His mouth quirked up slightly as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his very expensive-looking slacks. “Historic ghost tours?”
“I’ve been on a lot of them, mainly along the East Coast.”
“Maybe you can take me with you on one of them.”
She blinked. Wait, was he asking her out? Before she could decide, his grin grew even more.
He held out a hand. A very big one. “I’m Daniel.”
She held out her own, shivering at the feel of his callused palm caressing her own, at the way his hand completely engulfed hers. “Kathryn.”
Something sparked between them at that moment and she knew he felt it too, because she could see the awareness flash in his blue eyes.
It mirrored the heat that rushed through her. And she realized she didn’t want to take him on a historic ghost tour, she wanted to take him home right now and have her wicked way with him.
Chapter 4
Kathryn nearly turned back around the second after she stepped inside her favorite bakery. It was within walking distance of her condo and she’d been craving their cranberry muffins this morning. But when she saw Daniel sitting at one of the little tables in the corner, her stomach tightened. She wanted to put her sunglasses back on as a sort of barrier.
But it was too late. He waved at her and she of course waved back, feigning a calmness she didn’t feel at all. She hadn’t slept well last night—every little noise had woken her. She’d already been on edge after seeing him yesterday—and the events of last night had completely screwed up her equilibrium. And now to run into him at her favorite place? What was he even doing on this side of town? He lived in a high-rise downtown, whereas she lived in a small community filled with mostly elderly people. Her grandmother had left her the condo when she passed away and it was filled with a lot of wonderful memories. Plus it was quiet and she liked it.
Daniel stood and motioned for her to come over. And…it appeared as if he already had a couple cranberry muffins. Was he a mind reader now?
Unable to stop the frown as she approached his table, she said, “Hey, I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Well I can admit to ulterior motives. I was hoping to run into you this morning.”
Well, at least he was being honest. Her gaze flicked down to the muffins. “How do you feel about sharing your food?”
He snickered and sat back down so she sat across from him. Then he slid the little plate across to her. “They’re all yours.”
She narrowed her gaze even as she snagged one of the muffins. “You don’t even like cranberry.”
“But you do.”
“You’re pretty sneaky, showing up like this.” And pushing her weakness on her—carbohydrates and yummy goodness.
“I took a chance coming here. I know you used to stop by on Saturday mornings. I already ordered your favorite drink too—a cinnamon tea latte. I told the barista to start making one if a pretty redhead joined me.”
“Very, very sneaky,” she said, and laughed despite the tension in her shoulders. “Clearly this isn’t a chance meeting. So what’s going on?” she asked, only pausing as the woman from behind the counter brought her a drink and set it in front of her with a smile. “Thank you,” she murmured and looked at Daniel once they were alone again. There were people in line, but almost everyone was sitting outside at the patio tables. Only one other couple sat a few tables away, giving them a decent amount of privacy.
“To start, I know I should have called, but I didn’t think you’d answer.” He paused, watching her.
“I might not have.”
“That’s what I thought. And screw it, I needed to clear the air. One day we were together and then we were just over without warning. Last night you said something that’s been bothering me. You said that I thought you were after me for my money. Why would you think that?”
This was the exact conversation she didn’t want to have. She could admit that money was a sore spot for her. Her parents had argued about it for most of her childhood. Her father had continuously accused her mother of only wanting to be with him for his money until finally her mother had left him and gotten full custody of Kathryn and her two brothers.
The divorce had been the best thing that had happened to her parents because they’d been able to finally start raising their kids without all the yelling and dysfunction. They’d turned into completely different people. Better people.
“Do you remember the day I ended things with you?” she asked quietly. Clearly he wasn’t giving up on this conversation, so she was going to just deal with it.
He nodded, his expression darkening.
“I don’t know how much you remember about that day, but I was supposed to meet you in your office before we headed out to dinner. You were running late so your assistant had me wait in your office. And…I saw something on your desk. I was not snooping,” she added. “The paper was literally right on your desk in front of my face and the file had my name on it in big, bold print. It was a whole file about me with a little sticky note that had the words ‘gold digger’ underlined three times.” She felt her cheeks flush in pain and anger even as a rush of ice slid through her veins. She felt exactly as she had that day when she’d seen the file with her entire life just laid out in black and white.
He stared at her in shock.
“I wasn’t looking for it,” she reiterated. “But it doesn’t matter. It was pretty clear you’d done some research on me. And I have no idea why you thought I was a gold digger. I also hate that word, for the record, but anyway, that’s why I ended things.” She shrugged and tore off the top of the muffin. She wasn’t hungry anymore but managed to chew and swallow it regardless.
He stared for another long moment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I did have someone look into you when we first started dating. Technically before—”
“Wait, before?” She pushed the muffin away now, unable to even pretend to eat.
He cleared his throat. “I have to be careful. Not just because of money, but because of people who try to insinuate themselves in my life for other things as well. So yeah, Jerry looked into you, but he never called you a gold digger.”
“It was in your handwriting.” She knew his handwriting because he’d often left her cute little notes to find in the morning when he had to get up early for work. They hadn’t been living together, not technically, but they might as well have been for all the nights they’d spent together. Which had been all of them. They’d alternated weeks, one at her place, then the next at his. She’d even cleared out a spot in her small closet—and he’d given her half of his giant one.
“Bullshit.”
Anger surged through her. “I know what I saw. It’s not like I took a picture of it or anything, so I don’t have proof, but it was there. I saw it with my own eyes. And I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“That’s why you ended things with me?” His jaw tightened.
She nodded. “If you’d done, like, a simple background check or something, I obviously would have understood, but that file was a thick binder. And that note…” Ugh. She didn’t even want to think about it anymore. When she’d seen it, it had been like all their time together had been a lie, as if she hadn’t known him at all.