Page 57 of Keeping Kara

She’d stare as if she was on the verge of asking him a question, only to chicken out at the last minute. And Chaos wasn’t happy that she seemed to have something on her mind but was afraid to talk to him about it.

It had been a week since Laryn and Penny had dropped by for a visit, and it didn’t seem like a coincidence that Kara’s odd behavior started that very day. Leading him to wonder if they’d said something to make her second-guess their living arrangement. Or if they’d discussed something that made her concern about Nolan rise to the surface.

Whatever was bothering her, he wished she’d talk to him, so he could attempt to assuage her fears.

Other than whatever she seemed mildly worried about, things between them were going well, as far as Chaos was concerned. The accounting job she’d gotten had gone a long way toward making her feel more independent. She’d insisted on taking him out to eat when she’d gotten her first paycheck. It wasn’t large, since she hadn’t been working long, but the pride she’d felt was easy to see.

The more Chaos was around Kara, the more he liked her. The feeling he’d had when he’d first seen her in that tree increased daily. There were moments he felt as if he’d known her forever. Everything he learned about her made him eager to know more. The feeling that they were meant to meet had only grown stronger as the weeks went by.

Which was why Chaos decided he wasn’t going to let her shy away from whatever was bothering her any longer.

He’d texted to let her know he was stopping for Chinese food for dinner, and the delicious smells filling his car were making his stomach growl. He and Edge had skipped lunch so they could be first up on their training flight, and in turn allowed to leave base a little early.

His copilot had been just as eager to leave work as Chaos. In truth, Edge had been in a nasty mood for a couple weeks now…and Chaos was pretty sure it had nothing to do with his ex, and everything to do with the new guy Jen was seeing. The fact that she was dating someone at all, that is.

As usual, Chaos pulled into the garage and waited for the door to close all the way before he got out. He grabbed the food and headed into the house.

“Kara? I’m home!”

There was no answer—and it made Chaos’s heart stop in his chest for a moment. Even though the detective back in North Carolina was sure that Nolan had been in that burned-out car, Chaos wouldn’t feel Kara was completely safe until he knew for sure. The hurricane had overwhelmed the state offices that did DNA testing, and they were weeks behind.

It was frustrating, but there was nothing neither he nor Kara could do. Even Tex’s hands were tied. Chaos had talked to him about the situation, and, while he commiserated, apparently even he couldn’t get the remains tested any sooner.

“Kara?”

“Arrow?”

He walked into the living area and saw her in the large beanbag in the corner, her favorite place to work and write these days. And sure enough, he saw she had her laptop with her and was peering over the edge of it as he entered the room.

“Let me guess, you lost track of time again,” he said with a smile.

She shrugged. “I’m at the drama part of the book, so…yeah.”

Chaos loved how lost in her words she got when she was working. She lived and breathed the characters in her books.

He’d discovered her pen name just a week and a half ago, because she’d left her computer open to the page where she uploaded her manuscripts, but he hadn’t told her that he knew. Instead, the first thing he’d done was download the first book in her series.

He wasn’t a voracious reader, but he’d found himself completely invested in the lives of the characters in her story. And when he’d gotten to the end of the book, he’d been completely clueless as to the identity of the spy.

The second book was already downloaded and ready for him to find time to read.

In his opinion, the books were as good as any thrillers he’d ever read, even by the hugely well-known and famous authors who were getting seven-figure deals. It just went to show that just because someone wasn’t a household name, didn’t mean they couldn’t write a damn good book.

Kara had so many layers. She was an introvert, there was no doubt about that, but when she was comfortable around people, she came out of her shell. She was the first to offer her assistance in any way it was needed, always complimented the other women, and worked her ass off. In short, she was the kind of partner Chaos had always wanted.

After putting the bags of food on the kitchen table, he walked over to the beanbag and held out his hand to help her out.

Kara smiled sheepishly at him. “Thanks.”

He hauled her up and out of the squishy seat and held her hand a beat longer than was necessary. They stared at each other for a moment, and just when he thought she was going to finally tell him what had been on her mind all week, she looked toward the table and the food.

“It smells great.”

Pushing his frustration down, Chaos nodded and led her over to the table. “I know you said you just wanted cashew chicken, but I got a few extra things, so we can have easy-to-heat meals for the next few days.”

“The next few days? Arrow, it looks like you got enough food to feed an army for at least a week!” she joked.

“I skipped lunch. I’m hungry,” he said, with a sheepish shrug.