Page 41 of The Road to You

“Are we able to go out there?” I ask, gesturing to a set of French doors as we reenter the main living space. I feel like fresh air might help clear my mind a bit.

“Of course.” He waits until I step out onto the balcony before following me outside.

The temperature here is warm but it’s nothing compared to the Arkansas heat and I take a moment to appreciate the breeze as it whips through my hair. The view is astounding. I swear you can see most of the city from up here.

The balcony is long and narrow, stretching the entire length of the living and kitchen space. There are a couple outdoor chairs and a small table in the middle but other than that it’s completely bare. Though it makes sense why he wouldn’t keep anything outside considering he’s barely ever here.

“This place is incredible, Kane,” I tell him, needing to reestablish the comfortable existence I felt between us earlier.

“It’s good for what I need.” He shrugs, leaning against the railing next to me.

“I can’t believe this place sits empty all the time. If I paid for a place like this I’d probably never leave.”

“I prefer to be anywhere but here most days,” he says, his dark eyes locked on the city below.

“Why? I thought you liked the city.”

“I do. I just, I don’t know.” He shakes it off, not finishing his thought. “You must be starving.” He turns toward me, completely shifting gears.

“Now that you mention it, I am a little hungry.” I let him get away with the change of subject because eating right now sounds too good to pass up.

“You feel up to going out or would you rather order in? I would offer to cook but I don’t have anything here to make.”

“You cook?” I raise a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Is it that hard to believe that I would know how to cook?” he questions, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“A little, yeah.” I laugh.

“I happen to be a very good cook.”

“Well I guess you’ll have some time to prove it to me,” I point out, remembering that Kane will be my traveling companion for the next four weeks. Another excited burst of energy flutters through me and I find myself smiling even though I don’t mean to.

“You should do that more often,” Kane says, uncrossing his arms.

“Do what?”

“Smile,” he says, wearing a pretty fantastic smile of his own.

I want to say something, come back with some witty comment or joke that shows I’m completely unaffected by his admission. When in reality I feel like my heart is about to beat out of my chest, and I come up empty handed.

“Come on.” Kane turns, pulling open the door, essentially saving me from myself. “There’s quite a few places that deliver so you can pretty much have any kind of food you want.” His hand grazes the small of my back as I step past him into the apartment.

“What do you recommend?” I ask, trying to ignore the way that one innocent touch makes me feel, which is easier said than done.

“Are you a fan of Thai food?” he asks, crossing into the kitchen to pull open a drawer, laughing when I curl my nose and shake my head.

“Okay, no Thai food.” He pulls out a folder and sets it on the counter in front of him. “What about Chinese?” I shake my head again, joining him on the opposite side of the island that divides the kitchen from the dining room.

“Here.” He opens the folder and slides it across the bar to me.

It’s filled to the brim with every kind of menu you could possibly imagine and while everything sounds amazing, I’m not sure if I will actually be able to bring myself to eat or not. Even though I feel hungry, my stomach has been a knot of nervous energy since I woke this morning and very little, other than the short lived buzz of the whiskey, has been able to relax me.

I pull out a few menus, looking at the different array of options laid out in front of me, deciding almost instantly that there’s no way I’m going to be able to make any kind of decision right now.

“How about pizza?” I offer something familiar.

You can never go wrong with pizza, right?

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