Naomi held Kieran's jacket in both hands, with all the reverence of a woman possessing a priceless treasure. He had landed it on her shoulders too quickly for her to refuse. Naomi wasn't even sure that Oliver had registered that she still wore the jacket when she got home.
Probably for the better. Oliver might have confiscated it had he remembered.
Now, with the jacket still in her possession, Naomi had a choice to make. She could keep it until Kieran asked for its return, but she had never thought of herself as a thief. The second option appealed to her much better.
Naomi decided, without much ado, that she should return Kieran's jacket.
Ba-dump, went her heart at the thought of seeing him even one day sooner. Naomi didn't know when it started or how she let it get to this point, but her heart was full of only Kieran Colburn. She didn't want to wait another hour to be in his presence again.
Ms. Rowe had gone to the company and wouldn't return for hours, leaving Naomi the perfect opportunity to sneak past the new housekeeper and exit the condo.
Thankfully, she wouldn't have to alert the driver, either. Kieran's apartment sat less than a 30-minute walk from her current location. Naomi didn't mind walking. In fact, it cleared her head to take in the fresh air. When she walked, she felt like she could finally live.
So, Naomi set her feet to the pavement, making her way toward the corner convenience store she frequented. From there, she would be able to find Kieran's apartment without a doubt.
As it turned out, Kieran's side of town was intimidating in the daytime too. Naomi had thought that it had been the darkness and adrenaline that made her afraid that night. Now, she found that she didn't like the feeling of the crumbling stone walls or the blown-about litter. Every window might have eyes to watch her. Naomi hated that she didn't know the intent of those eyes.
But she pressed on. If only to see Kieran one minute sooner.
Kieran's building was in no better array than those that Naomi feared, but seeing it made her feel safer. Because Kieran lived in that building, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
Naomi clutched the bag containing Kieran's jacket closer to her chest. She had no guarantee that he was home, but her heart still thrilled at the possibility that he might be there.
She shouldn't have allowed herself to feel such anticipation. Anticipation only made the disappointment greater.
Kieran's apartment didn't have a doorbell, so Naomi knocked. If he didn't answer the door, she meant to leave the jacket and a note on his doorknob.
In fact, Kieran did not answer the door. But someone else did.
About the same height as Naomi, dirty-blonde, and sporting flashy acrylic nails, the woman inside the door stared at Naomi in distaste.
Naomi stared right back. She wasn't the kind to jump to conclusions, so she dared not say who this woman was to Kieran. But it disconcerted her that she stood inside the door while Naomi stood outside.
"What do you want?" the woman asked sharply.
Naomi clutched the bag a little tighter. She didn't like the way this woman spoke, but she refused to clam up just because she met with an obstacle. "Is Kieran here?"
"Kieran who?"
"Stop, please." Naomi heaved a sigh. "I know this is his place."
"Oh, really? How do you know that?"
"He's brought me here before." Naomi forced a smile to her lips, hoping it would calm the woman before her. "Is he here?"
The woman sized Naomi up like she was considering starting a fight. "What do you need him for?"
"I need to return something to him." At this point, Naomi figured honesty might be the best policy.
"You can leave it with me, I'll make sure he gets it."
"I would rather hand it to him personally."
Mostly because Naomi wasn't sure it would ever get back to Kieran if she left it with this woman.
The woman rolled her eyes. "Stop acting clingy in front of me. Don't you know who I am?"
"I can't say that I do."
Naomi shrugged her shoulders. She had found, over the past month, that subverting people's expectations could make them drop their haughty act. Naomi liked knowing that.
"I'm the one he keeps." The woman flipped a piece of her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "So are you returning it or are you leaving?"
Naomi didn't have a definite answer as to why, but her fingers itched to slap this woman. Jealousy? Maybe. Or maybe it was pure, unadulterated annoyance. Naomi didn't like the way this woman thought she controlled everything. Too similar to Naomi's mother, perhaps?
"If you're not going to say anything, I'm going to shut the door."
Naomi found she didn't want that, but she didn't want to go in and confirm what the woman had been saying either. "I'll come back later."
"Don't." The woman hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "If you insist on giving it to him yourself, come in. Have a drink."
Against her better judgment, Naomi acquiesced to the command. "I'll just have a glass of water and then go."
"Whatever suits your fancy." The woman allowed Naomi to brush past her, slamming the door in her wake.
Naomi ventured to the kitchenette, reaching for one of the mugs that Kieran had allowed her to use last time.
The woman snatched it out of her hand. "Not that one. That's my mug. Only I get to use it."
Naomi didn't dare tell her that Kieran had broken the sacredness of her mug. Instead, wordlessly, she reached for another.
The woman snatched that one, too. "That's Kieran's. They're couple mugs, see?"
Naomi could see the matching mugs just fine. But she didn't care. "Are you going to let me get a drink of water?"
The woman shrugged.
Fed up and unable to stand the woman's presence any longer, Naomi hiked the bag containing Kieran's jacket higher over her shoulder. "You clearly don't want me here. Let Kieran know that I came by. I'll leave now."
"About time," the woman muttered. She raced to open the door again. "Bye."
Naomi didn't answer. Answering would have given credence to all of that woman's claims. Instead, Naomi—disappointed and confused—trekked out of the apartment building and back toward her pristine neighborhood.