Page 20 of Bound By Blood

“All right. I love you.”

“I love you more. Give Dad a hug for me. And give Aunt Katiya and Uncle Andrei my best.” Though Kaitlyn had other aunts and uncles, Katiya and Andrei had always been her favorites.

“Consider it done. And keep us informed about your young man.”

Kaitlyn was smiling when she ended the call. Her young man. She very much liked the sound of that.

Shortly after sunset, Kaitlyn drove to the small convenience store her mother had told her was located on the other side of the hill. “Handy for when you’re in a hurry,” her mother had told her, and added that there was a supermarket in the city.

Kaitlyn only needed a few things tonight. She moved up and down the aisles, quickly picking up the items on her list. She exchanged a few pleasantries with the clerk, thanked the boy who bagged her groceries, and headed for the door, a sack cradled in each arm, only to have a man stumble in front of her, jarring her shoulder and causing one of the sacks to slip from her grasp.

The man was immediately apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he said, offering her a winning smile. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Of course, if I’d known how pretty you are, I would have run into you on purpose. Here,” he said, when she began gathering her groceries, “let me do that.”

He quickly scooped up the bread, bananas, cheese, and candy bars and dropped them into the sack which had, miraculously, remained intact, and handed it to her.

“Thank you.”

“Eddie,” he said, smiling again. “Eddie Harrington.”

“Kaitlyn,” she replied, and took a step around him.

“Hey, hold on a minute. The least I can do is buy you a cup of coffee.”

“That isn’t necessary.”

“Please,” he said. “It would make me feel better.”

She hesitated. Eddie Harrington was of medium height, young and slender, with a shock of bleached blond hair and dark brown eyes. Had she been an ordinary girl, she would have refused to go with him, but she was her father’s daughter. Blessed with preternatural speed and the strength of ten men, she was confident of her ability to take care of herself.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “It’s just a cup of coffee.”

“All right.”

“Great.” He took one of the bags from her arm and followed her to her car.

He whistled appreciatively when she unlocked the door of the Porsche. “Nice ride!” He put the bag he was carrying on the backseat, then placed hers beside it.

“Thanks.” Kaitlyn locked the car. Wishing she had never agreed to this, she listened to Eddie make small talk as they strolled toward the coffee shop, which was a few doors down from the market.

A waitress showed them to a booth. Kaitlyn sat down and Eddie slid in beside her. It annoyed her that he didn’t take the seat across from her.

Eddie ordered two cups of coffee, then sat back, one arm stretched out on the seat behind her. “So, do you live around here?”

“Yes, do you?”

“No, I’m just laying over for a few days on my way to L.A.”

“Oh? Is this a business trip?”

“You could say that.”

The waitress arrived with their coffee. “Will there be anything else?”

Eddie glanced at Kaitlyn, one brow raised in question.

She shook her head, wishing again that she had refused his invitation. There was something about Eddie she didn’t like, didn’t trust, although she had no idea what it was. He seemed nice enough. And it was, after all, just a cup of coffee. It wasn’t as if she was agreeing to a lifetime commitment.

“Have you lived here long?” he asked.

---