Shattered: A Salvation Society Novel by Bella Emy (pdf to ebook reader .TXT) 📕

the keys and said we were welcome to take over if we wanted it. There’s paperwork to fill out if we want to buy it, but no one has yet.”

“It’s incredible. Are you thinking you might take over?” I turn back to face him.

He shrugs. “Maybe. I do have my hands full with Starling Paradise, but this place isn’t too far from there and it could totally be done.”

I nod and don’t for one-second miss the fact that he’s walking toward me.

Our eyes lock once again as he comes just mere inches away from me.

His hand reaches out and grabs the back of my neck, bringing me closer to him. I almost trip, but thankfully, my clumsiness hasn’t taken over. Not yet, anyway.

Holy fuck, is he going to kiss me? My heartbeat speeds up, my palms turn sweaty. This could be it. This could be the moment that I’ve been waiting so long for. But is this what’s supposed to happen? Is this the way things are supposed to turn out?

For so long, I was absolutely sure Kalen and I were no more. Our love was something of the past, and that door was shut and locked long ago.

But what if now that door is being unlocked and opened? What if now this is the way things are supposed to go? Am I crazy for thinking something we had years ago can be rekindled today? Can something that was shattered to bits be glued together, never to splinter once more?

“Kalen…” I whisper.

“Fuck, you’re so damn beautiful, Lexi.” He leans in ever closer and tilts his head down. His warm, alcohol-laced breath from the drink he had at dinner caresses my face, and I relish in it.

I close my eyes, welcoming his beautiful lips against mine when suddenly, giggling breaks the spell.

My eyes snap open and Kalen pulls away. What just happened?

“Who’s there?” he asks, looking about the place.

The giggling continues and he walks toward the sound. He stops when he reaches the empty counter to the right. Banging on top, two kids around the age of thirteen or so jump up, covering their mouths.

Kalen crosses his arms across his chest. “Hey, how did you two get in here?”

Their giggling comes to a halt, but they don’t look too scared, and judging by the expression on Kalen’s face, I don’t think I would be either if I were in their shoes. He doesn’t look scary at all.

One of the boys with curly blond hair opens his mouth to speak. He’s got a scar on his forehead, and he looks incredibly familiar. “The… the back door was left unlocked, Kalen, Mr. Starling, sir.”

They know Kalen, calling him by his name.

“We were just playing,” the other boy with emerald green eyes says.

Kalen chuckles, shaking his head, and turns to face me. “See the problem with multiple people having keys.”

I nod, smiling back.

He turns back to them. “Okay, it’s fine, but you can’t come in here without permission.”

“We’re sorry, Sir,” the blond kid says.

God, he looks so familiar. There’s no way I could know him though. I’ve never lived out here and he looks like a local.

Kalen holds out his hand in front of him. “It’s quite alright. And I’ve told you before, you can just call me Kalen. Come on; I’ll walk you two out.”

I follow closely behind him as he escorts the boys and locks the door behind them.

“Did you recognize the blond kid?”

I squint my eyes. “He did look familiar, but I can’t say that I did…”

Kalen chuckles. “That’s little Tommy from Polar Freeze Treats the first night we got ice cream together with Erin and Jason. Remember?”

Suddenly the memory hits me like a bolt of lightning. “Oh, my God, yes! He had gotten that scar on his forehead from that accident going down the slide at daycare! What a small world!”

He chuckles again. “He and his mom vacation here every year. I give them a nice discount… his father passed a few years back.”

I frown. “Oh, no. That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, me too.” Kalen’s eyes roam over me as he leans against the locked door. “I’m sorry we got interrupted though…” A wicked smile pulls on his face.

I shrug, still smiling at him. I’m sad our moment ended, but at the same time I’m a bit relieved. I don’t know if I’m ready to take that step with him. That could definitely have led to something more. “It’s no big deal, really.”

He frowns. “Hmm, maybe not for you, but being in here with you… man, I really want some ice cream now.”

I laugh at his confession. “Ice cream does sound good.” I don’t know if it’s the heat of what was about to happen between the two of us, or if it’s just this summery night, but it’s definitely hot in here.

“If this place were still up and running, we could have gotten some here. But I know just the place that makes great frozen specialties. Let’s go!”

After getting ice cream at one of the ice cream parlors nearby, Kalen and I find ourselves sitting on the Ferris wheel.

“Wow,” I say, slightly leaning over to one side to check out the view from all the way up where we’re sitting.

“You always did like Ferris wheels,” he says. I turn to face him and he winks. It reminds me of the first time we rode the ride together so long ago.

I turn back to face the view because the thoughts from back then will be too much in just a moment, I can feel it.

But he speaks again. “I told you… breathtaking… like you.”

At those words, I snap my head to face him, and he’s a lot closer than I remember. So close, in fact, that I almost smack my lips right into his.

Shying away, I pull myself back. “I’m sorry.”

He places two fingers underneath my chin, willing me to look up and over at him. “Lexi, there is nothing to be sorry about.”

“But I