Page 19 of Fragile Kiss (Fragile 2)
Cayden rolled his eyes and leaned against the railing of the wooden bridge. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Katharina threw him a cheeky smirk. She had done that a lot tonight. “Pose.”
“Have mercy on me!” Cayden pretended to faint.
“I have none of this ‘mercy’ you speak of. Now, pose.” She raised her phone and gave a little giggle, and Cayden relented. Katharina never seemed to run out of energy. She took photos of everything, and he couldn’t figure out what she did with them all. He raised an eyebrow at her and heard the shutter sound.
Katharina rotated the phone and looked at the picture, zooming in on it. “It looks good. This one is nice.” She touched his upper arm with one of her expensive, long, fake nails. “You could be a model.”
“Not my thing.” Cayden winked and tilted his head forward. “Let’s keep walking. Put your phone up.”
“This is my brand!” Katharina laughed; it sounded like a tiny bell ringing. Cayden felt something light on his arm and looked down to see she had wrapped her hand around his bicep. “Think of it as a second job for me. A way to stay relevant and keep my followers engaged.”
“You don’t wish you could have any privacy?”
She flashed her perfectly straight teeth; he felt the tips of her nails scratching his skin softly. “I do have privacy. In the bedroom.”
Oh, damn. His blood pulsed hard through his body. Katharina busied herself with her phone, editing and posting the photos they had taken so far that evening. Cayden didn’t know where they were being posted or who would see them, and the bedroom comment stole his attention enough that he didn’t care.
It’s wrong, it’s wrong! I shouldn’t be here! In his heart he was still with Lillian, but his head knew it wasn’t true. It’s not wrong, he told himself, and didn’t move his arm away from Katharina’s. She said she wanted you to see other people. That’s what you’re doing. Sort of.
“Here we are,” she said abruptly, interrupting his conscience. She took him by the hand and pulled him towards the house. “Welcome home.”
It was too dark to see anything about the house, but they had walked onto a narrow, paved pathway lit by lamps with candles inside. Cayden felt like he was in a scene from a movie. Usually scenes like this included kissing. He didn’t think he wanted to do it right now.
He felt slightly uncomfortable, but didn’t show it. Continuing with his usual swagger, he asked the only question that came to his mind. “How long have you lived here?”
“About three months.” She gave him a smile that looked partly embarrassed. “You must promise you won’t judge me. Inside is a mess.”
“It can’t be that bad.” Cayden thought about when he moved into his house. It was a wreck for months, too.
“No,” Katharina’s face grew solemn. “It’s actually really bad. I’m clean, but I’m not organized. I never invite people over unless I hire someone to come shove everything into a closet or the spare room.”
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nbsp; He smiled. “Nah, it can’t be that bad. You’ve just moved in, anyway.”
“Let’s go in this door,” she suggested, cutting him off. “This door’s not so messy.”
She must really be self-conscious about her moving mess, he thought, watching her unlock the door and flick a switch inside. A stairway led up to the next level of the house. Boxes, some of them tipped over with the contents spilling out, lined both sides of the staircase, leaving only a foot’s width of space in the middle for walking.
“Excuse me,” Katharina murmured, taking the first step up. “Come on; it’s better up here.”
Cayden closed the door behind him and carefully made his way upstairs. Katharina had already turned the lights on; they were warm-tinted and gave the whole open space a relaxed feel.
“This is nice,” he said, turning around to see the huge room. The kitchen was an open concept, styled perfectly to fit with the décor of the living room and dining space. A sliding glass door opened to a patio that wrapped around two sides of the house.
“I love it,” she beamed, but he could tell she was blushing at all the boxes stacked on top of each other. One sofa was still wrapped in plastic, a bookcase was standing in the middle of the room, and piles of fancy dishes were sitting in the sink. “I wanted to unpack everything myself instead of hiring someone to help me do it.”
“How’s that going?”
She frowned; it was the first time he had seen her look so dismal. “It’s been three months and I only have my shoes in my closet. I’m hopeless, Handsome. I just don’t know how to make this mess look beautiful.” Plopping her bag down on the floor, she pulled a tall stool out from the floating countertop. “I’m sorry. This is so dull to you.”
“Not really, to be honest.” He hardly realized the words were coming from his lips.
Katharina looked up. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Cayden leaned against the wall and examined the room again, “I know someone who helps people organize their homes for a living. It’s amazing what she does, and I’m positive she can help you.”
