“We close at five, so yes. That's fine. Meet me here around 5:30.”
“Here? Oh, right. It's good to be careful.”
“What?”
“You don't want some guy you just met to know where you live. You're being smart.”
I laughed. “Actually, I live here. I own the building.”
“Oh, damn!” Kaleo laughed. “Maybe you shouldn't have told me that. What if I'm a stalker?”
“I think I'll be fine.”
“Here you are, Mr. Chang.” Jenny said as she came in with a large box tied with black ribbon.
“Thanks.” Kaleo took the box, then nodded at me. “See you later, Lora.”
“Just ring the bell beside the door.”
“Gotcha.” And he left.
Jenny widened her eyes at me. “I swear, you get more men by not doing a thing than I do by swiping through Tinder.”
“I do all right,” I murmured, thinking about Rune again.
Chapter Fifteen
Dinner was a disaster.
I was still so in love—or maybe obsessed—with Rune Demos that I saw him everywhere. Every blond man who walked by was him. It got to the point where I was certain he was sitting at the bar watching me. But when I got up to use the restroom, I saw the back of his head and realized that his hair wasn't pulled back as I assumed, it was short. And he was big, even more muscular than Rune. Sure, Rune could have cut his hair, but I doubted it, and there was no way he had beefed up that much in a week. I was just seeing things.
My distraction ruined my date with Kaleo. He was a good sport about it, but in the end, he drove me home, thanked me for a nice evening, then drove off without asking for my number or trying to get an invitation upstairs. I fumbled with my keys, annoyed at myself for losing another opportunity with a great guy. I dropped the keys, but before I could pick them up, someone else did.
“You okay?” a deep voice asked as a male hand extended the keys to me.
A shiver ran down my spine. It wasn't Rune's voice, but it reminded me of him. I looked up. “Holy shit,” I whispered.
The man frowned. “Excuse me?”
“You . . . you look a lot like someone I know.”
He had blond hair down to his shoulders. A bit longer than Rune's. He also had green eyes, but his were a bright emerald green, not a dark ring around a pale center. His nose was leaner than Rune's too. But there was something about him, maybe the jaw. He looked enough like Rune that he could be . . .
He saw it the moment it clicked for me and grinned. “You're quick.”
“Are you following me?” I thought back to the restaurant. “That guy at the bar, the big one, was he your other brother?”
“We're not brothers.”
“Yes, you are, but whatever. Your packmate. Is that better?”
He cocked his head, his jaw looking harder. “That was Braxen. Yeah, my packmate. I'm Merrick.”
“I'm surprised you don't all have names beginning with the same letter.”
“Why would we do that? Sounds dumb.”
“All right,” I muttered and opened my door. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Merrick. Goodnight.”
