Chapter Five

Kiera opened the door and Simone was immediately upon her.

"Where were you?" she asked angrily.

Kiera looked at her with a guilty expression. Simone had her hands on her hips and was looking at her expectantly. Kiera knew how upset she got when she didn't give her word for hours on end. "I-"

Simone interrupted her. "You disappear with a stranger and don't even bother to answer your phone! Do you know how anxious I've been? I sent Kane after you. He still isn't back. I'll have to call him to tell him you're home."

Her phone. She hadn't checked it since she left the station. It made her feel worse. "I'm sorry, Simone. I should've called. It's just that the man who accompanied me to the station invited me for lunch and I lost track of time."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It was almost comical. "You mean the one who rescued you last night."

"Yes, him. I'm glad you remember."

"I'm old but not that old if that's what you're implying." It wasn't, but there was no arguing with Simone when she was in a bad mood. "And he dropped you off here."

"Of course," she said. "Call Kane. Tell him I'm sorry for not answering his calls." She understood where they were coming from and she appreciated the concern. They meant no harm.

Simone shook her head in disapproval. "I'll let him know."

Once Simone turned her back to her, Kiera breathed properly again. She made her way upstairs. In her room, she peeled her clothes off and immediately dressed in something more comfortable; a satin nightgown and its matching robe. She sat in front of her computer and for the first time in weeks, she actually got some work done and made plenty of progress.

The lunch with Mikael was refreshing. She had been miserable for the past few weeks because of the breakup with Jared and so working was the farthest thing from her mind. She had been neglecting her responsibilities and the worst part about it all was that she couldn't do anything else if she didn't get her work done and since she wasn't doing much, she couldn't do anything else. Her all-time favorite hobby—which was reading—was practically abandoned. She hadn't picked up a book in a long time, way before the whole situation with Jared started. If she caught up (unlikely that it would be anytime soon but oh well) she could finish the books on her list and buy a bigger comfort pile. Yes, it was a good plan. And it made her work harder than ever.

A knock on her door after many hours of editing interrupted her train of thought. She whirled around in her chair and cracked her knuckles. Kane was standing there with his arms folded. "Have I interrupted?"

"No," she said, even though he had. "Come on in. What can I do for you?"

He closed the door. "Oh, I just thought I'd talk to you for a little bit. We haven't seen each other in quite some time."

"Yes, true," she answered. "Look, I want to apologize for what happened earlier. I got distracted and checking my phone for calls never crossed my mind."

Kane put his hands up. "You don't have to apologize to me, Kiera. I figured you were busy. Ma's just overprotective. She cares a lot about you, you know."

"I know," she nodded. "It's the reason why I feel so guilty. She means no harm whatsoever."

"Yeah," he said and rubbed his jaw. For a split second, he looked like a masculine version of Simone, and then he looked back up and it was gone. Kiera had no clue who Kane's father was but she was certain that Kane looked exactly like him. There wasn't a striking resemblance between him and his mother. Kane was darker in tone and his hair was almost as dark as a moonless sky. Simone was pale and her hair was chestnut brown. He arched his bushy eyebrows when he caught her studying him. "Something wrong?"

"No," she chuckled, "I was just thinking about how you don't look like Simone at all. Nothing important."

He nodded and pushed his hair back. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"I know," she said and smiled. She quickly changed the subject. "How's your new job? You know Simone doesn't talk about it much. Well, not much. At all. Are you keeping it a secret?"

"Not quite," he said. "It's nothing remarkable. I'm the head butcher at this factory. I know it sounds plain but it's lucrative. Pays better than what I was doing here."

"Oh," she said. The thought of butchering animals for a living made her feel a certain way. Not squeamish, just off. She shuddered and Kane laughed.

"That bad?"

"A little," she admitted.

They laughed together for a few more seconds and then they stared at each other's faces silently.

"Ma told me about you and that stranger," he said. She waited for him to get to his point. "She also told me about the bad breakup with, what was his name again? Jason?"

"Jared," she said softly.

"Yeah."

"Well," she said after a beat. "All we had was lunch. There isn't much to say about him. He helped me last night and he was kind enough to accompany me to the station."

"I wouldn't say kind," he commented. "He's clearly interested in you if he asked you to have lunch with him. I would know."

Kiera couldn't help but blush. "No, I'm sure it isn't that. He's just kind, that's all. I'm not looking for anything either."

She wasn't sure why she was lying to Jared. She never felt the need to keep secrets from him. He was like a big brother to her; he was exactly eight years older than her. They were born on the same day, September the twenty-first. She was only ten when he left for college so she spent most of her teen years alone, but in her heart, he would always be someone she would forever cherish.

Kane shrugged. "If you say so. I'll take your car to a mechanic tomorrow. They'll get the window fixed and paint over that scratch. Sounds okay?"

"It's perfect," she said. "Thank you."

He stood up and she had to look up to keep staring at his face. He was quite tall—he was Simone's son, after all. He studied her face for a few beats and then said, "You should invite him over one of these days. We'd like to thank him properly for helping you last night."

Kiera had no response for him. He walked out of her bedroom and closed the door behind him. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't like how he and Simone were pestering her about Mikael but then again, she understood their concern. But even though she felt that Mikael was as interested in her as she was in him (bold), she still felt like it was too soon to have expectations or even initiate anything. And as much as she wanted to use someone to erase Jared from her memory, she knew she wasn't ready to get into a relationship.

The thought of entering a relationship with Mikael warmed her heart and soul but she ignored the feeling. She was an adult. She had to be responsible.

She returned to work but was once again interrupted. This time, however, it was her phone ringing and not a knock on the door. She grabbed her phone without peeling her eyes off her computer screen and then she saw Mikael's name flashing on the screen of her phone. Yes, she had saved his phone number. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach and fluttered there.

He was calling her. She could hardly believe it.

She slid her thumb across the screen and took a deep breath before saying the word, "Hi."

"Kiera," he said warmly. It sent shivers down her spine, the way he said her name. She could imagine him lying down on his bed (it was already late) with his arm on the pillow above his head. "I'm sorry for calling."

"Why are you sorry?" she asked, typing a few random words and then deleting them. She had to keep her hands busy or she'd have a panic attack. She tried to keep her voice even and her tone low.

"It's late," he explained. "You're probably busy with the work you said you needed to catch up on."

"I'm already done," she said, although that was far from the truth. "Don't worry about it. You're not interrupting. At all."

He sighed and she once again trembled. "I know I said I'd see you on Saturday," she felt momentarily disappointed, "but the truth is that I can't get you out of my head. Saturday feels an eternity away. I'm not sure if I'm making sense to you. You'll tell me to stop if you want me to, won't you?"

"Don't stop," she said hurriedly. She was growing more breathless with each passing minute. She knew she had to say something so he knew that she felt the same way. She knew the right thing to do would be to push him away because she was heartbroken and not in the right state of mind but she couldn't deny her attraction toward him. "I feel the same way."

"I'm glad," he said. She expected him to say more but he changed the subject. "I want to get to know you better. I think I told you this earlier."

"Me, too," she said, glancing at the door for no particular reason. She had the feeling that someone was standing on the other side and listening to her conversation with him. She quickly brushed the feeling off.

"Good," he said. "Can I take you out for dinner tomorrow?"

"You can," she nodded.

They spoke a bit more about the timing and then he hung up. She stared at her phone as butterflies fluttered around in her belly. She turned back to her computer but she was no longer in the mood to work. How would she concentrate on editing when she had him on her mind? She couldn't afford to make mistakes in the manuscript. She'd most definitely lose her job if she did. So she logged off and turned her computer off. She didn't want to work. What she wanted to do was lie in bed and think about Mikael and how his unexpected phone and words made her feel.

The feeling was mutual. There was nothing sweeter than that.

Kiera turned the lights off and crawled under the covers. In the dark, her room became whatever she wanted it to be. She stared at the blank ceiling and then closed her eyes. She saw Mikael and his charming smile. She felt her lips stretch into a smile to mimic him. She was certain that anyone who walked in on her would think she was crazy. And maybe that was exactly what she was.

For Mikael, she wouldn't mind.