“No, you don’t,” he replied, his face still turned away. “You might have been all right.”
“After being raped by three guys?” she asked, incredulous.
“Oh.” He looked at her, suddenly sheepish. “No, what I meant was, after I made those men leave you alone, you might have been fine. I didn’t have to bring you here.”
Taylor laughed, though it didn’t have much humor in it. “Even in that, you saved me. I’m sure Ted would have poured me into a cab and sent me home, and I’d still end up in a hospital.”
“Why would that be? Aren’t you safe at home?”
This time, Taylor hid her face by lowering her head, her hair swinging forward. “You’ve done so much for me already,” she replied. “I can’t involve you in my troubles.”
For a moment, she thought he might speak, but he didn’t. Long moments went by, and Taylor wondered how one made a graceful exit from situations like this. I suppose I should thank him, shake his hand, then walk out the door. Then she realized she hadn’t seen her purse in the room.
The guy suddenly spoke. “I suppose we all have our troubles.”
Without her purse, Taylor had no credit cards, no cash, to pay a cab fare home. Frantic worry brought her abruptly to her feet. “Uh, right, sure. Um, look, you didn’t happen to grab my purse while you saved my bacon, did you?”
He frowned a little. “Purse?”
“Yeah, a small blue one, long strap.” Taylor glanced around the room but didn’t see it. “It had all my money and credit cards in it.”
“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t see anything like that.”
“Shit,” she muttered, running her hands through her hair. “I can cancel the cards, no biggie, and I didn’t have much cash. But now I have no way of getting home.”
“I can help you with that. What do you need?”
Cautious, Taylor looked up. “Just cab fare, I guess. If you give me your address, I’ll mail it back to you.”
His face tightened a fraction, and his icy eyes turned chilly again. “I just got to this town,” he replied. “I don’t have a place to live. Except this room.”
“Oh.” Abashed, Taylor asked, “Where are you from?”
“North.”
“Canada? Alaska? You do have a curious accent.”
More than curious, Taylor found it fascinating. She had never heard an accent like his before.
Rather than answer her directly, he merely said, “You can use the shower if you want. Then we can go eat something.”
Taylor smiled. “I would like that. If it’s not too much trouble, could we go by the bar? See if my purse is there?”
“Sure.”
Feeling awkward, Taylor stuck out her hand. “I’m Taylor Brookstone.”
Answering her smile with a tentative one of his own, he accepted her hand. “I’m Kane Ursi’bani.”
“What a cool name.”
Her humor rose as she stepped around him to stride to the bathroom. Here she was, in a hotel room with a nearly naked gorgeous male while hungover after a bender. How anyone could not find humor in that, she had no idea.
Closing the door, Taylor stripped and stepped into the shower, rinsing away not just the nasty taste in her mouth, but the scent of stale beer that clung to her. Some of the effects of her bender washed away as well, and though her nausea lingered, she was also hungry.
Kane sat, fully dressed, in a chair by the window when she emerged from the steamy bathroom. He glanced up as she toweled excess water from her hair, and commented, “I have a brush in my purse, too. You don’t have one I might borrow?”
Taylor already knew the answer to her question, and it only brought more questions. Kane had no personal effects in the bathroom. No toothbrush, no razor, no comb or brush, and he had no suitcase for clothes. Where did he come from that he didn’t bring a change of underwear or a toothbrush?
“Sorry, I don’t,” he answered. “I have to buy things like that today.”
Thinking it best not to ask how he traveled to Portland without even a passport, Taylor wondered if he was on the run from someone. The law, the Mafia, a drug cartel. Perhaps he had entered the country illegally.
Deciding that was none of her business, Taylor smiled. “I hope my hair doesn’t look too ratty without it being brushed.”
Kane smiled slightly. “It will look fine.”
Combing the worst of the tangles from her hair with her fingers, Taylor returned to the bathroom to scrub her teeth with running water and her finger. Even without toothpaste, her mouth felt refreshed with the scummy residue gone from her teeth.
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
Kane stood up, big and massive, his muscles straining against the thin cloth of his t-shirt. His shaggy blond hair had dried into tangles much like her own, but on him, it looked sexy, not unkempt. Taylor strode ahead of him to the door, conscious of how easily he could overpower her. Yet, her gut told her she was completely safe with him.
After all, he could have done as he pleased last night.
A few people stood in the lobby with their luggage, waiting to check out as Taylor and Kane left the elevator. None paid them any mind as the two of them exited the front doors and walked across the parking lot to the street. She recognized the area, and the hotel, now that she was clear of the room.
“The bar serves a pretty good breakfast,” she commented as they turned in that direction. “Would that be okay? Since we have to go there to find my purse.”
“Sure. I liked their burgers and fries last night.”
Traffic roared by on the street, cars and trucks, with no few semis blasting past. Other pedestrians passed them by without a second look, entering or emerging from the stores and shops. A police cruiser rolled past, making Taylor abruptly nervous, self-conscious.
She glanced over her shoulder at it, yet it turned the corner and disappeared without slowing. That did not lessen her disquiet, and she wished she had simply taken Kane up on his offer and grabbed a taxi straight from the hotel.
Teddy’s Bar and Grill held a few patrons at the bar despite it being so early in the day, and a couple of bikers played pool as Taylor and Kane strolled in. The scents of bacon, sausage, and frying burgers tantalized her nostrils as Taylor went straight to the bartender.
“Excuse me,” she said to the middle-aged woman behind the bar. “I think I left my purse in here last night.”
“What’s it look like?”
“Blue with a long strap. You’ll see my driver’s license in it.”
The lady bent to look under the bar and straightened with Taylor’s purse in her hand. Tension left Taylor in a gust as the bartender opened it, lifted out her wallet to examine her photo identification. Then she handed both to Taylor. “That looks like you, hon.”
“Thank you so much.”
Crossing the big room to a table, Taylor said, “Now I can buy you breakfast.”
“As I made the offer,” Kane replied, sitting down with her, “I will still buy.”
“If you insist.”
After the waitress took their order, Taylor eyed Kane, feeling the need to confess. “Look, Kane,” she said, hesitant, “I need you to know I don’t always do that.”
He looked at her with mild puzzlement. “Do what?”
“You know. Get so wasted I need to be rescued.” Taylor shunted her face away. “I felt sorry for myself, angry, scared. I just—let loose. Went on a bender.”
“I know the feeling,” he replied, his voice soft, kind. “I’m rather tempted to do the same thing.”
“While I planned to let loose,” Taylor went on, now able to look him in the eye, “I didn’t plan to get quite that drunk. I left my kids with my mom and took a cab here.”
Chapter Three
She looked vulnerable sitting across from him, trying to hide pain, or grief, from him, but not quite succeeding. Kane, while not knowing perhaps as much as he should about the humans inhabiting the world, suspected Taylor did not have it very easy in her life.
Reluctant to ask her about her troubles, and not certain he wanted her to confide in him, he merely nodded.
“I am certainly not one to judge you,” he commented. “That’s the very last thing I’d want to be guilty of.”
Taylor smiled, almost shy, still vulnerable. “You are a very nice guy.”
“Am I?” Kane gazed around the bar, at the drinkers and diners. “I just try to do right, whether it’s nice or not.”
“I guess that’s more than what most people do,” she replied.
Taylor picked up a napkin and shredded it, her fingers restless, telling Kane more about her inner anxiety than her expression did. “Most folks just go about their business, not caring about others.”
“I noticed that. Last night, those men would have taken you from the bar, and no one saw a thing. I myself took you, and none paid any attention. Do humans not look after one another? Do they not cherish the females of your kind, so they can bear offspring?”
By the curious way she watched him, Kane knew he had gone too far. I am supposed to pretend I am one of them, yet here I speak as though I am not. He had let his frustration and fear loose with his mouth, and surely Taylor would now suspect something was not right about him.
“You’re quite right,” she admitted, still shredding the napkin. “We don’t take care of each other. Not really.” She barked a harsh laugh. “And no, men do not always treat women right.”
“Females are to be cherished,” he muttered.
“I think we all could learn from your attitude.”
Thinking a change of topic would keep his tongue from running away with him, Kane tried to smile. “You said you have children?”
Taylor grinned and opened her purse. “Yeah. Twin girls. They are the light of my life. Here, take a look.”
Pulling out a photo, she pushed it across to him. Kane picked it up, and two small girls with hair a lighter shade of red as their mother’s smiled back at him. Though he knew less about human offspring than he did adults, the picture charmed him.
He grinned. “Very cute,” he told her, handing it back. “Thank you for showing them to me.”
“Megan and Lila,” Taylor said proudly. “Two and a half years old.”
“They’re with your mother right now?”
Taylor put the photo back. “Yeah. I didn’t really expect to be gone all night, so she’ll be worried. And I left my cell at home, so I can’t call and tell her I’m still alive.”
“What about your children’s father?”
Taylor rested her chin on her fist, her eyes on the bar, not Kane. “He died saving the lives of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan,” she said. “A hero. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously. I was pregnant when he died. He never saw his girls.”
“I am so sorry.”
“Yeah.” Taylor swiped her hand across her eyes. “Me, too.”
The waitress brought their order, and though she was not the same one from the previous night, she also gave Kane that odd, almost sensual smile. It irritated him, and when she cast him a strange look over her shoulder, he leaned toward Taylor.
“Why does she look at me like that?”
“Who?”
Taylor followed the direction of his eyes, then grinned. The waitress stood behind the counter and spoke to the older woman there, both of them staring at him and whispering.
“I am guessing they like their beefcake.”
“What? What does that mean?” His annoyance continued to grow as Taylor smirked.
“It means you are one sexy hunk of masculinity, my friend,” she replied, crunching on a slice of bacon. “They’re admiring you. You’re eye candy.”
“They think I’m attractive?”
“Well, yeah. You are. I think so, too.”
Kane picked up his own bacon to start eating, knowing he blushed by the way his face suddenly felt hot. Taylor had recommended what food to order, and it was delicious. He focused on his meal and tried not to think of these females admiring him. His curiosity got the better of him, however.
“What does ‘beefcake’ mean?”
Taylor cleared her mouth with a drink of water, then said, “It’s a slang term, I guess. It refers to a guy who is muscular and, well, good looking. The word has been around a while, but these days, when a guy has muscle he’s referred to as being ‘ripped.’”
“Ripped?”
“Yeah.”
“What a strange language you have.”
“I guess so.”
Taylor didn’t seem to notice or be concerned about his lack of knowledge regarding the language. While in school, he had learned the language of English, but his education did not include words like “beefcake” or “ripped” for being muscular. From what he knew, ripped was what she did to the napkin.
Finishing his breakfast, Kane pulled cash from his jeans pocket and pulled a few bills from it. “Will that pay for the meal?” he asked.
Taylor eyed it. “That’s too much. It covers the food and one hell of a tip. Our waitress wasn’t that good.”
Taylor pushed some of the bills back to him. Kane put them back in his pocket, deciding not to ask what Taylor meant by a tip. “Thanks.”
“Thanks for feeding me.”
“Can you recommend a place to buy things?” he asked. “Clothes and stuff?”
“Sure. When you leave Teddy’s, just make a right and go past your hotel. There’s a Walmart a few blocks down.”
Expecting her to ask why he didn’t have extra clothes and necessities, Kane felt surprised when she didn’t. He liked that about her. She didn’t pry into things he needed to keep to himself. Nor did he want to lie to her. Kane abhorred lying, and hoped he’d never have to lie to someone he liked.
And he liked Taylor.
“Will I ever see you again?” he asked.
Her green eyes lit with something he liked very much, and a small smile quirked her lips up. “You might.”
Taking a pen and paper from her purse, she wrote something down. She pushed the paper across the table to him. “That’s my cell. Call me sometime.”
“All right.”
Kane shoved the paper into his pocket, then stood up. “I’ll wait with you until the cab comes.”
“Actually, you don’t have to do that,” Taylor replied, also rising from the table. “I’ll use the bar’s phone to call one. It won’t take long for it to get here.”
Not really liking the idea of leaving her alone, even in the mid-morning sunlight, Kane watched, listening, as she called the cab company. The bar’s females watched him when they had nothing better to do, and thoroughly annoyed him. Taylor thanked the women, then walked with him through the doors to the sidewalk.
“It’ll be here in about fifteen minutes,” she told him. “You don’t have to wait.”
“All right.” Kane stuck his hands in his pockets, already feeling lonely. “Stay safe now. No more benders.”
Taylor laughed. “No more benders.”
Walking away, he wished he could spend more time with her. The only human he had ever met, much less liked, and in spite of the short time they spent together, he already thought of her as a friend. And he needed a friend right now.
Glancing back, Kane saw her wave, and he waved back. Lowering his head, he trudged on, his fears and frustrations returning in full force now that he had few distractions to keep them at bay. He eyed the vehicles driving past him in both directions, the people that hurried on their way without sparing him a look.
The next time he turned, Taylor was gone.
Loneliness struck him harder than he ever thought possible. He missed his friends he’d been exiled with, each of them destined for different parts of this country. He missed his home in the distant northern mountains, his own kind, even the elders who had banished him to this terrible place.
And he missed Taylor with her bright green eyes and her sweet smile, the kindness he saw glinting from them both.
He found the Walmart Taylor had spoken of
and went inside. In it, he pushed a cart up and down the aisles just as many people did. He saw women with children, old people, young people, humans of all shapes and sizes. Kane also discovered they were not all the same color. Although he had seen pictures of other human races, he had only seen white people in person until now.
Picking out shirts, another pair of jeans, socks, underwear, he found hair brushes, toothbrushes and paste, a razor, filling his cart. Kane continued to shop, grabbing items he thought he might need, including food and even beer.
Finding a portion of the store that sold phones, he paused, considering. He had learned a few things about the communication tools in the south but had little practice with them. A clerk ambled over as Kane examined the various models.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” Kane replied. “I’d like to buy a cell. Can you show me how to use it?”
“Sure.”
The young human male seemed to think it unusual that Kane knew little about phones. But he showed Kane how to plug in numbers to make a call, saved Taylor’s number into it, and told him how many call minutes he had.
“So, when you need more minutes,” the clerk said, “you call this number, and use your card to pay for them.”
“What if I don’t have a card?”
“Then come into any Walmart store and we can add it for you, no biggie.”
Pleased, Kane paid for the phone and two hours’ worth of minutes and put the phone in his pocket. He topped off his shopping with a large backpack to put his belongings in if he decided to travel this country. Standing in a line to pay for his items, Kane casually watched the humans around him, trying not to stand out or behave in any way they wouldn’t.
In time, he discovered yet again that humans paid attention to only that which interested them, and nothing else. Except….
Murmurs rose over the music and general noise of the store. Heads turned toward a commotion not far from where Kane stood, waiting to pay for his things. He also looked, observing people lifting their phones toward the origins of the ruckus.
A human male, fairly young but with a stubble of a beard on his cheeks and jaws, spewed a long string of foul language at a young female. The woman was clearly pregnant, her swollen belly protruding hugely. Kane almost turned away, thinking of how humans had little respect for one another, then the male grabbed her by the arms.
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