Fate Interrupted by Kaitlyn Cross Page A

against his
chest. He shifted in his stance, trying to see through the heavy wooden door like
he had x-ray vision. It was so quiet. Too quiet. He found
himself wondering if she was even home, wondering if she had changed her mind.
He stared at the peephole looking back at him. It looked like a light was on in
the living room so he raised his fist to knock again.
    The door opened
with a loud crack as the swollen wood freed itself from the jam. He flinched with
the noise and dropped his hand to his side, trying to act cool. Her warm smile
and perfume washed over him. The front of her satin tank top was
tucked into a pair of jeans that complimented her hips. His eyes
traveled the length of her legs to the painted toes peeking out from some dark
blue high heels. His heart responded accordingly, sending palpitations running
amuck.
    “You look...beautiful.”
    She opened the
door all the way and stepped off to the side. “Thank you. So do you.”
    He stepped
inside, scanning every inch of the place like a crime scene investigator,
wanting to know everything about her he possibly could.
    “Well, you
passed the first test,” she said, shutting the door and locking the deadbolt.
    “And what’s
that?”
    “You’re not a
vampire, because I didn’t invite you in.”
    “Yeah, but you
swept your hand out, which I think, technically, counts as sign language.”
    A red tongue wet
her lips as she sashayed into the kitchen, her heels lightly clicking across
the tiled floor. “No biting.”
    “Well, you’re no
fun,” he replied, examining some framed pictures for clues. “This is a great
place.”
    “Thanks,” she
said, coming back into the room and handing him a cold bottle of beer. “Have to
park three blocks away but it has its charm.”
    “And you can see
the lake.”
    She followed his
gaze out an eastern facing living room window. “Barely,” she laughed, taking a
quick sip of red wine and heading into the bathroom. “Give me two minutes.”
    “No hurry,” he
said, running his hand along the hand carved woodwork adorning waist high
built-ins dividing the quaint dining room from the kitchen. He bent for a
closer inspection of her books and a picture of her and Brooke with what must
be their parents. Their mom had the same dazzling green eyes, all of them
stretching smiles from ear to ear as boats whizzed past in the background. “Your
parents must be really proud of you and your sister.”
    Her head popped out
of the bathroom. “They are, but they wished we would have stayed closer to
home.”
    He glanced over
his shoulder and their eyes locked with some invisible bond, stronger than
anything he had ever felt before. Her gaze ran down his long-sleeved button down
to his jeans and boots. He thought he heard her sigh but wasn’t sure. She blinked
like she had just come to and ducked back into the bathroom. He gravitated
toward her, dying to know what she was doing in there, needing just one more
glimpse.
    He came around
the corner of the small bathroom and leaned in the doorway, the smell of hair
spray and lotion hanging in the air. He quietly watched her brush makeup onto
her cheeks, each gentle stroke drawing him in closer.
    She jumped when
she saw his reflection in the mirror and clapped a hand over her chest. “Oh my
God, you scared me,” she chuckled. Her eyes fell to the sink and a gasp escaped
her. She slid a compact-sized package of birth control pills into a drawer and
slammed it shut, flushing with color the makeup could not hide.
    “Sorry,” he said,
taking a sip of beer while his eyes ravaged her entire body. “But I think
you’re messing with perfection.”
    She smiled at
him in the mirror and set the brush down on the sink without looking, her eyes
piercing him with something he could not read. She turned to him and shut the
light off, her scent lighting him on fire. “All done.”
    He grabbed her by
the wrist and yanked her to him. This time he definitely heard a sigh. Her soft
body pressed up