The Heart That's Meant to Love You

Chapter 34: Breathe

Thanks to Donovan's acting and Naomi's intervention, Kieran somehow managed to stay in Naomi's karaoke room for the duration of the evening. Not that it endured long. From what Kieran could gather, the Suit Man wanted him out of the picture as quickly as possible.

Kieran could read a room. Naomi hadn't introduced The Suit Man. It meant one of two things. Either Naomi liked him, or Naomi feared him. Kieran didn't like the thought of either.

After a myriad of songs, Naomi excused herself to go to the restroom.

Perfect. Kieran counted down ninety seconds in his head, then rose to his feet abruptly.

"Can I bother you to keep an eye on... him?" Kieran hooked a thumb in Donovan's direction. "Just for a minute. I'll be back to get him."

"You want me to keep an eye on some drunkard?" The Suit Man sneered.

Annoyance reared its ugly head. They could address the derogatory way he had referred to Donovan at a later time. For now, that should be all the motivation that Donovan needed to stall The Suit Man from following Kieran.

"Yes. Please." Kieran didn't give him any more time to think. He darted out the door and down the hall.

The last thing Kieran heard before the door shut was Donovan stirring up a drunken fit. Loyal as always, Kieran's best friend.

As for Kieran, he had seen enough from the second-hand point of view. He had questions and Naomi needed to answer them. Kieran had never been the type to assume anything. He would much rather hear the explanation from the source. That's what he intended to do now.

Kieran took a post outside the women's restroom. Yes, it made him look like a pervert, but he didn't care. Once Naomi stepped back into that karaoke room, she would shut down like a clam. If he wanted her to talk, it had to be here and now.

Naomi stayed inside the bathroom too long, and when she did come out she looked both ways down the hall. Like she might run.

Kieran folded his arms across his chest. "Is he the reason you wouldn't accept my confession?"

A squeal leapt from Naomi's lips, the most girlish sound that Kieran had ever heard her make. She was usually so somber, so silent. He needn't have worried. Her usual seriousness returned with a vengeance, enough to make her glare at him.

"You mean Oliver?"

Ah, so his name was Oliver. A sissy name if Kieran ever heard one. Probably one of those men who thought he was entitled to a woman's attention and affection. Kieran would bet money that Oliver had an attention complex.

"You didn't answer my question," Kieran pointed out.

Naomi shrugged a shoulder, her mask of indifference firmly back in place. "What is it to you if he is?"

This woman. Kieran didn't know if she understood how frustrating she could be. Innocent one moment, stubborn the next. Like a code that Kieran had yet to crack.

"Did you really just ask what it is to me if he's the reason you keep rejecting me?"

"If you want to play the never-ending circle of questions game, I'll leave now." Naomi spun on her heel, that chin of hers high and mighty like she had won. She took a step away from him.

And Kieran realized if he wanted answers, he had to play the game his own way.

Kieran reached out, snagged Naomi's wrist, and pulled her back. The momentum sent her careening toward a wall, a problem which Kieran quickly used to his own advantage. His palm landed against the back of her head to shield it. His other hand released her to land against the wall by her shoulder. When they collided, Kieran made sure not to injure the precious gem in his hold.

Naomi's hands braced against Kieran's chest like it would have stopped the kabe-don from happening. Hereyes went wide, as they always did when Kieran broke the sphere of personal space.

"If he's the reason you're rejecting me," Kieran spoke quietly, only loud enough to be heard within the bubble around them, "then at the very least... I'll be jealous."

"Why should you be jealous?" Naomi shot back, though her voice shook.

Kieran chuckled, bending his head lower to better see her up close. "You think I wasn't serious when I said I liked you?"

A twinge of guilt rose up to bite him, reminding him that he had indeed been lying. But it didn't have the power to overwhelm the feeling of Naomi's head cradled in his palm, her body within his hold.

Kieran studied her, what he could see of her face in this close proximity. Every delicate pore in her cheeks. The flutter of her eyelashes against her skin. The parting of her lips, a search for words or air.

In a moment of weakness, Kieran watched her eyes close and her chin tilt. His fingers flexed against her baby-soft hair, and his other hand against the hard cold wall. Kieran rested his forehead against Naomi's. "Breathe."

She hadn't been. She had gone too still to breathe.

Kieran hadn't been breathing, either. He drew in a gulp of air, sweet and bitter at the same time. The same air that filled Naomi's lungs when she finally inhaled. And for a long moment, the two of them simply existed. Two souls sharing the same space, breathing the same oxygen, their hearts racing in the same tempo.

A door slammed at the other end of the hallway.

Naomi's fingers against Kieran's chest gave a soft shove.

Kieran allowed her to push him away, at the same time clearing his clogged throat. He wouldn't claim to be innocent. He had seduced women before. But nothing had ever felt like this. Nothing had left him speechless and breathless, yearning for more. For deeper.

"What's taking you so long?"Oliver's voice echoed down the hall, getting closer with each word.

Kieran stepped out of Naomi's personal space, though he wanted nothing more than to step in the other direction. Toward her.

Oliver tapped a finger to Naomi'scheek when he arrived beside her. "Did you run away because of your terrible singing voice?"

"I think she sings quite well," Kieran muttered, half-hoping that Naomi would hear and half-hoping that she (and Oliver) would ignore the compliment.

Naomi must have heard it, because she shot an astonished look toward Kieran. The same look she had given him the first time that he told her she was beautiful. Kieran hated that look, the one that said she had never been told how amazing she was.

Thankfully, Oliver seemed to not have heard Kieran's mumbling. Instead, he changed the subject. "Your friend woke up. You should take him home."

"You should take Ms. Rowe home, too," Kieran shot back. Two could play that game, and Kieran would win one way or another. Oliver didn't have the right to give him instructions.

But, Kieran's conscience reminded him, Oliver might have the right to stay by Naomi's side. Kieran didn't understand why he kept wanting to get involved with the little rich girl. He shouldn't. It couldn't end well for either of them. He should let her go while he still could. While he could still make the right choice.

Because if Kieran kept her beside him much longer, things were sure to spiral out of control. Naomi deserved better. Even if he hated the thought of it, he needed to allow her to return to her sheltered life.