Kyle's Return (27 page)

“Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?”
Kyle asked, handing me a bottle of water. I took it and guzzled it
down.

The party was a huge success. After hours of dancing,
drinking, and celebrating, I was tired and ready to call it a
night. Kyle and I had our own celebrating to do.

“Of course, after you.” I squeezed his hand.

He put his arm around me and grinned wide. “There’s
just something I’ve wanted to talk to you about and I don’t want to
wait any longer.”

We walked out the back door and sat down at the patio
table. It was November and the air was chilly, especially now the
sun was gone. I loved not being a sweaty mess every day. When Kyle
sat across from me, he took my hands and kept his gaze on them as
he traced my knuckles with his thumbs.

I laughed. “Are you going to leave me in suspense, or
do I need to guess what’s on your mind?”

“Go for it,” he said, lifting his head. “I’d like to
hear this.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jared and Patrick
through the window. “You’re not gay, are you?” I teased. “Because
you got awfully mad when the boys asked me to dance earlier. Maybe
I had it wrong, and you were just jealous they didn’t ask you.”
Instead of laughing, he stared hard at me, clearly not amused.
Rolling my eyes, I squeezed his hands and smiled. “I was just
kidding.”

With a small grin, he shook his head. “I know, love.
But what I want to talk to you about is serious.”

My heart thundered in my chest. “What is it?”

He looked straight at me and breathed deeply, letting
in out slowly. “I love you, Megan. Over the past couple of months,
I’ve felt things that both scared the shit out of me but also
turned me into a better person. It’s because of you that I’ve had a
second chance at everything. What I want to ask is if you’d be open
to taking it one step further.”

“One step further?” He didn’t have a box in his hands
with a ring in it, so I knew it couldn’t be that.

He nodded. “I want you to move in with me. We’re
together every day and night anyway. This would just make it
official.”

“Oh, wow,” I gasped. “What about Nic? I can’t just
leave her high and dry.”

“You won’t be. I’ve already talked to her about this.
Instead of renewing your lease, she’s going to get an apartment so
it’ll be more affordable.”

Eyes wide, I stared at him, shocked. “You’ve already
talked to her? I can’t believe she didn’t say anything.”

He winked. “Nic and I have an understanding.”

“Really? Well, I’d like to know what that is.”

Standing, he helped me to my feet and pulled me in
close. His fingers caressed my back as he leaned in to kiss me.
“I’m sure you will soon, but right now I want your answer. What do
you say? Are you ready to take that next step?” He stared at me
like he was afraid I’d say no.

Grinning from ear to ear, I squealed and latched my
arms around his neck. “Are you kidding? Yes! But I honestly don’t
think you know what you’re getting in to.”

He chuckled. “That might be true, but I’m willing to
take the risk.”

“I see you popped the question,” Nic called out from
behind. Kyle turned us around and let me go. She giggled and shook
her head. “It’s about time you got the balls to do it.”

Kyle shrugged. “What can I say? I had to make sure
the time was right.” Leaning down, he kissed my cheek and whispered
in my ear. “I’ll leave you two alone so you can talk.” He started
toward the door and bumped his shoulder playfully into Nic in
passing. She shook her head and punched him on the arm in return. I
liked seeing the playful side of Kyle.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared at her. “I
can’t believe you knew the whole damn time and didn’t tell me. Not
even a clue!”

“He made me promise, Meg. Besides, I thought it was
really sweet how he asked my permission first. There was no way in
hell I was going to tell him that I didn’t want you to go.”

Reaching for her, I drew her in for a hug. “Thanks,
Nic. At first, I thought he was going to ask me to marry him.”

She giggled and let me go. “I’m sure that’ll be
coming soon enough.”

“Wait. Do you know something else and just can’t tell
me?”

“No!” She laughed and shook her head. “No. It’s just,
I have no doubt it’ll happen someday.”

Just the thought made my stomach flutter. I could see
myself with Kyle for the rest of my life. “So where will you live?
Our lease runs up at the end of December.”

She grinned wide. “Kyle helped me find an apartment
and I already put the deposit on it. I can move in anytime. So
whenever you’re ready, we can pack up the house.”

I glanced inside the house at Kyle who was busy
talking to Kacey and Tyler, most likely giving them the good news.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Well, it is, my friend. And I have to say that Zane
is growing on me. He’s actually a pretty cool guy.”

“I told you,” I said, bumping her in the arm. “Why
don’t we go inside so you can talk to him some more?”

Taking my hand, she winked. “Let’s go.”

Before we could go inside, Mason came out the door,
his concerned expression giving me pause. “Good, I caught you. We
need to talk.”

“What’s wrong?”

Nic started for the door. “I’ll just go inside so you
can have some privacy.”

Mason held out his arm, stopping her. “This concerns
you as well, Nicole.” We moved over to the patio table and took
seats. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. “All right, I’m just
going to get right to it . . .”

“He’s back, isn’t he?” I said, interrupting him.

He nodded and sighed. “I guess this comes as no shock
to you.”

“No. I knew he would. It was just a matter of time.
How long has he been back?”

“Two days. The agent I have following him says that
Alex has been watching you. We think he’s waiting on a time to get
you alone.”

“Well, thank God that’s not possible. She’s never
alone. Kyle’s always with her,” Nic informed him.

Mason blew out a frustrated breath. “And that might
be the problem.”

Nic glanced over at me, confused, but I knew what
Mason was getting at. I could read it in his expression. “Kyle will
never agree to it,” I said.

Mason nodded. “You’re right, he won’t. But what other
option do we have? This needs to end now. What concerns me more is
where Alex has been staying.”

“And where would that be?” I asked.

He glanced over at Nic and then back to me. “Does
Greg Mullen ring a bell? I do believe you all are friends.”

Gasping, Nic paled and threw a hand over her mouth
while I stood there, my mind reeling. How could that be possible?
“
Greg
, Greg? As in the guy Nic dated for a couple of months?
Are you saying he’s connected to Alex?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’ve worked nonstop
the past two days to figure out what was going on. From what I
could gather, it looks like your buddy, Greg, might have been the
one to hack into the computer system. We don’t know for sure, but
we have our tech team looking into it. I don’t think it’s a
coincidence he lives a neighborhood over from you.”

Nic had tears falling down her cheeks. She’d cared
about Greg and to know he deceived us hurt her. “He used me,” she
cried. “All this time we were together, it was just to get
information.”

Putting my arm around her, I let her cry on my
shoulder. “It’s okay. We didn’t know. He fooled all of us, sweetie.
At least we know to stay away from him now.” Then to Mason, I said,
“When does your plan start?”

“Tomorrow. I’m going over to Kyle’s first thing in
the morning to tell him the plan.”

“I’ll be there. That way I can keep him from trying
to kill you.”

***

“ARE YOU OUT of your fucking mind?” Kyle
shouted, glaring at Mason.

After the party, I stayed the night at Kyle’s and
enjoyed our last night of lovemaking. It pained me to keep the news
about Alex a secret, but I didn’t want to ruin our night.
Especially after he just asked me to move in with him.

Mason sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
“It’s the only plan that has a chance of working. Alex isn’t going
to go after Megan unless he
knows
he can get her. If you’re
up her ass twenty-four-seven, he’s going to wait. He has nothing
but time on his hands.”

“Then let him wait,” he hissed, shaking so bad with
rage even Mason grew wary of him.

I approached him slowly and wrapped my arms around
his waist from behind. “Kyle, I know you don’t want to hear this,
but it’s a good idea. If we don’t do something, it’ll never end. I
don’t want to constantly look over my shoulder. Please say you’ll
agree to this. I can’t do this without your support.”

His body tensed and jerked out of my arms. “How long
do we have to put up with this charade?”

“Two weeks,” Mason suggested.

“One,” Kyle growled. “After that, I’ll hunt the
fucker down myself.”

I half expected Mason to challenge him, but he
didn’t. Instead, he nodded. “Okay, one week.”

“Really?” I asked, wide-eyed.

Mason backed up and sighed. “If it was Claire in this
situation, I don’t think I’d be able to do two weeks either.
Hopefully, we’ll draw him in quickly.”

“And if we don’t?”

 “Then you’ll constantly be looking over your
shoulder. That’s not a way to live.” His phone beeped and he looked
down at it. “It looks like Alex is headed back this way. With your
car out front, he’ll be watching.” He opened the door and left,
leaving me with Kyle who was still fuming.

Sitting down, he angrily ran a hand through his hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”

I sat down on the couch, wishing he’d look at me. “I
didn’t want to ruin the night. You had just asked me to move in
with you.”

“I can’t believe you want to do this.”

“It’s the only way we can get Alex to come after me,”
I said, kneeling on the floor in front of him.

He finally looked at me and pulled me into his lap,
burying his face in my hair. His grip was tight as he breathed me
in. “I don’t want to let you go.”

A tear slid down my cheek. “I don’t want you to
either, but you have to. As soon as this week is up, I’m all yours.
Consider this week a vacation.”

Shaking his head, he cupped my face in his hands.
“No, love. It’s going to be a week of hell for me.”

I lifted up on my toes and kissed him. “That goes for
me too. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can find our way back.
Besides, we’ll still be able to call each other and text. It won’t
be that bad. Maybe we could even have our first sexting.” I
smiled.

He smirked and grabbed my ass. “With pictures?”

“I think that’s a strong possibility.” I bit my lip
and laughed when he did a little celebratory dance. Grabbing him, I
kissed him one more time before it was time to go.

“Promise me you’ll call if something happens, or you
feel scared.”

“I promise. Mason will keep me updated on Alex’s
location. He won’t be able to sneak up on me. And if he makes a
move, I’ll be ready for him. I’ll have my gun with me at all
times.”

He nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Wait right
here for a second. There’s something I want to give you.” Turning
on his heel, he took off for the stairs. He rummaged through his
drawers upstairs and then came barreling down the steps. Something
was in his grasp and when he got closer, he placed it in my hand.
It was a knife. “I know you have your gun, but it’s much easier to
conceal a knife. If he gets you down, all you need to do is stab
him and get away. And if he doesn’t get up, just keep ramming the
knife into him.”

The handle was black and when I released the blade,
it too was black, swirled with a silvery white finish. I traced the
initials on the blade . . .
KTA.
“We’re about to move in
with each other and I just realized I don’t even know what your
middle name is.”