Page 9 of Destined to Fight

“Nae, not at all. Just, it’s been some time since I’ve been around anyone who is not either an Arcane or familiar with us. My apologies if I scare ye, but if we’re being honest, ye throw me off mah game as well.”

She didn’t know what to say, and he just stood there, staring at her with the half grin on his face. He’d changed from the suit to a pair of sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. Her eyes roamed his body, taking every inch of him in, and damn him, he had the nicest arms she’d ever seen, even nicer than Dom’s. She typically wasn’t one for redheads, but when you threw in the perfectly sculpted face, the well-groomed hair and beard, the darkest gray eyes she’d ever seen, and then the perfectly muscular arms…well, the color of his hair was suddenly insignificant. His suit had always hidden the fine details of his body, and until now, she hadn’t been able to really look at him in detail. He was truly the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on.

“Are ye all right, lass?”

And that Scottish accent. She was going to just melt where she stood.

“Lass…?”

“Um…uh…yeah, I…I’m good,” she stuttered.

You’re going to make a fool out of yourself yet, said her inner voice.

Kelly wanted to tell that voice exactly where it could go, but then he’d surely peg her as crazy. With quite a lot of willpower, she was able to shut it up and keep her comments to herself at bay.

“Would ye like something to eat before we talk?” Kade asked.

Her stomach growled, and she immediately slapped her hand to it as if that would hide the noise.

“That would be great, thanks.” Kelly tried to hide the embarrassment from her voice as she spoke.

“Come then, ye can choose what ye’d like from the room service menu.” He turned and walked out of the bedroom then, his cat following vocally behind.

Kelly followed too, anxious to find out more about everything she’d discovered over the past twelve or so hours.

5

Kade pulled out one of the barstools in the kitchen and gestured for her to sit down. As she sat, he slid the room service menu in front of her.

“Please choose whatever ye’d like and I’ll call it in for ye.”

She turned a few pages, noting things that were too fancy for her liking. Hell, she couldn’t even pronounce some of the dishes. After turning quite a few pages, she found the kids’ menu. “I’ll just have the kid’s pancakes with bacon, please.”

“That’s all ye want?” Kade asked, seeming surprised.

“I don’t even know what half the shit on that menu is, and a simple breakfast sounds good. I appreciate your kindness, but I will pay for my meal. I can give you money when you take me back to my car.”

He gave her a look that said she was sorely mistaken, then picked up the phone on the wall and pressed a single button. “I’d like to place an order for room service. Aye. Two short stacks of pancakes, two orders of bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs, extra butter, extra syrup, and an unsweet iced tea.”

“No, no, no, I can’t afford tha—” Kelly tried to say.

Kade just cut her off, talking to the person on the other end of the line. “Aye, that’s correct, that’ll be all. Mm hm, thank ye.” With that, he placed the phone back on its receiver and looked at her. “I would never let ye pay for a meal while yer under my care. Eat what ye like and leave the rest, but I refuse to see ye starve.”

“I’m not starving. I do just fine for myself, thank you very much!” she almost yelled at him.

“I dinnae mean to offend ye, lass. I jus—”

Fabian cut him off, clearing his throat. Kelly groaned inwardly. Apparently this was going to become a thing: Kade would open his mouth and say something offensive or push a bit too much, and Fabian would try to save him from himself. She hoped to be far away from all of this before it got too annoying.

Kelly shook her head at them both. “Look, I don’t really care at this point. Can we get this show on the road and start talking before the food gets here?”

“Why are ye in such a hurry?” Kade seemed offended.

“Because, unlike you, I have to earn a living. Last night’s fuckup dashed my hopes of making a decent living any time soon, so I need to get back out there and find more leads. Please just tell me about what you all are, what I may or may not be, and how it all affects me so I can get on with my wonderful life.”

“Ye have no need to make a living as ye did yesterday,” Kade said gently. “What ye are, what ye can be, means ye can start a whole new life.”

“I don’t want a new life! And I don’t want to be known for what I am, I want to be known for who I am.”

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