your groceries are being paid for. Not just today but all of next year.”
“But...but, who would do that?” She looked around the store looking for hidden cameras or someone to jump out and say it was a joke.
“One more thing, the person who paid for your food asked that you would take your son to South Side Medical and ask for Dr. Makal.” The mother gasped gathering her son into her arms.
“He’s the best. I’ve been trying to save for years to get Greg in to see him.”
“No savings needed. Simply tell him Kore sent you.”
She nodded her head still crying as her children hugged her close.
“Mommy?” Her daughter looked at her.
“It’s going to be okay. These are tears of joy. Your father always said never give up hope. I know he’s looking at us from heaven smiling and dancing because of the good things that happened to us.
“I love and miss you, Daddy,” the little girl said raising her eyes to the ceiling.
“I do too,” her brother said.
“Me too,” the mother whispered as the person who was helping her wheeled one of the carts out to her car.
“You helped them,” Eden said turning around to look at Kore.
He nodded. “I help when I can. I can make sure they eat and that the son gets to a good doctor. I can’t bring the husband back, although I wish I could.” He took her hand and led her to the jeep.
She was used to living in a world where people could help, but they didn’t. They pretended the homeless person on the street didn’t exist. Why was she lying to herself? If there were a homeless person who would dare to be on one of the streets of the rich, they would have him or her thrown into jail for having the nerve.
Today she had wanted to dig into her purse and give that mother every penny she had. Kore taught her that there was a better way.
Sometimes you could help people without making them beholden to you.
The longer she stayed with him, the more she never wanted to leave.
Chapter Eight
“Doesn’t the refrigerator look so pretty?” She stood back with the door open admiring how good it looked with the food they placed in there.
“It looks perfect.”
She closed the door and looked at him. They had put all the food away, and now he was making them a late dinner.
“How did it get to be this late?”
“It was late when we left the house, and we spent a lot of time out.”
His back was turned to her because he was at the stove. She took a seat at the island watching him cook.
“It was a good day.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He turned to look at her his eyes shining bright making her heart pound.
“I hope you like simple food.”
He placed a hamburger in front of her with a salad.
“I would have made French fries but wasn’t in the mood to cut up the potatoes.”
She nodded and eyed her burger. When was the last time she had one? She couldn’t remember, this was a burger with the works and instead of hurting his feelings by telling him she ate steak not hamburger, she picked it up and took a bite.
Oh, that was good. Of course it was, because Kore had shown her the best life had to offer. The bad would come soon she told herself, but for now she would love what he was showing her. They ate in silence taking little peeks at each other when they thought the other person wasn’t paying attention.
He stood to clear off the table.
“Let me help; it’s only fair you cooked.”
He gave a nod, and they made quick work of cleaning the kitchen together.
“Would you like to watch television?” he asked her, sounding stiff.
“That would be nice, but I’d like to change my clothes first.” She was still dressed from their excursion earlier that day. “I’ll be in the living room.”
“Kore?” Her voice sounded a little unsure, and her hands were shaking so she slipped them into the pockets of her jeans. “Where should I put my clothes?”
“There is plenty of space in the dresser and closet just put them in there.” He turned around and left her standing there while he went into the living room.
She should insist on a different room. So what if she slept with him last night, that was extenuating circumstances. This wasn’t the way she acted; she didn’t just jump on a guy because he was handsome and treated her like a queen, paid attention to her and showed that he cared from day one. This was ridiculous. Heck, she was the type of woman who waited for the monster behind the I’m so charming mask, who wanted to kill her for her money and didn’t even have a big cock. Not that it was all about the size, but Kore had felt thick when she rubbed up against him.
Wait! Where was her mind? She wasn’t either one of these women but if she had to choose one…Kore would win.
Disgusted with herself, she went into his room and put her clothes away. A short shower later she was dressed in a pair of leggings paired with the crazy soft flannel she found that had flowers all over it. She stopped to look at herself in the mirror. Her curly hair was around her face and not up in some neat bun to make her look presentable. There was color in her cheeks and her eyes blazed. She looked totally different from her usual self, and she liked it.
She came out to find him looking through possible movies selections.
With a smile, she sat on the couch with him, her leg grazing his.
“What kind of movies do you like? Romantic comedy or straight romance?”
“You got any Sci-Fi in there?”
“You like Sci-Fi?”
“I do.”
“Have you seen the latest Star Trek movie?”
“No,” she squealed, “but I want to see it! I never made it to the movies because none of my friends wanted to go. They thought Sci-Fi and
Paranormal were lame. I, on the hand, knew better.”
“Now you get to see it with me.” He started the movie and turned out the lights letting the screen illuminate her features. She watched the movie; he watched her.
Eden stretched as Kore turned back on the lights.
“That was good; I love Star Trek, always have even as a child. My dad was into all things science fiction, and we would sit down and watch reruns together. Did you get your love of sci-fi from your parents?”
“No.” He turned his back on her and switched off the television. “Are you ready for bed?”
“I am.” She got to her feet and fought to keep her smile in place remembering his words. You don’t have to tell a stranger all your secrets after only two days.
“I was thinking,” he said to her. “Maybe we could go out tomorrow and get some decorations. It’s looking pretty dull in here. I never noticed that until you came along.”
She watched as his shoulders tightened a little as he waited for her reply. Her big bad, slightly dangerous angel was concerned with what she might say.
“Can we get a Christmas tree and lights?” He nodded his head and waited.
“I’m going to make this place look wonderful.” She threw her arms around him and kissed his jaw. Not because she had to but because she wanted to. For a minute she thought they would fight, and she would lose the connection she was starting to feel with him.
She was also going to YouTube decorations and making a house look beautiful, so she knew what the heck she was doing.
Eden followed him into the bedroom loving the way the tee he had changed into was showing off the flowing muscles in his
back. She grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom cursing herself.
She could have picked up one of those barely there nightgowns. Did she? Of course not, she was thinking of comfort and got some cute little reindeer and heart pajama pants and shirt set. For crying out loud, she had been in Victoria’s Secret. Stupid, stupid, stupid. With slumped shoulders, she walked into the bedroom.
Kore was wearing a pair of joggers that were clinging to his waist dipping just enough to make her lick her lips. Her eyes went down and the bulge that was there made her want to drop to her knees, but she refrained. Keep it together, Eden she told herself when she crossed the room and got into the bed.
She should insist she sleep on the couch, but honestly, she was wearing reindeer and hearts. No one was going to be making a beeline to bed her.
“I like your pajamas.”
“Thank you.” Darn, he was just too sweet and kind for her.
He turned off the lights and got in the bed. She felt it dip with his weight and used it as an excuse to roll closer to him.
She lay there silently feeling his body heat cross over to her warming her up.
“Eden.” His hand came out to touch her face caressing her jaw.
“Kore.” She inched closer to him. When she was close enough, she rested her head on his chest feeling the solid beat of his heart under her ear.
That sound would always bring her comfort.
“I know we just met.”
She nodded her head because they had just met, but she wanted him anyway.”
“You have a fiancé.”
“I don’t,” she interrupted. There was no way she would ever marry Marcus. She probably would have never agreed to the wedding once she got well—if she got well.”
She watched as his eyes went down to look at her finger. There sat a big diamond that Marcus had given her, proof that he was as rich as she was. Proof that he could take care of her, would take care of her. That diamond wasn’t proof of anything. It simply highlighted his lies and her willingness to accept him at face value.
Raising her hand, she slipped the ring off her finger and placed it in Kore’s hand.
“Hold onto this and one day when you meet someone, you can help with it. Help them.”
Kore's Angel: Angel Shifters Page 5
