Homecoming - Chapter Seven

Kaori watched as Ryo gently lay Noemi down on her bed. There was a picture you didn’t see every day. Saeba Ryo putting a child to bed. Every woman’s fantasy? Maybe. Her fantasy? Definitely. How many nights had she spent fantasizing about Ryo sharing their lives? Living in New York with them, going grocery shopping, going to the park with them, attending PTA meetings, helping Noemi with homework, putting her child to bed, tucking her in, joining Kaori on the couch to catch a late-night movie, joining her in the bedroom...

Okay, that was enough. Down girl.

Ryo tucked Noemi in and left her alone with her daughter, brushing against her shoulder as he left the room. A tingle ran up Kaori’s spine.

Down girl! He was just being nice—a gentleman, a friend. Nothing more. He wasn’t interested in her; he’s never been, no matter what he’d said yesterday at the park. He’d made his disinterest clear so many times, Kaori couldn’t even count them anymore. He wasn’t interested in her; they weren’t even friends anymore. More like acquaintances. And his tenderness and kindness toward Noemi was just tenderness and kindness toward a cute and lovable child. Toward a friend’s child.

Her fantasies were just fantasies. And she needed to stop having them. She needed to stop daydreaming. What she needed to do right now was get her sleeping child changed for bed—no small feat that—and go bid Ryo goodnight.

If he hasn’t left already.

Fourteen minutes later, after struggling with her daughter’s dead-weighted form and trying futilely to wake Noemi up to get her to brush her teeth, Kaori padded into the living room to find Ryo looking out the window.

He turned upon hearing her and smiled. “Nice view.”

She smiled back. “It was a required feature when I was searching for rentals. Nothing beats the view of Shinjuku at night.”

“Not even the Big Apple skyline?”

She shook her head. “Not even that, however lovely it is.” She lowered her voice into a stage whisper. “Don’t rat me out to the Newyorkers, though.”

“I won’t say a word.”

They fell silent, but it wasn’t one of those comfortable silences they’d used to share. Nope, this one was an incredibly uncomfortable one, filled with unspoken words. He was watching her like she was a strange specimen under the microscope.

“Is something wrong?” she finally asked.

“No,” he said with a sigh. “Nothing.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m just looking for changes.”

“Any luck?”

He shook his head. “No. You’re still the same.”

She had no idea whether to take that as a good thing or a bad one, but she’d be damned before she asked. Instead she went with, “Thanks for walking us home.”

Ryo shrugged. “It wasn’t a problem, I needed to stretch my legs.”

Right. What else could she say? Goodnight, probably, but she didn’t want him to go yet. You’re still an idiot, Makimura.

“Well, thanks for everything you did today.”

He blinked. “Did?”

“You know, with Noemi. She had a great day.”

Another shrug. “She’s a great kid, it was a pleasure making sure she had fun.” His expression became guarded. “Did you have fun?”

She was a little taken aback by the question. “Sure. I’m exhausted, but it was great.”

Ryo shoved his hands into his pockets and balanced slightly on the balls of his feet. “Not bad for a second date, huh?”

“Excuse me?”

“Second date,” he repeated. “Granted it had taken several years, and there was no kid back then—”

“What...what are you talking about?” Was he on something? “This wasn’t a date. And we never had a first one, either.”

“Sure we did.”

Whatever he was on had to be good stuff.

“I took you out when you pretended to be someone else. When Eriko helped you dress up as Cinderella.”

Kaori’s blood was roaring in her ears. Jesus. He knew that had been her? Had he known back then? Shit, of course he’d known. He’d returned her earring, hadn’t he? She’d suspected something the morning after, but he’d acted all normal.

It finally made sense.

She smirked. “Of course you knew that was me. No wonder you didn’t kiss me.”

She’d wanted him to kiss her so bad. Now she knew why he hadn’t. He’d gone out with her because he’d felt sorry for her, but he couldn’t bring himself so far as to kiss her.

“That wasn’t the reason.” He was utterly serious, his eyes unreadable.

“Right.”

“You were pretending to be someone else. I didn’t want to kiss a stranger.”

He hadn’t wanted to kiss a stranger. Did that mean he’d wanted to kiss her? Yeah, right.

Again, as she’d done the day before, Kaori laughed. She just couldn’t help it. He was hilarious.

Ryo suddenly grabbed her by her upper arms and glared down at her. Well, now she knew he could still move fast.

“I’m getting tired of you laughing in my face, Kaori,” he growled.

“Can’t help it,” she chuckled. “You’re funny.”

“What did I say that is so funny to you?” he asked, his voice low and...Well, dangerous. He’d usually reserved that special pitch for the lowlifes back in the day.

The voice should’ve clued her in, but she just couldn’t believe it. "First, it was the reason you were still single yesterday at the park. Now this about not wanting to kiss a stranger. Do you really expect me to believe you’ve been waiting for me these past seven years and that you’d been at all interested back then?” She chuckled. “Have you thought about going into stand-up comedy? This is truly hila—”

The rest was muffled by his kiss.