He paused mid-curl as an early conversation played through his mind and an idea struck him. It wouldn’t do for a birthday present, but it was something he could do for her.
Placing the weight back on the rack, he turned to face Grady. “Do you have plans tonight?”
By lunch, Katherine’s bright, sunny day had turned overcast, and before her shift was over, the sky had filled with heavy, dark gray storm clouds. She was just shutting things down, preparing to leave when she heard the rain start. This was no gentle rain either, it hammered the roof and pounded against the windows.
“And of course, I don’t have an umbrella,” she griped as she grabbed up her bag.
Bidding goodnight to ORION, she prepped for the mad dash she’d have to take to get to Kong’s Jeep once he arrived to pick her up. She’d be soaked, but there was no help for it.
Opening the door, Katherine let out a startled bark of laughter. It looked like she wouldn’t have to make a run for it after all. Kong had driven over the curb and across the lawn to park right in front of the door, the passenger side already open for her to climb in.
“Now that’s service,” she said with a grin as she got in the covered Jeep.
“I aim to please.”
As soon as she was belted in, they barreled over the grass, bounced back over the curb, and sped down the wet road in a wild ride that had Katherine holding on tight, but also smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.
“Are you ready for a feast tonight?” she asked.
“I am.” He turned his head to smile at her. “I also have a surprise for you for after dinner.”
Katherine couldn’t help herself. Trailing her hand up his thick thigh, she said, “I bet you do.”
Kong let out a sexy rumble. “You keep that up and you’ll definitely get a surprise, right here, right now. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Oh? What then?”
Kong let out a low laugh. “I can’t tell you or it won’t be a surprise.”
“Tease.”
“That’s me.” Kong shot her a smug look. “Just call me the tease that aims to please.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The thunder began soonafter they arrived at Kong’s apartment, distant rolling rumbles. But as they prepared the teriyaki chicken, sauteed vegetables, and wild rice, the storm drew closer and closer, growing louder as the time between lightning strikes and booms shrunk to almost nothing.
They had just sat down to eat when the power went out, making Katherine jolt with surprise, but a secondary power source must have kicked in because mere seconds later, some of the lights came back on.
“That’s handy. I thought we’d be searching in the dark for some candles or flashlights.”
Kong looked up at the lights with a grimace. “We don’t like to be left in the dark.”
Katherine’s forkful of food halted before it reached her mouth. There was something in the way he said it that told her there was a story behind that statement and not a happy one. Lowering her fork, she gave her full attention to the man sitting across from her.
“The lab we grew up in was in the sublevels of a pharmaceutical building. When we weren’t being tested or experimented on, we were locked in cells. They were small. Maybe six by six. There were no windows, so when the power went out, the darkness was absolute until the secondary power kicked in. But it didn’t turn the lights back on in our cells, just a light in the hallway, so all we could see was a thin red line under our doors and a tiny red light at the ceiling that told us the camera in our room was active again.” He shrugged up a shoulder as if it was no big deal, but she knew better.
“No one ever told us what was going on. Whether it was a storm that knocked out the power, a fire, or something else. All we could do was sit there and wonder until the lights came back on.”
Katherine swallowed hard, her heart breaking for him. They’d been kids, alone and scared in the dark. Whenever she’d been scared as a child, she could always run to her mother’s room and crawl in bed with her. They never had anyone to comfort them.
Reaching out, she took his hand in hers. He squeezed her fingers lightly, and between one heartbeat and the next, he seemed to throw off the weight of the memory, and playful Kong returned.
Batting his eyelashes comically, he asked, “Will you be my thunder buddy, Katherine?”
Katherine let out a low laugh. “Yes, Kong. I would love to be your thunder buddy.”
The mood now lifted, they dug into their food, the conversation flowing into lighter subjects.
