Waiting for You (4 page)

The embrace ended as quickly as it began. Karise and Aidan stood
blinking at each other. Without thinking, Karise ran her fingers across
her lips, still staring at his. Horror washed over her as she realized what
she’d done. She’d acted just like her mother; she’d been unfaithful to a perfectly good man who didn’t deserve this.

“I… I’d better go.” She backed away from him. “Thanks again. It was nice meeting you.”

With that she ran from the room, thankful for the line of taxis
waiting at the stand outside.

KARISE WAS PRETTY SURE
that as long as she lived, she would
never forget the look on William’s face when she placed his ring back
in his hand. She’d gone home expecting a frantic boyfriend, a lecture, or at least a stern look. Instead, she had to call to wake him up so she
could get in. He’d been confused but mostly put out over being roused
before he was ready. After opening the door for her, he’d kissed her
cheek and gone back to bed, leaving Karise alone with her thoughts. She
tried showering to get her mind off it. With the warm water spilling over her, the tears unleashed. By the time her skin was pink from the
heat of the shower and the well of tears had run dry, Karise had come
to the conclusion that her mental break the night before was a serious
red flag; she wasn’t ready to marry anyone. She certainly didn’t have
any business marrying William Addison, however perfect his name
might be.

Unfortunately, that decision led to a slew of other decisions to be
made. Her life was deeply entangled with William’s. If they broke up,
that left her with no house, no job, and no direction. She’d have been
lying to herself if she hadn’t admitted to entertaining the idea of staying
and pretending the past eight hours had never happened. Hell, if she
was pretending, she might as well wipe away the past 12 hours so she
could forget Aidan entirely.

Even as she toyed with the idea, she brushed it aside as both
impossible and entirely unfair to all involved. William deserved a
woman who loved him fully, and Karise now knew that wasn’t her. He
deserved a faithful wife – another failing of hers. And now that she
knew there were kisses like the one she’d just experienced out there, there was no going back to adequate.

Karise dressed carefully, as if looking her best could do something
to mend how she felt inside. As she worked the brush through her
riot of loose curls, she paused mid-stroke to analyze her reflection. She
had the same thick, dark hair as her brother and sister. She shared the
same toffee colored eyes. Her complexion was the giveaway that their
lineage wasn’t entirely the same – Karise had her father’s caramel skin.
She
peered
closer at the
reflection
, wondering if her similarity to Victoria
McAlister was more than skin deep.

Once she’d cleaned up, Karise made breakfast. By the time William
roused for the second time, he was greeted by coffee, orange juice,
waffles, and a selection of fruit. As she straightened his placemat, she
wondered if a well-set table could really soften the fact that she was getting ready to rip his heart out.
Well, one could hope.
Karise crinkled
her nose and gave the placemat one last pat before grabbing the coffee.

She worked through it in her mind, what she’d say, how she’d start.
Yes, William was overbearing at times. He treated her like a child on a
good day and a possession on a bad one. But he was a human being
with feelings, and he’d had all of the aforementioned flaws when she’d
agreed to marry him. Karise was so intent on her internal lecture that she started when he entered the kitchen.

He smiled at her, kissing her on the cheek as he swiped his coffee
mug out of her hand. Karise wondered when he’d stopped kissing her
on the mouth. Had he ever made her toes curl? She couldn’t remember.

“Apology accepted.”

Karise cocked her head, her forehead crinkled. “Excuse me?”

“This is an apology for running off at the gallery last night, isn’t it?”

“Why should I apologize to you? Why aren’t you apologizing for
not noticing I was gone –
for an hour
? Why aren’t you apologizing for brushing off some really nice people?”

“Nice people? Yes, that’s exactly what I thought about the rock star
in jeans. He looked like he wanted to have you as a late night snack.”

“He’s not a rock star. He’s an artist,” she snapped, then paused for
a moment, both pleased that someone else had noticed the look and thinking it wouldn’t be entirely bad to be Aidan’s late night snack.

William’s sneer made her stomach knot. “An artist, is it? Maybe you’re more like your mother than you want the world to think.”

Karise sucked in a deep breath, briefly debating throwing the entire
plate of waffles at his head. With great control, she forged ahead. “They
were nice, and they mattered to me. That should mean something to you.”

“That they were nice?”

Karise ran her hands through her hair, holding onto her head to keep it from exploding. “That they mattered to me.”

“Oh. So you made breakfast so I’d care more about what matters to you?”

“I don’t want to marry you.” The words tumbled out on their
own accord.

William didn’t miss a beat. “We could take your friends to dinner
sometime. Just not the
artist
. I draw the line there.”

“Thank you, William, but you’re not listening to me. I don’t want
to marry you. I can’t.”

“The invitations have already been sent.”

Karise guessed she shouldn’t be surprised that his first concern was
invitations. “For what we pay her, the wedding planner can un-send them.”

“What will people think?”

“That it’s better to find out now than two months from now?” She wanted to scream.

“What about work?”

“I don’t know,” Karise admitted. “I get it. I know it’s your dad’s company; I’ll leave quietly. Maybe I’ll ask Devon for a job when I see him at lunch.”

“You’re that
desperate
to be rid of me?” Hurt l
aced
his voice, causing
a flash of sympathy to replace Karise’s ire.

“No. I’m that desperate to figure out where I’m supposed to be.”

“And you’re certain you can’t try to figure that out with me?” He
persisted.

“I lose myself in us.” Karise didn’t know she meant the words until
they came out. As soon as they had, she knew that was the true root of
her discontent.

Those words hung in the air between them.

Something ugly descended over William’s handsome features. “Why now? Is it the guy? He wasn’t the only one looking; don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“He wasn’t the cause. Just a symptom.”

“So there is something there.”

“No. Yes. No. I mean, I did kiss him, but I don’t know him. Wow,
that sounds really bad.”

“You kissed him?” Karise had never heard William roar before.
She hadn’t realized he was capable of it. “When? At the gallery?”

“No.” Karise felt very small as she uttered the next words. “In his
hotel room this morning. But that sounds so much worse than it is.”

“I don’t think I want to know.”

“I locked myself out last night when I went for a walk. We bumped
into each other on the street. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“So you went to a
complete
and total stranger’s i
nstead
of
calling
me?”

She folded her arms and leaned back against the counter. “You’re
yelling.”

“Of course I’m yelling.”

“Doesn’t it say anything to you that I thought my better option
was the stranger? Am I the only one who thinks that’s a problem?”

The conversation went round and round until Karise realized that
no matter what she said, William wasn’t going to understand she wasn’t
leaving him for or because of Aidan. She was leaving him because they
didn’t fit – though he didn’t need to know Aidan was the one to first
make that observation. So she handed him back his ring with one last
apology and a promise she’d be back that evening to pick up her things.

Lunch with Devon was still an hour away, but Karise couldn’t bear
being in the apartment. She killed time by wandering around Boston
Commons, allowing the sunshine and crisp air to soothe her troubled
spirit. Her life had done a complete 180 in the past 24 hours, and she was struggling to process it all.

Despite her resistance to claiming him, Karise had to admit she
was relieved to see Devon seated and waiting on her when she arrived at Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe for their date. When she neared, he rose
to greet her with a warm hug. Karise surprised herself by responding
with equal warmth.

“Marriage is agreeing with you, Devon. You look more handsome
than ever, and I didn’t know that was possible.” It wasn’t flattery; Karise
meant every word. He was a ridiculously handsome man with a ready
smile and a good heart. If she were to acknowledge a brother, he was a good one to have.

“I wish I could say
the same
for you.” He eyed her
as
t
hey
sat down.

Karise frowned. “That hit me where I live.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re as lovely as ever, but you look
troubled. What’s wrong?”

“No pleasantries first?” Karise grasped. She wasn’t ready to say it
out loud.

“Of course. Pleasantries it is. How’s William?”

“Damn it, Devon.”

“Wrong pleasantry?”

“I broke off the engagement.”Karise motioned to the waitress for some coffee.

“When?”

“An hour ago?”

Devon leaned back, her words sinking in. “Oh. Wow. In that case,
you seem amazingly calm.”

“Thanks.”

“What happened?”

“We didn’t fit.”

“Care to explain?”

That was all the prodding Karise needed to spill every detail of the past day, barely pausing to place her order. Devon took her hand in his, listening quietly with a sympathetic expression on his face. It felt so good to have someone to talk to – the closest thing she had to friends were coworkers, coworkers who worked for William’s father.
She wasn’t really counting on any of them sticking around once word
got out about this.

“Come home with me,” he urged once she’d run out of story to tell.

Karise shook her head. “I don’t know about that. I think I should
be saving my money for a move. Where am I going to move, Devon?”

“You know there’s always a place for you in Ecuador. And money
isn’t an obstacle. You’re family – what’s mine is yours.”

“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t change anything.”

“A man can hope.”

“I don’t think I can move back there.” She didn’t know why; she
just knew that wasn’t the path she was supposed to be on. “Thank
you, though.”

“But a visit might do you good. I know Pablo and Lucia would love
to see the beautiful woman you’ve become.”

“You’ve always been very smooth, you know that?”

“Does that mean you’ll hitch a ride back with me? Just give yourself
a week or two to get your feet under you again.”

“Why are you so good to me?”

“I told you – we’re family. Why do you so stubbornly persist in
ignoring me and Alex?”

Karise narrowed her eyes, her mouth twisting in consternation.
She wasn’t sure she could put it into words, so she opted to address the
result of her actions instead. “I’m sorry. I never meant to be hurtful.”

“Make it up to me by letting me pay your moving costs. Anywhere
in the world you want to go, any life you want to live.”

“Why don’t we start with the visit to Ecuador and then go from there?” Karise relented, feeling a sense of relief that she at least knew her next step.

“Excellent. Jane will be thrilled to meet you.”

“I have to admit I’m curious to meet her, too. She must be quite a woman to have tamed you.”

“She didn’t tame me.”

“Sure she didn’t.” Karise grinned at him before letting it drop. “So
what brings you to
Boston
, anyway? I didn’t realize McAlister Industries
had much of a presence here. Or is it the roses?”

“Neither.” He shook his head,
sobering slightly
. “I was here because
I had a lead on an adoption, but it turned out to be another dead end.”

“I had no idea you were trying to adopt.” Karise was ashamed of herself for knowing so little about Devon’s life. “I would think if the
McAlister name and money was good for anything, it would be
something
like this.”

“As did I, so I made Jane promises I’m struggling to keep now that
reality has set in. It turns out that most Ecuadorian adoption agencies
prefer to place children with Ecuadorian families. American agencies aren’t too keen on adopting to ex-pats.”