Tipping The Scales: Knox (Mate Craze)(24)

“Then maybe it’s nothing. She’s probably just one of those hippie types, candles and meditating or whatever.”

He bounced his shoulders again.

“When are you going to talk to her?”

“I’m going to fly around for a while, up high. Get some energy out. Then I’ll go home and shower, put some clothes on…”

“And procrastinate some more?”

“And that.”

He stood and shucked his pants. “I’m going back to my mate. Little one will be on his way soon. I don’t like to leave her alone for very long.”

I watched him fly off, headed for the edge behind his house, just across the mountain from my own home. Though my dragon scratched and gnawed at my insides to fly, I sat there for an eternity. Kallie wasn’t the type of female to take this well. Either she was going to think I was mental or a prick.

Maybe I was both.





10





Kallie





I needed to clear my head. All the kissing and hotness had my brain unsure of what was actually happening. One minute I saw something I knew was there, one kiss later, nothing. Not that I could focus on his jewelry. Nope, my thoughts and butterflies were completely focused on his lips.

In my pathetic experience, first kisses were always sloppy, yucky, awkward messes that basically said let’s get it over with. This. This was nothing like it. His lips barely touched mine before I wanted to throw myself into it completely. It took all my willpower to hold back as long as I did. Fair enough, I held back only like a microsecond, but the desire was there.

Desire. I had no understanding of that word until the moment his tongue danced with mine. My hands had already latched onto him, pulling him closer as he began exploring, claiming, owning my mouth. The sound reverberating in his chest, shook me to my core. I did that to him. Me. My lips. My tongue. My inexperience.

It was too much, and next thing I knew I was back on my new career goal of car thief. Driving down the road, my body still aflame and my mind still hazy I drove like a woman on a mission. Sadly my “mission” was non-existent, and as I passed a parked police car, at a speed nowhere near legal in a truck that was not mine, panic set in and I slowed to a near crawl.

There was still time to go back and look at the files Liam was manipulating for a reason I still had yet to figure out, but as I inched closer, dread hit. No, as much as I needed answers that the building held, I just couldn’t.

Three turns later I found myself at the bed and breakfast. Maybe a nap would help. Who was I kidding, there would be no sleep. My afternoon was going to comprise of replaying the events of the day over and over again, and nausea. Shady record keeping. Grand theft auto times two. Kiss of a lifetime. Weird disappearing jewelry. Nope. Sleep was a joke.

Leaving the keys in the truck, I made my way back to the room, grateful that Rhi was out gallivanting for the day. I needed to process on my own before I could share my thoughts with her. Knowing Rhi, her entire questioning and advice would be centered on why I had remained clothed the entire time. She and I had a different idea of how fast a relationship should, or should not go, and kissing and fleeing were most assuredly not something she could wrap her head around.

Turning the corner to my room, I walked straight into the housekeeping cart sticking out of my doorway. Crap on a cracker, leave it to me to have the worst timing ever. Peeping in the room, I didn’t see anyone working but I heard the faucet from the bathroom. If they were on the bathroom and the beds were still unmade, it was going to be at least a half an hour before she was done.

Taking a walk it was.

The B&B abutted the woods, giving me a way to walk, think, and avoid people. I wandered aimlessly, listening to all of the sounds of nature around me. If I focused on the birds and the leaves rustling, I could postpone the conflict between my body and my mind if not for just a wee bit longer.

As the tree line came to an end, I met a brook with a few boulders scattered along the shore. My eyes followed the stream back up to the glorious mountain above. This place was the stuff of postcards. I found a dry patch in front of the largest boulder and took a seat, leaning my back against the makeshift stone seat. Pulling out my notes from my messenger bag, I began to read through them hoping to find something I missed or at least get my mind back on track.

After reading them no less than ten times, I came to the conclusion that all I had of any value was the fact that Knox’s grandfather was part of the police force then, and even that didn’t mean a thing. At least not in isolation. The fact that Liam the jerk hid it was odd, but the look in Knox’s eyes when I mentioned it told me he had nothing to do with it. It was probably just Liam the jerk being a jerk.

Shoving my papers back into my bag, I stood and brushed off my butt, glad I had worn an old pair of jeans instead of the white shorts I had originally planned to wear. The walk back was shorter than I anticipated, and to my relief, our room was no longer occupied by a housekeeping cart. Plopping on my bed, I pulled out my phone, typing quickly before I lost my nerve.

Keys are in the truck at the B&B. I can bring it back if you need.

And then the wait began. My heart logic told me that if he responded right away he wasn’t mad, but if he made me wait he was fuming. My cognitive logic told me he might not even have the stupid thing on and the wait time meant nothing, it was only his response that mattered.