Page 48 of Burn for Me
“Um, no– no, that’s not necessary. Thank you.”
“So, what brings you by this evening?”
“I, er– I...” Archie grimaced.
Kitty recognised it as a sure sign of agitation. He always pulled that face when he was upset about something or couldn’t find the words to express himself. As he went to try again, the gate buzzer sounded once more.
“I’ll get it,” she heard her mom call.
“Thanks, Mom.” Smiling at him, Kitty continued, “Sorry, Archie. You were saying?”
Voices coming down the hall warned of more visitors. Looking toward the door, she saw Lee with her mother.
“Hey, Lee. What are you doing here?”
“Hey, babes. I need to chat to you about something, but I see you’ve already got company.”
“No problem. Why don’t you visit with Mom for a bit while I talk to Archie? We can chat after.”
“Yeah, sure thing. I’ll do that.”
“Again, my apologies, Archie. It seems a little crazy here all of a sudden. Go ahead.”
“Kit– Kitty, I, er... I wanted to apologise for my behaviour in the bakery the last time I saw you. I– I behaved appallingly. It– it wasn’t– um, wasn’t right. And I’m sorry. Truly sorry. Please forgive me?”
“Thank you, Archie. Apology accepted. Just as long as you know that we can never be more than friends.”
“Is it– er, is it because of the fire guy?”
“Yes, Grayson is in my life. But no, Archie, you and I were never going to be more than friends. I like you, just not in a romantic kind of way.”
“You and Gray back together?” Lee spoke from the doorway.
“Yes. I was going to tell you about it now when we chatted.”
Lee didn’t look pleased to hear the news she and Gray were back together. Then again, neither did Archie. Kitty sighed. She needed coffee. Or better yet, she needed a stiff drink to deal with all the emotions in the room.
* * *
Why?What did we ever do to you that you won’t love us? Jealousy seethed through their system, and the madness took a deeper hold. You ungrateful whore! How can you still pick him over us? He doesn’t have the first clue how to love you right. After all we’ve done for you, this is how you thank me? Enough! This ends now.
Chapter Seventeen
Rubbinghis hands tiredly over his face, Gray was ready to beat the hell out of something. He was sick of going over the same evidence, knowing he was missing something vital. It was there; he knew it was there. But what was it? For the millionth time, he mentally ran through the evidence again. In the back of his mind, he knew something about the pattern was familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.What the hell am I missing? What is it that’s hiding in plain sight?
At the knock on his door, he turned. Smiling, he waved Kyle in.
“Kyle. Come in, come in. Save me from myself.”
Laughing, Kyle opened the door wider and stepped into the room. “What’s got your knickers in a twist, college boy?” he quipped.
Snorting, Gray motioned for Kyle to take a seat and took the chair next to him instead of going around to the other side of his desk.
“I’m missing something. Something important. It’s there, I know it is, but I keep missing it. Something about this whole setup seemssofamiliar, but I just can’t pin it down.”
“Want to go down to the gym and beat the hell out of each other, and see if that doesn’t clear the cobwebs, old man?”
“I’ll show you old man,” he growled.
