Love 2.0

by Lee Kilraine

  Mira’s heart raced, the beat of it echoing in her ears. The fear sliced through her, silencing her thoughts, yet it was in that silence that she heard Kaz’s voice. Push the fear aside. Look for options. Anything can be a weapon. Think outside the box. There are always options.

  “Don’t you dare go with him,” Delaney hissed between breaths, grabbing her hand tight while her gaze bore into hers.

  “No. I won’t.” Mira squeezed Delaney’s hand once before reaching down and grasping Delaney’s prosthesis. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Sounds like she’s saying no, Ivan.” Barbara elbowed him in the ribs and his arm released enough for her to scoot out and away from him.

  “I don’t think I’ll take no for an answer.” Ivan’s face hardened and he brandished the gun again. “You need to come with me, Mira. You have no other option.”

  “Oh Ivan, I have it on good authority . . . there are always options.”

  Mira came up swinging, batting the gun from Ivan’s hand with Delaney’s prosthesis and sending it skidding along the tile floor. The shock on his face was priceless, but Mira didn’t stop to appreciate it. She went on the offensive with every ounce of strength she had. Do it, Mira. Grab the wrist. Elbow to throat. Knee to nuts. Fist to nose.

  Wrist. Elbow. Knee. Nose. Ivan crumpled onto the floor, wheezing, holding his balls with one hand and his nose with the other. Blood dripped from behind his hand and he rocked and writhed in pain. Thank you, Kaz.

  Barbara beamed at her. “Oh nice, Mira. You’ll have to teach me how to do that. Do you think we should tie him up before his testicles drop back down?”

  “Good idea.” Delaney pulled a pair of handcuffs from her purse and tossed them to Mira.

  Mira lifted her gaze from Ivan’s bloody face to Delaney. “You just happen to have handcuffs in your purse?”

  Delaney shrugged. “It’s for when Quinn and I play good cop/ bad cop.”

  “Dammit, I need to snag myself a Cates brother.” Barbara helped roll Ivan over so Mira could slap the cuffs on him. “I guess you’re taking Kaz off the market?”

  “That’s my plan.”

  “Um . . . ladies, I have a better plan.” Delaney waved one arm like she was landing an airplane. “How about you come over here and help me deliver this baby?”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  “What? You’re really having the baby?” Mira rushed over and back to the kiddie pool. “I was hoping you were faking to distract Ivan.”

  “Not so much.” Delaney moaned with a contraction, blowing short breaths of air in and out through her mouth.

  “Just wait, Delaney.” Barbara raised one manicured finger at her. “I’m calling for an ambulance right now.”

  “What a coincidence; I’m having the baby now too.” Delaney grabbed for Mira’s hand. “Mira, I need you. I need to push now.”

  “Uh . . . you remember how I am with blood, right?” Mira went light-headed as the blood drained from her head in a prickly tide. “I don’t think I’m the best person to help.”

  “You’re the only person to help. Oooh, here comes another contraction.”

  “Breathe, Delaney, hee-hee-hooo.”

  Mira helped Delaney lift her hips and slide off her panties while Delaney heeed and hooed through another contraction. A wave of relief flowed through Mira when she heard a distant siren approaching. “Do you hear that, Delaney? Help is only minutes away.”

  “Awesome, only this baby is seconds away. Here we go, Mira.” Delaney’s face scrunched with a contraction as she placed her hand down to feel the progress. “The baby’s crowning. Mira, just guide the head.”

  “Oh my God.” Mira forced herself to ignore the pain on Delaney’s face. “Oh, here it comes.”

  “Don’t pull. Wait. There. Now . . . guide the head . . . hee, hoo, hee, hoo . . . down . . . to get the first . . . hoo . . . shoulder out. Aahhgg.”

  “Okay. Oh, got it! First shoulder is out.” Mira blinked, pushing away the fact that there was blood and hyperfocusing on the miracle of the baby in her hands.

  “Now head up . . . hee hee hee . . . get the second shoulder . . . ow . . . out. Hee-hee-hooo. Then catch.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Oh, Dios. Don’t drop it. Don’t drop it. “Oh wow, wow, wow, Delaney, your baby’s here. Oh God, how amazingly beautiful.” Mira placed the baby on Delaney’s stomach with more care than she’d done anything in her life.

  Delaney ran her hands over her baby’s body and looked up at Mira, tears slipping from her eyes. “Thank you, Mira.”

  Mira nodded, unable to speak with the emotion clogging her throat. She swallowed, nodding as her gaze met Delaney’s. “That looks like a pretty perfect baby.”

  “So perfect. Oh, we need to clamp the cord.”

  “Will this work?” Barbara hurried over with a metal clip from the librarian’s desk.

  Mira clamped the cord as the wailing sirens pulled up out front.

  “Well, what is it?” Barbara leaned in closer over the top of Mira’s shoulder to look. “What is it, a boy or a girl?”

  “No! Mira, don’t tell! No one finds out until Quinn does.”

  * * *

  The ambulance crew arrived at the front doors of the library at the same time Kaz did. They loaded Delaney and the baby onto a stretcher and whisked them off to Memorial. Quinn was en route and would meet them there.

  Sergeant Rojas and Officer Davis arrived at the same time to arrest Prostakov and hold him in the Climax Jail until the feds got there to pick him up. How in the hell the feds had let him slip through was definitely a question he would take up with Taggart.

  Right now, though, all he wanted to do was hold Mira in his arms and count his blessings that she was all right.

  She was sitting out on the front steps of the library.

  “Are you okay?” He stood next to her, his hands in his pockets, giving his keys one jingle before stopping himself.

  “Yeah.” She sighed next to him. “Some morning, huh?”

  Sitting down on the marble steps with her, he leaned forward with his forearms resting on his knees, his hands clasped together while he collected his thoughts in an attempt to articulate the recreation of the Big Bang happening inside his chest just then. “I thought my heart stopped when you said Ivan was with you in the library.

  “What kills me, what really is ripping my heart out, is I promised you that you wouldn’t have to deal with Ivan by yourself—and I failed you.”

  Mira turned to him, resting her hand on his forearm. “I wasn’t alone.”

  He snorted. “No, Delaney and Barbara were with you. I feel bad about that too.”

  “You were there. You were with me, in my head. Talking to me.” Lifting her hand to his jaw, she turned his face to look at her. “It’s true. Because of you and what you taught me, I was fine. More than fine. It felt great to deal with him. Empowering. Like I could take on the world.” She smiled up into his face, then leaned forward and kissed him.

  Kaz returned the kiss with everything he had. Every fear of an hour before turned hot and bright and fervent. He knew he’d never get enough of her and that he needed her in his life. Pulling back from the kiss, he cupped her face with his hands and looked into her eyes.

  “So, I have a suggestion . . .”

  She tilted her head.

  “How would you feel about staying in Climax? If the feds have screwed up the case on Ivan and he walks, I sure would rather have you here with me, although today proves you don’t really need me.”

  “Actually I do need you. First, you kept me company those long, lonely months on the run from Ivan. And these last weeks with you have been the happiest of my life. I’ve never had anyone get me before like you do. You just don’t know how that takes my breath away.”

  “I think I do. You know, everyone’s been getting on my case or giving me advice about relationships and dating lately. But here’s the thing . . . I think I’ve known all along what I was looking for and I didn’t mind waiting. Eve
n though it took you a while to get here.”

  “I got here as fast as I could.” Her hand reached over, slipping into his.

  His gaze locked with hers and desire yanked at his gut and squeezed his chest. “This is the most illogical thing, but I was halfway in love the day you showed up here in your blue suede shoes and gave me a heart attack with those hips of yours. It turns out I’ve been looking for a VR gaming, Elvis-impersonating, math whiz all my life.”

  “What a coincidence.” Her hands brushed his chest and she slowly leaned in closer.

  “You know how I feel about coincidences. No, Mira. I’m pretty sure our meeting was designed in the cosmos a billion years ago and it just took us this long for our lives to collide. It feels too right to be anything else. We were meant for each other.”

  “It does. If it weren’t for your disgusting eating habits, you’d be perfect for me.”

  “I’ll give it all up. I’ll eat fried food three times a day, trans fats, and red dye number two. If that’s what it takes to get you to say yes.”

  “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She threw her arms around his neck tightly. “What am I saying yes to?”

  “To us. Together. I love you, Mirabel Díaz.” Kaz let his fingers tangle in her curls, amazed at the surreal feeling that his existence depended on absorbing her sweetness and warmth. His lips found hers and he sank them into a deep, hot kiss, ending it only when they both needed air.

  “I love you too.” Mira panted lightly against his neck, recovering. “No, on second thought, you should keep your healthy eating. It seems to give you amazing stamina in the bedroom.”

  “Which I can’t wait to demonstrate, but we need to swing by the hospital first to check on Delaney and the baby.” Kaz nibbled up her neck to the sensitive spot below her ear. “Quinn’s probably grinning from ear to ear. I can’t believe you delivered Delaney’s baby.”

  Kaz stood and reached a hand down to help Mira up.

  “Me neither. It was amazing. Delaney was amazing. She talked me through the whole thing. I can’t believe I caught that tiny baby. I was afraid it would slip because of all the—Oh whoa . . .” Mira’s knees gave out and she’d have been flat out on her back if Kaz hadn’t grabbed her up against his chest. “I’d managed to block out the blood until now.”

  “Figured you had, which makes what you did even more amazing.” Kaz took her hands and kissed her. He took his time, doing a thorough job of it. When he pulled back and looked into her eyes, she looked as dazed as he felt. “When we’re done at the hospital, let’s head home. I want to make plans for our future, make us a meal, and make love to you. Only reverse the order.”

  She accepted with a smile. When they arrived home a few hours later, it turned out Mira had her own plan, and she seduced him with her very bad rendition of “A Little Less Conversation.”

  Considering Kaz was a man of few words anyway, he was happy to oblige.

  Epilogue

  One month later . . .

  “Kaz, why haven’t Delaney and Quinn told anyone the baby’s name yet?” Mira set a cup of tea and a small plate of pear slices on his office desk. “Do you think it’s because they can’t agree on one?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure Quinn will agree to anything Delaney wants.” Kaz turned off all three of his computer screens to focus on Mira. They’d fallen into a routine of taking a morning break together and it had become one of his favorite times of the day. “They’re waiting for Sijan to wrap up filming in London so they can tell everyone together.”

  The scent of jasmine and licorice drifted up from the cup, which meant Mira had brewed jasmine white tea today. He hadn’t figured it out yet, but for some reason on Tuesdays Mira brought him herbal tea and fruit. Every other day was coffee and pie or some other baked good from town.

  “I’ve never met an actual movie star before.” She took a sip from his cup, grimaced and quickly set it back down. “Is it weird that I’ve seen your brother almost naked and sweaty while he did the dirty deed?”

  “When you put it that way, yes. But I assume you mean you watched one of his movies.” He took of drink of his tea as he raised an eyebrow at Mira.

  “Girl’s night last weekend.” She grinned and winked at him. “Delaney, Lu, Barbara, and Vivian even drove in from Raleigh. Too much wine but lots of fun.”

  “Barbara was there?” No one in Climax would have predicted Delaney and Barbara would ever have ended their rivalry, but then who would have guessed Barbara would have stepped up like she did. Damn brave of her.

  “Yep. Barbara can be annoying but Delaney and I will always owe her for what she did for us.” Mira’s eyes teared up and she grabbed a tissue off his desk to dab at them. “Dios, look at me. It’s been four weeks and I still get emotional about that day.”

  Kaz took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze—a little choked up himself.

  “Anyway, girl’s night was a blast. Thank goodness Avery wasn’t there. That would’ve been awkward. Although I guess she’s used to people drooling over her husband in bed, huh?”

  He almost choked on the bite of pear he’d just taken. “You know, I’ve never asked her about that.”

  “When is he expected back? I’m dying to find out the baby’s name.”

  “Bet in the pool, did you?” He’d heard the baby name pool was up over two hundred dollars.

  “Two bucks.” She shrugged. “I had to place a bet; it’s one of the little things I love about living in a small town.”

  “He’s due back next week. Just heard from Ma this morning there will be a big family dinner a week from Friday, so put it on your calendar.” Kaz finished the tea and stood up to stretch his legs.

  “Oh, great. That’s the day of my job interview, so maybe I’ll have something else to celebrate.”

  “As smart as you are they’d be crazy not to hire you.” He moved behind Mira and wrapped her up in his arms, sliding her hair to the side to place a kiss on her neck. “Have I mentioned how much I love your hair? Watching the black hair dye fade was a like unwrapping a gift.”

  Mira flipped around in his arms to smile up at him. “You sure are a sweet talker.”

  “Want to hear something sweeter?” He plunged one hand into the soft curls where rich flames of mahogany, amber, and copper intertwined. “I received another phone call today. Looks like Prostakov is going to be extradited to Bulgaria. Even better, the news is their newly elected government wants to show they’re serious about drawing a hard line against international crime rings, so he’ll probably get a nice long sentence.”

  Her breath whooshed out on a shuddering sigh and her arms wrapped tight around his neck. “Oh, thank you. I know it’s silly, but I sleep better knowing he’s behind bars. Knowing those bars will be on another continent is even more freeing. And your mad skills put him in jail.”

  Mira was in the middle of showing her endless gratitude with one of the soft, honeyed kisses he’d come to crave when the doorbell chimed. She slipped from his arms. “I’ll get it and let you get back to work.”

  Oh, he was anxious to get back to work all right—so he could get back to that kiss. With Mira around he’d become even more efficient at his work in order to carve out time for them together. He was about to sit down behind his desk when the doorbell sounded again.

  Thinking Mira must have been sidetracked with a phone call, he went to attend to the door. Except when he arrived in the foyer he found Mira standing with her back up against the front door.

  “Everything okay?”

  “No.” Her gaze whipped up to his before she twisted around to look through the peephole again. “There’s a kid out there.”

  “You don’t like children?” Huh. So maybe they’d forgotten to discuss a few things, but Mira not wanting children wasn’t a deal breaker for him. He’d be disappointed since he loved kids and had always imagined having a couple of his own one day, but he also thought the decision was something they could reach a compromise on. What he felt for Mira was bigger and d
eeper than he could have imagined and that was more than enough for him. He’d simply enjoy the heck out of being an uncle.

  She flipped around again with her back against the door, arms splayed out against it, and stared at him like he was crazy. “I love children.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it.” Kaz grinned. “Should we find out what the one on the porch wants?”

  “I know what he wants.” Mira frowned at him. “He wants to tempt me off my new healthy eating plan. He’s got a tub of cookie dough in his hands.”

  “A healthy eating plan?” Kaz slipped his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, keeping the grin off his face. His pantry and refrigerator looked vastly different than before he’d met Mira. She did like her Frankenfood, but he snuck enough vegetables into the meals he cooked so she was eating healthier than she knew.

  “I’m trying to get healthier.” The doorbell rang again and Mira huffed out a breath yet stayed put with her back still plastered to the door. “So every Tuesday I eat squeaky clean.”

  “Squeaky clean? One day a week?” He loved this woman more every day. Every sentence. Every crazy, passionate idea. Kaz tried to keep the smile off his face, but he did a poor job of it.

  “Hey, baby steps. Anyway, today’s Tuesday. If I open this door and let that cute kid try to sell me that cookie dough—well, let’s just say that dough will never see the inside of an oven and leave it at that.”

  “Okay, how about I deal with the kid and send him away?”

  “You’d slay that dragon for me? Have I told you today how much I love you?”

  “You have. In fact, you screamed it in my ear a few times in the shower this morning.” Kaz smiled at the crooked grin on Mira’s face. “I appreciate you’ve embraced my efforts toward water conservation.”

  She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “You deal with the kid and I’ll let you show me that appreciation in any room of the house.”