Lightning is struck between Kelly and me.
My life will never be the same.
I don’t want to pull out of her, so I stay—our bodies and our gazes joined—for a few timeless moments.
When I finally need to rest my arms, I roll off of her, so sad at the loss of her warmth around me.
I sigh, the hypnosis between our gazes finally releasing.
I roll onto my back, close my eyes, my arm over my forehead.
And I drift away.
I drift away into peaceful slumber.
My eyes pop open at the sound of my cell phone ringing. I jerk upward, still naked in my bed.
“Kelly?”
But she’s gone. The space next to me is empty. Perhaps she’s in the bathroom, or she went out into the kitchen or living room.
I rise, grab my cell phone out of the pocket of my jeans. It’s Buck.
“Hey,” I say into the phone.
“Phoenix, I’m glad I caught you.”
“What’s up?”
“Aspen and I have to leave town for a few days.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine, but her mom has to go in for some routine surgery, and she wants to be there.”
“What kind of surgery?”
“She broke her wrist, and she’s going to need some help around the house. Her father said we didn’t need to come, but Aspen wants to be there.”
“I totally understand. Have you notified Reid?”
“Yeah. Everything’s a go. But it may increase the workload on you for the next couple of days.”
“I’ve got my hands full with Kelly,” I say.
“Right.” Buck laughs. “And with her mother.”
“Her mother’s a nonissue as far as I’m concerned. At least for me. What other work is Reid talking about?”
“Just the stuff you and I would normally do together. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’m only going to go for a few days, just to support Aspen while her mom has the surgery. Once they’re all set up in the house, I’ll return here and Aspen can stay as long as she’s needed.”
“So this is your honeymoon,” I laugh.
“We’ll have a real honeymoon. I promised Aspen, and I promised myself. But for now, this is what Aspen wants to do.”
“Got it. When are you leaving?”
“We fly out tonight. Have you been able to get any sleep?”
I check my watch. Damn, it’s three p.m. “Yeah, turns out I got quite a bit of sleep.”
“You sound pretty relaxed.”
“I am. I suppose I should try to find Kelly.”
“How’d her first night at work go?”
“Good. She and I talked about it this morning. I think she’s going to do well there.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for her.”
“I am too. And I think, slowly, her attitude is changing. She’s realizing she doesn’t have to come out fighting in every circumstance.”
“Good. It’s a hard thing to get over.”
“I know. You and I both know, buddy.”
“That’s no lie. Give me a call if you need anything. Cell phone’s on day or night.”
“Will do. You have a safe trip.” I end the call.
I head into my shower, take a quick one, and then dress. Three thirty. Time to find Kelly. I leave my place and knock on her door.
She answers, her eyes wide. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself. Where did you go?”
“Here. You found me, didn’t you?”
I push past her and into the apartment. “You might’ve told me you were leaving.”
“I thought I was doing something nice, Leif. You said you’d been up all night working. I wanted to let you sleep.”
I smile then. It was a nice thought. “In the future, let me know when you’re leaving. So I can say goodbye.”
She bites her bottom lip. “In the future?”
“I mean… If we… Fuck it.” I close in on her and gently kiss her lips. “Yeah, Kelly. In the future.”
“So this wasn’t just a one-time thing?”
“First of all, it’s been two times.” I smile. “And didn’t I just explain last night that I don’t have sex for the sake of sex?”
“We don’t know each other.”
“No, we don’t, and I’d like to remedy that. Would you like to do something today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you seen any of the sites since you’ve been here?”
“Not really. I haven’t gone out a lot. I’ve been busy with therapy.”
“Therapy isn’t twenty-four hours a day, Kelly.”
“No, but…I just didn’t have any desire to leave.”
“What if I take you sightseeing?”
“You told me you’re from Texas, Leif. What do you know about New York sightseeing?”
“I’ve been here off and on for the past several years, working for the Wolfe family. I know where everything is. What’s your pleasure? You want to go to the Met? The MoMA? Central Park? The Statue of Liberty? Ground Zero? You name it. We’ll go.”
“It’s already three thirty.”
“So?”
“So it’s probably too late to go to any of the museums or anything.”
“Central Park then?”
“What exactly do you do in Central Park?”
“You walk. You have a picnic. You admire the scenery. You watch the people. There’s a zoo, a carousel, boating… Loads of stuff and…”
“And?”
“You enjoy the company of the person you’re with, Kelly. Me. You enjoy my company, and I enjoy yours.”
“Okay.” She shrugs. “Let’s go to Central Park.”
38
KELLY
I’ve never been an outdoors person—not after my mother ended my volleyball career. I still played when I could, but I stopped caring so much. Caring only led to hurt.
I tend to stay inside, with the exception of the five years I spent on the island. We were forced to be outdoors during the hunt.
Central Park was never on my bucket list, but Leif and I spend a few hours there, until the sun begins to set. It’s huge. But we manage to see Belvedere Castle and Conservatory Pond, and then we walk around the great lawn. It’s beautiful and green and the castle is gray and magnificent.
We don’t talk a lot, and we don’t even hold hands, but I feel content. Content just walking beside Leif in this beautiful area of New York City.
“Getting hungry?” he asks.
“I could eat.” I turn to him. “How about you? Have you even eaten today?”
He laughs. “No, I haven’t, come to think of it. And I can definitely eat.”
We get to the nearest subway stop and head toward the apartment building, stopping at a place called Gianni’s Pizza.
“Have you had good old-fashioned New York pizza?” Leif asks.
“Lily brought me a slice from a street vendor once,” I say.
“Those can be iffy. Some are terrific and others not so much. Most New York pizza places aren’t like restaurants, but Gianni’s is, and it’s the best I’ve found. He always finds room for me.”