He dipped his head down a little, his gloved hand touching her chin to lift her face to meet his gaze. “And gas, Kaylee. You’re paying for gas to chauffer me around like a privileged asshole or something.”
“It’s fine.”
“No! It isn’t fine,” he interrupted. “What are you going to do when you run out of money weeks before your job starts up again? And, you will run out—if you haven’t already.” Ahh, there was the scowl she’d been expecting since pulling up.
She crossed her arms and cocked a hip out—the same stance she used to take when her parents tried to baby her. “I have it covered. You don’t need to worry about it.”
His expression and his voice softened. “I do have to worry about it. I don’t want you ending up out here on the streets because of your tender heart. Because of me. I can’t stand the thought of it.”
Kaylee sighed and loosened her rebellious stance. He was right to worry. Like many people, she had little savings and, without the safety net of her family, could easily find herself unable to pay rent. “I have savings I can tap into. And, as a last resort, credit cards.” That was a bit of a lie, she’d already tapped into the credit cards.
Blayne shook his head. “I can’t…I can’t justify this. I don’t want to use you like this.”
“You aren’t using me!” She swallowed, forcing her voice to lower. “You aren’t using me, Blayne. I want to do this. For Mama C. For you.” She bit her bottom lip to keep a tremor at bay then attempted a smile. “Besides, you’re keeping me from spending money on stupid things. I tend to go on unnecessary shopping sprees when I get bored between semesters, then spend the next several months paying extra on my credit cards. See, you’re actually saving me money by allowing me to drive you around like a privileged A-hole.”
His mouth quirked, probably because of her pacifying of his language. “You wouldn’t lie to me about this, would you?”
“No. Now can we go? We have a lot to do today.”
“Fine. But when I get a job, I’m paying you back.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes and turned to walk the rest of the way to her car.
She should have waited in her car. But Kaylee had been afraid Blayne would chicken out and leave out a side door or something. Standing room only in the small Catholic shelter, she leaned against the wall, fanning herself with the end of her scarf. She tried not to wince anytime a nauseating odor wafted her way from one of the many unwashed people waiting their turn for the free haircuts. She admired the barbers and hair dressers who donated their time and skills once a week. Blayne had been in there for at least a half hour. They’d gone there first to make sure he got a turn before the barber packed up and left. They’d go to the bigger shelter on Park Avenue to get him some clothes. She’d done some research, and they had the best selection of nicer used clothing for job interviews because of their fresh-start program.
Kaylee focused on her phone as she read through the day’s headlines. Vaguely aware that someone had approached her, she didn’t look up until they cleared their throat. When she did look up, it took her a minute to recognize him, only fully registering that it was Blayne when her gaze made it to his ice-blue eyes. She dropped her phone. And her jaw.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked, eyebrows creased into a worry line.
As he bent to pick up her phone, Kaylee got control of herself—mostly. She snapped her mouth shut and held her breath for a couple of seconds to try to calm her out-of-control heart.
“Kaylee?”
He held her phone out to her. When she didn’t reach for it, he grabbed her hand and lifted it, then set the phone in her palm and curled her fingers around it. Rarely had he touched her without his winter gloves, and the warmth of his skin on her fingers sent her heart into another fit of fluttering.
She wanted to tear her gaze away from his face. Didn’t she? No—it was too beautiful. Yes—she was embarrassing herself.
Blayne coughed nervously and looked down. “Weird, huh?”
Snap out of it! “You…umm…you look amazing.” She raised her hand, meaning to touch the smooth skin where his beard used to be. She stopped herself just in time, pulling her hand to the back of her neck, pretending she had an itch there.
He smiled. He had a dimple on his left cheek. Kaylee’s tenuous control crumbled further. His lips, though chapped, were perfectly formed. In fact, his whole face could have been the model for Da Vinci’s perfect face drawing. “Thank you,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a clean-shaved face. It feels weird.”
“It doesn’t look weird.” She needed to stop talking. What was with the breathy texture of her voice? She cleared her throat. “Yeah, uh, we should go now. We still need to get you some clothes then go over to the unemployment office.” She busied herself with zipping up her coat and putting her gloves on as they pushed through the crowded room to the front door.
They were able to find a pair of black slacks in Blayne’s size, a striped button-up shirt, a nice tie, and a pair of black dress shoes only a half size too big for him. He took advantage of the facility’s showers before changing into the “new” clothes. Kaylee couldn’t stop the whoosh of breath from escaping or the smile from forming on her lips as he stepped out into the front reception area where she waited. Her smile turned up even more, and she laughed once before slapping her hand to her mouth as her gaze landed on his newly cut hair. He had at least tried to comb it,
