One for Kami (3 page)

“You’re closing your till.”

“You can close first. I’ll wait.”

He peeked over the oak panel, his light blue eyes quirked into a plea. “Oh, come on. Please? He always goes to you.” He glanced at the martial arts master. “If I only had a chance, I could melt to nothing in those arms…”

Kami pulled off her faux glasses and stashed them into her purse. Unclipping her golden red hair, it tumbled to her back. She ran her fingers through the locks, fluffing them to flow around her shoulders, and then blinked a sultry grin at her friend. “Why don’t we let him decide?”

Daniel furled his brow, pressing creases across his forehead. He sucked in a deep breath. “Damn, girl. Why do you hide all that? I swear if I wasn’t gay I’d be all over you.”

She suppressed a snicker. “You’re sweet.”

“Excuse me.”

Electricity charged across Kami’s nerves and her gaze shot to the deep voice. She slid to the edge of her tall stool and crossed her legs to calm herself. “Hello, Mr. Ingram. How may I help you today?”

He licked his lips and picked up a pen, turning over his check. “I’d like to make this deposit.”

Daniel’s words came silky as he leaned as far as he could over the five-foot barrier. “We could set you up with automatic deposit if you’d like, Mr. Ingram. I’d be happy to show you the forms.”

Oh, no you don’t, Daniel. That’s not going to happen.

Mr. Ingram grinned and mumbled a quiet response as he endorsed the piece of paper. “If I had automatic deposit I wouldn’t get to see her.”

Kami lifted a brow and pursed her lips. He slid the check across the counter and, as she reached for it, his fingers brushed across hers. Her breath hitched and she pinched her pen too tight. It flipped from her grip and flew over the divided barrier landing on Daniel’s frizzed head.

He laughed and stifled his snort too late. Holding out the pen, he smirked. “Here, Miss Keagan. I think you dropped this.”

Kami took it from his grasp. “Thank you, Mr. Stover.” Straightening her posture, she blinked back at her customer. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ingram.”

His almond eyes grinned as he pocketed his wallet, causing the tee shirt to stretch over his sculpted pectorals again. “Please, call me Mike.”

Daniel melted down the other side of the stall with a sigh.

“And you may call me Kami.”

A wide smile lit his olive complexion. “Well, Kami. Now that we’re on a first name basis, would you like to join me for coffee?”

It took Kami three tries before she punched the correct buttons on her keyboard to complete the transaction. She released her breath from its hitch. “Yes. I would really like that.”

Sliding his receipt across the counter, she paused and then pulled it back, flipping it over. She jotted her phone number on the back and handed it to him, hoping he’d let his touch linger this time.

He cupped her hand as he accepted the piece of paper. “I’ll call you tonight.”

Air rushed from her lungs and his eyes twinkled as he turned to leave. He reached back to stuff the receipt in his back pocket and Kami’s gaze dropped, following the motion. Grabbing a courtesy calendar from her drawer, she fanned herself.

Okay, Kami, you’ve done it now. Only a couple days left to this leave and you encouraged advances from an Adonis? What would Ian think?
She slapped the booklet on the counter and quirked her cheek.
God! Why should it matter?

Daniel emerged from his sulking and rested his chin on the wall. “Girl, you better take notes like your life depends on it cause I’m gonna want to know everything. And I mean
everything
. Right down to how he presses those yummilicous lips to the coffee cup.”

Chapter 5

The staccato of Kami’s heals on the sidewalk competed with her heavy heartbeat. Chill misted her breath but it disappeared as a sudden gust whipped her hair against her cheeks. Exhaust wafted to her nostrils from the passing bus. She swiped strands of hair from her face and wrinkled her nose at the odor, dodging a trio of shoppers moments before their bags could claw her arm.

If he turns out to be special, makes me laugh, and if I can tell he could make me love being in love the way Ian did, I can always set the next date in two weeks, go home to complete this transport holiday, and request another.
She squelched her cheek as she realized her thought.
Damn it, Ian. Why do I compare every guy I date to you?

Hugging her jacket closer, she veered onto Thorne Avenue. Black tri-pod tables pocked the sidewalk with white iron chairs as companions. Low chatter filled the air accompanied by the high-pitched howls from the brisk breeze as it whisked through the narrow street. Awnings did their best to hold firm as their ruffled edges flapped in frenzy. Trails of steam from large mugs joined with the customers’ breaths as they tipped them to their mouths, but quickly dispersed. She shivered at the sight and thanked the stars Mike had suggested they meet inside. She flexed her fingers around her purse strap.

Checking her watch, she trotted to the door, hopping past a newspaper that rode the wind. As she slipped into the restaurant, warmth enveloped her with the thick scent of coffee. She shook her arms to release the cold and unzipped her coat, relaxing a measure.

“Hey, Kami.”

A cringed traveled up her neck at the chipper voice as she recognized it.
Oh, not now. Please don’t talk my ear off.

She spun around to face her apartment neighbor. “Hi, Megan.” She smiled congenially. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

Megan stuffed her serving tray under her arm and winked her soot-drawn lids. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you still at the bank?”

“It’s my last day. It was only a temporary position. I’m on my lunch break, actually, and…” Her gaze darted around the café and then settled on Mike seated in the far corner. “And I, um…”

“Oh.” Megan followed her gaze. “Yeah. Gorgeous isn’t he? Too bad he’s married.” She smirked, pressing dimples to her pudgy cheeks. “Doesn’t really matter to him, though. This is where he meets all his,” she lifted a hand and wobbled her head, letting her purple tinted ponytail bounce with the motion. “Liaisons.”

A bolt shot through Kami’s heart and her stomach lurched. “Married?”

“Mm-hmm. Has three kids, too.” She swatted at Kami’s arm and smiled. “But never mind that. Let me get you a good table away from this door. It’s cold out today.”

Kami lowered her gaze in an attempt to hide her sudden desire to throw up. “Oh. I don’t think I’ll have time after all.” She forced the corners of her lips to bend upward. “Took longer than I thought to get here and the gang is throwing me a ‘moving on’ party. But it was great running into you.”

“It sure was. We’ll have to get together. Go do something sometime.”

With a nod, Kami fastened her jacket. “Sure.”

She pushed past the young woman and then pulled the door wide. Wind whipped through the entry and slapped her face with a frosty bite. Her breath hitched. Clenching her jaw, she forced her feet to cross the threshold. Hot tears stung her eyes as they pooled under her lids. A heavy ache formed in her heart alongside a yearning for what she couldn’t have.

Six months, and not one man I’ve met has come close to what Ian…

Her chin trembled and she glanced around the little street, trying to focus on anything but the thought. Laughter filled the air as a group emerged from a shop across the way. Birds fluttered overhead, an occasional brave soul swooping down to the sidewalk to steal cinnamon roll crumbs. A bundled bum picked up a discarded newspaper, crunched two soda cans, and then pocketed them.

Lowering her gaze, she turned and let her steps lead the way down the street.

Chapter 6

The town clock sang its eighth chime and Kami lifted her gaze. City lights flickered beyond the river, a sea of intense stars against the dark sky. She tugged her jacket around her and slouched back on the park bench. The weathered slats crackled as she slid against the wood’s grain.

Pine trees scented the urban green and whispered secrets with the wind, reminding her of a similar place in her own dimension—a place where love had bloomed. A love that was real. Nostalgia filled her heart with Ian’s laughter, his kind hazel eyes, his quiet understanding, his touch.
Ian
. Should she have accepted his proposal?

I was his first choice. His
first.

She watched as pale ribbons of light offered an occasional sparkle along the water’s current. The hypnotizing sway numbed her senses. Forcing herself to blink away, she broke the trance. Her gaze lifted to the moonless firmament.

Would sharing a love free of pretense be better than having none at all? By law, every elite male must take three wives; one wealthy, two in need, and bare children that would inherently become elites as well—do their part to lessen the impoverished population. By the age of twenty-five, he should choose his first wife to begin a family, the two others to follow within ten years.

She closed her eyes.
I don’t care if studies prove the tactic has worked over the decades. It’s just not right. But…

“Dollar for a smoke?”

A man wrapped in a thick camouflage jacket held out a pack of cigarettes. His eyes peered at her from over the tall collar he held tightly around his ears and nose. Breath misted through the hems that didn’t quite meet over his mouth and pooled around his palm, the little cloud lifting to float around his fingers. His black gloves and knitted hat looked like a good idea as the sudden breeze sent Kami’s hair to whirl around her head.

“Sure, mister.” Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a bag of change and handed it to him. “But you can keep the cigarette. I don’t smoke.”

He nodded and hooked the baggie with his finger. His voice muffled behind the fabric in a kind tone that struck a chord in her heart—a chord that sang of a man who, when they first met, she thought held a similar status as the needy one standing before her. “Much obliged. But there’s more than a dollar here.”

She shrugged. “My laundry money. I won’t need it anymore.”

“Ah. You have a kind heart.” He stashed the money along with the pack of cigarettes into his coat pocket. “A young lady shouldn’t be out alone at night. There’s no telling who might be out there.”

A familiar strain that dripped with relief broke into the conversation. “Oh, there you are.” Daniel rushed over and dropped onto the park bench beside her, his arms and legs sprawled into a sloppy spread-eagle. “Thank
God
! I’ve been looking for you since I got off work.”

The vagabond’s gaze followed the exaggerated performance. “But I see you have a friend with you.”

As he nodded in Kami’s direction, the park’s lamp light reflected in his hazel eyes; so much like the gentle man’s she’d left behind. Her heart leapt. Realizing her thought, she quickly looked at her hands, battering herself for comparing every man she met, every voice, every pair of eyes, to Ian.

Hunching his shoulders, he shuffled back to the footpath.

Daniel straightened and dug in his pocket. “What are you doing talking to strange men?”

“He wanted to sell a smoke. He looked like that guy who’s been exchanging coins over the last month. I gave him mine.”

“I don’t care what he does with his coins, he looked like trouble, doll.”

Kami blinked away. “Being poor doesn’t mean you’re trouble.”

Pulling out a pack of gum, he selected a piece and then offered one to her.

She looked down at the sweet and accepted a stick, a small smile touching her lips. “Juicy fruit. My favorite.”

“Yes, my dear. I know.” He stashed the pack. “You really should invest in a cell phone. We called all over looking for you when you didn’t show back at work. Ms. Boss Lady was p-i-s-s-ed at first. Everybody,” he nudged her arm, “including
her
helped decorate the break room for your party. But then she started to get worried. You never miss work and none of us labeled you as someone who’d ditch us on purpose.”

Her cheeks burned at the fact she’d let her friends down. “Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry. I forgot and…” Her voice trailed to nothing. “I needed to think.”

Daniel leaned his head to the side, peering at her. “You wanna talk about it?”

A long sigh helped clear Kami’s lungs and she gazed back over the river to the city lights. “Mike. He’s married. And he has children.”

“Aw, sweetie. I’m so sorry. You want me to beat him up for you?”

The thought of Daniel’s lanky limbs flying at Mike’s muscular form threw laughter from her, despite her sullen outlook. Daniel chuckled and scooted closer. As he wrapped his arm around her, Kami leaned into him, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Do you believe true love really exists, Daniel?”

He set his cheek on her hair and drew circles on her jacket sleeve his fingers. “Yes. But, love can show itself in all kinds of ways. The kicker is accepting it for what it is.”

She lowered her gaze as her understanding widened.
Nothing will be perfect no matter what dimension I’m in. But, love…to find love and have it returned? That is the most beautiful thing in the universe.

The sugary scent of Juicy Fruit drifted over her face with each breath Daniel exhaled. Kami looked high to the faint stars that tried to compete with the city lights.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Sure I am, sweetness.” He patted her hand. “What d’ya say I walk you home?”

Kami nodded. “Yeah.”
It’s time to go home.

Chapter 7

A soft click sounded as Kami closed the arboretum door behind her. The dim room seemed much darker than its counterpart in her home dimension, Two-Eight-Five. She gazed around the miniature Eden.
Ober’s
base sat at the center, its faint glow a haze hugging the circular stage. The tiny bobbles beneath the amaryllis and tree ferns offered meager light along the cobblestone path.

Ah, Henson’s runway. Didn’t notice it wasn’t there when I got here.

An occasional cricket chirped, interrupting the faint tinkles from the three-tier fountain. She closed her eyes and listened. For a brief moment, she was in her grove, awaiting Ian’s late night arrival.