Book 3 of the undone series. Kim Taehyung is the best , the best at his job at head of security for the Kim SongDae startup, best at seduction. But a forced vacation leaves him adrift and questioning his life choices and direction. Then he stumble...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The next several weeks were filled with set backs and complications. Tae ended up staying in New York longer than any of them planned. He was restless and anxious to get home.
He made Dae promise to check the café regularly. She called Nev for him and stopped by herself.
One evening as dusk approached the café was suddenly filled with kids spilling in from the University. Finals were over and the winter break was growing near and the café had become the favorite spot to celebrate.
Dae sat in the corner Taehyung favored because it gave him a clear view of the entire place. The relief and celebration of the people mingling around her was contagious. She lost time simply watching them until her phone rang.
She smiled as she saw Jin's face pop on the screen, laughing and explaining she could not hear, She asked him to wait as she hurried up the stairs to the gallery space.
She snuggled in the comfortable couch Lyra had designed and lost all focus on everything but her lover's face. She would never get her fill of this man, the way he made her feel, the way he made her heart sing and her toes curl with a single sigh.
He was stuck at the office and would be late. He then dropped his voice to a rough whisper and promised to make it up to her. She did not have to fake the deep husk of her voice as she whispered promises of her own as his attention was called back to the meeting. The dark look on his face sent shivers through her. How did she get so lucky?
She stretched out on the sofa and for a moment lay caressing the phone in her hand as if the man whose image lingered there could feel her touch.
She shook her head and laughed, wicked plans forming as she lay in the gathering darkness. She reached to turn on a bank of lights and was stunned by what they illuminated.
There, leaning against the brick wall, was an exquisite painting cast in a soft glow by the gallery lights.
Tears pricked her eyes as she recognized Tae's work immediately. He had started to paint again.
Looking at the work she immediately knew the reason he wanted her to check with Nev so often. It was because of the woman in this painting.
The woman walked in a carpet of spring grass and was cloaked in a riot of flowers. Her face was hidden, a secret kept safe by the painter, for his eyes only. She looked like a fairy creature stealing away to meet her lover.
Dae stepped closer and realized the painting captured that perfectly. Her bare feet moved toward him quickly. Her face was upturned for his kiss and her small elegant hands reached for him.
Everything about this sang she was incomplete without him. Reaching him, finding him, loving him, was her only goal.
Dae thought of Jin first. This perfectly portrayed the emotions she had just felt as she held the phone, straining for the echo of his whispered “I'll be there soon.”
She realized tears were streaming down her face. Had her beloved friend found this? Was this his lover rushing to him?
Dae was overcome with emotions as she sat and absorbed the details. The tiny hearts entwined in the flowers, the tendrils of hair that flowed before her, even that eager to wrap around him.
She knew one could sit and observe this painting for years and always notice something new. She also knew this was a tiny bit of Taehyung’s soul chipped off for the world to see.
She noted he had meticulously cleaned his brushes and work space but had left the drop cloth on the floor. Even that was a work of art.
She cautioned herself that he probably left it because it was not yet dry. But allowed herself the bloom of hope that it meant he would paint more.
She stepped away, filled with plans to have someone come and properly hang and light the work for display.
That settled, she turned the lights out as she smiled and hurried down the steps. She was as eager as the fairy in the painting to reach her lover and fall into that sensual reassurance that her best dreams had become real.
Tae arrived home on a Tuesday, exhausted from finishing the final details. Dae met him at the airport and cried seeing how pale he was and the dark circles under his eyes.
She insisted on taking him home and fussing over him until he fell into his own bed, moaning as his body hit the familiar warmth of home.
Dae had delivered groceries and staples he would need for several days and busied herself putting them away as he headed for bed.
He insisted the entire time he was only going to rest for a minute before heading out to check on the café. Dae understood his need to be there, to see the girl who waited for him, but she also knew he had pushed himself too far.
She reported everything about the café, including the fact that his friend had not been seen once since he left.
She stepped into his room to see if that information worried him, but she was met by the glorious sight of her best friend spread eagle on his bed in only his black silk boxer briefs, hugging a pillow and mumbling something in rumbling tones from deep in his chest.
She sighed for the millionth time over his beauty and his kindness and his vulnerability.
That girl had better cherish him, because if she ever hurt him…..
Dae left that thought to ferment as she moved to cover Tae and turn out the lights.
From experience he had a couple of days sleep ahead of him and she had over a decade of experience conjuring ways to retaliate against people who hurt her Taehyung.
She prayed this woman was the one to love him. He deserved the world!
