Page 56 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“You’ll see. Here she comes now.” Kes nodded down the street, and Ashley looked over her shoulder as a shiny black Hummer pulled up to the curb. The blackout windows made it impossible to see who was driving. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Taking her hand, he led her to the passenger side of the vehicle, and she held her breath as she waited to see who was behind the wheel as he opened the door. The remaining anger turned into confusion as she stared at the empty driver’s seat.
“Um….”
Kes laughed, his deep baritone voice instantly making her body squirm and warm in all the right places. “Go on. She is safe.”
Ashley stepped up into the tall vehicle, and Kes closed the door before rounding the front and jumping into the driver’s side. He pulled his hood down and smiled at her.
“Baby Doll, this is Ashley.”
“Hello, Ashley, it is nice to meet you,” the AI responded, and he laughed as Ashley looked into the backseat and then at the dash with the same wonder that Zumi had.
“Baby Doll is the vehicle?”
“Yes, she is a high-tech AI, complimentary of my employers, that can do pretty much anything other than make my meals. I haven’t figured out how to get her to do that yet.”
“Wow.” Ashley held up her finger as she thought. “Wait a minute. You named your vehicle after me?”
His cheeks reddened ever so subtly, but Kes was most certainly blushing. “I never thought I’d get to see the real one again. This way, you were always with me.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again as no words came to her. It was the strangest and sweetest admission she’d ever heard. She peeled her eyes away from his stare, a glimpse of pink paper catching her attention. Reaching out, she picked up the small lotus flower that he’d given her as part of his prom proposal. The beautiful flower looked so much smaller now in her hand, and yet it still had her biting her lip with the powerful spark it ignited. Memories of him getting down on one knee like he was proposing in front of the entire school were as vivid in her mind as him sitting beside her now.
“Is this…?”
“Yes. I’m not proud I took it, but the first night I snuck into your place I was searching for it.” She looked over at him, and he swallowed and looked away. “I thought if you still had it, then maybe there was hope that you still held onto thoughts of me as much as I’d been hanging on to thoughts of you all this time. I know it was stupid.” His hands gripped the steering wheel hard, and she reached out and laid her hand on his forearm, the muscles relaxing under her touch.
“I don’t think it’s stupid. I hung on to it for the same reason. I felt so stupid for thinking that if I hung on to it, then one day, you’d come back. Like magic, you’d walk through my door. I didn’t expect you to crawl through my window, mind you.”
Leaning in, Kes cupped her cheek, and a spark of electricity raced through her system as his lips brushed against her own.
She opened her mouth to say ‘let’s go home’ when her phone rang, the thing vibrating in her pocket. Pulling it out, she groaned as she saw Mount Rose on the screen.
“Ashley here,” she said as she hit the little answer button. She sighed and nodded even though the woman on the other end of the line couldn’t see her as she listened. “Yes, okay, I will be there.” She hung up the phone and stared at the thing in her hands.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Kes asked.
“I need to go for a follow-up appointment the day after tomorrow.” She rubbed her eyes, not wanting to deal with any of that right now, just as the Hummer began to ring. His eyes swung to the display with the name ‘Trevor Anderson’ on the screen.
“Are you not going to answer it?”
“No, you’re more important.”
Curiosity had her reaching out and hitting answer for him and then wanting to laugh at the look of disbelief on his face. “Kes, are you there?” came a smooth voice that reminded her of fine wine. Now ‘this’ was a great distraction.
“Yes, I’m here. I have a friend with me.”
“Hi,” Ashley said, and there was silence for a heartbeat too long, making the silence awkward.
“Hi, back. Maybe this is a very appropriate time for me to catch you, Kes.”
“Oh really, and why is that, Trev?” Kes asked. He shook his head and rolled his eyes like he was annoyed by the conversation.
“I was calling to invite you to Christmas dinner tomorrow evening. I would love it if both you and your mystery guest could attend, along with the young girl that you’ve taken under your guidance.” There was a soft, challenging undertone to the request, and Ashley bit her lip as Kes’s mouth fell open.
“Keeping tabs on me, old friend?” Kes said ‘friend’ like the word was bitter on his tongue.
“No more than you do of me, ‘friend.’”
