Katie lowered her eyes and stared at his tie, at the solid slash of black running down the length of his shimmering silk shirt. It reminded her of a dock cutting across a lake at night. She had to contain herself from walking her fingers up it to where the tie fastened around his throat. How simple it would have been to undo the neat little knot and yank away the hindrance.
“Katie.” The murmur of her name on his lips drew her attention upward. She found herself focused on his full, kissable mouth a moment too long before she reminded herself they were already playing a dangerous game just standing there and forced herself to continue on to his eyes. They were dark, concealed by shadows and the strip of hair that had fallen over his brow. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she knew he was watching her.
“Are you liking your stay at Stony Creek?” Just keep talking, she told herself. Talking was safe. It kept the brain, hands and mouth busy, keeping them from doing something potentially daring.
The muscles along his shoulders loosened. “Yes. Everyone’s very nice.”
“I thought you were a student the first time we met,” she confessed with a small smile.
His mouth curled. “You mean when I plowed into you?”
She laughed. “It was definitely the most interesting way I’ve ever met anyone.” She narrowed her eyes. “Which reminds me, you still owe me a coffee.”
It was his turn to chuckle. “As I recall, I owe you two.”
“Yes, but I’m willing to overlook the second one, seeing as how I wasn’t really watching where I was going.”
“How gracious of you.”
She shrugged dramatically. “Yes, I know.” Still grinning, she tilted her head as she observed him. “So if you’re not going to be a teacher, why are you doing it?”
The moment she said it, she realized she hit a cord when the amusement faded from his eyes and the tension returned to his frame. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“Okay. Fair enough.”
“Tell me what you want to do,” he said.
“Well, I work at From Dawn Till Dusk right now. It’s my aunt’s thrift shop on—”
“I’ve seen it. I think I pass by there every morning during my run.”
Having not expected that, her eyes widened. “You run by my shop?”
He laughed. “Well, I didn’t know it was your shop, but if you’re opposed…”
“No! No, no, sorry. I just…” she trailed off, shaking her head. She chuckled. “Sorry. I’m studying business and law.”
“And you want to be a corporate lawyer?”
“God, no!” She made a face that made him laugh. “I want to make sure my aunt keeps her shop. She’s not very … business savvy. She bought the place right out of university without a shred of knowledge. I mean, she went to school to be an astrologist, not a store owner. But that’s my aunt. She acts and worries about the how’s and what ifs later. She needs someone to be the thinker and worry about those things before they become the end of From Dawn Till Dusk.”
“That’s a lot of work.”
Katie shrugged. “Yeah, well, I owe my aunt everything. She’s the only one who would take me in after my parents died. I didn’t even know her. I mean, I knew she was my mom’s baby sister, but we lived in Ontario and she in Alberta so, visits were limited to the odd holiday and phone calls on birthdays. No one else wanted a damaged kid, but she flew all the way to Ontario to get me without question. She brought me back, gave me a home and stayed with me through every nightmare, breakdown, and teenage hissy fit.” She broke off with a grin. “I think I turned out okay.”
She felt him pull her closer, or was it her imagination, but there was suddenly a whole lot less space between them.
“Yeah, you did.”
Heart fluttering like a captured bird in her throat, Katie swallowed hard. “So, now that you know all my dark secrets, tell me something.”
He tipped his head back and squinted at something above her head. “Hmm, let’s see. I’m allergic to cats. I prefer running to walking. I really hate this suit.” He chuckled when she laughed. “I collected hockey cards until I was sixteen. I still think Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever live. I have no patience for math. I put a marble up my nose when I was six. I didn’t tell my dad until the next day.”
“Oh my God!”
He rolled his tongue over his teeth. “Yeah, he wasn’t too happy about it. I, uh, took magic marker to my stepmom’s newly painted walls.”
“Were you still six?” she wondered.
“Uh, no…” He cleared his throat. “I was nine…”
“Oh! Oh no…”
“Yeah … she wasn’t pleased.”
“I don’t imagine she would be.”
“Hey, in my defense, it was a mother’s day present.”
“You didn’t think to, I don’t know, put it on paper?”
He nodded slowly. “I did, but it just felt right to put the full scale zombies outside her bedroom door.”
“No! You didn’t!”
“I did and they looked phenomenal! Her screams could be heard all the way down the block … where I was, riding away really fast on my bike.” Laughing to the point where it was impossible to speak, Katie was saved solely by his arms keeping her upright. “My dad wasn’t too pleased either,” he went on casually. “My drawing rights were revoked and I was sentenced to two months of grueling manual labor.”
Breathing hard, she drew back. “Oh geez. You’re horrible.”
“Hey now, I like to think I’ve outgrown such childish pranks.”
Shaking her head, she lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. “Have you?”
He grinned around the teeth he’d sunk into his bottom lip. “No, but shhh. My dad thinks I’ve reformed.”
Breaking into another fit of giggles, Katie pushed him back, needing to breathe. “I need air.”
Taking her hand, he led her through the crowd to the terrace. The cool rush of winter was a welcoming force and she closed her eyes and inhaled greedily. Carefully, she relinquished her hold on him and moved to the stone railing overlooking the gardens and perched on the lip. She smoothed an unruly curl of hair off her cheek and inhaled deeply, trapping the breath deep in her lungs before expelling it in a rush of white.
“I didn’t think I would enjoy myself tonight,” she confessed. “Parties are just too exhausting.” She laughed softly. “That must sound insane.”
“No,” was all he said.
Katie turned her head and studied him. He stood so still, so immobile against the darkness enclosing him. He reminded her of something from a supernatural novel, dark and mysterious. It almost made her laugh.
“So, how come your stepmom couldn’t make it?” she asked, hoping to ease the tension vibrating along his shoulders.
Kaleb shifted. His head turned left and he squinted into the darkness on the other side of the terrace. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers and seemed to consider her question.
“She just couldn’t.” He answered. He dropped his gaze to his feet. “Why are you and Ashlee here?”
Katie frowned. She laughed hesitantly. “What do you mean?”
When he raised his head again, his face was tight with apprehension. His lips were a thin, white line. He stared hard at something over Katie’s shoulder. Then, just as quickly, his stance relaxed and he gave a soft chuckle.
“Nothing.” He wandered a few steps closer and lowered himself onto the railing beside her. He clasped his hands between his knees as he rested his forearms on his thighs. “Forgive me. I’m not very good with small talk.”
Not sure what to say to that, Katie concentrated on keeping her hands steady as she brushed back tendrils of hair being blown across her cheek with the breeze. She looked off across the dark expanse that was the gardens below and wondered why there wasn’t a way to get down there from the ballroom.
A scuffle had them looking down. It was raised voices that caught Katie’s attention. She was be
ginning to wonder if someone needed help when six figures lurched out of the darkness, into the patches of light spilling from the ballroom windows.
At first glance, she thought they were drunk and using each other to keep upright. That’s what the wild staggering was suggesting. It wasn’t until she really squinted for a better look that the scene became clear.
There were five men, dressed in dark suits, trying to restrain a sixth man, who was putting up a world of fight. He was cussing and kicking viciously, while his arms were twisted behind his back.
Next to her, Kaleb was on his feet, his entire body rigid, visibly torn between possibly running down there and running for help. The hand neither of them had noticed he’d placed on her shoulder was a bruising vise.
“Get inside,” he was telling her, not taking his eyes off the action below. “Katie…”
Jolted by the sound of her name, Katie leapt to her feet. “We have to call the police!”
It wasn’t as though she had screamed the words. They were far enough away from the ground so, in all reality, the people below shouldn’t have heard them. But as though she had been speaking into a mic; everything simultaneously froze at the exact same time. Even the man being held hostage stopped struggling and turned.
Kaleb came out of his shock first. He grabbed Katie and practically shoved her back towards the terrace doors. His hands were impenetrable on her arm.
“You need to leave,” he said with a sort of urgency in his tone. “How did you get here? Did you drive?”
Katie shook her head. “My aunt dropped me off. Why—”
“Because no one likes a witness!” he said and sent sharp fingers of dread snaking down her spine to knot in her belly. He sucked in a deep breath and straightened. His gaze shot to the terrace. “I need to get you out of here.”
He propelled her inside. If possible, the place seemed even more chaotic and out of control. The din of laughter suffocated the sound of jazz pouring through the speakers. Bodies tripped over each other in a tango of drunken disorientation. People clung to each other to remain upright.
Katie scanned the faces, searching for only one. Several times she thought she spotted Ashlee’s green dress or her blonde hair, but it was someone else, another girl. Clutching up her skirt, she hurried around the edge of the dance floor, gaze weaving wildly in all directions. She considered shouting Ashlee’s name and hoping for a response, but she could scarcely hear herself over the noise.
Kaleb grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”
“I have to find Ashlee,” she said.
Releasing her, he glanced over the sea of heads. “I’ll look that way.”
Giving him an absent nod, Katie ran right as Kaleb hurried left. Her heels cracked as she circled the room and practically ran towards the front. At the stairs leading to the front lobby of the hotel, Kaleb joined her. Devoid of Ashlee.
“Anything?”
Frantic and terrified, Katie shook her head. “I can’t find her. She’s not supposed to…”
Whirling on her heel, she did another survey of their surroundings. Her heart leapt when she spotted the handsome boy Ashlee had been flirting with when they had first arrived. Leaving Kaleb behind, she ran to him.
“Hey!” She stopped in front of him. “Did you see the girl I came here with?”
The boy smirked. “I’ve seen a lot of girls tonight,” he told her.
“She’s wearing a green dress,” Katie said.
He started to shake his head when someone grabbed her arm and she was tugged backwards.
“There!” Kaleb pointed.
Turning, Katie followed his pointing finger outside the door at the pair moving across the hotel lobby at a near shamble. It was clear the girl was leaning heavily on the boy.
“Ashlee!” Skirt in hand, Katie ran, not caring that she could break a leg in the deathtraps strapped to her feet. Katie reached her just as they reached the front doors and grabbed her friend’s arm. “Let go of her!”
The guy, not Harold, relinquished his hold almost immediately. Ashlee’s legs crumpled beneath her and Katie had to move fast to catch her friend before she could hit the floor.
“I was only taking her to my car to lie down,” the boy said.
“Sure you were.” Kaleb joined them, his brown eyes drilling hard into the other guy. “Just a good Samaritan, right?”
The boy threw up his hands. “Hey, she came on to me, okay?”
“Get out of here!” Katie growled, sinking fast beneath her friend’s dead weight.
The boy didn’t need telling twice. He turned tail and bolted out the doors. Kaleb took hold of Ashlee and hoisted her up into his arms effortlessly. Her head lulled, her hair spilling over Kaleb’s arm in a waterfall of pale gold. She snored, oblivious to how close she’d come to who knew what.
“I need to call my aunt,” Katie said. “And the police.”
“The … Katie, wait!” He blocked her path. “What do you mean the police?”
Heart still hammering with residual fear, Katie stared at him. “To report what we saw outside. That man needs our help.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to argue with her. Then he surprised her by giving a nod. “I’ll wait here with her,” he said.
Thanking him, she started towards the front desk, wishing she had thought to bring Aunt Hannah’s phone. But there hadn’t been enough room for it in her bodice.
“Excuse me? Katie? Katie Claremont?”
Skidding to a halt, Katie turned at the sound of her voice. She blinked at the man standing behind her, looking very much on the threshold between gorgeous and severely gorgeous. He smiled at her through teeth stolen from some toothpaste commercial. His green eyes shone beneath the gold lights spilling through the room.
“Katie?” he said again, raising an eyebrow the exact sandy blonde as his hair.
From over his shoulder, she caught sight of Kaleb turning towards them, his expression tense.
Katie focused on the man. “Yes?”
“I’m Leon DuBois. I am the coordinator of this evening’s gala.”
“Oh.” Unsure what to say, Katie said, “Hi.”
The man moved forward a step, his movement fluid and sure. “You’re not leaving, are you? The party isn’t over yet,” he said, making it sound almost teasing.
Katie tried to smile. “I actually just need the phone.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I need to call the police. Someone was attacked under the terrace and I—”
Leon’s brilliant smile dimmed and it was as though someone had turned the lights to a bearable degree. “Yes, I am aware. The matter has already been brought to our attention. The men are currently with security, who have contacted the proper authorities.”
Katie blinked. “Oh!” Unsure of what to do next, she blinked again. “Good. That’s good. I’m glad to hear that. Is the guy they were harassing all right?”
He smiled again and Katie nearly winced. “He’s fine. Some people just can’t handle liquor, that’s all.”
“Great,” she said. “I guess that’s it.”
“So will you be returning?” he wondered.
Katie looked past him to where Kaleb stood, still watching them, still holding Ashlee.
“Uh, no.” Katie offered him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but my friend has been drinking and I need to get her home.” With that said, she started to turn back to the front counter.
“I understand,” Leon said. “I only wished to congratulate you on winning the draw.”
Katie stilled. “What?”
Looking elated for having captured her attention, Leon beamed. “The draw? To have your wish come true.” He reached into the pocket of his blazer and removed a slip of paper. Katie couldn’t see, but she knew it held her name and wish. “One night—”
“Yes!” she blurted quickly. “I remember. I’m just surprised.”
He returned the slip back into his pocket. “Is that still your wish?”
Cheeks warm, K
atie tried not to glance at Kaleb again. “Look, thank you, but I really don’t want—”
“Katie?” Kaleb stalked towards them, probably assuming something was wrong. “Everything all right?”
“Yes,” the man said before Katie could speak. “Katie won the draw. I was just confirming her wish.”
Kaleb looked at her, his face frozen in a strange look of panic. “You won?”
The man reached into his pocket again and Katie’s heart nearly stopped in her chest.
“Yes!” she practically shouted. “Yes, it’s the same. Thank you.”
The man beamed. “Excellent. I’ll see what we can do and get back to you shortly.”
Inclining his head, he snapped on his heels and started back towards the doors leading into the ballroom.
Katie exhaled. She caught Kaleb watching her and winced. “Sorry, I—”
“Katie, you need to—”
In his arms, Ashlee groaned. She thrashed as she always did in her sleep and nearly punched Kaleb in the nose.
Katie almost laughed. “Let me make that call first, okay?”
She hurried away before he could press her for answers. Part of her wondered what his wish had been. She wondered if she should ask, then thought better of it. He would ask her in return and she couldn’t tell him.
The woman at the front desk let Katie call her aunt. Katie thanked her after she’d hung up and moved to where Kaleb sat on a plush sofa with Ashlee still cradled in his lap. She tried not to feel a stab of jealousy at the sight of them. It wasn’t as though Ashlee planned to wind up in Kaleb’s arms. Yet, Katie couldn’t help wanting to hit her.
“Okay?” Kaleb asked when she reached them.
Katie nodded. “She’ll be here in a few minutes.” She took the spot next to him. “Thank you for staying with her. I’m sure you want to return, so I won’t—”
“Not particularly,” he replied, but his tone was abrasive. He must have realized it, too, because he softened it. “I’ll probably head home as well once I see you off safely with your aunt.”
Katie’s lips parted in surprise. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
Brown eyes rose and met hers. “But I want to.”
Stunned, she sat back. “Thank you.”
My Soul For You Page 6
