Innocence by Holly J. Gill Page A

going through his mind.
    She sat down at the pub table thinking about Calvin, rubbing her chin lost in thought, miffed over his earlier suggestion, why on earth would he suggest helping me? I really don’t understand his kindness. Surely there’s a bribe somewhere, nobody handed out compassion for nothing, no one! She turned her head to gaze at him, scratching the back of her neck. He sat to her right, luckily with his head looking in the opposite direction, giving her time to admire him. Her brows hitched approving of the way he presented himself even if holding a hangover, there was something truly attractive about him. Kacey admired the contours of his facial structure, his stubble, bushy eyebrows, gorgeous oval shape face with gelled fringe covering his forehead in thick strands, and his soft pink lips. She watched intently while he poked out his tongue to lick his lips.
    He really was a handsome man, only there seemed to be something familiar to her about him. Confused, she tried to look harder at him but her mind drifted to how gorgeous he was. Blissfully, she relished his features when suddenly he turned his head in her direction and she quickly spun her head in the opposite way not wishing him to think she’d spent a few seconds appreciating him.
    “How you feeling?” He asked sweetly.
    Her heart thumped in her chest, and her throat filled with a large lump, nervous to be so close to a man she found for the first time, not only attractive, but sweet and enduring.
    It took her a few seconds to compose herself before turning her head to look at him and respond.
    His eyes engaged with hers, so powerful and breath-taking. How the hell did he get to be so good looking? Yet why does he appear familiar? She shook her head to stop such oozing thoughts. When she suddenly remembered she needed to answer his question.
    “Fine,” she said shuffling her bottom and then played with her hands. “I am thinking about heading back to the city and…”
    “And what?” Calvin interrupted firmly.
    She shot her head up to look at him, catching him frowning.
    “Please, stop making this harder for me. I am not needed here and no matter how much grovelling I do with my mum, she isn’t going to change her mind. And I fear another visit I’ll end up behind bars.”
    “I don’t think they will do that, they might warn you to stay away, either that or make your mother see the errors of her ways. I have never heard of such a heartless mum.”
    “Yeah well, either way not taking chances. I have made my bed and have to lay in it.”
    “Yes but that is the issue here!” She stared closely into his eyes. “You don’t have a bed.”
    She slumped her shoulders the reality hitting her like a ton of bricks.
    “What about your father?”
    “Who,” she asked not hearing him correctly being deep in thought.
    “Your dad, what about him?”
    She wished he would just stop with the intrusive questions, it really wasn’t his business.
    “No, Father will not accept me back with open arms.”
    “Have you seen him?”
    “No.”
    “So how do you know he will not accept you back?”
    Kacey shot him a glare.
    “I only asked, as I have only heard you speak mostly about your mother.”
    “Mum told me!”
    “She told you what?”
    “Calvin, please, they don’t want me. Stop making this harder for me.”
    “I am simply trying to help you.”
    Kacey saw Ross arriving, thankfully, to the table with the drinks, rescuing her.
    “Here we go,” Ross said placing the drinks on the oak wood table.
    Calvin shot him a disturbed glare annoyed to have been interrupted.
    “Everything all right?” Ross asked.
    Kacey gawped at him, relieved to have been interrupted, although, left with a million things running around her head. She just hoped that would be the end of Calvin asking such stupid questions, at least for now. Then she guessed he was only trying his best to help her and get more of an understanding of her background, but why? Why did it