by Kim Fox
He grimaced and scratched the side of his face. “Actually, I did.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, feeling confused. “I have a date.”
“With Chip Edwards,” he said, nodding.
She tilted her head to the side. “You know Chip?”
He rubbed his palms on his jeans and bit his bottom lip. “I am Chip.”
“Huh?”
He explained to her what he did and she listened as a fiery heat flushed through her body. “You did what?” she snapped. “You don’t call me for five years and then you pull this shit to see me? I bought a new outfit that I can’t afford for this!”
“I’ll pay you back,” he said. “I promise.”
“Keep your money,” she snapped, turning and ripping the car door open. She threw her purse inside so hard that it nearly shattered the passenger side window.
“Please, Bailey,” Khan said with desperation in his voice. “It’s killing me that you’re not in my life. I think of you every day. I miss you so much that it’s eating me from the inside out.”
She dropped her head and slowly closed the car door behind her. “Then why did you leave?”
“I had to,” he said.
She crossed her arms and glared at him with her chin held high. “Why?”
Khan sighed. “The government forced me and my brothers to work for them in a special military unit. They needed shifters for a special forces team.”
“What?” she asked. “That’s the excuse that you came up with? After five years, that’s the best story that you could have come up with?”
“It’s not a lie,” he said. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it up his stomach. She gasped when she saw his skin. There were faded, little bullet-sized pink circles all over his torso. In the deep ridges of his abs, over his muscular chest and on his ribs.
“What happened to you?” she asked as she reached out to touch his skin. She stopped herself an inch away from his body even though she desperately wanted to graze her fingers along his skin, along the lines of his abs.
“I told you,” he said. “It’s not a lie. They threatened us. The recruiters warned us that they would eliminate anyone we told.”
“Eliminate?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds,” he said, “and they were serious. These people don’t fuck around.”
She studied his face for a sign of any lying. Khan was never a good liar, especially with her. Bailey could always tell the second he was lying whenever he told her how good her cooking was or when he let her win in a swimming race. There were no signs of lies on his face.
And she wasn’t so innocent herself. She had kept a huge secret from him: his son. He still had no idea.
“What happened to your face?” she asked, reaching up and tracing the long scar down his cheek. “Did you get that in a battle?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, his eyes darting up to the sky. Okay, that was a lie.
“I’m sorry,” he said, placing his hand on his chest. “I was a scared kid. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Bailey looked away and bit the inside of her cheek.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Can I buy you dinner?”
She was all dressed up and she was starving. This was Liam’s father and he did have a right to know about his son’s existence. But did she have the guts to tell him and how would he react?
“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go eat.”
Khan held the menu over his face to cover the wide grin on his lips. He was actually on a date with Bailey. He couldn’t believe his luck.
He tried to remember all of the advice that Ava had given him before he left. He didn’t want to fuck anything up.
“You look very pretty,” he said.
She chuckled. “Are you talking to me or to the menu?”
He dropped the menu onto the table and looked up at her as heat rushed to his cheeks. “I was talking to you. You look even more beautiful than I remembered.”
And it was true. Her face had a few added lines around her mouth and eyes that made her face come alive. It made her smiles look deeper and even more gorgeous than ever. Her body was fuller and thicker than it was the last time he had seen her as a teenager. Her hips were wider just like Khan liked and her body had a softness to it that made his heart speed up.
“How’s the ranch?” she asked, not acknowledging his compliment.
“It’s great,” he said. But it’s not the same without you. “My father died recently.”
Her face dropped as she looked up in shock. She reached out across the table and took his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, with true sadness in her eyes. “I always really liked him. He was so sweet.”
Her touch was electric and he felt his bear pacing inside him, urging him to claim his mate once again. Settle down. It’s not going to happen on a table in a restaurant.
“He died a few days before we got home.” Khan still couldn’t believe that it had happened. “We never got to see him.”
They started talking about old times and how Khan’s father was always joking around and making everybody laugh. He was an eternal optimist. Bailey told the story of when he caught her sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night. He had chased after her, swinging a tennis racket over his head, thinking that she was a burglar. He burst out laughing when he finally caught up to her.
Khan watched her lips and her eyes as she spoke, studying her face in every detail as she told the story. He really didn’t know the next time that he would see her again. This could be the last time. He had to study and take advantage of every second. He would be replaying it in his mind until his hair was gray and his joints no longer worked.
The waitress came over to take their orders but they hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. Khan was too nervous to read. All of the words on the page were mixing together in a blur. He was just going to order the same thing that Bailey did.
They ordered steaks a few minutes later and sat there awkwardly, waiting for them to come. “So what have you been up to since we last saw each other?” he asked. Khan wanted to know everything. He felt like he missed out on the past few years and desperately wanted to catch up. But mainly, he wanted to know if there were any men or kids in the picture.
“Well, I moved about ten minutes from here,” she said with a smile. “You made me fall in love with Montana and it just called to me. It was always on my mind when I was back in Portland until one day I just picked up and left.”
“Montana suits you,” he said. “It always did.”
“I think it does too,” she said with a shy smile. God, she’s so beautiful.
“I work as a nurse in a veterinary clinic,” she continued. Bailey always loved animals so much. It was a perfect job for her.
“And,” she said, hesitating. “I’m a mommy.”
Khan’s heart sank. He felt like the floor had just ripped away from his feet and he was falling and spinning into a black hole. He took a sip of cold water and forced out a smile. “That’s great,” he lied, trying unsuccessfully to keep his voice from shaking. “Boy or a girl?”
“Boy,” she said, rubbing her arm. “His name is Liam.”
“Nice name,” he said, trying to compose himself. He felt like he was going to be sick. “Excuse me,” he said as he got up from the table.
“Are you okay, Khan?” she asked, sitting up straight. “You look a little pale.”
He just ignored her and stumbled to the bathroom before he was sick in the middle of the restaurant.
He burst through the door and splashed cold water on his face. A kid. She had a kid! He stared at his devastated eyes in the mirror and watched the water droplets roll down his face. Another man’s hands had been on her. She had given birth to another man’s child.
He took a deep breath and stared at himself in the mirror. “It’s going to be okay,” he told himself. “She’s your mate. Your mate. A kid doesn’t change that. Don’t go out ther
e and fuck things up forever. You’ll regret it until the day you die.”
Khan steeled his nerves, dried his face on the rough paper towels and smoothed out his clothes. It’ll be okay.
Bailey was watching him with worry as he walked back to the table trying to act natural. Her brow was wrinkled and she was leaning forward. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Do you want to get some air outside?”
“I’m fine,” he said as he slipped into his seat. She looked so concerned. Had she always been like that or was that a new mommy trait? He couldn’t tell.
“I know it’s a surprise,” she said, as she bit her fingernail. “It came as a real shock to me as well.”
Khan glanced at her ring finger and took a breath of relief when it was bare. “It’s great,” he said, straightening his fork and knife on the table. “Tell me about him.”
Her face lit up as she spoke about Liam. “He’s a talker,” she laughed. “He never shuts up. He’s usually talking about superheroes or dinosaurs. He wants to be one of them when he grows up but he hasn’t decided on which one yet. This morning he was leaning towards being a T-Rex.” She laughed and Khan started to feel better. His mate always had that effect on him. She had a calming presence that he really missed.
“Liam goes to daycare while I’m at work,” she continued with a smile on her face. “He loves soccer even though he can’t seem to grasp the rule that he can’t use his hands.” Khan listened with fascination as she went on. Her voice was light and bubbly as she spoke about her son and she kept swinging her hands around like she always did when she was excited.
Khan was smiling as well as he listened but he couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that there was something in her life that caused her so much joy that he had nothing to do with. He wanted to share every aspect of her life with her and seeing her like this made him realize how far removed he actually was from his mate.
The waitress came and dropped the meals off in front of them. Bailey had ordered a rib steak and he had ordered the same. His stomach was a mess of excited nerves and tension. He picked at it as she asked him about his brothers.
“Julius and Hannibal are good,” he said. He told her about Julius getting married and Ava moving onto the Vega Ranch.
“Wow,” she gasped. “Lucky girl. That was always a dream of mine to live on your ranch.”
It was a dream of Khan’s too.
“Alexander hasn’t really been the same since the war,” Khan said, picturing his moody brother always sulking around in a bad mood. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s changed.”
“Really?” Bailey asked, tilting her head to the side and making her beautiful, silky chestnut hair tumble over her shoulders. “He always seemed so sweet. Quiet but sweet.”
“Not anymore,” Khan said with a chuckle. Those days were long gone now.
They finished up their meals, chatting about this and that but nothing really too deep. Khan had so much to say, so many feelings to express, and all of this mindless chit chat was starting to get to him. Is this what their relationship had become? Was this the depth of their connection? Mindless chatting about television shows on Netflix? Is that all he had to offer her, and meanwhile there was some unknown man out there who had shared the gift of life with her?
How did things get so fucked up between them?
Khan paid the check, despite Bailey’s protests, when they were all finished. They walked out of the restaurant and said an awkward goodbye.
“Well, it was nice catching up with you again,” she said, giving him a quick hug with a firm pat on the back.
He got a whiff of her vanilla scent and his bear purred inside his chest. She smiled at the sound. “He’s still in there?” she asked, looking at his chest.
“He’s in there permanently,” he said. “He won’t leave no matter how many times I’ve tried to evict him.”
She smiled and they stood there until the awkward silence was too much. “I should get going,” she said, looking down at the pavement. “Thanks for dinner.”
“Anytime.”
She nodded her head and walked back to her car leaving Khan standing there with his heart pounding. He couldn’t let her walk out of his life like this. His bear paced inside him and grumbled. Khan could feel him urging him to run over there and claim his mate once again.
It’s more complicated than that. But was it?
Bailey opened her car door and Khan took off. He ran up to her and grabbed her arm. She spun around with a look of shock on her face and he drove forward colliding his lips with hers. Her body tensed up at first but then relaxed as she melted into his embrace and kissed him back.
Her lips and tongue gave out a soothing warmth that he had dreamed about for years. He pulled her in close, stealing her breath and reigniting the dormant passion that laid between them.
She squeezed his arm as her silky tongue slid against his. Khan kissed her with a deep intensity, an eager passion that lit every nerve in his body on fire. He released all of the pent-up frustration, disappointment and longing that he built up over the years with that kiss.
They meant more to each other than mindless conversation and unimportant chit chat. Bailey was his mate. Whatever his soul was made of, she was made of the same things. It had to be all or nothing. They couldn’t be casual acquaintances or light friends. It had to be all-encompassing or nothing at all.
Bailey’s eyes were closed as they finally broke apart. She took a deep slow breath and licked her lips.
“I should get going,” she said with a quivering voice when she opened her eyes.
“Stay,” he whispered.
She shook her head and exhaled as her eyes began to tear up. “This is a lot to process,” she said, slipping into her car. She wiped her eyes and started the car.
“Can I see you again?” he asked, holding the door open.
She faced out the windshield, closed her eyes and nodded.
“When?” Khan asked, desperate to see her again.
“I don’t know,” she said and then closed the door. Khan’s heart was swelling so much that he felt like it was going to explode as he watched her drive away.
four
Khan devoured his bacon and eggs the next morning with a thrilled smile on his face. He was feeling better about Bailey having a son. He was just so happy to have kissed her and to have her back in his life that he didn’t care about anything else. Nothing could ruin his mood.
“Why are you so happy this morning?” Julius asked as he watched Khan shovel food into his mouth. “Good date? Was he really hot?”
“It wasn’t a date,” he said as he washed down the food with a long gulp of coffee.
Hannibal lowered the thick book that he was reading and snatched a strip of bacon off Khan’s plate. Khan reached out and grabbed his wrist as fast as a snake’s strike.
“Ahhh!” Hannibal screamed as Khan twisted his wrist until it popped and crackled. “Fine!” Hannibal screamed, opening his fingers and dropping the bacon on the table. Khan snatched it back and gobbled it back up.
Julius was laughing as Hannibal cradled his wounded wrist to his chest and rubbed it as his shifter healing kicked in. “Do you have a death wish?” Julius asked.
Hannibal grimaced in pain. “I thought because he was in a good mood he-”
“You never touch the food on Khan’s plate,” Julius said, from where he was cooking in front of the stove. “I’m surprised you don’t know that. You’re supposed to be the smart one.”
“Listen to your brother,” Khan said as he chewed. “Next time I’ll shove my fork into your hand.”
“So I guess the date didn’t go that well,” Hannibal said, frowning. “You’re still as grumpy as ever.”
Khan wasn’t. He was flying inside. He just didn’t want to show it to his brothers. Not yet.
“Well, you better get a fucking date soon,” Julius said as he flipped an egg. “You’re supposed to get married as soon as possible and it’s going to take a
woman ages to warm up to your cold exterior.”
Julius walked over with the pan and spatula in his hands. He dumped two more eggs onto Khan’s plate. “Hannibal, don’t you have any words of inspiration tattooed on your body to read him? Maybe a nice quote tattooed on your baby toe?”
Hannibal frowned as Khan chuckled. Their youngest brother, Hannibal, had several tattoos of passages and quotes all over his body. He was a big reader and instead of getting a highlighter like everyone else he saved his favorite words by tattooing them on his body.
“No, but I have one for you, Julius,” Hannibal said, lifting up his shirt and looking down at a tattoo on his ribs. “More bacon. Less talking.”
Khan chuckled. “Now that tattoo I like.”
Ava walked into the kitchen and smiled knowingly at Khan. He was planning on talking with her about the date last night. It would be nice to discuss it with someone and to get a woman’s point of view on what happened. He was thrilled that they kissed but she had left in such a hurry after. He couldn’t tell what that meant.
“Good morning everyone,” Ava said as she stood on her tippy toes and kissed Julius’ cheek.
“Ava,” Julius said, pointing at Khan. “Get this guy a date. Please.”
She grabbed a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself a cup of coffee. “I don’t know,” she said, winking at Khan. “I kind of like being the only girl surrounded by four hot guys.”
“Hey!” Julius said, pointing the yolk-splattered spatula at her. “You’re surrounded by one hot guy and three hideous cavemen. Got that?”
Khan snorted a laugh. “He thinks he’s so hot because he’s got blond hair and green eyes. Tell him he looks like a chick.” Julius was the only one who looked like he didn’t belong in the group of brothers. Khan, Hannibal and Alexander all had dark brown hair with brown eyes but Julius came out as a blond with light green eyes. They often joked that his real father must have been the butler.
“He’s just jealous because blonds have more fun,” Ava said, running her fingers through Julius’ messy hair. She took her mug and sat down at the table.