I brace myself for more bullshit and set both palms wide on the counter.
“Sorry.” The frazzled apology comes from the lower left. “I’ll be right with you.”
A woman crouches on the floor as she hastily shoves spilled papers into a pile. A mass of dark brown waves sits piled atop her head in a messy bun, a loose, patterned blouse hanging from her frame over stonewash jeans.
I shift my weight to one elbow, a lazy smile spreading across my lips. “No hurry, love.” This sure as shit ain’t Janis, and I can’t say I’m all that sore about it.
Maybe the errand has some perks after all?
“Thank you.” She swears under her breath as the pile threatens to cascade from her hands again, and shoves to her feet to set the wayward stack on nearby desk space. “How can I help?”
The new receptionist spins around, a broad smile showing perfect white teeth.
I stutter my next breath.The hell?
I wasn’t lying when I said I know most people around these parts, butherface is the last one I expected to see.
TWO
KYRA
He’s been staringat me for what feels like a solid ten minutes.
“Can I help?” I prompt the guy to talk, reaching blindly for my chair while I hold his frozen gaze.
Janis said the job would be quiet; not many people need physical council services these days, since most of what they require can be accessed online. But if I’d had to place money on who’d walk through the timber front doors today,hewould not have been on the list.
“Janis left me some shit to pick up for our property on East Levee Road.”
He speaks.“Some shit,” I echo with a hint of tease in my voice.
Lush lips thin with frustration. “Copies of permits and a signed inspection.”
“Thank you.” My mouth quirks up in a half smile as I lean right to retrieve the nondescript envelope. “How have you been?”
He pulls back, muscled arm sliding off the counter as he straightens to his full height.
Hell’s bells.I know they’re not the most sociable bunch, but you think conversation wouldn’t be such a sticking point for the guy.
“I’ve been fine,” I sass as I slide the envelope across the polished timber toward him. “Thanks for asking.”
His brow furrows. Delicate lines form in his tanned skin.
I’ve rattled the man, but what confuses me more is why. “Do you not remember me?” I tilt my head.
His throat bobs with a hard swallow. “I mean…”
It’s been a few years, sure. But, “Marty’s daughter. Kyra.”
Acknowledgment registers briefly across his face, yet the relief I expected doesn’t come. If anything, he stiffens more.
I slide my chair out and tentatively drop onto it. “I know we were a few years apart in school, but I thought perhaps you’d recognize me.” I jerk the mouse back and forth to wake the computer screen, gaze fixated on the generic council emblem screensaver to save from making the situation any more awkward. “Sorry.”
His hair wasn’t quite as long then, and he spent as much time truant as he did in class, but I’d never forget those eyes. Light brown with flecks of gold like sunlight catching honey, they were the reason I never looked away when we passed in the halls.
“I just…” He stumbles over his words, hands pinching the edges of the envelope in intervals. “You’ve changed your hair since then.”
So hedoesremember. “You mean, I stopped dying and straightening it to within an inch of its life?” I steal glances at him as I type in my login details. “You’ve let yours grow out.”
