CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Hushed whispers float around the big library.

The building is barely full this tranquil Friday afternoon, as most of the people who frequent this place are way more interested in whatever fun plans they’ve got to look forward to this weekend. For me and my girls, it’ll be just more work, work—oh, and more work.

I nudge my dark-tinted sunglasses a little lower on my upturned nose and carefully glance around. Several contracts that I’ve been reading—or at least pretending to read—are splayed around me on the desk where I’ve been “working” for the better part of two hours. Before that, I’d met with the Fostering Tomorrow charity to ensure everything was up and running for our big event coming up.

Since running into Grayson here at the library last week, I’ve popped into the place every chance I’ve gotten since, but he’s been completely MIA. It’d been Sutton’s idea to keep coming back in the hopes of spotting him again after she and Liv realized exactly how smitten I’d become after meeting Grayson that single time, but so far, I’ve had no luck. Also, because I’m continually returning to the same location, I’ve had to make up a disguise or two to keep the G&G fans off my trail. Today, I opted for shades and a floppy, but not overly large Panama hat to go with my cute flower-print sundress. I don’t usually wear sunglasses and a hat indoors, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Unfortunately for me, Grayson is a no show to our intentional-accidental rendezvous.

When the clock’s long hand does one more lap around its face, I let out a sigh of defeat.

This is insane. I can’t just sit here wasting my time waiting for a guy to show up out of nowhere. He might be a total cutie, but this boss babe has business to attend to.

Frowning, I pack up my things and slide them into my oversized purse. I’d already finished up my meetings for today, so there’s nothing left to do but go home and take George on a well-deserved walk down the beach. Today is Friday, and Friday is always George’s day—after I finish up last-minute videos anyway. I even get him a puppy ice cream cone from the vendor that pops up on the dog side of the beach. There’s almost nothing I like more than spending time with my sweet, energetic fur baby.

My frown turns into a smile. I can still vividly remember the day I found George a few months back. The poor dog had been so malnourished and tiny that it broke my heart. I knew the moment our eyes met that I was supposed to rescue him. Maybe it was because his frightened, sad gaze reminded me of myself when I was a little girl.

The police found me when I was four years old, left alone in the tiny apartment I shared with my mother after she’d stumbled out the door a few days earlier. I don’t know for sure, but I think a neighbor heard me crying myself to sleep night after night, but when they came to check on me, I was too scared to answer the door for anyone who knocked. That’s when they finally called the cops.

I was dirty and grimy and hungry and much too young then to understand my mother’s vices, or why she’d allowed them to steal her from this world. All I knew was that I was alone with no one to cling to, no one to call family. It wasn’t like my dad was in the picture. He up and left before I was born. I didn’t even know his name. Heck, maybe my mom didn’t, either. After her passing, I bounced from foster home to foster home, and while some of them were definitely better than others, I never quite found my place or felt like I fit in at any of them.

It was art that ultimately saved me. I don’t even recall how I got my first paint set now. It was a cheap plastic one with watercolors that barely had any pigment at all, but to me, it was beautiful. Painting made me finally feel alive. When I discovered makeup as a teen, I found it just as magical. The face, I realized, could be a canvas, too. Not only had art rescued me. It also got me a scholarship to USC and led me to Sutton and Liv.

Had I not gotten that cheap little paint set, my whole life could’ve followed a different path.

That’s something that resonates with me a lot. It’s why I’m always making sure G&G is assisting different fundraisers around LA, as well as elsewhere in the country. There’s always good to be done, and even a little bit goes a long way.

Shaking my head hard, I hold my hat down against my long, blond hair as I step out of the library so the breeze doesn’t snatch it.

I don’t normally dwell on my childhood or even my past. There’s nothing I can change about it. I can only hope to grow from the experience. If I can use my fame and wealth to help one other foster or underprivileged kid find their footing and their way in the world, then I’m doing something right.

As I make my way down the sidewalk back toward the garage where my car is parked, a flash of broad shoulders and dark hair through a café window catches my eye.

I skid to a halt and whirl back around, practically plastering myself against the window so I can peer inside.

A tall man in a navy-blue suit is standing in line with his back to me. He shifts from one toned leg to the other, his hands on his hips, as he inspects the café menu. I can’t see his eyes, but I know they’re a delicious shade of rich mocha brown—and not the kind of java Sutton makes—but the velvety smooth and addicting kind that you never want to stop sipping.

“Grayson!” I gasp under my breath.

It has to be him.

Just saying his name out loud has my heart pounding in my chest.

I can hardly believe my eyes. Or my luck. I’ve finally found my mystery man. I have to get in there. But I also have to play it cool. I absolutely cannot let this guy know that I’ve been stalking him for the past several days.

Swallowing hard, I inhale through my nose and glide into the café. There’s no time to waste. I’ve regretted letting him slip off my radar for days and I’m not going to let it happen again.

My gaze skims my surroundings, barely noting the cute tables with their vases of fresh flowers, as I pinpoint my target yet again. There are a few people who’ve formed a line behind him now, so I take my place at the end. All the while, I try and figure out how to let him know I’m there. I can’t simply reach over and tap him on the shoulder. That’s way too boring. Plus, if I call out his name, I will totally die of embarrassment if he turns around and doesn’t recognize me—and not in the he-doesn’t-know-me-from-social-media-fame way. It’d been adorable the first time, but if he’s forgotten who I am since our last meeting, I’d melt into a mortified puddle.

What would Sutton and Liv tell me to do?

Liv would no doubt suggest that I play it coy and bat my eyes and wait for him to turn around. Sutton, on the other hand, would advise me to throw myself right into his arms.

While my mind is racing, the barista sets Grayson’s order on the counter. He reaches for the cup without even looking at it, his nose buried in a book. He turns around, still not looking up, and starts to walk right by me. I absently note that today his dress shirt is a soft green and that the colors in his tie are the perfect match to both the shirt and suit.

I have two choices: do something desperate or go back to lurking in the library. And let me tell you, I am tired of the uncomfortable wooden chairs they have there.

It’s go time, Kali, I urge myself silently.

I slide the top of one wedge sandal just an inch out as stealthily as I can, deftly hooking Grayson’s foot as he walks by. He stumbles immediately but thankfully my calculations are spot on and he doesn’t drop his coffee—or worse, fall on his face.

“Oh, my!” I say apologetically. I can’t help but think Sutton would be super proud of this performance. “I am so sorry—” I pause, feigning a shocked gasp. “Grayson? It is you! We really ought to stop meeting like this.”

I flutter my lashes, pulling my shades down so I can gaze into the pools of his chocolate eyes. He really is way too handsome for words.

He straightens and one corner of his mouth quirks upward. I thank all my lucky stars that he seems to remember me because there’s amused recognition dancing across his face now.

“I personally love the thrill,” he offers playfully. Standing fully upright, he towers over me and I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. Adjusting his tie, he gestures at the barista who’s now waiting for my order. “Getting some coffee?”

I nod and pause long enough to order my favorite drink—a soy lavender latte with dried strawberries sprinkled on top—before turning back toward Grayson. When I face him again, I note that his eyes had been wandering over me. His gaze quickly returns to my face, but his smile has widened slightly. A blush threatens to wash over my cheeks, but I somehow manage to keep my cool.

“Your name. What is it? I want to get it now in case you vanish on me again.” Grayson is still grinning and I can’t get enough of it.

I pick up my drink and take a slow sip, all the while, keeping my blue eyes on Grayson’s brown ones.

“A girl has to have some mystery about her. Don’t you think?” I pause for a second to let him laugh. “But my name is Kali. Kali Lang.”

“Kali...” he repeats. He takes his time saying it, like he’s tasting it on his tongue. Again, a shiver trembles up my spine. “I like it. It’s unique. Like you.”

“You think?”

He chuckles dryly. “I know.” He glances at an empty table in the back corner of the café, then back at me. “Do you have a minute before you disappear so we can sit and chat? I kept wishing we’d had more time to talk at the library.”

For a second, I find myself hesitating again. As good as I am at juggling tons of things at once, I’m honestly not sure if a boy-toy is one of them. But this particular guy isn’t a boy-toy. He’s all man. I can tell that much. And I couldn’t walk away from him again even if I wanted to.

“I’d like that,” I murmur before allowing him to lead me to the booth that’s thankfully located in the back of the café.

After we sit, I take off my glasses, but I keep my hat on to provide at least some cover.

“So, Kali,” Grayson begins in an effortless, curious voice. He leans back in his seat and appraises me with eyes that are so sincerely intrigued in me that I almost lose my breath. “Tell me about yourself.”

I gaze right back at him, wishing it was that simple.