She laughed. “For old times sake, sure.”
Old times – did she already think that the weeks they spent together were history? It did seem like it was quite a long time ago, but Craig remembered them so vividly. It was the beginning of his life, really, the first time that he saw her face.
He got into her old Civic and somehow it felt more like home to him than any of the cars he had in his garage in London. Though it was cramped and had fur floating around, it felt just right. His soul felt a little lighter being back there with her.
She carefully navigated out of the parking lot and asked him where he’d like to go.
“Do you really want McDonald’s?”
He shrugged. “Sure. I’m open to any suggestions now that we don’t have to hide.”
“I really can’t thank you enough for what you just did. You saved my life.”
“No, you saved my life. Literally. I merely defended your reputation in front of a panel of jackals.”
Kali smiled. “Same thing.”
“Is it?” He turned to her but she kept her eyes on the road.
“There’s a diner we all like to go to sometimes after we finish overnights. Would you want to go there? My treat.”
He suppressed a smile. Of course, she insisted on paying. “Sounds perfect.”
The diner was only a few minutes away and when they arrived, Kali was greeted warmly and seated in a cozy booth. It was so like her to have friends no matter where she went. Craig suddenly felt rather nervous about what he wanted to tell her. She’d never actually expressed any romantic interest in him. In fact, she’d shown him quite the opposite interest. It seemed a bit of a stretch that she would ever see him in that way – but he had to try.
They looked over the menu and Craig insisted that she order for him, since he was sure that she knew the best dishes. After some argument, she agreed. The waitress took their orders and their menus, leaving them with nothing to look at but each other.
“How’re your parents?” Kali asked.
“Very well, thank you. And yours?”
“They’re extremely happy that I wasn’t fired. So, again, thank you.”
He smiled, keeping his eyes on hers. “It was nothing. Really.”
Kali carefully picked out a sugar packet to mix into her iced tea. “And how’s Bunny? Still finishing up last minute wedding details?”
“I have no idea,” Craig said, sitting back. “Haven’t talked to her in days.”
“Oh.”
He watched her. She stirred the sugar in rather deliberately – was she trying to appear like she didn’t care? Or did she truly not care about his romantic life?
“The thing is,” he said, leaning in, “that she’s a bit angry with me right now.”
Kali set down her spoon. “Oh no, for coming here?”
“No, for calling off the wedding.”
She stared at him, wide eyed. “You called off the wedding?”
This wasn’t how he wanted to tell her how he felt about her. She deserved better than hearing that she was the most amazing woman he’d ever met over eggs and bad coffee.
“I did,” he said. “I finally remembered what happened on the night that I had the accident. And let’s just say – well, she left me there. She made up that tale that I told her ‘don’t wait up.’ ”
Kali had a hand over her mouth. “She didn’t.”
He nodded. “She did.”
“How could she? Craig, you have to be mistaken.”
He took a swig of his coffee. “I am not, unfortunately. I believe it’s for the best that we go our separate ways.”
They sat in silence for a moment and he felt pressured to speak again. “I don’t know who the old Craig Watson was, but the new Craig Watson didn’t seem to get on all that well with Bunny. She seemed…more interested in the wedding itself than she was in me.”
Kali took a breath. “Lots of women get very into their weddings.”
“That’s true. Though lots of women don’t leave their beloved to die on a dark sidewalk.”
Kali flinched. “I just can’t believe it, have you talked to her?”
Why was she trying so hard to convince him that it wasn’t true? Did she want him to be back with Bunny, so she wouldn’t have to fight off his unwelcome advances? He decided to cool it, just for now. He had no idea how she felt, and it terrified him to think that once he told her how he felt, she might send him away forever. He wanted to enjoy his last hour with her if that was the case.
Chapter 25
“I did talk to her,” he said, leaning in. “She asked me if I expected her to nurse me back to health, or something.”
Kali was trying really hard to not look excited that Bunny proved to be the heartless, snooty woman that she expected her to be. Her guilt over the way she felt for Craig was much diminished when Bunny was a crummy person – if she were a lovely, kind girl, Kali wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She knew it was wrong, but her heart soared.
“What’s wrong with nursing someone back to health?” Kali said with a smile. Okay, just one little comment. It couldn’t hurt. Clearly Craig wasn’t going to go from dating Miss Perfect Hair Heiress to a frumpy nurse whose car was covered in cat hair. She would’ve vacuumed it if she realized she’d be driving a billionaire around – the shelter had her run a lot of pick ups for them that past week and her car never looked furrier.
“Absolutely nothing, in my book. So I chucked her.”
“Are your parents upset?”
Craig scrubbed his chin. “My father called her a ‘rabid rabbit,’ so – no, I think they were quite relieved.”
“Oh. So they didn’t, like, arrange the marriage?”
Craig let out a laugh. “This isn’t the 18th century, Kali!”
She felt her cheeks grow hot. Of course they didn’t. “Sorry!”
He grabbed her hand. “No, sorry, didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It’s just that – no, I made that terrible match all on my own.”
She had to remind herself to breathe. His hand felt so warm and comforting over hers. She could go months without being touched by another person in such a gentle way. What an odd way to live, she thought sadly.
“Ah, okay, good to know that you rich people are just as bad at making decisions as the rest of us.”
He smiled. “If not worse.”
“So…are you flying right back home today?”
He shrugged. “I gave the crew the night to recover. So I think I’ll stick around until morning.”
“Oh, okay.” Kali’s heart started to pound in her chest. It seemed to be screaming “Come up with something to do so he has to spend the rest of the day with us!”
Kali’s brain told her heart to shut it.
“Perhaps I could stop by and see Chip? He’s the real reason I flew back.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I knew it. You’ve come to kidnap my cat.”
He squinted. “Not kidnap. Visit. Give him the option of choosing which of us he loves more.”
“That’s easy, I’m the one who feeds him.”
Craig frowned. “Do you mind if we stop on the way to pick up some more tuna?”
Kali laughed. “Sorry, no stops.”
They asked for the check and Kali made sure that she paid for it. She wasn’t going to let Craig think he ran the show just because he was a billionaire. Kali wasn’t some pauper – she could afford to pay for breakfast. Staring at the pile of potatoes, Craig observed that he’d finally found a place that served a more ridiculous amount of food than Kali did when making a lunch.
Kali drove them back to her place and when she opened the door, she couldn’t believe that Chip was sitting at the top of the stairs, seemingly waiting for them.
“There’s my boy!” Craig said.
Chip sat and stared at them.
“That’s alright, Chip, I know how you feel about me,” Craig said with a laugh.
“You probably smell different,” Kali said. “
Or he’s just letting you know that he loves me more.”
“That really hurts, you know. I saved his life. I was his nurse, actually.”
Kali took off her coat. “How could you lower yourself to such a profession?” Oops. She shouldn’t have said that. It was not classy to rejoice in a broken off engagement. But oh-so-hard not to say anything.
“I don’t know what I ever saw in her,” Craig said, shaking his head. “Anyways, can we sit down in the kitchen maybe? I have two things to give you.”
“Uh oh,” Kali replied. “Is it two fleas? A mating pair of fleas?”
Craig grinned. “No, I left them in your car.”
They made their way over to the kitchen and Kali put on some water for tea. “I’m afraid of what this is going to be.”
Craig pulled an envelope from the inner pocket of his suit. He looked so striking all dressed up – he probably scared the pants off of Bruce. Good.
“First, I have the money I owe you for room, board, and clothing. I believe we agreed on a 200% interest rate?”
“Oh please don’t,” Kali said, crossing her arms. “You don’t have to repay me, it was nothing. And I’m still not renting out the basement, I’ve been too lazy to take pictures so it’s not even like it was a real rental.”
“I insist. I did the math here,” he pulled out another sheet covered with calculations. “I believe you’ll find them to your liking.”
Kali rolled her eyes but accepted the sheet. He charged himself $150 a day for the room and $20 a day for food.
“You were not eating twenty dollars worth of eggs and turkey sandwiches a day,” Kali said.
He shrugged. “I rounded up.”
Her eyes skipped over the rest of the calculations. “What is this? A general nursing fee?”
“Yes, that was for your professional opinion about my medical condition.”
She laughed. This was so ridiculous. Her eyes landed on the bottom total. “Twelve thousand dollars? Are you insane? I absolutely will not accept that!”
“That’s too bad, because I have a cashier’s check with your name on it.” He slipped it across the table.
“Craig! This is ridiculous!” She picked up the check, shaking her head, then tore it to pieces. She slid the scraps back across the table. “I will take your calculations and frame them. That’s enough of a payment to me.”
He frowned. “I thought you might do that, so I have another cashier’s check right here…”
She covered her face with her hands. “You’re kidding!”
“I am,” he said, breaking into laughter. “But I did bring a second thing, because I figured that you wouldn’t accept the money.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay.”
He slipped another envelope across the table. This one had gold lettering on the front: Kalista Mitchell, RN.
She shot him a suspicious look before delicately tearing it open. It was so pretty that she didn’t want to damage it.
The letter inside read, “This pass entitles Kalista Mitchell to one roundtrip private jet flight to Paris, France with the guests of her choice. The pass includes unlimited nights at any Watson Hotel (penthouse suite exclusively) with unlimited room service and a daily personal driver. A private tour of the Lourve is also included for these honorary guests of the Watson family.”
Kali looked up at Craig, hand covering her mouth. She felt a lump in her throat. How could she say no to this?
Craig broke the silence. “I dearly hope that you don’t rip that one up.”
Kali bit her lip. “Craig, I don’t know what to say, this is…”
He took a step closer. “So you like it?”
“I love it! It’s a dream come true!”
He smiled. “Good! I knew I’d get something right if I kept trying.”
She ran her eyes over the letter again – she just couldn’t believe it.
“Do you know who you’d like to bring?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know! Ashley would kill me if I don’t take her. And my mom – she’s never been outside of the tristate area. My sisters would die to go to Paris.”
He laughed. “Sounds like a nice girl’s trip is forming.”
“I guess it is!”
He took a step closer to her. “You know, there’s a train that runs from London to Paris. I could pop over and help you with your sightseeing.”
She scoffed. “Another Craig Watson city tour?”
He nodded. “You should know that I don’t just offer that to anybody.”
She felt butterflies raging in her stomach. Her heart got her to speak before her brain could stop it. “I would love that.”
He took a step closer to her. “You know – I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Chip.”
She looked up at him, puzzled. “Why?”
“It just seems that – the way he greeted me today, it was like he was mad at us.”
“Because we didn’t get him tuna?”
He laughed. He seemed nervous. “No, not that. Because we’re his – you know, we’re his people. And we’re not together anymore. I think he liked us better when we were together.”
Suddenly she understood what he was saying. Except she didn’t really understand, because it didn’t make any sense. Not to her brain, at least. While it was whizzing away, trying to figure out what was going on, her heart jumped with joy. “Oh, really?”
He took another step towards her, so they were almost touching. “Really.”
Her brain caught up. She took a step back. “I don’t – I can’t, Craig.”
“Why not?” he said softly.
What kind of a question was that? How could he even ask that, there was no answer to a question like that! After a moment, she said, “Because – I’m still not over Luke. And I’ll never be over Luke. I will always love him. And that’s not fair to anyone else, there’s not…” Her voice trailed off. What else was there to say?
His stare was unbroken. “I didn’t ask you to stop loving him. Why would I ever want to limit that big heart of yours?”
Kali felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t know if…”
In one swift motion, Craig had both of her hands in his. “Hey, don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I know you’ll always love him. But Kali, I just couldn’t go back without telling you the truth.” He squeezed her hands. “You saved me not just from the cold, but from myself. If it weren’t for you, I’d be marrying a monster next month, and I was rather a selfish monster myself. But you changed me. You changed everything. Everything is better with you. I’d rather live out the rest of my life in your basement if it meant I’d have the chance to hear your laugh.”
A smile broke across her face. “It’s not even that nice of a basement!”
His eyes searched hers for a moment. “And…I understand how you feel about Luke, maybe better than most, because I know that I will love you until the day I take my last breath.”
She couldn’t hold it back anymore. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her sniffling face in his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and softly stroked her hair. She closed her eyes, just for a moment, to imagine what it would be like if she were brave enough to tell him the truth about how she felt. She wanted this moment to last forever.
A tiny voice in her head whispered, It can be yours forever.
She pulled away from him and took a deep breath. “I love you too, Craig.”
A grin spread across his face. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
She laughed as he swooped down and kissed her. His kiss was gentle, yet still somehow wildly passionate. She never thought she’d be kissed like that again. Kali thought her heart would explode with happiness.
There was a meow behind them. It was Chip, sitting atop the kitchen table.
“Chip! You’re not allowed up there!” Kali said, shooing him.
Craig laughed. “I told you he wanted us to be together.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “I guess you were right.”
He looked at his watch. “I’m going to document that you said those words and have them framed.”
“That’s fine,” she said, pulling him in for another kiss.
Epilogue
On Christmas Eve, Craig’s surprise for her arrived with a ring of the doorbell. She rushed to open the door, secretly hoping it was Craig himself.
It was a stranger; she tried to hide her disappointment. “Hello, how can I help you?”
She should’ve known better than to hope that. Ever since Craig took an active role in his father’s company, there were certain holidays or weekends that he simply had to work. Kali didn’t mind – he was incredibly happy learning about the business, and he never made a fuss when she worked weekends or overnights at the hospital. He was the head of the new US branch of the Watson Estates company, and he was in charge of building ten new hotels that year. She told him she’d let his Christmas Eve absence slide for that reason, but he promised they’d be together on Christmas.
“Hello, Miss Mitchell?”
“That’s me.”
He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. “This is from Mr. Watson.”
“Thank you, would you like to come in?” she said. Her parents’ house was crowded for the holiday, but they could make room for one limo driver.
“No, thank you miss, I will be waiting in the limousine whenever you are ready.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “Oh, alright.”
He went back to the waiting limousine and Kali closed the door. What was this all about? She hurriedly ripped open the letter.
“My dearest Kali,
I’ve good news and bad news. The good news is that we’ll be spending Christmas together. The bad news is that my mum decided to surprise you with a trip. Luckily, I think you’ll like this one.
Yours forever,
Craig”
What in the world did that mean? She looked up from the letter to see her entire family dressed in coats and boots, bags slung over their shoulders.
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