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She looked up at Calum. “I’ve always known you’d be there for me, you big goof. I didn’t want you to hurt him and get yourself in trouble. I was so angry that I didn’t trust myself enough to not have you find him and break him in half.”
He smiled softly and squeezed her once more before letting her go. “Okay. I’m getting us something from the diner next door. I’m going to take a breath of fresh air, order some food for us, and be right back. And then I want some answers, sis.”
He kissed her forehead and took his coat from the back of one of the barstools. “I’ll be right back. Burgers okay?” Kayla and Duncan both nodded before he went out the door.
Kayla swallowed when she spotted Duncan coming for her with a determined look on his face. He backed her against the fridge and held her face between the palms of his hands. He stared into her eyes, and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to say or do anything, but then he kissed her. His lips touched hers ever so softly, and then he backed away a little.
“I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Of all of the things he could say to her, she didn’t expect that, certainly not when she wasn’t proud of herself at all. She tried to push him away, but he held on strong.
“No, wildflower. You survived. You are still here, you survived, and I have you here in my arms. I’m so fucking proud of how you’ve looked out for your brother, even when badly hurt. So selfless, caring, and strong.”
She shook her head and tears started to fall over her cheeks, but his thumb pushed them away. “I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Could you have handled it differently? Sure. But you did all of it in a state of shock, I presume. You weren’t thinking clear. And you know what? I’m fucking glad you didn’t think straight. It brought you here, right here in my arms, and I’m not letting you go.”
Fuck, she was beautiful. Evennow standing here all teary-eyed, slobbering into his shirt. Such a strong woman, who went through hell. He didn’t need the details to know that, for her to run, she needed to be terrified. She must have felt as if she was running for her life, literally. He was in awe of her. She survived and was standing before him.
He’d met Calum only a few hours ago, but Duncan already knew he was not the kind of person who would let things slide. Fuck no, he would’ve hunted that fucker down and killed him. That was for sure what Duncan wanted to do. He would use him as his own living and breathing punching bag and would enjoy kicking and punching the life out of this guy.
But he couldn’t vent all of those feelings. No, he knew she would not be helped by him sharing this. She had run across the country because of those feelings she was sure her brother would have. Now was not the time for that. Duncan needed to give her enough breathing room to share her story so she could start getting over this bad experience. He promised himself he’d take things slow with Kayla. He would let her set the pace and let her come to him.
“Can I pour you some more tea?” She nodded at his question, and he let go of her so he could walk farther into the kitchen to do so.
She was watching his every move, and he could see she was getting uncomfortable. When he looked up from pouring her tea, he noticed she was staring at her feet and shifting from one foot to the other with her hands clasped in front of her.
“Hey.” He took her chin in his hand and tipped up her head so he could look into her eyes.
“Hey,” she said softly in return.
“I want you, Kayla. You are my wildflower.” He gave her a pointed look when she scowled and tried to interrupt him. “You feel it too. I don’t know how these things work. I’ve never, ever experienced what I feel for you before. I’m starting to fall for you.” He chuckled when her eyes opened wide at his confession. “Yeah, I know. I don’t even understand it myself.” He smirked at her when she narrowed her eyes at him and tried to jerk her chin from his hand.
“Duncan...,” Kayla scolded.
“Come on, you know what I mean. I don’t understand how I could fall so fast, but it’s happening, and I’m not backing away. I know you’re in your head right now, thinking about New Jersey, but I know when you give me a chance, you’ll see how good we are together. I know you felt it too last night.”
She nodded at Duncan’s words, and he kissed her once more. She put her arms around his waist and held on to him. He was losing track of time when suddenly someone tapped on Kayla’s apartment door. Kayla turned and walked away so she could answer the door. “Hi, Maureen. How’ve you been? Please, come in.”
