Page 60 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

“And you tell me to be honest,” Kaylee scoffed, opening the front door. She marched back to the kitchen, grabbed his duffel, and launched it out the door, where it rolled and crashed down the stairs and onto the walkway.

“Kaylee, come on.”

“No,” she said, shoving him after his bag, and he let her. “You lied to me, you played me, and I want you out of my house.”

Rick gave her a brooding look, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll get a hotel room, but I’m not leaving town. If I saw that episode, what’s to say that somebody else didn’t?”

Kaylee took hold of the knob. “If they knew I was here, they would’ve been here by now.”

“I’m not taking any chances.”

Kaylee slammed the door, and Rick called through it, “I’m sorry, Kaylee.”

“Take your sorry and shove it up your wahooza!”

Rick turned, heading down the steps toward his duffel, when he remembered his shaving kit was in her bathroom.

The door opened, and something hard hit him in the back. When he swung around, the door was already closed, and on the ground at his feet was the brown bag of toiletries.

Chapter Thirty

Rick

Rick parked down the street from the Heart Stop Coffee Shop and got out of his car, bracing himself for the shit show he was about to face when he walked into Kaylee’s work. It had only been two days since she kicked him out of her place, and while the inn was beautiful and comfortable, he missed waking up to her rattling in the kitchen and even missed Pumpkin’s chirps and chattering.

He opened the café door, thankful that the morning rush was over and the place was leaning more toward empty. The woman named Dana stood behind the iPad, watching him warily, while Gillian glared at him when she looked up from the table she’d been wiping down.

Kaylee was hidden behind the espresso machine, but when she placed a cup on the bar, she spotted him. Her expression flared into something he thought might be happiness before it snapped into a scowl.

“You should hit the coffee shop in Lava Hot Springs,” she said, setting two more cups on the counter. “You might get something extra if you order here.”

“I’ll take the risk.” Rick let a couple of patrons get their coffees, then leaned against the counter. “Can you please come outside so we can talk?”

“I don’t want to talk to you.” She aggressively shoved a metal scoop into the ice before dumping it into a cup to her right. “You should, in fact, stay far away from me.”

“Well, if you won’t come out here, I’ll come back there.” He headed for the area around the counter, searching for a way back there, but Dana’s voice stalled him.

“This is a private establishment, and I reserve the right not to serve you. Either leave the premises, or I’m calling the cops.”

Rick didn’t remind her he was a cop; he just gave her a nod and shot Kaylee an earnest glance before he pushed through the glass doors. Getting Kaylee alone to talk would be harder than he thought. This situation would require patience and a touch of mild stalking.

Several hours later, Rick stood across the street even though he couldn’t really see inside from this distance. He’d already gotten close enough to watch Kaylee smile and hand off coffee to the patrons inside, and he couldn’t believe how much it hurt not to be able to see her and talk to her.

He’d wanted to catch her as she was leaving, but she kept ducking out the back or having Gillian run interference, and he wasn’t too keen on getting tased again.

“Is there a reason why you’ve been standing out in front of my shop all day?” a voice behind him asked.

Rick turned around and found Colin, the bookstore owner, leaning against the front of his shop, watching Rick.

“I’m just waiting for a friend to get off work.”

“Are you talking about Kaylee?” Colin asked, pushing off the building to stand straight.

“Yeah, I am.”

Colin nodded. “You must be pretty desperate to talk to her if you’re loitering outside her work all day.”

“Technically, I’m not in front of her work. I’m across from it.”