Page 97 of Give Me Love

I rub my face. “I had something I needed to take care of.”

“Care to explain?”

“Not really.”

She looks back at me for a moment before opening her dresser drawer and then slamming it shut.

Shit.

“We’re getting off to a great start. You and I.” She holds her towel up with one hand and her clothes in the other. Water slides down her body, and I want to rip off the one thing covering her up.

I look down. What am I supposed to tell her? My heroin addict Mom is at my house detoxing and I had to go check on her because she tried to run?

“Wow,” she says, and I look up. “You have nothing to say, huh?”

“Can you just let it go?”

She shakes her head. “Do I have a choice?”

I swallow, and after a moment her eyes go to the ceiling. “You know you said this wasn’t going to be easy, but damn. I thought we’d have a little normalcy before shit hit the fan. I mean, you bought Mugs & Books. What the fuck is that?”

“Kat, you can’t forget that I’m a businessman. I saw a good opportunity. That place is in a great part of town. It has good traffic, and it’s made Karen a lot of money over the years.”

She huffs. “There’s one big problem, though.”

“What?”

“I work there,” she says, likeduh. She walks to the bathroom and shuts the door, but it bounces back from her shoes being in the way, leaving a small crack. I see her towel drop, and everything in me wants to keep watching, but out of respect I look away.

Jace would have my balls.

“Did you ever think for one second that buying the shop might make things really complicated?” she says, her voice echoing from the bathroom.

“No,” I respond, looking up at the ceiling fan. Jesus Christ, hurry up.

“Well, you’re a great businessman.” Her voice is laced with sarcasm, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Typical Kathrine. Smartass and all.

She continues, “I mean, if I were buying a business, I would think about things from all angles.”

I’m glad her mind is off of where I disappeared to this afternoon, but this isn’t easy either.

“I did,” I reply.

The door opens, and she walks out in a T-shirt and very short shorts.

She’s killing me.

“So, you thought about everything and yet you still went through with it?”

“Yes.”

She sighs. “Bryce, I don’t understand.” She pulls her hair to one side and looks toward the window. A deep sadness settles on her pretty face.

“Kat.”

Her eyes dart over to me. She studies my face, and then I see her chest fall. “I’ve worked hard these past few years trying to prove myself to Karen that I could maybe one day take over running Mugs & Books. Then she tells me she wants to sell it, so I think holy shit. This is my chance. I could live the American dream. Own my own business. But then you came along and stole it right from under me.”

I stand up. “That’s not the way to look at it.”

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