Only then do I realize I’m standing in my undergarments. I have not yet removed the torn top. But without the jacket, which I removed last night, I’m barely covered.
“Sorry!” I rush back to the couch, pulling the blanket over me.
“Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of you like last night.” His lips pinch together in frustration and self-loathing.
Shocked, I have a hard time figuring out how to reply. “Keith—”
“Please don’t say anything, Clem,” he repeats the same line as last night, but this time I don’t heed his request. I just can’t let him take the blame for something he didn’t do.
“You didn’t take advantage. I came to you willingly.”
“Jesus, stop, Clem. You’re friends with my daughter.” He turns away from me.
My jaw goes slack before I reply to his absurd comment, “I’m friends with her. I’m not her.”
I want to say so much more but his phone rings. I don’t pay attention to whatever he’s saying. My mind is busy thinking about what he just said to me.
Is this how he sees me? Mere’s friend?
Sometime during his call, he hands me a cup. When I open the lid, my heart skips a beat at the sight of a cinnamon latte.
I know after last evening I’m no longer just crushing on my landlord. It’s so much more than a crush.
“Mere is already at the Kings Security campus. In the bathroom you’ll find everything you need. We’ll leave whenever you’re ready.” Keith’s voice breaks through my befuddling thoughts.
“We are…going home?” My breath picks up just thinking about going back to that place.
“No.” His sympathetic gaze lands on me. “We’ll stay in the Kings Security compound until we know who was behind yesterday.”
His words bring back the memories of last night, which I’m trying so hard to forget. I shiver, remembering those moments.
“Clem, you’ll be safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He hesitates for a second, before perching on the couch beside me. “You’ll move with us? I mean to the campus, until I know you’re safe. Or if you want, I can find a separate apartment for you.”
“No! I want to live with you. I mean…with you and Mere. I mean…not alone.” My voice stutters and tears threaten to fill my eyes.
“I know, Clem. I also don’t want you to live alone. We’ll find who is behind all this. Till then, I will keep you and Mere safe.” He squeezes my hand briefly before pulling away.
I can tell he’s being cautious around me, most likely not wanting a repeat of last night. And as much as I hate it, I don’t expect anything else from Keith. He’s one of the most closed-off people I know.
“What about my work?” I ask instead. It takes my brain a second to realize today is Saturday, my day off.
“Don’t worry about it now. Let’s go to the campus. I’ll talk to my boss and the guys. We’ll figure something out.”
Getting up from the couch, he nods toward Mere’s keychain lying on the coffee table. “You did good yesterday.”
Keith and I reach the Kings Security campus. After crossing the huge practice grounds, which give a feeling of a mini military camp, Keith parks his car near the residential and office area. He tells me that two buildings were turned into service apartments for employees and guests.
When he rings the bell, a young guy opens the door. I remember him from last night. He was the one who untied me from the chair.
My face flames, remembering the state in which I was found. I duck my head, but at the same moment, Keith’s hand lightly presses on my lower back.
“This is Carter.” Keith gives me his warm smile when I glance up. “He recently joined my team.”
Carter, who looks my age, nods his head. “Hi, Clem. Mere is talking my ear off, telling me all about your fashion work.”
I smile, my anxiety slowly subsiding.
“Dad? Clem?” Mere runs from inside and throws her arms around me.