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She stares at the torn up pages that are now resting on the table between us.
“But what about the Vanguard—”
“Fuck them!” I proclaim. “I’ll find another way to clear my name. I want nothing to do with my unscrupulous family anymore. I’m no longer a Reid, and there are other ways to make that clear to anyone out there.”
“Like… how?”she wants to know, her face lined with serious worry.
“Let that be my problem,” I say, winking at her. “I could just take your name, when we get married.”
She erupts in sudden laughter, tears streaming down her face, born from amusement and sadness alike.
“You’re joking,” she claims, throwing me a coy look, as if to check whether her words ring true or not.
“Maybe,” I say, grinning back at her. “I mean, yes, you’re right. We should take it slow. No need to talk about marriage when we’re just starting to get to know each other—and that’s what I’d like to focus on for now. You, us, building something real. I want to know everything about you, Kat. Everything.”
I force myself to stop talking, realizing that I’m rambling. But I can’t seem to stop.
“I mean, we do love each other, so I guess you could say we’re already in that stage where you… I don’t know, I mean, what stages are there in dating? I have never done this before, so, like, how do we—”
“You’re really serious,” she interjects, saving me from myself. It’s a statement rather than a question, a discovery that just revealed itself in front of her.
I shrug. “Of course I am.”
Her face goes slack.
“You love me?” She stutters, still shaking her head. “You really…”
“I love you,” I maintain. “And I want to be with you.”
She wipes the tears off of her cheeks and sucks in a long breath of air.
“I don’t know, I-I have to think about it,” she says, her gaze flitting back and forth between me and the table. “I mean you just… I can’t. I-I have so many things on my mind right now. I need to find a job, and I need to help…”
She cuts herself off, pressing her lips into a thin line as she shakes her head again.
“It’s okay,” I say, reaching for her hand over the table. She doesn’t recoil when I take her hand in mine, moving closer as my gaze latches on to hers.
“I know you have a lot to figure out, and I will help you as much as I can.”
I pause when I notice the wariness in her expression.
“No, not like that,” I hurry to clarify. “We no longer have a contract. I’m not paying you to be my girlfriend.”
A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.
“Girlfriend,” she repeats, smiling as the word seems to cloak her like a warm embrace.
“Yes, I told you we’d be taking a few steps back,” I say, hoping to lift her spirits with another wink.
She chuckles and squeezes my hand. “I would like that. To be your girlfriend.”
The coy smile she sends me now makes it impossible for me not to kiss her. I know it’s a risky move, but when I lean forward to claim her, she doesn’t retreat, nor does she tell me to stop. Instead, she leans into me, her tongue engaging in an eager dance with mine, and a soft sigh of relish flees her lips as she succumbs to my touch.
“Just one more question,” she interjects, breaking our kiss. “Why did you want to meet me here? What is this place?”
Her lips are still close to mine, her hot breath wafting across my skin as she awaits my response. There is an answer to her question, but I decide to show her, instead of telling her.
I lean back, putting some distance between us, before I reach into my pocket. Closing my hand around the key I find in there, I take a deep breath before I take it out and put it on the table between us.
