A Midsummer Night's Demon(18)
Ky laced his fingers in hers, and led her along the wooden boardwalk that wove a trail through the trees. The boards, weathered from years of exposure to the elements, creaked under their feet. The pine and Banyan trees closed in around them creating a canopy of grayish-green. Spanish moss hung thickly from the foliage, swaying like ethereal limbs, reaching out, grabbing at them as they walked beneath the trees. The sight sent a shiver up Lyn’s spine to raise the tiny hairs on her neck.
“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” Ky offered. He pulled his fingers from hers to massage the tension from the nape of her neck. “You’ll wait by the statue in the clearing.”
“How will he find me? The email didn’t say where in the park I would be.”
“Don’t worry. Finding you will not be a problem for him.” Ky quickened their pace, their time growing short. “Before I hide, we’ll use your phone to call my cell. I’ll hear the moment he arrives, and I’ll come to get him.”
Lyn nodded, her free hand clasped her small purse to her side, protecting the phone within. “I forgot to charge my phone. What if it dies before he gets here?”
Ky drew tiny circles on her nape with the pad of his thumb. “I charged both of our phones before we left the island. They are fully charged.”
Daelyn breathed a sigh of relief. She should have known he could be trusted to take care of the finer details. Ky never missed a thing. From the way he knew she liked ketchup on her meatloaf, to the toothpaste she preferred to use, Ky noticed everything about her and did his best to make her feel comfortable while staying in his home.
He’d been a perfect gentleman, almost too perfect. It would be easy to lose her heart to him. She’d wanted him the minute she awakened in his home to find him looking down at her, but now she was falling hard for the man. He made her laugh, made life fun. Charming and brave, he was the kind of man a girl wanted to spend the rest of her life loving, and she was no exception. She’d begun to fall in love with him, and the way he looked at her confirmed he cared for her too. Once they put this mess behind them, she intended to keep Ky in her life.
“You’ve thought of everything.” Lyn gazed up at him with love in her eyes.
He gave her a weak smile that did not quite reach his light blue eyes.
“I hope so.” He tilted his chin toward the aged patina statue of a shirtless male worker holding a shovel. “We’re here.”
Lyn sat on the concrete base of the statue. “So we are. This is it.”
Ky caught her chin in a gentle grip, tipping her face to take a kiss. “Remember, the second you see me, run down that boardwalk, jump into the car, and leave.” He placed his keys in her hand. “Do not go to your townhouse and do not tell me where you are going. I’ll call you when it is safe, and we’ll meet.”
Lyn nodded and pulled the phone from her purse after she dropped his keys inside. She punched her speed dial, and Ky’s phone vibrated.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he hit the “talk” button but spoke directly to Lyn. “Put your phone back into your purse. Be careful not to accidentally turn it off by bumping it.”
She worried her lower lip between her teeth, and he bent to give her a reassuring kiss on her brow. “I’ll be only seconds away, Lyn. Make sure you greet him in a loud voice, so I’ll know he is here. The minute I hear your voice, I’ll be here.”
“I trust you.”
Lyn wrung her hands in her lap as fear gripped her stomach in a tight hold. She could do this, she could. She had to.
If only she didn’t have to wait alone. Someone next to you always made it easier to have courage. But Ky was a cop, and catching bad guys was what he did, so if he thought this the best way to proceed than she’d trust in the plan like she trusted in him.
She glanced at her watch and her heart leapt into her throat. Sometimes time passed too quickly. “You better go before he sees you.”
Ky shook his phone. “Don’t forget, greet him the minute you see him. Loudly.”
He turned to leave, heading for a copse of Banyan trees. Their thick trunks and roots twisted around each other forming a thick gray mass which would conceal him nicely.
“Good luck,” she called after him, watching him go. “Remember your promise to me. You’re taking me to the Litha Festival. No excuses.”
Ky gave her a smile over his shoulder then disappeared from her view in the thick foliage. She squinted in his direction. Damn, I can’t see him at all.