Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons by ReGina Welling (you can read anyone txt) 📕

What if she was nothing more than his sister’s friend and this was a pity movie? She chided herself for letting her thoughts stray down that particular path.

Kat’s shoulders hunched as though expecting a blow as she tried with a sideways look to figure out what he might be thinking. The look on his face was open, friendly, hard to gauge.

She was still trying to parse out his level of emotion when he pulled into the tiny lot behind the pub. Before he could make his way around the car to open her door, she’d already scrambled out so he hit the locks, swung the door shut with a thunk then reached for her hand as they walked toward the rear entrance.

The contact did nothing to quiet her chaotic thoughts.

“You’ve gone awfully quiet,” he stated in a low voice, “second thoughts?”

“No, just things on my mind.” If he only knew.

An hour later, she was sliding back into his car with a smile on her face and a belly full of good food. She’d gone with the delectably flaky beer battered fish this time.

“An extra hour of running tomorrow but totally worth it.”

Molly’s teasing had lightened Kat’s mood. When Zack pulled up next to a narrow, two-storied brick building that should have been flanked by others of its kind but now stood alone; the last remaining relic of Brinford’s town center.

“What’s this place?” She leaned across to get a better look.

“Home. Come see.”

He unlocked the thick security door set into the left side of the front of the building and led her into what had once been Brinford Bank. It hadn’t changed all that much in the intervening years.

Nearly twice as deep as it was wide, the whole place had a definite hallway feel to it because the interior was divided neatly in half. The former customer area on the left boasted a high ceiling that arched up the full two stories. The business side on the right featured a loft area where the main offices had been located. Below that was the counter area where the tellers once counted money.

That area had been turned into a galley kitchen. Some clever artisan figured out a way to incorporate the barred teller windows into the cabinet fronts to maintain the feel of the original space.

Glancing up, Kat saw the glass fronts where the offices had been but could not tell what use Zack was making of those rooms from where she stood.

The front lobby area was now his main living space. Between heavily curtained windows hung the huge flat screen television he had told her about. It faced a long sectional sofa set that looked inviting and was currently home to a fat black cat who appeared bored but whose green eyes never left the new guest in the room.

“Wow.” Kat moved farther into the room to take a closer look and noticed the gleaming vault door at the end of the room. “May I?” He waved her ahead and she stepped up to the doorway to peek inside.

Most of the vault interior consisted of safety deposit doors and shelves all in a dull brass finish. The only furniture in the room was the bed. For everything else, he had cleverly converted what was already there. He’d pulled out and braced safety deposit boxes, drilled holes into the sides, and used them to hold clothes bars as a makeshift closet.

Beside the bed, more drawers were braced into place and topped with simple planks to create bedside tables. Another set of them formed a bench softened with a brightly patterned cushion.

It was a unique setup and oddly homey but it was the two large scale canvases on either side of the windows in his living space that made Kat suck in a breath. Painted with precise, slashing strokes the paintings completed a gritty urban diptych that immediately made her feel the energy of the city.

The artist had captured the skyline against lowering storm clouds with great detail. One spear of sunlight broke through to illuminate a small figure in the foreground, a little boy shown from the back dangling a teddy bear in one tiny hand. She didn’t need to see his face to know he was alone and scared; it was all there in the set of his shoulders, the tilt of his head.

Powerful and emotional.

She looked at the signature then turned to him with a stunned expression. “You?”

He nodded. “It’s a hobby.”

“A hobby? With talent like this?”

“The second evil.”

“Do they know you can paint like this?”

“They do.” Zack changed the subject. “Ready for that movie?”

Kat relaxed onto the sofa and idly reached out to pet the great lump of black fur who rewarded her with a mighty yawn then settled, purring into her lap. “Bring it, geek boy.”

“That’s geek man to you.”

“Nice uniform.” She took in his snug jeans and the navy sweater that played nicely off his brown eyes, and got a smirk in exchange as he settled in beside her. Close.

Close enough that his thigh brushed against hers and sent that shocking tingle up her spine.

Then the movie started and she quickly became so engrossed in the action she almost forgot he was there. It was a skill she’d had for as long as she could remember. Whether reading or watching a good story, she could tune out the entire world.

Yet, she knew the moment Zack’s warm hand closed over her own, felt each delicious movement as he turned her hand in his to thread his fingers with hers, enjoyed the fluttering low in her belly as he stroked his thumb absently across her skin.

If he could make her feel like this with a simple touch, what would it feel like to kiss him? She snuggled closer and hoped to find out.

_,.-'~'-.,_

When he felt her settle closer, Zack lost track of the film and turned all of his attention on Kat. Shifting slightly, he loosed the hand he was holding and slid an arm around her. The cat,