Good Karma

by Donya Lynne

  “Are you ready?” He didn’t seem to notice her sudden shyness.

  She hung her jacket over her arm. “Yes.”

  “You’ve got your ticket?”

  “In my purse.” She glanced at her shoulder bag as she stepped into the outer hall and locked the door behind her.

  “Have you eaten?” He followed her downstairs.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t have time.”

  “Me neither. I had to run a quick errand before coming over. You up for drive-thru?” He offered her an apologetic glance as he opened the car’s passenger door. “Normally, I would take you someplace nice, but if I do that, we’ll miss the concert.”

  “Drive-thru is fine.” She knew they were on a timetable.

  After zipping through a KFC for a pair of grilled chicken sandwiches and coleslaw, they ate on the way to the music center and arrived with twenty minutes to spare.

  “What a great night.” Mark helped her out of the car.

  “It’s perfect.” The sun still hadn’t set, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and while there was the hint of a chill in the air, it was warm enough she didn’t have to put on her jacket.

  Mark opened the trunk and pulled out a folded blanket. A price label was still stuck to the corner.

  “Errand after work, huh?” She pulled off the sticker.

  He smiled and shrugged. “Lawn seating,” he said. “Everything else was sold out, but the lawn sounded more interesting, anyway.”

  She looked at her shoes with their three-inch heels.

  When she peered back up at him, he seemed to be contemplating her shoes, too. “If I have to, I’ll carry you.”

  She laughed. She couldn’t help herself. The look on Mark’s face was priceless. A mix of guilt and playfulness. He laughed with her, and she loved how, for just a few moments, his guard completely fell. His whole face laughed, not just his mouth. Cute crinkles broke at the outer corners of his eyes, and his perfectly straight teeth gleamed.

  “I like you like this.” She took the blanket from him.

  He lifted a bag filled with bottles of water from the trunk.

  “As opposed to…?” He slammed the lid shut and nodded toward the gate.

  They turned and weaved their way around the other cars. “I don’t know.” She shrugged and spoke over her shoulder as he came up behind her. “You’re usually so—”

  “Charming? Debonair?”

  She laughed. “Well, that too, but I was going to say mysterious and professional.”

  “Professional?” He said doubtfully, his tone more serious. “You make me sound so boring.”

  “Trust me, Mark, you’re anything but boring.” No way in a hundred lifetimes could Mark ever be boring.

  She scanned the lawn seating filling quickly with concertgoers.

  “Where do you want to sit?” He pointed to an open area in the back. “How about there?”

  She wasn’t sure how crowded the place would get by the time Journey actually took the stage. Right now, with the opening act performing, people were still milling around and settling in. “Sure. That looks good.”

  He took her hand and helped her up the slight incline of the lawn then set down the bag and took the blanket. After spreading it out, he sat down.

  She settled in beside him.

  She hadn’t been here in years, but it still felt the same. There was something magical about this place. She didn’t know if it was the fact that Deer Creek sat in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but cornfields surrounding it, or if it was because it was an outdoor venue, or if some other unexplainable force made the place so appealing, but Deer Creek was an almost mystical location.

  “I haven’t been here in years,” she said, hugging her knees as she lifted her face toward the sun.

  “Bring back memories?”

  She smiled. “Maybe a little, but it’s more than that.”

  “Like what?”

  She turned toward him. “I don’t know. It’s just…different here. Relaxing.” She recalled the last time she came here and grinned privately.

  “What?” Mark elbowed her impishly. “Tell me.”

  She took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. “The last time I came here was with a guy I didn’t even like. At least not before that night.”

  Mark’s eyes softened, but he watched her with the attention of a hawk eyeing a field mouse, hanging on every word.

  “I was working at this little luggage store between my sophomore and junior years at Purdue, and this guy came in. He was nothing special and was kind of annoying, because I was trying to close out the register for the night. He kept asking me for my number.” She rolled her eyes. “I gave it to him just to get him out of the store so I could close up, hoping he wouldn’t call.”

  “But he did,” Mark said.

  She nodded. “Wouldn’t you know?” She chuckled. “He asked me to come here and see Dave Matthews with him.”

  “He had good taste.”

  Karma bowed her head and cringed as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I never liked Dave Matthews.”

  “What?” Mark slumped his shoulders and dropped his head back. “How could you not like Dave Matthews? That’s like saying you hate…oh, I don’t know…homemade chocolate chip cookies. And who in their right mind hates homemade cookies?”

  She held up her hand. “Hey, I was young and ignorant, okay? But…” she pointed her index finger. “By the end of the night, I was a convert.”

  His face softened again, and he scooted a little closer. “Why? What happened?”

  She sighed wistfully. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it. I came here, not liking the guy—his name was Louis. I didn’t like Dave Matthews. But by the end of the concert, everything changed. I saw Louis differently…attractive, you know? And maybe seeing Dave Matthews live was what I needed to like his music. Now, whenever I hear him on the radio or wherever, it makes my heart warm.”

  She melted a little from the way Mark smiled just then, as if he knew how special he was to have heard her story. Not many knew about that night.

  “What happened to Louis?”

  Her gaze dropped to the blanket, and she picked at imaginary lint. “He was only in town for a couple of weeks, doing some kind of training for his job. We went out a couple more times, but that was it. We stayed in touch for a few months and tried to get together again but never did.” She had forgotten all about Louis until just now. Funny how certain places or images can bring back fond, long-forgotten memories.

  But what had happened with Louis was the story of her life. The guys she met from around here only wanted to be her friend. But the one guy she had liked—who had liked her back and who she might have had a decent chance with—had ended up living five states away.

  Mark wrapped his arms around his knees. “Damn. That would have been the perfect story if you two had ended up getting married.”

  Considering that for a moment, she nodded. “True, but then I wouldn’t…” She drifted off and swallowed hard. She still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on here. Between them.

  “Yes?” He looked at her, his grey-green eyes glinting in the sunlight.

  She held his gaze. “If he and I had gotten married, I wouldn’t…” She looked away, the heat rising in her face as it always did when she was around him, and she shivered. Not from a chill in the air, but from nerves. “I wouldn’t be here. Now.” She cleared her throat. “With you.” It was as far as she had gone to put herself out there since the night they had met.

  He scooted closer, and his arm rubbed her back as he propped himself up and leaned in. Her fingers twisted together around her knees, and she kept her gaze averted as another shiver tensed her arms and made her teeth chatter.

  “Are you cold?” His voice came from beside her ear, only inches away.

  She shook her head and turned toward the sunlight. “No.”

  “And yet you’re shivering.”

  “I’m not cold.” Her
mind raced and her thoughts ricocheted inside her brain like balls in a Ping-Pong tournament.

  The muscles in her arms clenched. She was so nervous, but so excited. Goose bumps tickled up and down the skin on her back, legs, and arms. Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. When she spoke, her voice trembled. “Do you want my answer? Is that why you brought me—”

  “Sshh.” He placed his fingers lightly against her lips. “Later. You can tell me later.” Mark nudged her ear with his nose, and his lips pressed gently against her neck.

  That simple kiss sent a shockwave through her body, and it felt like the bottom fell out of her stomach.

  “Thank you for telling me your story,” he whispered. Then he slowly pulled away and settled beside her again.

  Karma swallowed and glanced toward the stage where the opening act was finishing their set. But she couldn’t focus. Her mind was scrambled, her body on high alert.

  Taking a deep breath, the balance tipped inside her mind. She wanted this. She wanted what Mark offered. She wanted more kisses on her cheek, her neck…her lips. She wanted more dates like this one. More secretive James Bond notes passed covertly in the office. But more than anything, she wanted Mark to seduce her. She had never been seduced, and Mark seemed eager to do just that. And if being seduced was anything like what she had endured for the past week—especially the last twelve hours—Mark proved to be an exhilarating ride.

  Karma was ready to leave the past where it belonged. In the past. She was sick and tired of being a “friend”…and of allowing her anguished childhood to dictate her present and her future. For the first time, with Mark, she felt she might have a chance to reset her course in life. One free of insecurity and inexperience. One where she could be who she truly wanted.

  She turned toward the sunset, feeling something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

  Hope.

  Chapter 16

  Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

  -Jack Garfield

  Pleasant tension settled between them for the duration of the evening. Mark’s magnetism lit Karma’s awareness all night, and her body remained in a state of perpetual arousal just from his proximity.

  After the last encore, the lights came up and, at close to ten thirty, it was time to go home. But to Karma, the night still felt young and full of magic.

  She helped Mark fold the blanket, then they gathered their things, and without a word—only that delightful strain of expectancy—they ventured back to his car.

  The drive home was quiet. Occasionally, one of them mentioned one of the songs from the concert, and a brief discussion ensued. Then they fell back into pregnant silence again.

  Finally, Mark pulled into her apartment complex and drove around to her building. After parking, helping her out of the car, and walking her up to her apartment, he stood aside and waited for her to unlock the door.

  “Do you want to come in?” They had yet to address the real reason for their date tonight, so it was now or never.

  He smiled. “I was just about to ask if I could.”

  She pushed the door open. He slipped into her apartment…into her world. Everything was different between them now. With just that one small step of crossing from the outside into her personal space, everything changed. He was no longer Mr. Strong, a consultant working for her company. And he was no longer the prince in a fantasy world where she was Cinderella.

  But what exactly were they?

  Karma kept her gaze on him as she shut the door, took off her jacket, and placed it over the arm of the couch as he inspected her living room.

  What did he think? And did he plan on kissing her? They were here. Inside her apartment. Surely, he intended to kiss her. Maybe she should eat a mint. She wanted to taste good if he kissed her.

  “You seem apprehensive.” He kept his back to her as he ran one hand over the spines of books in her bookcase.

  Flustered, she uncrossed her arms, not even realizing she had crossed them. “No. I’m…it’s just, I haven’t had a man in my apartment in a long time.” Come to think of it, she’d never had a man in her apartment. This was a first.

  He flashed a disarming smile. “I know.”

  That’s right. He had read her like an open book last Friday. She shook her head and looked at the floor. “Um…well…” She chuckled awkwardly. “I’m not so good with men.”

  “You’re good with me.”

  “You’re different.”

  “How so?”

  She didn’t know how to answer that. Her brain wasn’t functioning properly with him perusing her things. “I don’t know.”

  He pulled a book from the shelf and flipped open the cover so he could read the description inside the jacket. “Romance. Is that what you prefer to read?”

  Her fingers twisted over one another. “Yes. And a little suspense.”

  “Mmm.” He slid the book back onto the shelf. “And elephants?” He picked up a small elephant figurine, which sat among a dozen others.

  “Yes.” She gestured to another shelf where a larger collection of cat figurines sat on display. “And cats.”

  “Why elephants?”

  “I started collecting them in junior high and it just sort of stuck.”

  “I see.” He set the elephant down. “Do you have anything to drink?”

  Where were her manners? “I’m sorry. Yes. I mean, no. I mean...” Her neck and chest blazed, and she was sure she had broken out in hives. With him in her apartment, investigating her private sanctuary, she could hardly think, let alone form coherent sentences. He probably thought she was a total dingbat.

  Welcome back, inner dork.

  Making like a scared mouse, she scurried off to the kitchen and pulled two glasses from the cabinet, filled them with ice, and poured them some tea.

  When she returned to the living room, he was kneeling in front of her shelf of DVDs.

  “Here you go.” She held out his glass.

  He stood and turned. “Thank you.”

  “Did you want to watch a movie?”

  He sipped his tea and gently shook his head. “Maybe another time. It’s late.”

  She drummed her fingernails on the side of her glass and shifted her weight. He sure was taking his time getting to the point of the evening. “Would you like to see the rest of the apartment?”

  Mark’s penetrating stare weakened her knees. “Sure.”

  The place wasn’t big, but she walked him through the dining room and kitchen, then back through the living room toward the hall. “Bathroom…” She flipped on the light to the hall bath. “Second bedroom…” She waved into the room she used as an office and storage space.

  “No bed,” Mark said.

  “No. I use this room mostly for storage.” She shut off the light and turned toward the partially opened door across the hall, where she paused, took a deep breath, and pushed it open. “This is my bedroom.”

  Mark stepped past her and looked around, immersing himself more fully into her personal domain. The full-sized bed was dressed with a yellow quilt her mom had made, and a pair of burnished orange throw pillows rested against the headboard. The scarf she had worn to work sat on the oak dresser beside her fishing hat. A large sunset seascape hung on the wall opposite the bed, between the doors for the closet and master bathroom.

  “Nice picture,” Mark said, admiring it.

  “Sometimes I like lying in bed imagining I’m off on some tropical beach somewhere.” Escapism had always fueled her fantasies. Maybe that had something to do with growing up without a lot of friends and wanting to be anywhere but where she was.

  “You’ve got a nice apartment,” he said, taking another drink of tea. “Cozy and quaint, but bigger than I expected.”

  For a long moment, they just stared at each other.

  Karma’s pulse quickened. Something about the way he looked at her suggested he was ready to talk about the topic they’d danced around all night, but why did she get the feeling it wo
uldn’t be that simple?

  “Did you have a good time tonight?” he finally said.

  “Yes.” She practically held her breath. “I had a wonderful time.” No sense lying.

  “So did I, and I’d like to have more wonderful times in the weeks ahead.” He paused and strolled toward her dresser. “But it’s up to you.”

  “I know.” Her heart was racing. “Do you want my answer? Is that what tonight is about?” It had to be, but he kept dodging the subject.

  He scanned the items on the top of her dresser then met her gaze. “I’d like you to give me your answer tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” She hadn’t expected that, but she was quickly learning that Mark liked the unexpected. “Why not tonight?”

  “Where would be the fun in that?” Flirtatious amusement coated his expression as he flipped open her jewelry box and began sifting through the few trinkets she wore for special occasions. He pulled out a simple, circular gold brooch. It had been a Christmas gift from her dad years ago, but she hardly wore it anymore. Mark turned, holding up the brooch. “If your answer is yes, and you want to throw caution to the wind, then wear this to work tomorrow.”

  Karma took the gold brooch and folded it into her palm. “Okay?” The word lilted like a question.

  “But there’s a catch,” Mark said.

  “A catch?” An expectant buzz vibrated under her skin.

  “Yes.” Mark plucked her glass from her hand and set it on the dresser with his own. “A catch.” He pulled her into his arms so that his face was only inches from hers.

  She stiffened and held her breath as she looked into his eyes.

  “If you wear that brooch tomorrow, then you’ll be telling me you want more of this…” He barely brushed his lips against hers, making her suck in her breath as that bottom-falling-out-from-her-stomach sensation flip-flopped inside her belly again.

  “And…?” she said breathlessly. If there was a catch, there surely had to be more to it than that. Kissing him wasn’t going to be a problem.

  “And it means you’ve agreed to see me outside the office.” His lips skimmed hers again, barely making contact. “But what it doesn’t mean is that I want a commitment. I’m not into long-term relationships.” Their noses bumped as he teased her mouth, and she caught a glimmer of apology in his gaze. “I want to be up-front about that. I don’t want to lead you on or make you think this is more than just two adults having a good time with each other.”