Chapter 12 - Ki

 

Waking up in the middle of the night to pee was the worst. I hated it, but I drank wine before bed, so I had no room to complain. I pushed my eye mask up, enough to see where I was going and drug myself through the living room to the bathroom and then back to bed. I’ve lived here for a long time, and I knew how I felt in my place. I knew when I was comfortable in my home and when I wasn’t. I knew when something wasn’t quite right and as soon as I got back into my room, something wasn’t quite right.

I slowly turned around, wishing I hadn’t left my bat in the closet and saw someone in the shadows. My stomach invaded my throat, and my imagination and thoughts started to think of all the horrible things that were about to happen when he pushed from the wall.

Opening my mouth to scream, I couldn't. I felt helpless and stupid as I stumbled backward.

“If someone other than me were to break into your apartment,” Lucas started, “I hope you would react differently than you are now.”

Air rushed into my lungs, and I lunged at him, pushing him back against the wall. “You scared the shit out of me!” I yelled, pushing him a few more times.

“I thought you took kickboxing lessons,” he replied, chuckling. He didn’t push me away or try to block my lame hits.

“I sucked at it.” I dropped my arms and stood in front of him, breathing heavily. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could see he was smiling at me. “Arrogant asshole,” I muttered and went to turn, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.

It all happened so fast, but so slow at the same time when his lips came crashing down on mine. Lucas Hills was kissing me, and I just stood there. He broke into my room, scared the shit out of me, and now had his lips on mine. “Normally when someone kisses you, you should kiss them back,” he whispered against my lips, as his other hand went behind my back.

I liked Prescot.

I also liked Lucas.

However, they were both unavailable to me.

But I haven’t been kissed in a long time, so I kissed him back. It was a nice slow, long kiss that felt perfect and the butterflies in my stomach were thoroughly confused.

I pulled away, gathered myself and my weak knees, and sat on the end of my bed.

“What are you doing here, Lucas?”

He sat next to me. “I wanted to see you.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It wouldn’t be if you told me what was going on.”

“I will. Kind of.”

I glanced at him. “What?”

“Soon, Ki, but not tonight.”

“So, you seriously just wanted to see me?”

“I told you I liked you.”

“Well, my feelings are confused.”

“Because of Prescot.”

“How do you know about him?”

“I just do.”

“Look,” I said standing, “this is all confusing. You and your hoodlums are following me, and I sought out refuge with Prescot because something about him made me feel like he could protect me. But then you said you’re protecting me. And now you like me, and a part of me likes you, but the other part likes Prescot. It’s too much to handle in such a short amount of time.”

He stood and gently cradled my head in his hands. “I work alone, Ki.”

“What?”

“I work alone, so why do you think I have hoodlums?”

“A man was following me. I mean, I think he was following me. I felt like he was, so that’s why I ran to Prescot. I like him, and for some reason, I feel safe with him.”

“I’ll keep you safe, Ki.”

“You come and go whenever you want, and at least I can call Prescot and go to him if I need to.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, and I fought against kissing him again. “I have to get back to work and get some answers for the both of us, Ki; until then, I think it’s best I stop popping up.”

He pulled me into a hug. A nice honest to god hug that kind of felt like goodbye.

“You won’t see me, but I’ll be there. If you need me, tug on your right ear.”

I chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“When it comes to you . . . yes, Ki, I’m serious.”

I closed my eyes, felt a soft kiss on my lips, and then he was gone. He just walked out my door, like he had come in that way to begin with. And maybe he did, I had no clue how he got in. I didn’t even ask.

The butterflies in my stomach were gone, and my lips ached to be kissed again. I crawled in bed even more confused and wondered what it would be like to kiss Prescot.

Would it be soft and sweet or heavy and raw?

Would he make my lips ache and leave me wanting more?

I tossed and turned the rest of the night and wanted to cry when Alexa came and woke me up. I immediately filled her in, and she was actually jealous of me. We spent a lazy day inside and cleaned our entire place, up and downstairs. I didn’t want to deal with the world today, and we always tried to take Sundays off. I cleared the air with Alexa over coffee and thanked her for being so brutally honest with me. After that kiss with Lucas, and the thought of kissing Prescot, I think that was my heart’s way of letting me know it was okay to move on. There was so much life and love to experience, and I was missing every single opportunity presented to me because I was stuck in the past. During the cleaning and all the discussing of my life with Alexa, I decided I had to see Prescot again.

Monday came too quickly, and after we picked up a stack of envelopes from Josh, I was ready to claim the day. I felt on my game, and I pushed Alexa to finish earlier than normal. We served seven people in record time, and Alexa was more than happy to drop off the pictures so I could see Prescot. I knew what it was like for someone to date two people at the same time, and I wasn’t that person.

I was merely comparing kisses.

I wasn’t dating them.

I could do this.

I had to do this.

Most importantly, I needed to know. I needed to know how Prescot would make me feel. I really wanted his lips on mine.

Molly had let me go to his office which was empty, but she said he would be back soon. My palms were sweaty, and I was taking slow long breaths in and out. The fact that he was still married bothered me, but only a little bit since they were getting a divorce. The plan was to kiss him even though part of me felt like he wasn’t going to kiss me back. I had to have answers now and kissing him would give me those answers.

I stayed in the corner and ten minutes passed before I saw him walk through the door. He shut it behind him and set his briefcase down on his desk. His suit jacket was next, then his silky red tie. He rolled his sleeves up, and a part of me wanted him to take his shirt off, exposing all of his tattoos.

I wanted more.

“Ki.” His voice woke up the butterflies, and I bit my lip. He turned toward me, took me in, before taking three powerful steps toward me. Letting the wall hold me up, I said, “Did Molly tell you I was here?”

“Yes.”

“At least I wasn’t under your desk.”

He smiled and pulled his hands out of his pockets, then took a small step closer. My body moved from the wall, and my head tilted back. His blue eyes, which were normally icy and hard, had thawed a bit making my butterflies stir crazy. I didn’t want to throw myself at the guy, but I wanted his lips on mine and his hands in my hair.

He worked his jaw. “You tempt me.”

I peeked up at him from beneath my lashes and smiled softly. “Do I?”

I raised my hands to his chest, and he allowed me to slowly slide them up, feeling his rock-hard body beneath them. My arms couldn’t reach any higher, and he leaned down so I could slip them around his neck. His nose lightly slid against mine as I inhaled his scent that was only Prescot.

“Ki.”

I brushed my lips against his, and he closed his eyes. He reached down and grabbed my ass, pulling me into his arms. My legs were around his waist, and my back was to the wall when he finally gave me what I wanted.

I was right.

He was heavy and raw.

He wanted me and it wasn’t just because of his hard cock rubbing against me. There was more to our kiss. More than what I felt with Lucas, and I didn’t want him to stop. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues tangled and he kissed me harder. The longer he kissed me, the more intense it got. He held me up with his body while his hands went up the back of my shirt and he unclipped my bra. His hands were large and rough against my breasts and he tore his lips from mine.

We both fought for air, and his hands kept my breasts cupped while his thumbs rubbed against my nipples. I opened my mouth to say something but wasn’t sure what to say. This man not only gave me the butterflies, but he set them free to soar.

It felt real.

“Ki,” his voice was much softer, like in the restaurant; and as much as I liked it, I knew something bad was going to come next, “we have to stop.”

Okay, so it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but the banging on his door had him dropping me to my feet in an instant.

“Prescot!” She jiggled the handle, and I realized it was locked.

“Shit,” I said fixing my bra. “I’m so sorry.”

He said nothing as he rolled his sleeves down, and ran a hand over his face.

“Prescot,” I said softly, but he wouldn’t speak.

He glanced at me, saw I was composed, and went to the door. She flew inside and started harping on him until she saw me and she lost it. “Isn’t this . . . convenient!”

“She’s a client, Vicki.”

She walked up to Prescot and grabbed his face, pinching his cheeks. “Lying bastard!” She stepped back and looked me up and down. “Her? Really, Prescot, you couldn’t find anyone prettier.”

“Fuck off,” I spat.

“I’m taking everything I can get from you, Prescot.”

“You have no proof, Vicki. Of anything.”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Screw you, Prescot. My lawyer said—”

“Your lawyer is stupid.”

“You used to work for them!” she yelled taking a step closer to him. “You made three times the money you make now. You had everything and instead of going back, you decided to do this shit.” She waved her free arm around. “This is crap, and you know it.”

He just stared at her.

“Say something, Prescot.”

He didn’t.

“You never talk! I want you to talk! Speak! Say something, Prescot!”

He remained silent and it pissed her off so much that she stomped her foot and started whining about how much she loved him, and I couldn’t let myself or Prescot listen to that shit any longer.

“Now it’s my time to call bullshit,” I said interrupting her.

“Excuse me,” she shrieked. “You have no right—”

“You’re fucking the temp service guy.”

She gasped.

“I saw you, wearing that stupid short black mini dress. Your hair was in curls, and you fucked him in his office.”

“Prescot, honey, don’t—”

I stood in front of her. “I’m talking, and you’ll listen. I’m a private investigator, and I was following you that day, which means I have pictures of your dirty little secret. So, if I was you, I’d take whatever this nice man is giving you and sign the divorce papers now, or you’ll get nothing when I hand them over to Prescot.”

“But I—”

I put my hand up. “No. Sign the papers and move on. Nothing you can say will help or change the situation you’ve put yourself in. Prescot is a good man, and he doesn’t need to put up with your shit any longer.”

She huffed and looked at Prescot behind me. “Fine. I’ll call my lawyer.”

She stomped off, and I watched her walk away; when I turned around to Prescot, his eyes were cold and distant.

“You can go,” he said, flicking his eyes to the papers on his desk.

“Me?”

“Yes, Ki. You.”

“I think we should talk.”

He flicked his eyes back up to me. I hurt him. This powerful man was upset, like I deliberately hid the information from him. “Now you want to talk?”

“I’m sorry, Prescot. I wanted to tell you, I did, but you know I have a lot of shit going on in my life right now, and I forgot.”

“You forgot?”

“I went to the temp service to see why they kept sending you shitty receptionists and I just happened to catch them. It’s not like I was really following her.”

“That’s not the point, Ki.”

“I should have said something that day. I’m sorry it slipped my mind, but I was in an awkward position.”

He stood from his chair and walked around the desk but avoided me. He grabbed his suit jacket and briefcase. “You can go.”

My feelings were hurt, but he had every right to be mad at me. “Are you letting me go? As a client?” I asked with his back to me.

“When I hear back from my investigator, I’ll be in touch.”

I rushed in front of him so he could see me when I spoke to him. “I like you, Prescot. Please, don’t forget what we shared in there because it meant something to me.”

He looked at me like I was no one and I had to leave before I broke down in front of him. I wouldn’t let him see me cry. I turned to leave and remembered something, so I faced him again.

“Molly would be perfect for the job. You should promote her to be your executive assistant.”

I left via the stairs so I wouldn’t have to ride the elevator with him. I walked until my vision blurred with tears and found a vacant bench to sit and collect my thoughts. I sent Alexa a text asking where she was. She was just leaving a coffee date with her mom and agreed to meet up for a late lunch. The best part of our friendship was that I didn’t have to say a word; Alexa knew something had happened, but let me process it in my own way. She kept the conversation light as we ate our lunch, and then announced as we were walking home that we would have a day of nothing but horrible movies and junk food.

She really was too good to me.