An Unknown Place (13 page)

Mac

Kellan led me from Freemont’s, after he’d washed up his hand in the restroom, around the neighborhood that surrounded Freemont’s. Freemont’s neighborhood also happened to be Kellan’s neighborhood.

He pointed out a cute little café that he said had the best coffee in Baltimore. He showed me little town houses and told me about the people that lived in them. The families, the bachelors, the gay couples, I could tell he was trying to pull me into the neighborhood. He was trying to make me feel at home. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t working.

We finally stopped in front of a brownstone home. It had a tan front porch that complimented the outside brick nicely. There were two cushioned dark brown patio chairs that sat with a small glass table between them. It was welcoming.

“This is home.” Kellan said simply. It was a nice brownstone, in a nice neighborhood. I could only imagine what it cost. Not that he had to worry about money, obviously.

“It’s a beautiful home.”

Kellan pulled me up onto the porch.

“And close to work.” Kellan nodded over his shoulder, and I could see a large building that I assumed was the back of Freemont’s.

“That’s convenient.”

“It was the original reason that Jake and I bought this place. But its home now.”

Crap, I wasn’t prepared to meet Jake yet. I didn’t know Kellan and Jake lived together. How stupid of me to assume. Maybe I could tell him that I needed to make a quick stop at the store. I went with the obvious first question instead.

“Is Jake home yet?”

Kellan looked confused. Then understanding dawned on his face.

“Jake doesn’t live here anymore. It’s just me. Working together and living together became too much. If we wanted to stay friends we had to separate our lives a little.”

Kellan pushed his front door open, and the place was literally…light. I had never seen a more inviting warm home. There was enough natural light to avoid having to flip any switches. The walls in the living room, directly inside the front door, were a pale yellow. The walls leading up the stairs to the right were a taupe brown. And there was sunlight from the setting sun outside, reflecting off of every available surface.

“You want to come in?”

“Oh, yeah.”

I realized I had frozen in my first step inside the door. I moved the rest of the way in. Kellan took my hand and led me into the kitchen. And that was by far my favorite room. The appliances were all industrial and stainless steel. The cabinets were old fashioned and white. It was a mix of old and new. I loved it.

I wanted to cook something
not
in a microwave. I hadn’t cooked in so long, it was sad. I used to love cooking. Terry had taught me and I had been pretty damn good. My specialties had been anything Italian and Greek burgers and fries. Terry had been the one to show me the recipes, since they were from his “private” menu. His private recipes consisted of a stash of dishes he had that he refused to put on the menu. His creations.

“Kellan?” I said, getting him to pull his head out of the fridge.

“Yeah?”

“Would you mind if I cooked dinner here? My treat. Jake can talk to me while I cook?”

“If that’s what you want, sure.”

“Can we go to the grocery and get some stuff?”

“Probably a good idea since the only thing I have in my fridge is bottled water.”

He was such a bachelor.

He stepped around the corner and I heard steps. Where the hell was he going?

I heard the steps pause, and Kellan’s head peeked around the corner he had just disappeared around.

“We’ll just take my other car. Come on.”

I followed him down to, what I thought was his basement. Turns out there was some storage down there, but it also had the door out to his underground garage. He opened the door and I saw the car I wanted when I was a kid. One of my friend’s dad’s had it and from then on I had wanted one.

“That is a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, with the ragtop. Pop the hood.”

Kellan ran around the car as I instructed and popped the hood for me. I ran my hands lovingly over the engine. The damn thing was restored and beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes.

“426 hemi. It’ll run a quarter mile in 13.5 seconds and top out at 140 miles an hour.”

“Do you want me to leave you two alone?” Kellan had a silly grin on his face. “I didn’t know you were a motor head.”

“I’m not. I couldn’t tell you anything about the sleek one you picked me up from the airport in, other than it’s black. But I’ve wanted this car since I was twelve. Almost this exact car.”

“What’s the exact car you want?”

“I want a red one.” Kellan’s was black. Kellan tossed me the keys. Then said the most wonderful words I’d ever heard.

“You can drive a stick, right?”

“Oh hell yes.”

I got in the car before he changed his mind. I remembered the green tint to his face when he’d gotten out of the car in Vegas. Apparently, he didn’t think I was a good driver. I put my best angel halo on and revved a dream I’d had since I was a tween.

Kellan

I hadn’t thought before I’d tossed her the keys. I had a momentary lapse in judgment. She drove like a maniac. But I’d do it all over again to see that look on her face. It was like I had taken every Christmas present anyone had ever given her and wrapped it into one. I thought she was going to jump out of her skin. The smile and screech of excitement was a show of emotion I hadn’t seen from her before.

The worst part was the driving. She almost mowed down a couple minding their own business walking on the sidewalk. We finally stopped in front of the Grocery Stop Supermarket. I looked at the clock in the car and saw it was 6:33 p.m. It had only taken about five minutes to get to the store, but it had felt like thirty.

I was still holding onto the handle of the door when she got out.

“Are you coming?”

Mac had leaned back into the car, and I had the perfect view down her shirt. I couldn’t help but look, I was a man. When I made it back up to her face, she had an eyebrow cocked and a look on her face that told me she knew exactly where my eyes, as well as my brain, had gone.

“Right behind you.”

And I would be, considering I now had to tuck my dick into the waistband of my pants…again.

When we got into the store, Mac had her cell phone out and was making a list. I grabbed a cart and she directed me where we needed to go first. It worked out, she would tell me what she was looking for and I would take her there.

“Jake is going to love you.”

We were standing in the cheese aisle and she had just picked up a big hunk of Feta.

“Why?”

Most girls I had been with would’ve made some snappy remark like
well of course, look at me.
But Mac was different. It broke my heart to see genuine confusion there. She would see herself one day and realize what a dipshit I was and bolt. Even though I was talking about the cheese in her hand, I couldn’t believe how blind she was when it came to herself.

“Because you’re making something with Feta cheese in it, he
loves
Greek food.”

“Well that works out. I’m making Greek burgers and fries.”

As if on cue, my stomach growled, followed quickly by the fact I had to pee. I had rushed out of the house so fast, I hadn’t made the pit stop I should’ve. My body clearly hated me.

“Are you good here for a minute?”

“Of course. Is everything okay?”

She was concerned, I could tell. I really didn’t want to have to give up the fact that I had a tiny bladder that demanded my attention at the moment, but couldn’t see a way around it.

“I gotta pee.”

“Oh. Right.”

I watched with fascination at a blush crept from her neck, up to her cheeks, coloring her a lovely shade of pink.

She turned back to her phone as I ran off to the bathroom, cursing my pea sized bladder.

I found the restroom quickly, and wrapped up just as fast. As I walked back to the cheese aisle I found a guy who lived in the neighborhood, standing with Mac. She was laughing at something he’d said. A bolt of jealousy raced its way through my system, fending for top spot against anger. It was a photo finish, but jealousy won. I tried to walk casually to them but I was pissed so my feet moved faster than I’d told them to.

“Pete, what’s up?” I asked.

I threw my arm around Mac’s shoulders. Pete was a head shorter than me, but he was still a decent looking guy, had no problem with the ladies. Why he was trying to pick up
m
y
woman, I didn’t know. I knew I was peeing all over her with the look I was giving Pete and my territorial arm throwing, but I didn’t care. It was better than throwing my fist in his face. I could be an adult when the moment called for it. Mostly.

“Kellan. I didn’t know this beautiful woman was with you.”

Oh, he didn’t want to back off.

“Bye Pete,” I said.

I was done. If he kept standing there hitting on her I was going to punch him.

“Kellan, he was just helping me pick out my cheese.”

Mac busted out laughing and actually bent over, holding her sides. I didn’t find this situation all that funny. But Pete was turning red, and scratching his neck. He was embarrassed? What we must’ve looked like. I was standing like I had a stick up my ass because I was pissed, Pete was embarrassed and Mac was laughing like a loon.

“Well, nice meeting you Mac. Kellan, see you around.”

Pete beat tracks out of the cheese aisle as Mac pulled herself together. I laughed, letting go of my jealousy and anger.

“That was awesome,” She said.

“I didn’t find it that awesome.”

“He just came up to me and said, and I quote
Looking for a specific cheese? I’m pretty good at handling cheese, among other things.
” Mac busted up laughing again.

Okay, maybe Pete had more issues with the ladies than I thought if he was using a line like that. Wow. I mean originality, I’d give him, but it was a lame pick-up line.

“You don’t think that’s hilarious?!” Mac was shocked.

I was pissed he’d tried to take her away from me. I guess it was my own insecurity that I wasn’t good enough for her. I knew I wasn’t. I had never gone after anything other than something superficial and that was obviously messing with me. I couldn’t treat her like I’d treated all the others, I wouldn’t, so it put me in an unknown place. There was a shine to her eyes. Happiness. My heart squeezed.

As much as I hated Pete trying to pick her up, I loved seeing her happy. How could I be mad at him, when all he’d really done was make her laugh?

“You’re right. It was hilarious.”

“You weren’t laughing.”

Jesus, she wanted to call me out
now,
in the middle of a grocery store?

“I didn’t know what was going on when I came up. I was protecting you.”

Perfect. It was enough to tell her that I cared without freaking her out with my jealous behavior. My anger she took in stride. I hoped she’d take this too.

Mac

He had just gone jealous boyfriend on me. Pete didn’t stand a chance in hell anyway, even if he had been attractive. The guy used the worst line on the planet. Literally, the worst pickup line that had ever been used on me, and I worked at bars with a lot of drunk people. I had a guy once tell me that the
sparkle in your eyes matches the sparkle in your necklace
.

Kellan had walked up with a
this is mine
attitude. The guy had taken Kellan in stride, which was probably stupid. But it proved Kellan did have control over his temper when he didn’t lash out at Pete. I found it all pretty damn funny.

I was less nervous about being hit on, which made me feel better, too. I used to get upset when guys tried to pick me up – feeling the need to runaway or hide afterward. I had been okay when I was tending bar because that was my safe zone, but out in public it had still set me on edge. However, when Pete had approached me, it hadn’t bothered me. I laughed in the guy’s face. Something I hadn’t done in so long and it felt more than a little liberating.

“Well, thank you.”

I liked that he was jealous. It meant he cared. And I really wanted him to care.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“You told me to stay here while you went to the bathroom. So here I am.” I was trying to be funny and lift the strain that was still on his face, but he just kept staring at me. “I need to get the beef and potatoes still.”

I also needed a couple of spices, but I was hoping that I could find them around the meat counter.

“So, Pete hit on you.”

I could tell he was trying to gauge how I really felt about the whole incident with Pete.

“No big deal. He was totally cheesy.”

Kellan burst out laughing and I followed happily after him. We’d be alright.