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He only smiles devilishly, and God, do I want to kiss him.
“Very. Welcome,” he drawls as I turn to leave. “Kat!”
I turn around and pause.
“In case of emergency, I just texted you the pin for my front door.”
Hmm. I mean, his cleaning ladies and cooks and security know the pin. Nothing special, right? But why me?
“I thought your villa is almost always open,” I say, searching his eyes like I can find a trick behind that too.
“Except at night.” There is a flicker of mischief in his eyes. Or am I imagining it?
“Emergency. At night. Got it,” I say, not breaking eye contact but walking out until the wall erases him from sight, and the butterflies in my stomach officially start an orgy.
22
KAT
I stop at Dr. Hodges’office for another checkup.
“It’s been over twelve hours,” he says, inspecting my wound. “No swelling. The tests from yesterday weren’t great, but looks like you are healing like a cat.”
I spend the rest of the day cleaning my place, then dial Kai.
The fact that we can talk on the phone now feels unreal. Considering he is on the Eastside.
Callie picks up instead, and we talk for an hour, Kai throwing remarks in the background. Those two seem to be happy like puppies—they deserve it after what Archer and life put them through.
I sink into a slight melancholy after I hang up.
I’ve never technically had a boyfriend. I learned that whenever I was interested in a guy, my friends turned a cold shoulder, and no guy was ever worth losing friends. Guys came and went. They tended to limit my freedom. They could be super clingy. Relationships came with rules I wasn’t fond of. Jealousy was annoying. And occasionally, men lost their minds.
Memories of the night back home when I got my first assault charge rush into my mind as I sit on the patio, cuddled in the wicker chair, and watch the twilight world get darker by the minute, putting the everyday cacophony of tropical birds to sleep.
That prick, Joshua, was exactly that—clingy. The worst part of it—he was a narcissist who couldn’t take no for an answer.
And that’s how it went down.
My anger.
His fragile ego.
Four guys against one girl. At night. Behind the bar.
Before that, there was that night in Bangkok, when I was barely sixteen. And that night proved that men can—
Okay, time out.
I exhale, sinking into the darkness of the night.
We don’t talk about that night in Bangkok. I try to not even think about it. Because when I do, I can’t help but remember the bits and pieces of Olivia’s story on the Eastside.
Where do you find nice guys these days?
Kai, alright. He is a charmer. Taken. Good for him.
Marlow? Super-sweet and nice, but too nice for me.
