Page 28 of Operation Wolf: Hunter
“Honestly?” Kia hung the dish towel on the hook over the sink. “I don’t think she even noticed I was gone. She’s dead now—cirrhosis of the liver, I was told—so I’ll never be able to know for sure.”
She shrugged, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by a fierce need to take her in my arms, tell her that her mother was wrong and that she was amazing and didn’t deserve to be neglected, but her eyes were flat. I knew instinctively that she wouldn’t welcome my pity. She was a self-made woman, and she wanted to be acknowledged for what she was now, not where she’d come from.
“Maybe you could show me your photography sometime,” I suggested after a moment.
Kia smiled a little. “Maybe. I didn’t bring my portfolio or anything, but I have taken a few shots with my DSLR since I got here, and I’ll show them to you if I ever get a chance to develop them.”
“I’d like that,” I said. And I really meant it.
I was filled with a burning curiosity to find out more about this woman, about her passions and what made her tick. We stood there, smiling at each other for a long moment, and I felt something subtle shift in the air between us.
“I’d better get to bed,” Kia said quietly, breaking the spell.
“Yeah,” I said softly. This time, when the memory of her naked body rose in my mind, I didn’t try to fight it or push it away. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
I watched as she walked away, heading up the stairs to bed, and waited until I was sure she was behind the closed door before turning in.
