Chapter Nine
Hayden
Alexa left, and I sat there, rendered speechless by what she had done. Rent free. Keeping up any building could be a lot of work, but people still paid rent. Alexa broke the mold when it came to kindness and compassion. For as long as I’d known her, she wanted to save the world and help anyone she could.
We were silent as we stared at the door. I grabbed Kory’s hand, and she squeezed mine in return. She turned my way, bewildered. “Is this a dream?”
I reached out to touch her face. Her skin felt like satin. I have her in my life. At least now we had a fighting chance to figure things out without the additional stress of worrying about money. But neither of us had experienced a real relationship before.
“You’re not dreaming, sweetheart.”
She threw her arms around me, and I held her close, savoring her sweet vanilla scent. This woman was going to be my everything.
“We’re going to figure this out, Kory.”
“One day at a time, right?”
“Right.”
She put a little space between us and looked up into my face. I wanted to kiss her senseless. I was about to lean down when a thought crossed my mind. Kory needed to be romanced, courted, or whatever the fuck Drake had done for Alexa.
I had little doubt she would open up to me if I kissed her. Instead, I brushed my thumb against her lower lip. “The next time I kiss you, there won’t be any doubt about where we stand.”
She smiled, and I knew I’d made the right decision. “So, we’re going out on a date?”
“Yes.”
She winked. “I’m going to make you work for it. Here’s to starting from the very beginning.”
Her words held an underlying implication of no sex, which I figured. My dick screamed at me to argue against it, but like I’d told her in the truck, I wanted her to know I was sure of us. I wanted us to have a real relationship.
“From the beginning.”
I looked into her eyes, and the air thickened around us. My body was on fire having her in my arms again. It had been way too long. I would just have to be patient. Kory took another step back, which helped… marginally. Her smile lit up the room. “It’s like I blinked, and now there are endless possibilities. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring.”
I held out my hands and she came to me. We moved to sit on the couch. It felt so fucking good to have her in my arms. “And how do you feel about that?”
Chewing on her lip, she stopped to give that some thought. “Excited and terrified at the same time.”
“I think that’s normal, considering the shit you’ve gone through.”
She curled into my chest. “I like this. When do you have to work next?”
“I’ve got a couple of day flights with Kane this week. I was going to see if Anthony could take them.”
Leaning back, she looked into my eyes. “Don’t rearrange for me. I want you to keep your schedule.”
“I want to be here for you.”
“And you will be. Yes, I have a lot to deal with, but I’m doing good. This summer, I’d already begun processing more than I realized.”
Kory’s eyes shifted from mine, she stared into the distance. During the summer, something had changed within Kory; she’d become lighter at times. It still couldn’t be easy. Maybe a distraction would help. “What do you think about running by the airport with me. I need to do some paperwork and work on some flight plans. And maybe if we have time, we could run by the clinic.”
That seemed to do the trick, and Kory came back to me. “I’d love that. Is there a place I can get a phone?”
“For now, I have an extra phone at the office. We’ll have to take a trip to Juneau to get you one. I figured we could add a line to my plan. It’ll be cheaper and won’t leave a paper trail.”
She cocked her head. “And I’ll pay you for my portion.”
This was important to Kory. “That works. It’s not necessary, but I know it’s something you need to do.”
Leaning toward me, she kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Hayden. For everything.”
“I’m looking forward to falling in love with you all over again, Kory.”
“Me, too.”