November Sky (Hardest Mistakes Book 2) (8 page)

CHAPTER 9

KRISTIAN

I push Bailey out of the way and reach for the plates on the shelf above her head.

“If you can’t reach them properly, why do you put them up so high?”

She grins, twisting back to the stove. “Why not?”

I roll my eyes and place the plates on the counter beside her. Once she’s dished it all out, I take my plate to the table and dig in. The food is amazing; maybe she should be a chef, not a television producer.

Bailey finally relents and takes back her bedroom, so I stretch out on her couch. It’s uncomfortable and my back hurts, but what else have I got? Jess destroyed my old bed. It’s getting easier to think about Jess without feeling lost.

***

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun, Krissy,” Bailey whines from the kitchen. I roll my eyes and sit up on the sofa. She wants me to go with her to the market. I’m not sure if it’s really a good idea. It will be packed full of people and we’ll have to walk close together. “Please?” she begs, pushing her bottom lip out.

“Fine,” I sigh and pull my shirt over my head.

I have to rein in my frustration when another person hits my shoulder as they squeeze their way past me. I look down at Bailey. She grabs my hand tightly and presses herself into my side. This is much worse than just simply walking together.

Her eyes shine up at me. “This is great.” She stands on her toes and looks out across the crowd. “There’s a hat store over there, let’s go.” She starts pushing her way through, pulling me along behind her.

When we finally make it to the hat stand, she lets go and pulls a huge wide-brimmed hat off the table, placing it on her head and turning to me. She pulls a funny face and turns to grab another one. I hold my hand over my mouth briefly to cover my smile. She’s kind of adorable. It’s hard to resist. She swings back to me, wearing a different hat, and pulls another face. I shake my head at her and she laughs.

Bailey makes us stop at nearly every store. My stomach grumbles, not that you’d be able to hear it over the noise. I’m starting to get hungry. Finally, we stop at a food stall in front of the park, and she hands me a corndog. With an enormous stroke of luck, we find an empty spot of grass in the park to sit down and eat. I’m halfway through my corndog when someone bumps us from behind. Bailey face plants into her ice cream. Her eyes are wide and her nose is covered in chocolate topping when she looks over at me in horror. I suck in a chuckle and pull a handkerchief from my coat pocket. She swipes it across her face, blushing.

“Are you okay?”

She looks back up at me and laughs.

***

Bailey turns to me from the doorway of my apartment. The floor is spotless, the furniture gone, the place is completely empty. I feel hollow looking at it.

“I think we’re finally done.” She smiles, hefting the last bag of trash over her shoulder. “Shall we go furniture shopping next weekend?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

I have to hide my smile at the way Bailey’s eyes sparkle as she looks at and touches all the furniture in the store. It’s like taking a kid to a toy store, only worse. I am glad she’s here, though. There’s so many different styles and choices, not to mention the price differences, I’m a little lost. I take a deep breath and follow Bailey into the bed section.

“Oh, this one’s nice!” Bailey runs her hand across the polished wood headboard of a huge king size bed.

I take a look at the price tag. “Yeah, and it’s also very expensive.”

She shrugs and wanders off to find another one. I lose her around a corner, and when I see her again, she’s stretched out on top of a display bed near the window. The small plastic sign attached to the bed clearly states no touching.

“You’re not supposed to be lying on that.”

She squints up at me and giggles. “Live a little, Krissy, this mattress is so soft. Come and try it.” I stay where I am and raise an eyebrow at her. Is she serious? “Oh come on.” She sits up and grabs my arm, tugging me down onto the bed beside her. I glance around quickly to make sure no one saw. Bailey pushes my shoulder back until I’m lying down. She’s right; this mattress is so incredibly comfortable, I sigh in contentment.

“Hey!” A loud voice calls from across the store. “You two get off of there! Can’t you read?” I jump off the bed and pull Bailey up with me. We meet the store clerk halfway.

“I’d like to buy that one over there.” I point at the bed we were just violating. The clerk narrows his eyes on us, but turns back to key it into his computer. It’s a lot more than I was going to spend on something as simple as a bed, now I’ll have to save up for the rest of the furniture. Hopefully I still have enough for a sofa.

We roam around the rest of the store searching for the cheapest sofa we can possibly find. There’s still a long way to go before I’m back to where I was, but it’s a start. I head back to the counter to pay. Hopefully I’m not broke after this.

“Thank you, Mr. Reed, your purchases will be delivered this afternoon.” The cranky clerk hands me back my card and we leave the store.

Bailey giggles beside me as we walk down the street. “Mr. Reed.” she says my name like she’s making fun of me. I just roll my eyes and ignore her.

“We should go out and celebrate,” she announces as we stop to cross the street. I shove my hands in my pockets and shrug. The cool air makes me shiver. She shakes her head at me in exasperation and tugs me back the way we came. “I know just the place.”

Bailey leads me to the entrance to a small club. Flashing lights leak out the front door and onto the street. Once inside we push our way through the crowd to the bar. I turn and look out at the dancing people. I don’t really like clubs, and being here with Bailey feels weird. The only other time I’ve been to a club was to pick up.

I glance at Bailey out of the corner of my eye; she’s bopping her head along to the overly loud music as she speaks to the bartender. She passes me a shot and tips hers down her throat; I do the same and place the glass back on the bar.

She smiles and leans in close so I can hear her over the noise. “Let’s dance.” Her breath tickles my neck, and a shiver runs down my spine. I shake my head no. She scrunches up her face and grabs a hold of my arm, dragging me out into the crowd of dancing people.

Just as we stop in the middle of the floor, the song changes. I nearly groan out loud at the sappy music pounding through the speakers. Everyone around us starts pairing up and swaying. Bailey pulls me in close, reminding me of the dance we had in the parking lot. I’m taller than her, so she leans in and rests her cheek on my shoulder. I hesitate, unsure, and then wrap my arms around her back. Straight away it feels too intimate. By the time the song’s over, I’m itching to let go and take a step back.

Bailey skips down the street ahead of me. It’s so dark outside, I can’t even see the stars. “So are you coming back to my place again, or are you going home?”

Well, that’s a no brainer, especially after that dance. “I’ll go back to mine.”

Bailey smiles at me as we walk. The wind picks up and I feel a light drop on my face. It’s going to rain. I look up at the dark sky just as it starts coming down heavier. Bailey squeals and runs for the nearest shop alcove.

I’m soaking wet by the time I join her. We stand there for a moment, watching and listening to the rain. My limbs start shivering involuntarily from my cold wet clothes. I tilt my head down to look at Bailey’s shadowed face. “Shall we make a run for it?”

Her eyes sparkle as if I’ve said the right thing. “Definitely.”

We count to three and then dash away from the alcove, getting soaked all over again as we run to the shelter of another one five doors down. Bailey leans over, laughing as she squeezes the water out of her hair. “That was fantastic!” I shake out my own dripping wet hair, laughing with her.

Once we work up the courage, we make another run for it, and another, until we’re close enough to split up and head to our own apartments.

I reach out and stop Bailey just as she’s about to make another dash.

“Wait, I wanted to thank you for today.”

She looks up at me a little confused. “It’s fine, Krissy.”

I narrow my eyes. “Stop calling me that.”

“Never.” She laughs, doing her best to sound evil. The wet strands of her hair flop in front of her face. Without thinking, I reach out and brush them off her cheek. She goes completely still, her eyes wide as she gazes up at me.

I only just stop myself from backing away like a coward.

Before I can over-think it, I lean in and kiss her. She’s stunned at first, and then her lips come to life under mine. She’s so soft and warm. Her arms wrap around my neck, bringing her closer.

I pull away slowly, holding her bright blue gaze. I feel as if I can’t breathe, my hands are shaking. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn’t it. The kiss was short and quick, but it was different. I swallow and take a step back, turning my face away from her.

“I…”

She presses her finger to my lips, silencing me.

“Don’t, Kristian. You’ll ruin it.” She watches me for a moment longer and then takes a slow step back before spinning around and dashing away into the dark rain.

The stack of boxes containing my bed and a mattress is leaning up against my door when I walk up to my apartment, still dazed. There’s a note from my landlord saying that I have to contact the furniture store about my couch. Hauling the boxes inside, I glance around the empty space before heading into my room. I feel like I’m on autopilot as I unpack my bed and start putting it together.

***

I tap my phone impatiently. Surely she’d be awake by now. I’ve been up since the sun came up two hours ago. I don’t know if I can wait any longer. Okay, when did I turn into a jittery fool? Growling at myself, I throw the phone on my bed and go into the bathroom. She should be awake by the time I finish in the shower.

Bailey answers on the third ring. “Yes?” She sounds funny, I pull my phone away from my ear and frown at it.

“What’s wrong?”

She laughs softly. “I think I have a cold.” She pulls the phone away and sneezes. “Yep, definitely a cold.” I hang up on her and snatch my keys off the kitchen counter as I leave.

I knock on the door and wait. Bailey gives me an odd look and opens the door wider for me to come in. “What are you doing here?”

Stupid question. “You’re sick.”

“It’s just a cold,” she says, closing the door and wrapping her blanket tighter around her shoulders. I ignore her and sit down on her plush sofa.

She sits down beside me and snuggles into a pillow. “You didn’t have to come over. I’m just going to watch girly movies and eat chicken soup.”

I glance at her quickly and turn my attention back to the TV with a smile. “What are friends for?”

She gasps loudly beside me. “Kristian Reed, did you just smile at me? Oh no, the world’s going to end.” She’s being overly dramatic, holding one arm over her head like she’s going to faint; I roll my eyes at her silliness and chuck a pillow at her. She giggles and settles back into the couch.

***

“Hey Kristian.”

I look up from the coffee machine to face Ryan, another research analyst from the floor above us.

“How have you been?” he asks, glancing past me. I nod and open my mouth, but he cuts me off before I can answer. “Are you and Bailey together?” I nearly choke.

“No. No, definitely not,” I sputter.

“Good.” He smiles. “So you won’t mind if I ask her out then.” I shake my head, too stunned to answer. He claps me on the back and heads off across the office. I stay where I am and watch him approach Bailey just as she stands to leave our cubicle. He says something to her and she laughs, ducking her head in a shy gesture. I don’t need to hear them to know what he just said to her. He leans closer and touches her arm, saying something close to her ear.

Someone stops in front of me, blocking my view. I step back and curse under my breath, immediately chastising myself when I realize who it is.

“Busy, are we, Mr. Reed?” Fiona asks, raising her eyebrow and tilting her head at the coffee cup clutched in my hand. Crap.

“Sorry, I was just about to head back to my computer and email those statistics for the storm season to you before we leave for the parade.”

“I’m sure you were.” She doesn’t believe me. Leaning around me, she places her own cup under the coffee maker, not once breaking eye contact with me. It’s a little intimidating. I nod and walk back to my desk before I can get into more trouble.

I slow my pace as I get close, Ryan is still talking to Bailey. He glances over her shoulder at me and tilts his head, saying a quick goodbye and leaving.

Bailey turns to me, face slightly flushed. She looks at me as I sit down, her eyes wide, as if I’ve caught her doing something she shouldn’t. “Hey Krissy.”