His eyebrows rose and his gaze deepened. Flashbacks of laughing and teasing with him and then sneaking into the forest to kiss hit her like that fire poker. She gasped for air.
“How much do you remember?” he asked softly.
Kylee took a fortifying breath, praying for strength. She looked away from his eyes and out the window. The land was flat to the east but stretched to the mountains west of Denver. It had surprised her last time she came here how the city of Denver was flat and everything east of that looked like Kansas but to the west those glorious, green mountains offered sanctuary, excitement, and … she chanced a glance at Chandler … a life she could never live.
“I remember how pretty your valley was.” She tried to evade what he was really asking. Of course she remembered … them. He’d quickly become her everything, and then he’d just as quickly forgotten her.
“I’ve never forgotten how pretty you are.”
Is he blind?
Tumahimik ka, Mimi.Maybe Tagalog would work.
His gaze traveled over her and stoked the flame that threatened to take over her entire being if she didn’t fight it. He was the type that complimented every girl. She wasn’t special to him. He was only trying so hard because she wasn’t flinging herself against his perfect chest and begging him to kiss and love her. She was a challenge for the player, and he’d be gone the second after she gave in. She had to stay away from his arms and especially his lips. Though it was tempting to give in and kiss him, to at least have some wonderful memories as she grew old alone with her ice cream and novels.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“A little after two.”
“Did you sleep?” she asked, trying to sound chipper. “You definitely deserved a rest after taking Creepy Eyes out for good.”
His eyes narrowed at her redirection, but he nodded. “I slept.”
The plane swooped down and she watched out the window as they landed smoothly on an asphalt runway. Large airport hangars and numerous small airplanes were scattered throughout the private airport.
She undid her seatbelt and stood to stretch as soon as the plane taxied to a stop. Feeling Chandler’s gaze on her, she looked over at him. He also stood but was staring almost broodily at her. His gaze pleaded with her to share her innermost thoughts and to fall desperately for him like any woman would want to do. He was an expert with those eyes of his, maybe even better at entrancing women than he was on the lacrosse field or disabling bad guys with fire pokers.
She looked away and was relieved when the pilot hurried down the aisle and opened the plane door for them.
“Thank you,” she and Chandler said at the same time.
She laughed nervously.
“My pleasure,” the man said. He gestured them off, then hurried back to his cockpit.
She slung her purse over her shoulder and Chandler took her elbow and escorted her off the plane. They’d waited forever for the investigator to come last night and then they’d hurried out of there. She should’ve thought to change, but she’d been pretty distracted, so she still had on the far too tight T-shirt and yoga pants and her high-heeled sandals. She hadn’t had a chance to do her hair and had no makeup on. Talk about the worst way to see Chandler’s family for the first time in years.
She reached for her necklace under her shirt to give her strength like she often did. Then she remembered it was gone. Chandler had given it to a homeless mother and told her it was real and she could sell it. The woman had been overjoyed. Kylee was glad the necklace could help someone, but sorrow traced through her and she felt the last connection to her family snap. How could her grandpa be as evil as Mimi? The raw edges of the frayed connection were painful and sharp, poking at her soul and taking away any confidence her grandfather had instilled in her.
Forcing a smile on her face, she walked off the plane to greet Chandler’s family. As luck would have it, waiting for them were his classy and beautiful parents and a younger couple. The man was Chandler’s older brother, one of the twins, and almost as handsome as Chandler. His girlfriend or wife was the most exotically gorgeous and thin woman Kylee had ever seen. The lady had creamy brown skin, long, dark hair, and sparkling brown eyes. She somehow had a well-defined chest and hips despite how thin she was. Not fair. And of course she was dressed in a gorgeous off-white button-down dress with a brown belt that emphasized her small waist.
Kylee batted away the jealousy. It was not this woman’s fault that she was model gorgeous, and no matter how easy it was to feel the ugly jealousy, it wouldn’t do anything for Kylee to be petty and envious.
She pasted on her smile and walked down the steps and into Myrna Delta’s open arms. It felt like, for just a moment, her mom had come back. Kylee immediately sank into the hug. She was clinging. She was crumpled against Chandler’s mom, surprised by the fifty-something woman’s strength. Myrna didn’t seem to care, and nobody else said anything.
After a few wonderful moments, Myrna pulled back slightly and framed Kylee’s face with her hands. “It’s been too long, sweetheart. We begged the Admiral to let you come visit, but …” she trailed off and forced a smile.
Kylee could only imagine Mimi would never have let her come back to visit once they had custody of her. She’d never heard anything about it.
“Let me get a proper look at you now,” Myrna continued. Her gaze trailed fondly over Kylee’s face, like the favorite aunt that Kylee never had. “Oh, my, goodness! For heaven’s sake, you are even more gorgeous now than you were as a teenager.”
“Um … thank you,” Kylee managed, not buying Myrna’s kind words but appreciating them all the same. She snuck a glance at Chandler and his gaze said he agreed with his mom and wished she’d give him a chance. She quickly looked back at Myrna but could see in the woman’s green eyes that she’d noticed the look she and Chandler shared, and she was scheming.Ach, nein. It was hard enough to resist Chandler’s charm without his amazing mother matchmaking them.
“It’s wonderful to have you here,” Myrna continued. “Even though it’s not ideal circumstances.”
“Thank you,” was all she could think to say again.
Myrna released her to hug her son and Keith Delta gathered her into a daddy hug that made tears sting the corners of her eyes. “Don’t worry, Kylee,” he said softly. “You’re safe now. I’m grateful you were inspired to go to Chandler.”