Kim shut her eyes, shocked he could know her so well already. It had only been a few weeks. Yet he read her like a book, every time. That knowledge was both comforting and frightening as hell.
Just as much was the realization she did want that walk—with him. Going alone didn’t sound nearly as attractive as it would have a month ago.
&n
bsp; But that was exactly why she nodded and slipped out of his embrace. She shouldn’t get used to relying on him too much. “Yeah, I think I’ll just go out and sit in the backyard by myself for a few. You enjoy yourself in here.”
He squeezed her hand. “I will. Take your time.”
“Thanks.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
She slipped out the side door and headed out back to the picnic table covered up for winter. She set aside the cover and sat gingerly on the ice-cold bench, lifting her gaze to the star-sprinkled sky. Out in the crisp, clear air, it was so much easier to think. Inside the emotions had overwhelmed her, crowding her brain and heart until she was too full. For this instant, she was just Kim again, at peace.
Everything was going to be okay. Better than okay. Her brother was so happy and her new sister-in-law truly was her sister. As for her and Michael, they would be fine too. She wasn’t going to force the issue either way. As long as it worked for them to be together, they would be.
Maybe she would even tell him her concerns about him finding someone younger to date, someone more like himself. She shouldn’t be selfish. Brad was always teasing her about that for good reason. Now would be a fine time to demonstrate her maturity. She’d just go inside and finish spending a pleasant evening with a man she cared about as well as her friends, then later on, share her misgivings in a calm, even-tempered fashion. No drama. However he responded, she would accept.
Mind made up, she smiled and marched back inside. The night wind had dusted out the cobwebs. She was worrying for nothing. Today was a day of celebration and she was going to get her party on.
She walked into the living room, seeking Michael. He’d probably taken the opportunity to get a couple minutes away himself. For all she knew, he’d snuck upstairs for a nap or something. She smiled and engaged in small talk with those who grabbed her on her journey across the room, all the while scanning for her date. The room was starting to clear out yet he was nowhere to be found. Strange. Perhaps her first guess had been accurate. She took a quick detour to the kitchen, intending to grab a couple of glasses of wine, and stopped dead.
Looked like she’d found her target.
He stood with his back to the island and the perky blonde evening clerk, Casey, from the sanctuary leaned too close, her wrists caught in his hands. They looked good together. Dark and light, two halves of a whole. Young, fresh. Their whole lives ahead of them. No one would wonder what he was doing with someone like her because it made sense. They matched, perfect bookends.
They shifted and for a second, Kim debated if he was trying to hold her off. If what she was seeing wasn’t an accurate picture at all. Then the tsunami of conflicting emotions she’d been battling for weeks surged through her and poured out of her throat.
“So sorry to interrupt,” she said loudly, causing Casey to stumble backward. “I wanted some wine. But never fear, we have open rooms available upstairs if you’d like more privacy.” She breezed past them and opened the refrigerator, tugging out the bottle of Riesling. “Excuse me.”
“Kim, what the hell?” Michael grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, holding her still so that she had no choice but to gaze up at his baffled features. The breadth of his chest and shoulders tripped her belly muscles as it often did, though this time she gave her daffy female reaction in the face of supreme male hotness no quarter. “Casey and I were just talking.”
“Touch talking. Is that like touch typing? You close your eyes to sound out the words?” She shoved away from him to set down the bottle of wine, well aware somewhere in the back of her mind that she was overreacting. She didn’t intend to listen to that more sensible part of her brain.
Fact was, she’d been holding too much in for too long. Now that the cork had been pulled, she couldn’t stop the stream.
She glanced around the room, hoping to catch sight of Casey. No such luck. She’d vanished at the first sign of trouble.
“You’re being ridiculous. She was just—”
“She was just touching you. Admit it. You were holding her wrists because they’d either been on you or they were about to be.” She whirled back and glared. The obvious pinch around his eyes and mouth didn’t help mitigate what he’d called her. Ridiculous. That criticism had been leveled at her by exes—especially her ex-husband—too often. She was too excitable, too emotional, too selfish.
Well, fuck it all, she might as well exalt in her flaws. It had only been a matter of time until the real Kim reemerged, right? One of her famous meltdowns was long overdue.
“Yes, she touched me,” he said, stroking her upper arm the same way she’d seen him pet Telly’s head. Gingerly. “I think she thought I was single. Before you came in, I was explaining to her what the score was.”
“You are single.” Even as she said the words, he flinched. The same part of her that knew she’d need to pull on her hip boots to wade out of this mess tried to hold her off but stopping wasn’t an option. Locomotives didn’t slow down on a dime. They flattened whatever was in their path.
Including what they wanted more than anything.
“No,” Michael said, his voice scarcely more than breath. “I’m not. And if you think I’m going to let you snatch the first convenient excuse to end us, you’re mistaken.”
“Don’t use that tone on me. The patient, all-knowing one you’d use on your nieces or nephews. I may be ridiculous but I’m not a child to be managed.”
“You’re overreacting and I know why. You want out. Things are getting too intense between us so you’ll put up any roadblock you can. Including women I don’t even know and don’t care about.”
She shrugged jerkily, pivoting away. When he got too close, she couldn’t think. It became so much harder to care about what she wasn’t even sure she’d seen. Her anger was already flickering, like a flame caught in a breeze. If she didn’t focus, she’d lose it entirely and she’d have no choice but to admit the insecurities that had made her lash out in the first place.
Casey was cute. She smiled all the time and she had a tiny waist and no wrinkles. She was disturbingly even-tempered. No one ever called her the Kiminator—or the equivalent nickname for Casey. Kim was also willing to bet Casey’s brother probably didn’t think she had the emotional IQ of a killer robot.