by Riley Storm
“Nobody leaves me,” Alexi said. “Especially not you. My wife.”
She rolled her eyes. “We were never legally married Alexi. That little fake ceremony thing? That wasn’t real. I was okay with it at the time, but I am not your wife anymore, not in any sense. You do not own me. Get that through your thick skull. Or have you taken one too many punches to understand that now?”
The wordless snarl told her he understood full well. He just disagreed. That, and he hated it when she brought up his career and insinuated that it had given him brain damage.
He was probably right. It was likely that Alexi had been that much of a terrible person from the start. She’d just been blinded by his money, and his charm. He’d turned it on until he’d won her. Then it began to disappear.
That’s when the yelling started.
“I am champion,” he growled, losing some of his articles as he usually did when he got angry. That was usually right before he would start with the rest. “I gave you life. Best life. You repay me by leaving?”
“You hit me,” she said, fighting back against the fear she had of her ex. She would not let it take control of her. Not anymore.
“You deserve it. Backtalking bitch. Must learn place.”
This was pointless. Why was she even bothering to try and argue with him? This loser didn’t deserve a second of her time! So why was she still on the phone with him?
“Leave me alone Alexi. Lose this number. Please. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Just stop it.”
She hung up on him. It took two tries to put the receiver back because her hand was shaking so badly, but she got it done. Then she slumped onto the closest barstool and flopped forward, resting her head on the bar.
The phone didn’t re-ring. That was her sole saving grace. If he’d called back, Anne didn’t know what she would have done, or how she would have handled herself. Maybe she would have started screaming. That was the last thing she wanted though. Alexi enjoyed getting under her skin, and she didn’t want to let him win. Better to deny him his pleasure.
“Was that dad?”
She looked up sharply. Liam was standing in the doorway to the back of the bar, dressed in his rainy-day gear. Big yellow rubber boots that had seen better days, patched splash pants and a green jacket that was a size too big on him, but had been on sale at the thrift store.
Anne tried not to laugh. It was sunny and a beautiful late-August day out. Not a cloud in the sky. What was her child doing dressed like this?
“Yeah, it was,” she said, answering his question, not wanting to lie to him.
“Are we going back to live with him?”
“No,” Anne said, shaking her head. “No we aren’t.”
Liam seemed to think about that. “Okay good. I like it here.”
Anne smiled. “Me too little buddy. Me too. Ready for your ice cream?”
“Yes!”
Pulling herself together Anne slipped off the stool and they headed out the back door. While she was locking up, Anne wondered if she would be selling it sooner than she’d thought.
Are we going to have to run again? To somewhere he can’t find me?
If Alexi could find her in Five Peaks though, where could she possibly go that he wouldn’t? Was there anywhere she could go that she could leave her past behind, for good?
Chapter Fourteen
Kal
He finally got to Rocky’s a little after the noon hour.
The sun was beaming down upon the little valley, warming it nicely, and he was driving with the windows down, enjoying the breeze flowing through the cab. It helped to keep him distracted from thinking too much about what had just happened.
There was something dark and mysterious going on. Viko was involved with it, and so was Gunnar, but beyond that, Kal hadn’t the slightest clue what it was about. He didn’t know who was good, or who was bad. Viko was an asshole with a grudge against Kal, so it was entirely possible he thought Kal was the bad guy, and that’s why he’d acted the way he had.
Too many unknowns, not enough data. I need to start filling in the blanks. But how?
His brakes squeaked slightly as he came to a stop in front of the bar. Windows went up and he hopped out. There were people wandering the streets now. They weren’t quite in the downtown of Five Peaks, but close enough that casual passersby were regular. Especially on a Saturday as gorgeous as this, where everyone and their mother was out for a walk.
Kal exchanged friendly nods and even a wave with some residents. That was one thing he’d always liked about the little town where the dragons made their home. The vast majority of people were so nice. Open, welcoming and friendly, they just instantly made it easy to relax. He could see why Anne had felt a pull to stay here for a bit.
Maybe she could be convinced to stay for longer.
He waltzed up to the front door and tapped out a pattern on it, then tried the handle. It was unlocked.
“Yello?” he called jovially, sticking his head inside. “Anyone home?”
Anne looked up from where she was currently sweeping up some dirt and debris remnants. “Kal?”
“Hey,” he said, slipping through the door and coming to an immediate halt. “Sorry I’m late. I just got caught up in some stuff unexpectedly.”
She waved him off. “You don’t have to explain. I’m not paying you, you’re just doing this out of the kindness of your heart. If you have to do other stuff, then you do other stuff. I’m not your boss.”
Kal nodded, fighting back a frown. She was right, of course, but it wasn’t what she was saying that bothered him. It was how she was saying it. Like Anne was trying to brush off…something.
“Okay,” he said, determined to figure out what was bothering her. “Still, I should have texted or called you. So I do apologize for that much at least.”
Anne shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Now Kal didn’t bother to hide his frown. “Did I interrupt something?” he asked hesitantly. “I can come back later. I’m sorry, I just figured you’d want to work. Do you need to take the day with Liam? I totally understand, I didn’t mean to intrude,” he said, throwing up a hand in apology.
“No, no he’s fine. We went for a walk to the park earlier. I used some of the money you gave me, bought him some ice cream. It’s been a long, long time since he’s had any, I think he really appreciated it. I hope you don’t mind.”
Kal smiled, feeling it stretch wide across his face. He could hear the change in her voice as she talked about her son. Whatever else was going on, it was clear to him that she was doing her best to be a good parent, to raise her son properly, given the tools she had available. He admired that, and wished he could help contribute.
Maybe I am, with the extra money.
He made a mental note to find out where she had stashed the bills he’d given her, and to top it up by a few more. Anne, he knew, wasn’t likely to accept more if he gave it to her outright, but if he snuck it in there, then maybe she would be okay with it.
After all, it was just money. Just because she wasn’t blessed with a huge fortune didn’t mean she wasn’t working hard enough to deserve it. Raising a child, running a business, and constantly moving, trying to find the spot where they both belonged? That had to be tough, but she was doing a good job of it, as far as he could see.
“Of course I don’t mind,” he told her. “As long as the money is put to a good use, I’m fine with it. It’s your money now anyway. You don’t have to justify what you do with it. I feel like I know you well enough to trust that whatever you do with it, it will be well spent.”
Anne looked away, a bit of color flooding her cheek. “Thank you, Kal. That means a lot, actually.”
“Bah, it’s just the truth.”
“Well, it’s a nice truth to hear then.”
Kal nodded. All at once he’d again picked up on that subtle change. There was something bothering her, eating away at her, and to his surprise he found he really didn’t like knowing that.
“Everything okay?” he blurted out before he could change his mind.
“Pardon?”
He finally peeled himself off the door and walked the rest of the way into the bar, over toward where she was sweeping.
“You seem…distracted,” he said, trying to choose his words with as much care as possible. “Something I can help with?”
Anne’s lower lip curled up over her teeth.
He was right. Something was bothering her.
“No,” she said tightly, in what he immediately knew and could feel was a lie. “Not really. Just some things on the mind, thoughts in my brain. That sort of thing, you know what I mean? Distracting me today, but it’s nothing major.”
Kal’s jaw bunched up to one side while he listened.
“You can tell me,” he said softly. “I’m a really good listener. You don’t have to keep it in.”
Anne smiled. “Kal, you seem like a nice guy. But the truth is, I’ve only known you a couple of days.”
And look at where that’s taken us already.
Had she forgotten they shared a kiss the day before? That both of them had felt it strongly? He could still remember the thunder of her heartbeat and the shortness of her breath. The little startled gasp of air up her nose when he’d first pressed his lips to hers.
Not that kissing meant she had to share all her secrets and problems with him. Maybe this was something to do with Liam. Kal held back a grimace. He loved kids, and had nothing against her son. In fact, from the way she talked about him, he seemed like a great kid.
Unfortunately, Liam had made it quite clear he didn’t feel anywhere near the same about Kal. That was going to be a problem point, if he wanted to keep seeing her.
Kal blinked. Did he want to keep seeing Anne? He’d not really thought about it before…
Maybe that was what was bothering her! Kal had kissed her too soon. He should have waited, and now she was all confused about him and how to proceed!
“The truth is,” Anne said, filling the gaping silence as they both grappled with their own inner thoughts. “I want to get to work on the repairs some more. Every day I’m closed is another day without business. That’s money down the drain.”
Kal tapped his jaw, looking around, glad for the subject change, even if he hadn’t made it.
“Well, I mean, if we pulled all the remaining tables together over here,” he said, pointing at what had once been a large open space in front of the jukebox—likely a dance floor of some kind. “And then mark off the back half of the bar. You could probably open with limited capacity.”
Kal looked around some more, taking more time to analyze it. “We’d have to do a lot of cleanup and work between now and say, five, but that should hopefully be enough time. Maybe we could even get that table fixed up in time too,” he said, pointing to one of the few pieces of furniture he hadn’t written off.
When a dragon breaks stuff, it’s usually not repairable. Thankfully that one had been broken by a human. It was in far better shape.
“You really think so?” she asked, biting her lip again.
Kal shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Saturday night crowds are one of the better ones. May as well take as much of their business as you can I say.”
Anne smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it was better than the discomfort he’d seen before.
“And I’ll act as security for you,” he said, tossing out the wild idea. “Make sure nothing happens if people get rowdy.”
“Kal, you don’t have to do that,” Anne said. “I’m sure you’ll want to have some drinks. Won’t you?”
He considered it, thinking about the beer he would usually be consuming.
“No,” he said, fighting down the large part of him that disagreed, that was even that instant clamoring for a mug. “Not tonight.”
It wasn’t as hard as he’d thought it would be to say no. Perhaps it was because this way, he would be able to stay closer to Anne through the night.
To protect her.
Chapter Fifteen
Anne
Business was slow.
But for business to be slow, there had to be business to begin with, and that was a win in her books. After being closed for several days, having to turn away anyone that came by, Anne was happy to see people in the bar drinking, eating and celebrating again.
She didn’t usually serve much food at Rocky’s. Mostly fries and peanuts. If it was really slow she might make nachos or something, but it was only her, and she didn’t like to leave the front unattended.
Tonight though, with Kal standing off to one side, keeping a careful eye on the patrons, she felt confident enough to spend a bit more time in the kitchen, and so had added deep fried mozza sticks and chicken tenders to the menu as well.
If that helped her win back some business that she’d lost, then it was worth it, in her mind.
“It’s busier than I expected,” Kal commented as she returned to her station at the bar, all seven patrons currently looked after.
Anne looked at him, then out at the tiny gathering of people, then back at him. “Seven people is more than you expected?” she said. “How many did you think we’d get?”
“Three,” he said bluntly.
“Well that would suck. Even seven sucks. None of them are going to drink a lot either.”
Kal pushed off from the bar, standing up straight. “Well your big group of regulars might not be back anytime soon,” he reminded her. “They uh, they’ve been scared off.”
Anne sighed. “Gee, I wonder how that happened?”
“Oops.”
“You sound so apologetic over it,” she said, wondering why she felt like laughing.
Everything with Kal was just so easy, so maybe it shouldn’t surprise her. He always managed to put her at ease. Anne knew that it would be easy for her to fall into that trap with him, to let him in too quickly, too easily. There was just something about him.
Yeah, he’s a great kisser and you can’t stop thinking about it!
“They were kind of being rude to you,” Kal said. “Lots of crude comments about you. Including the ones you couldn’t hear.”
She grimaced. “You’d be surprised by how much I can hear from up here that most of them think I can’t. They’re not that stealthy. Not that group.”
“Still,” Kal said. “I didn’t like it.”
Quirking her eyebrows at him, Anne invited him to say more.
“You’re a good person Anne. You deserve to be treated with respect. Just because you’re beautiful doesn’t give them permission to be overtly sexual about it, whether you can or can’t hear them.”
“Men are like that though,” she countered.
Kal snorted. “Most men are not anything like those buffoons. Horny, dirty-minded, yeah, okay, I’ll give you that. But most of them know how to keep it in their heads, Anne. To only think the thoughts, not give voice to them.”
His expression darkened. “And most definitely not to act on them to any physical degree when it’s very obviously uninvited.”
“My experience says otherwise,” she said, biting her lower lip. “But I haven’t exactly had the best of luck with men either, so you could very well be right on that front.”
“I think it’s time you started upping the caliber of men you associate with then.”
She almost asked if he meant himself, but for some reason Anne held back. This wasn’t the time, nor the place. She wasn’t comfortable flirting with him to that degree, she told herself.
It’s not that I don’t want to. Goodness do I ever. Look at those shoulders, and his arms, they’re huge!
Anne had to get her own life together first though. Then, maybe, she would allow herself to start looking for companionship, something she longed for. A stable life of her own though, then she could consider bringing someone else into it.
Kal’s eyes flic
kered over her shoulder as someone called her name. She glanced over to see them asking for another refill.
“Got it,” she said, acknowledging the request and straightening.
Kal watched her intently as she poured the next mug. At one point she saw him take a deep breath, his nostrils flaring wide.
He was trying to resist his desire to drink, she realized with a start.
“You can do this,” she said quietly, laying a hand on his upper arm after she came back from dropping the next round off and collecting the empty glass. “You’ve got this.”
Kal’s eyes flicked from the drinking patron to her. “You know?”
She shrugged. “I can see it in your eyes. Not at first, but it’s growing harder, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said quietly, eyes on the floor.
“You can resist it,” she said, squeezing his bicep—mostly as reassurance for him, but maybe a little bit for her. “I know you can.”
Kal’s eyes were hooded now, filled with dark thoughts and desires. “How can you say that?”
She smiled, trying to brighten things up. “I couldn’t, two or three days ago,” she told him, being completely truthful. “But now, Kal. Now you have some drive in you. Something has changed. I can feel it. You’ve got something pushing you, urging you on.”
He straightened.
“Like you have a purpose, Kal. Like you have a purpose, it’s there, and I can see it.”
She watched as he went from dark and depressed to wary and cautious. Anne hadn’t expected that sort of reaction. What had she said to have such an effect on him like that?
“Maybe I do,” he said, watching her like a hawk does its prey.
She wavered under the intensity of his gaze, but when the feeling of discomfort never arrived, she relaxed. Again.
