Finding Truth (The Searchers Book 3) Page 2

“Nothing,” Matisse assured her, wrapping his arms around her waist and curling around her. Her body was warm against his, and he shivered in pleasure.

  “Tisse...” Her voice held a warning. She wanted to know.

  “Honestly, Nora. Nothing is wrong. But I promise to tell you if it is.”

  “‘Kay,” she said, embracing him just as tightly. “I’ll hold you to it.”

  3

  Nora

  When Nora had opened the door to her room and seen Matisse’s prone body on her bed, she’d stumbled to a stop. He’d pulled up the comforter but was still dressed. One booted foot stuck out of the sheets, and the arm he had thrown over his eyes was sweater-clad.

  Confused, she’d crept around the bed and stared down at him. A sense of guilt filled her; he’d come into her room last night looking for her, and she hadn’t been here. Entwining her fingers nervously, she’d debated waking him. A breath caught in his throat, like a snort, and he dropped his arm to the bed. Dark circles bruised his skin. So she’d kissed his cheek and woken him.

  Her stomach was a mass of butterflies this morning. Awake long before the time she needed to be anywhere, she worried her restlessness would wake Apollo. So she got up.

  Folded neatly on her bed was a t-shirt reading Frank’s. Today was her first day at her job, but she felt like she still needed to cram information into her brain, so she’d raided Seok’s comic collection. She brought them with her to the hospital to share them with Cai, who admitted comic appreciation was lost on him. A good sport, he’d quizzed her. He hid the titles with his hand before he showed her the covers.

  He had liked it. In his awake time, it was a good activity to keep him distracted from Tyler. After all, he couldn't do anything to help from his hospital bed.

  Grabbing her t-shirt, she dug in her drawers for socks, underwear, and jeans. Frank told her to dress casually, but jeans? She’d been so nervous at the time of her interview she couldn’t remember what it was Frank wore. Whatever it was, it hadn't been a suit. Her impression of the man was wild hair and thick glasses. Would a guy willing to risk hiring a notorious, if innocent, girl be overly concerned with her work outfit?

  No. With one last glance at Matisse, who’d lain back down and closed his eyes, Nora went into the bathroom to hurry through her morning routine. Without makeup or even her own soap, this was the best she was going to look. Her hair, when she pulled out the elastic, frizzed around her head like a lion’s mane. She wet her hands in an attempt to tame it, but it sucked up the water like a dying plant. No matter how long she held it flat against her head, it bounced back as soon as she took away her hands.

  Oh well.

  The kitchen smelled like coffee when she shuffled into the room. Her stomach growled, but she put a hand over it, debating whether or not to eat. The mental image of her stomach making embarrassing noises at work on her first day decided it for her. A loaf of bread sat out, so she put a piece of bread in the toaster and warmed up a mug of water for tea.

  This early, the house was quiet. She’d left Apollo in bed, sleeping hard. He’d finished his midterms and embarked on an insane workout schedule, only to come back each day from the gym covered in sweat.

  It was damn sexy. His skin glistened, and he often wore his hoodie over his head when he got inside. Many times, she’d been tempted to lick him, just to see what he tasted like. But with Cai in the hospital, her opportunities for licking were rare. It also didn’t feel right yet; she and Apollo weren’t in a place where they were ready for the next physical step in their relationship. She thought again of Matisse. He’d had a hard time when she’d put the brakes on being intimate. Eventually, he’d come to understand her reasoning, but it was a reminder she had to be clear with all of them.

  She glanced at the microwave. Not much time had passed. She could leave in an hour and still have plenty of time to walk downtown.

  It was Sunday. Frank was willing to take her on a trial basis and only on Sundays and evenings. He wanted to make sure she wouldn’t scare any customers away.

  Maybe he hadn’t said it like that, but it was what he meant.

  Nora was notorious. As the foster sister of a man who’d killed kids at the high school, she was shunned from most of the places she’d applied. Frank was the only one willing to take a chance on her, and she was committed to not wasting her shot at gainful employment.

  Above her head, footsteps padded across the floor. She tried to figure out who it was. Apollo, for all his weight and height, was fleet-footed. Maybe Ryan or Seok. Their bedrooms were on that side of the hallway.

  The water in the bathroom turned on and off quickly. She sipped her tea, hoping she didn’t look as anxious as she felt.

  Each morning was like Christmas.

  Playing it cool was not going to work. Why should she pretend she wasn’t as affected by them or excited to see them as she was? With a shove, she pushed her chair back, and hurried to the hall in time to see Seok coming down the stairs.

  “Morning,” she said, rocking forward on her toes, so he could hook an arm around her shoulders and drag her into an embrace.

  “Ready for your first day?” he asked.

  His shirt was silky against her fingers, and she fisted it, hugging him tightly. “Nervous. But excited. I’m doing math in my head. Wondering how many hours I can get, how much will be taken out for taxes, how much I can contribute—”

  Laughing, he kissed her neck. “Slow down, nae serang. It’s the first day. Enjoy it.”

  His fingers trailed down her arms, and he entwined their fingers, stepped back and lifted her arms. “I like your first day outfit.”

  “He said to wear what I usually do. Do you think it’s okay? I mean—it’s jeans. It doesn’t feel very work-y.” She let go of his hands to tug at her shirt, but he stopped her.

  “You look perfect. Approachable, lovely, and an obvious employee of Frank’s.” He smiled widely, and Nora was reminded of how serious he used to look. When she’d first met Seok, he’d seemed to disapprove of her. He had never really glanced at her without frowning, and when he had taken the time to speak, it was to snap.

  It wasn’t until later she’d learned she made him nervous. He’d been afraid of his feelings for her, and in trying to protect himself, and his friends, tried to push her away.

  “Did you have breakfast?” he said after a moment. “Or were you too nervous?”

  “I had toast,” she answered, and allowed him to tug her back into the kitchen. He eyed her plate and the half piece of toast still left.

  “I tried,” she defended.

  “What if we...” He trailed off, tapping his finger against his chin as if faced with a serious dilemma. “What if we stop at the coffee shop and I buy you a scone? It’s early enough. I bet they’ll be plenty of currant ones left.”

  Nora’s mouth watered.

  Plate in one hand, Seok threw the toast into the compost and put the dish in the sink. As he stood by the window, a beam of sunlight shone through the glass, illuminating him. Seok’s hair was growing out, and the black roots shone glossy with blue highlights. His skin, a shade or two lighter than Nora’s, seemed to glimmer, and she took his arm to hold it up to the sunlight.

  “Seok, what is going on with your skin?” she asked, turning his arm this way and that.

  When he didn’t answer, she peered up at him in question, and caught a blush.

  “What?” she asked, feeling her lips turn up in a smile.

  “I bought the wrong cream,” he answered, a little flustered. “With the cold weather and the chemicals in the basement, my skin gets so dry. I thought I was getting my normal winter cream, but I didn’t read the bottle close enough. This has glitter in it.”

  “Glitter?” She bit her lip.

  “Sparkles?” he asked. “Are they the same thing?”

  “I’m not sure,” she answered.

  “I didn’t think it’d be really noticeable. You can tell?” Bringing his arm closer to his face, he examined it. “Y
eah. You can tell.”

  “Ha. Man, you sparkle.” Apollo, with his quiet feet, had managed to sneak in without anybody noticing.

  “No kidding.” Seok kept his gaze on Nora as Apollo pulled her into a hug and kissed her. She closed her eyes. His warm lips lingered against hers. He nibbled her lower lip and gave her one last squeeze before stepping back.

  “I don’t know how I feel about you having a shirt announcing you belong to Frank,” Apollo said, the dimple in his cheek giving away his teasing.

  “Ha, ha.”

  “I’m stealing Nora for breakfast,” Seok interrupted, and handed her the coat he’d taken from the hook by the door.

  “I’d come, but I need to be at the gym, and carbs aren’t in my diet these days. I assume you’re going to Annabell’s for scones?” he asked.

  Excited, Nora nodded. “Let me write a note for Matisse and Ryan, and then we can go, okay?”

  Apollo opened the junk drawer and handed her a notebook and pen. Glancing down, Nora saw a page of swirls and doodles. She flipped through the pages until she found a blank sheet and quickly scrawled a note to both guys. “Ready.”

  After one more kiss for Apollo, she followed Seok into the morning air. It was warm. When the sun was a little higher in the sky, it would be sweater weather. Tilting her face up, she closed her eyes, loving the heat against her skin. “I’m meant for more tropical climes,” she mused.

  Silence was Seok’s response. Afraid she’d freaked him out, she opened her eyes, ready to add, just kidding, to the statement. But the words froze on her tongue. With eyes glued to her face, he studied her intensely. His strong throat worked as he swallowed hard, and then he was on her. Lips against hers, he backed her up until the house was at her back. Her unzipped coat was in his way, so he shoved it apart. With shaking hands, he dove beneath her t-shirt to grip her hips. All thoughts of buttery scones and being early to work flew out of her head. There was only Seok and his strength and his hands and his lips grazing her skin only to return to her mouth.

  All too soon, he stepped away. Nora stumbled, trying to catch him and bring him back, but he stopped her, grasping her hand and lifting it to his lips.

  “Work,” he whispered, against her skin. “Remember?”

  Groaning, she nodded. “Yes.”

  It took her a block of walking before her mind came back online. Seok held her hand tightly, and when she peered at him, his gaze was on the sidewalk. As if he felt her watching him, he glanced over and smiled. In the full sunlight, his body glowed. Whatever was in the cream was subtle enough that he didn’t look like a teenage girl at a rave. Instead he was angelic—a beautiful man in a golden aura. He grew uncomfortable under her stare and narrowed his eyes. “Is it that obvious?” he asked.

  “Actually, you look stunning.”

  He scoffed but squeezed her hand tighter.

  “Are you nervous?” he asked after a moment.

  “Yes,” she said honestly. “I’m afraid a customer will recognize me, freak out, and Frank will have to fire me.”

  Seok wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her closer. He was so much taller he had to slope his shoulders to hold onto her. “If he fires you, so what? We’ll figure it out. Other opportunities will arise.”

  “Or not,” she muttered, and he glared at her. “What?” she asked then wrinkled her nose. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat.”

  He nuzzled her hair. “I know.”

  As they came into downtown, traffic picked up. On Sundays, most stores opened later, but the breakfast crowd was out. People lined up in front of popular cafes and restaurants while staff worked frantically to set up outdoor seating. Annabell’s, a small bakery, had a line out the door. They didn’t have seating outside. It was merely a to-go shop with four harried teenagers who worked frantically to fill bags with carb-loaded yumminess.

  Seok held her shoulders, tucked her against his chest and rested his chin on her head. They stood in silence, facing the front of the line. It was easy between them now—no awkwardness. In fact, standing against him and feeling his chest expand with each breath had her matching her breaths to his. Her earlier nervousness evaporated; there was only Seok and his heat.

  The smell of blueberries and yeast wafted outside. With only a single door to the shop, people squeezed by one another as they exited. They murmured apologies and hugged their goodies to their chest. As Nora got closer, she reached out to take the door from the person in front of her, propping it open with her foot.

  In a haze of good feeling, Nora didn’t notice right away when a woman walking through paused. Afraid she was taking up too much space, she turned sideways, away from Seok so there was more room for her to exit, but the woman stood still.

  It was then Nora tuned into the hostility radiating off of her. Older than Nora by maybe a decade, hair smoothed back into a perfect ponytail, she was dressed as if she’d come from the gym. Her narrowed-eyed stare held Nora’s, and she curled her lips as if disgusted.

  Smoothly, Seok cupped her shoulder, and pulled her behind him. “Keep moving,” he encouraged in a deep voice.

  With one more glare, she edged by them, knocking a shoulder into Seok who absorbed the blow. It was too much for Nora. At this point, she should have been used to the anger of strangers. She was—as long as it was directed at her. This was the first time someone took out their anger on one of the guys.

  Without thinking, she stepped around Seok, but he held her back. “What are you going to do?” he whispered in her ear as the woman got farther away. “Get into a fight?”

  What was she going to do? Nora’s heart pounded. In some of the rougher neighborhoods where she’d grown up, she had to adopt a head-down, no-eye contact strategy of dealing with violence. Never before had she felt this heat boiling her blood and filling her with anger.

  How dare someone hurt Seok? A growl left her throat, and Seok kissed her head.

  “While I appreciate your anger on my behalf,” he went on. “I don’t need it. Let’s stay out of jail this morning.”

  “I’m hungry, and she was mean to you,” Nora ground out, and he chuckled.

  “And I appreciate you wanting to stand up for me, but it’s not worth it. You and I both know that.”

  He was right, but still. Around them, she intercepted the interested stares of other customers. Maybe they knew who she was, or maybe they thought she was a regular girl running into a high-school nemesis.

  Ignoring both Seok and the onlookers’ interest, she called out, “Hey! You owe him an apology!”

  “Nora,” Seok whispered. “It’s fine,” he said louder.

  Pink-cheeked, the woman faced her, and Nora realized she had the upper hand. People often counted on being able to send their insults into the world without them echoing back. “It isn’t fine, but my boyfriend has much better manners than you, or me. So I’ll accept your silence as apology.” A few amused chuckles filled the air, and with much more speed, the woman hurried away.

  “Nora,” Seok chided but wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back into his chest.

  “It happens to me sometimes,” she explained. “But I won’t let people embarrass or intimidate you.”

  “So you’re going to protect me?” he said.

  Peering at him over her shoulder, she nodded. “Yeah. Like you guys protected me.” Her gaze traced his face, lingering on his lips.

  His face softened, and he kissed her then spun her around to deepen the kiss. A low whistle interrupted them, and they broke away. One of the front-end staffers waggled her finger at them. “You’re holding up the line.”

  “Sorry.” Seok moved and dragged Nora with him. “We need two currant scones and two coffees.”

  Nora ignored the people around them. All she needed was Seok’s strong, calloused fingers wrapped around hers.

  4

  Nora

  There was an empty bench outside, and Nora and Seok sank onto it. Now that the excitement was over, she was
left with residual nerves. The combination of anxiety about her first day on the job and the millions of bad ways her earlier exchange could have gone had her nibbling nervously at her scone. She didn’t even have the excuse of acting without thinking. She’d had ample time to consider her actions.

  “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

  Leaning her head on his bicep, she shrugged. “I know.”

  “Are you regretting it now?” Seok asked, and she shifted to fold her leg under her so she could see him better.

  “No. But I am thinking about all the horrible ways it could have gone.”

  “You didn’t in the moment?” His face reflected his disbelief. He knew her well.

  Heat crept from her neck to her face, but she shook her head. “No, I did. I just didn’t care.”

  “Now you care.”

  “It’s not that I care, necessarily,” she said. “I would be really upset if I was late for my job. But I feel like I’ve reached critical mass.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sick of people shitting on me. I’m tired of walking with my head down. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I act like I did?” There. She’d said it. Cracking her knuckles, she waited for him to respond.

  Seok sipped his coffee and watched people walk by. “You shouldn’t.” Cutting his eyes to her, he lifted an eyebrow. “You’re not guilty of anything related to the school shooting. But—”

  But?

  “But,” he repeated. “You would be guilty if you started a fight with a gym rat.”

  “I don’t even know how to fight,” she muttered. “I count on my sharp wit.”

  “Yes, I thought ‘you owe him an apology’ slayed her,” he said before going on. “But I did appreciate it. Thank you for wanting to stand up for me.” After placing his coffee on the ground, he reached for one of her tightly fisted hands. “Look at these fists.” He kissed her knuckles. “Deadly.”

  Relaxing into him, she cupped his face and pressed her lips against his. “I love you, Seok.”