All Consuming

by Burton, Jaci

  She’d barely been able to breathe when she’d seen him, let alone form a coherent sentence. Kal Donovan had turned into one incredible specimen of the male species.

  “Are you even listening to anything I’m saying?”

  She blinked and turned her attention back to Veronica. “What? I’m sorry. It was a long day at the salon today, and I’m a little tired.”

  Veronica rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry, honey. It must be rough having to work on a Saturday.”

  “It’s okay. It’s our busiest day at the salon. And I have the next two days off.”

  “Good. In the meantime, let’s perk you up and get you on the dance floor.”

  Hannah shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think—”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Veronica had dragged her out of the chair and onto the dance floor. Suddenly, their entire group was there, swaying and rocking their hips to a hot Rihanna song. Hannah felt her body get into the music and finally let herself relax. The dance floor was crowded with people, all laughing and having a good time.

  She spotted Kal standing over by himself at the bar.

  “I’ll be back,” she hollered at Veronica, who nodded and turned away to dance with the other women. Hannah wriggled free of the crowd and made her way toward the bar—toward Kal.

  “Hey,” he said, offering up an easy smile.

  “Hey, yourself.”

  “Want a beer or some wine?” he asked.

  “I’ll take a pinot grigio.”

  He ordered one from the bartender, then handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a sip to let the liquid cool her body down. “Why aren’t you out there dancing?”

  “I was enjoying watching all of you.”

  “So, you’re a voyeur now, huh?”

  He laughed, and the sound of it sent her straight back to high school, to the two of them sitting on the bleachers after Kal finished basketball practice. They’d talk, make out and laugh. It had been so easy back then. The look he gave her now was just as easy, so maybe it was her that needed to relax.

  “Or maybe it’s that you’re a bad dancer.”

  He gave her a look. “Please. You know that’s not the case. I took you to two proms, and we danced our asses off.”

  “This is true. So why hasn’t one of the single women here dragged you out there?”

  He shrugged. “Not interested.”

  Interesting. “I see. So if I ask you to dance you’ll turn me down, too?”

  “I’d never turn you down, Hannah.”

  Ten years hadn’t eradicated that flutter in her stomach whenever he said something sweet to her. But he was just being polite, and she shouldn’t read anything into that.

  “Okay, then,” she said, laying her glass of wine on the bar top. “Let’s dance.”

  He put his beer next to her glass. “Sure.”

  The music was still hopping, and Kal was right about having moves. How could she have forgotten that? Eddie jumped onto the dance floor and twirled Veronica around, and then the whole group danced together, and she forgot all about being awkward around Kal. It was just like the old days, their crowd dancing and singing together and having an absolute blast.

  When a slow song came on, her friends coupled up with their husbands.

  Kal held his hand out to her. It was as if time had washed away and it was prom again. Only it wasn’t. It was now, and they were two different people. Still, what harm would one dance with him be?

  She grasped his hand and stepped in. When his arm wound around her and he pulled her close, she felt a zap of electricity. Her eyes met his, and he gave her a slow, easy smile.

  “Just like old times, right?” he asked.

  She gave a quick nod. Right. Just like old times. Except it wasn’t.

  She took in a deep breath and let him lead her around the floor.

  His body felt different against hers. Broader, more solid. He’d always been an athlete, but there was a lot more muscle now. And as she tilted her head back to look at him, she realized her initial assessment of him had been right—he was definitely taller.

  “What is it?”

  “You’re taller than you were in high school.”

  “Am I? Good to know.”

  She squeezed his biceps. “And . . . more muscley.”

  He laughed. “Thanks. And you’re more beautiful now. Which is hard to believe, because you were always the most beautiful girl I ever knew.”

  Those flutters again. “Does that come naturally to you, or is it something you have to practice at?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “Those lines.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hannah.”

  “Compliments. The right words to make a woman feel good.”

  “I don’t use lines. I don’t practice anything. I just say what I feel in the moment. I’m kind of insulted you’d think that I would.”

  She shrugged. “Sorry. It just feels, I don’t know, kind of disingenuous.”

  “Really? I’ll try not to compliment you again or say anything nice.”

  She was screwing this up because he made her feel good, because she thought she could waltz in here tonight and maybe run into him and feel nothing at all, when just the opposite had happened. And now she had insulted him. But he hadn’t walked away, hadn’t tensed up. Instead, he still glided her around the dance floor as if what she’d said hadn’t affected him at all.

  But she knew better, because Kal had a tell—a small tic on the side of his mouth that let her know when he was irritated. That hadn’t changed in ten years.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I hadn’t expected to see you. Or maybe I had expected to see you and I hadn’t expected my reaction to seeing you.”

  “What reaction is that?”

  She inhaled, then let it out. “I’m really happy to see you, Kal.”

  The song ended, but he still held on to her. “Yeah? I felt the same way. Seeing you again blew me away, Hannah. I couldn’t form coherent words.”

  It made her feel so much better to hear him say that. She smiled at him. “I’d really like to catch up with you sometime soon.”

  “Same. How about breakfast tomorrow morning?”

  “That would be great. But could we make it lunch instead? I have some things I need to take care of in the morning.”

  “Sure.”

  They walked over to the buffet table to grab some food, since all that dancing had worked up an appetite. Or it had worked up her appetite, since she hadn’t had time to eat dinner.

  She piled her plate with salad, pasta and veggies, and it all looked so good.

  “Meatballs?” Kal asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t eat a lot of meat.”

  “Are you a vegetarian now?”

  “No, I’m not that strict. I can’t quite give up a good steak.”

  He laughed. “Oh, got it. I’ll take your portion of the meatballs, then.”

  “You do that.”

  They carried their food to the table and sat.

  Hannah looked over at Veronica. “I haven’t seen Mary tonight.”

  “She’s due with her second baby any day now, and she’s huge and uncomfortable and said she had nothing pretty that fit her. She was sad she couldn’t make it.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. She must be so excited about the baby.”

  Veronica grinned. “She is. Her first, Jacob, is four, and this one’s a girl. She’s been decorating the nursery for weeks.”

  “Aww. How sweet. I need to go see her. I’ll text her tomorrow.”

  Hannah dug into her food, which was fairly decent for a catered buffet. The squash salad was delicious, and the pasta was good, too. She was full by the time she’d eaten half of it.

  Kal, on the other hand, devoured all the food on his plate, then went back for more. The dude could eat. But it sure didn’t show on his body.

  After they ate, they refilled drinks, chatted s
ome more and then went out and danced until Hannah’s feet were sore and she needed to sit down. It was nice to see her girls hadn’t lost a step in ten years. She couldn’t remember enjoying herself so much in . . . well, years.

  She went to the table to take a breather. Kal was there talking with Eddie and the other guys. They’d been joined by Jorge Rocha, one of their crowd from high school. Jorge lived in Austin now, so she was happy to see he’d made the reunion, along with his wife.

  While everyone chatted, Hannah took the opportunity to grab the glass of ice water sitting in front of her, long ago having given up on wine, since she was driving.

  Kal leaned over. “Having fun?”

  “A great time. How about you?”

  “More fun than I thought I’d have. It’s good to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a long time.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Speaking of catching up, I need your number so we can get together for lunch.”

  “Oh, right.” She grabbed her phone out of her bag, got his number and gave him hers.

  “I’ll text you in the morning to let you know when I’m available, and where we should meet,” Hannah said.

  “I can come pick you up.”

  “Oh, uh, if you don’t mind, I’d rather meet you.”

  He gave her a curious look but nodded. “Sure. Just text me tomorrow.”

  “I will.”

  She was being wary, which was stupid since she knew Kal. But she was also protective of Oliver and didn’t want Kal to meet him. Not yet. Or maybe ever. They were only having lunch to catch up, and meeting a guy her son would likely see just one time would only confuse him. So it was best she meet Kal at the restaurant.

  The party started to wind down around midnight, which suited Hannah just fine. She’d been on her feet the entire day. Add in dancing in heels, and she was more than ready to go home and fall into bed. Oliver was an early riser, and while she knew her mom was more than happy to get up with him, he was her responsibility.

  She hugged her friends, then gathered up her bag and the heels she couldn’t stand to wear for one more second.

  Kal looked down at her feet. “Walking out to the parking lot barefoot?”

  “I guess I’ll have to put those evil things on to walk outside.”

  “I could carry you to your car.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think so. I weigh a little bit more now than I did in high school.”

  “Oh, come on. You’re like a feather.”

  She shot him a look as they made their way to the door. “A steel feather.”

  “That’s you. Soft on the outside, strong on the inside.”

  And again, that flutter. What was it with this man?

  She was just about to slip the offending heels back on when she was scooped up in his arms.

  “Kal. Seriously.”

  Eddie held the door for them, and Veronica slanted a sly grin in her direction. “Good night, you two,” Veronica said.

  “Which way?”

  “You could put me down.”

  “Where’s your car?”

  “All the way in the back of the parking lot. Now put me down.”

  “There’s gravel.” He walked toward the end of the lot. Most everyone had left, but she felt ridiculous being carried. It also felt nice. Kal wasn’t struggling in the least, which proved to her that all that muscle she felt was genuine.

  “The black Acura over there,” she said.

  He set her down at the driver’s door. He wasn’t even breathing heavily.

  She lifted her gaze to his while simultaneously digging through her bag for her keys. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  The way he looked at her, the heat in his eyes, made her want to lean into him, to press her lips to his.

  Instead, she pressed the button on her remote and unlocked her car. Kal took a step back, and she slid inside. He leaned in and smiled.

  “See you tomorrow, Hannah.”

  “Good night, Kal.”

  He shut the door and stepped away. She started her car and drove off, watching him in her rearview mirror.

  She didn’t know whether to look forward to or dread lunch with him tomorrow.

  Was it a good or bad idea to reopen the past?

  As she turned onto the highway, she didn’t have an answer.

  She supposed she’d figure that out tomorrow.

  CHAPTER 4

  “DUDE,” JACKSON SAID THE NEXT DAY AS HE CAME DOWNSTAIRS. “You always have an epic grooming routine. But how long did you take getting ready today? Like, an hour?”

  Becks elbowed him. “Knock it off. He has a date.”

  “Not a date,” Kal said as he made his way into the kitchen where Becks and Jackson were sitting at the table together. “Just lunch with an old friend.”

  Jackson leaned back in the chair. “Someone from high school?”

  “Hannah McKenzie.”

  “No shit.”

  “Who’s Hannah McKenzie?” Becks asked.

  “His high school girlfriend.”

  “Oh, really?” Becks said. “You reconnected with her at the reunion last night?”

  “Yeah. But nothing happened. We broke up after high school because I was going away to college and we both knew it wasn’t going to last. And then she got married and moved out of state, so I haven’t seen her in ten years. She’s divorced now and back in Ft. Lauderdale.”

  “Ooh, how interesting. So you reconnected last night and, then what?” Becks asked. “Sparks flew?”

  He wasn’t going to admit to that, even if it was true. “Nah. We’re just going to have lunch and catch up.”

  “Tell her I said hey,” Jackson said, returning to scrolling through his phone.

  Becks, on the other hand, continued to stare at him as if she expected more.

  He laughed. “There’s nothing going on. We just hung out with our group of friends. We had fun. But there was no time to talk, so we decided to have lunch together and catch up. That’s all. Really.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Have fun.”

  “Thanks.”

  He drove to the restaurant and parked, then waited out front for Hannah to arrive. She’d texted him this morning to tell him she could meet him around twelve thirty, and they discussed where. Since he didn’t know where she currently lived, he asked her to name a location that was convenient for her, or some restaurants that she liked. She suggested a place she’d wanted to try called American Social Bar, which was known for its brunch menu. He was all for it since he liked the food there.

  Hannah pulled into the parking lot and got out of her car. He watched her walk toward him, the ends of her hair flying in the breeze. She had on a short-sleeved sundress and sandals and damn, she looked fine.

  She pulled off her sunglasses when she got to the entrance. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “So hungry.”

  He was happy she had an appetite, because he was ready to eat. “Let’s go.”

  He’d already put his name in when he’d arrived, so they didn’t have to wait too long before they were seated at a table. This place got crowded during brunch hours, and there was a good reason for it—the food was great.

  “This menu looks amazing,” Hannah said, then looked up at him. “You’ve eaten here before?”

  He nodded. “A few times. There’s nothing bad here.”

  “Good to know.”

  Their server came with coffee, took their orders and disappeared.

  “So, Hannah McKenzie—or what’s your name now?”

  “Clark.”

  “Okay, Hannah Clark. Tell me what you’ve been doing for the past ten years.”

  She blinked, stared at him for a few seconds, then added cream to her coffee. “Oh, you probably know it all already.”

  He could tell she was nervous, though he didn’t know why. It wasn’t like this was a first date, or even a date at all. And she knew him—they
’d dated all through high school. It wasn’t like they were strangers.

  Then again, maybe they were. People changed a lot in ten years.

  Had he changed? He didn’t think he had.

  “No, really, I don’t know it all,” he said. “I know you moved away and got married. That’s it.”

  “I see.” She stirred the cream into her coffee. “Like you said, I got married, moved to Georgia. Got a divorce a year ago, then moved back here a few months ago.”

  “I’m sorry about the divorce.”

  “I’m not,” she said with a shrug. “It was past time.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Let’s just say it was a mistake from the start.”

  That didn’t sound good. “Sometimes that happens. Carmen, my brother Rafe’s fiancée, is divorced, and she talks to me a lot about her first marriage, about how she married too young, and she didn’t see the signs like she should have.”

  Hannah nodded. “Pretty much like that. But I got a great kid out of the marriage, so I have no regrets.”

  Kal’s eyes widened. Now that he didn’t know. “You have a kid?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Oliver. He’s seven, and the light of my life.”

  “That’s awesome, Hannah. I’ll bet you’re an amazing mom.” He couldn’t imagine Hannah as a mother. But they were both adults now. Still, she was so young to have a seven-year-old son. That must have been so tough.

  “Thank you. I try to do what’s best for him. Which is why I’m back home.”

  “How did your ex feel about you moving away with your son?”

  Hannah inhaled a deep breath, and Kal could tell she was trying to avoid the question.

  Their food arrived, so he let the topic drop—for now—and dug into his huevos rancheros. Hannah seemed to relax after that and settled in to eat her avocado toast and eggs.

  She took a sip of her juice and swallowed, then asked, “What about you? Did you become a firefighter?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been a firefighter for five years, then I transferred to the Technical Rescue Team a few months ago.”