Page 58 of Kaine

“I’m not asking you, I meant to say, I’m going to work, Kaine”

I stare him down, and only look away when I think I’m going to drown in the crystal clear blue depth of his eyes. What is going on with me? Why can’t I shake these growing feelings I have for him?

“Fine. Be ready in 15 minutes. And I mean it, I hate tardiness,” he says over his shoulder as he leaves the bedroom.

“Why do I have to be ready in 15 minutes?”

“Because I’m taking to you to work and making sure you get there safely. And no, that’s not up for discussion,” he instructs from the doorway.

“But...” I start, my instinct to rail against his bossiness kicking in.

“Don’t test me, Jade,” he says. And the tone in his voice doesn’t leave me any room for argument. “So, go. You have 14 and a half minutes now, no dawdling in the shower!”

I resolve to let him win this time, but only because I don’t really want to refuse a ride to work in a comfortable car.

And time only with him.

***

He spends the entirecar ride to work staring at his laptop.

I spend it staring at him.

If he knows, he doesn’t show it.

He’s still wearing the damn hoodie, but, and it could be I’m just imagining things, it’s not as tightly tied around his face. He’s pulled it over his head but hasn’t knotted the drawstrings, and I wonder how I could not have noticed the scar before. It’s not obvious at a quick glance but on closer observation, the crinkled rivulets of skin that start at his left temple are just visible even behind the shadow of his shield.

Maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough, or maybe he’d just done that good of a job hiding it. Or, maybe, it just hadn’t mattered at all what he looked like. Which is ironic, considering his chiselled cheekbones, the strong, angled jaw, and those eyes that change with his mood, he is one of the most compellingly handsome men I’d ever seen. Or, as I am thinking right now, looking at him in his work suit while his face is focused on his task, his legs, strong and muscle-toned, stretched out in front of him, and the memory of his bare, naked ripped stomach, he is seriously, fucking hot.

But the scar, the scar is both an integral part of him, and yet something that doesn’t matter in the slightest.

Physique aside, everything else I see, everything I know of him so far, I like.

What’s not to like? He saved me, he saved my brother. Virtual strangers. Why? I don’t know. I just know that when I want to know more, I will want to know everything.

“Ahem. Jade. We’re here.”

My eyes come back into focus and I realize I’ve still been staring at him, except that now he’s staring back.

“Hmmm?” I stall, as I try to recall what he said.

He gestures with his head out the window, and I see we’ve arrived at work.

“Oh! Okay, well, thanks for the ride. I guess, um, I guess I’ll see you tonight. I can come with a cab and pick Gabriel up and take him back to my apartment. Hopefully he’ll be up and about.”

“Shush,” he just says and gets out. I don’t move, trying to figure out what’s going on. He comes around to my side and opens the door for me. “Well, are you coming?”

“Coming where?”

“To work. I’m walking you inside.”

“That’s not necessary.”

He doesn’t move, just pushes the door open wider and waits.

And there’s something about him that tell me to just obey.

I slide out of the car and he grabs me by the hand and pull me towards the entrance, pushing past anyone blocking our way until we’re inside.