Unsuitable
Page 57

I lift my eyes to his. “It’s great.”
“You have no clue what it is, do you?”
“No,” I admit, laughing.
He chuckles. “It’s a parkour academy.”
“The stuff you did when you jumped from your balcony and nearly gave me a heart attack?”
He chuckles again. “Yeah.”
“Wow,” I say, letting my eyes drift around.
I see a guy, about my age, standing on the edge of the elevated area. He backs up before running at full speed, and then he leaps from it and catches hold of the scaffolding bar with both hands.
I audibly gasp.
Kas chuckles. “Don’t worry; he knows what he’s doing.”
He lets go of my hand and moves to stand behind me. His chest is so close to my back that I can feel the heat emanating from him.
His fingertips lightly touch my waist. That barely there touch sends my body into overdrive.
He’s not even touching skin, but I can feel his touch like he’s burned through my clothes.
I’m watching this guy move over the equipment like he’s some kind of acrobat. But his acrobatics aren’t the reason why my heart is beating faster or why my body feels like it’s breaking out in fever.
It’s because of Kas. His nearness.
The guy jumps from a high board, about fifteen feet up, and I tense.
“You see how he evens his body weight out by spreading his arms?” Kas’s fingertips press a little harder against my waist. “That helps him keep his balance,” he explains.
The guy lands on his feet with only a slight stumble.
“It’s amazing,” I say, turning slightly to look at him. “And you do this?”
He nods.
“For how long?”
“Six years now.”
I feel like there’s so much I don’t know about him.
“So, I know you practice parkour, and you do MMA. Anything else I need to know about you? Crime-fighting superhero by night?” I laugh.
He does, too, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “No. I’m just me.”
“I like you,” I whisper.
His eyes darken. “I like you, too.”
Then, I hear him start to vibrate. Or I’m guessing that it’s his phone.
He lets out a sigh. “Sorry.” He pulls his phone from his trackpants pocket and looks at the display. There’s a shift in his expression. He looks uncomfortable. He swipes the screen and then puts the phone back in his pocket. “It was my mother. I’ll call her back later.”
“You could have answered,” I say.
“Once she gets on the phone, it takes ages to get her off.” He offers a smile. “I’m spending time with you. I don’t want any interruptions.”
He steps closer, and my breath catches.
Then, over his shoulder, I see a familiar face approaching us.
“Jude,” I say.
Kas turns.
“Hey, man.” Jude greets him. They do the manly handshake-hug thing. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here today.”
“I brought Daisy.”
“I can see that.” He gives Kas a look. “Good to see you again, Daisy.” Jude leans over. Placing his hand on my upper arm, he kisses my cheek.
“Oh, hi,” I say shyly, a little surprised at his friendly greeting.
Jude is really open and friendly—the total opposite of Kas. Makes me wonder how they became friends.
“So, Kas brought you to see our place,” Jude says to me.
“Your place?” I glance at Kas, confused.
“You didn’t tell her.” Jude makes a tsking sound. “Kas and I own this place.”
“You do?” My eyes are still on Kas, but he’s glaring at Jude. I see the skin around his eyes tighten.
Finally, he brings his stare to mine.
“You own this place?” I ask again.
“Joint ownership with this idiot. And we have government funding.” Kas jerks his head in Jude’s direction. “Jude runs the place.”
“And what do you do?”
“He’s the money man,” Jude interjects.
“I handle the financial side of things,” Kas says, giving Jude a hard look.
Jude laughs, seemingly unaffected by Kas’s glare.
“How long have you had this place?” I ask them.
“Going on nearly three years now,” Jude answers.
“Well, I’m impressed. It’s amazing.” I let my eyes wander around the place again.
When I look back to them, Jude is smiling, and Kas is staring at him with a pissed off expression on his face.
He’s pissed off?
Happy Kas didn’t last long.
Honestly, if he didn’t want me to know he owned this place, then why bring me here?
I start to feel a little irked myself.
“Well, I should get back to it. I’ve got a class starting soon.” Jude starts to back away. “Nice to see you, Daisy.”
“You, too.” I smile.
“I’ll catch you later,” he says to Kas before turning and leaving.
And, now, we’re standing here in this awkward silence that wasn’t there before Jude showed up.
“I’m getting the impression that you’re pissed off because I know you own this place,” I say quietly.
“I’m not pissed off—”
“You’re not exactly happy.”
He turns to face me and reaches for my hand, which I let him take. “I just didn’t want you to think that I brought you here to show off.”