“Well, no. Not like you think.”
“Are you kidding me?” Her voice sounded like he’d better be.
“Look, I don’t want to get accused of the ‘ass on fire’ thing again, but I do have to get back to the office.” He glanced around. Saw their clothes thrown on the floor and a stack of dishes in the sink. “But I’ll help out here first.”
“Uh-huh.”
When he looked into her eyes again, he met with a piercing stare. “What?”
She shoved against his shoulders, separating them and pulling back as far as the counter would allow. “Nothing.”
All the heat seeped out of the room. The sudden chill had him reaching for the buttons on his shirt. “I’m thinking I messed up again.”
She tugged on the edge of her T-shirt, as if trying to hide from him. “Aren’t you the clever one?”
“I rarely get out of the office before seven.”
Conflicting emotions raced across her face. Distrust and hope. She watched him as if assessing and deciphering his motives.
“I can have my assistant call you if you need verification.” He smiled, hoping to bring some lightness back into the room. “Have her write it down and notarize it for you.”
“Can she fax it?” Katie blew her serious tone by bursting into laughter right after. She waved her hands in front of her face. “Kidding. I’ll trust you on this one.”
Relief flooded through him at her sudden change in mood. He had come to apologize and get a sense of whether she planned to use their time at the wedding as an opportunity to nail his reputation. He sure hadn’t expected a second round or how good it would feel.
“I’ll help you clean up around here before I head out.” He pulled up his pants first because washing dishes in his underwear didn’t sound like much fun.
She shrugged. “No need.”
He ignored her and walked over to the sink. Once his belt was back in place, he reached for the faucet. “Wash or dry?”
“You are a constant surprise, counselor.”
He threw a dry towel at her, impressed when she snagged it out of midair without even looking at it. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Chapter 4
Cara balanced Ashleigh on one hip as she walked around the kitchen of the two-bedroom apartment in her ratty bathrobe the next morning. “About time you got up.”
Katie glanced at the wall clock. “It’s not even seven o’clock.”
“Your cell phone has been ringing all morning.”
“It has?”
“Nonstop.”
She glanced at the number and immediately decided not to answer. “Is that why you’re so grumpy?”
“Ash was up three times last night. I’ve slept a total of six minutes, and I have to give a presentation for a prospective wedding today.”
“And if you keep walking in circles, Ash is going to throw up.” Katie stepped in front of Cara and held out her hands, wiggling her fingers until Ashleigh bubbled with laughter. “Give the pretty girl to me.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to handle this day.” Cara brushed her bangs from her eyes.
“You will. You always do.” Katie wrapped her arm around her niece and made faces until Ashleigh let out a stream of giggles that made even her grumpy mother smile. “But first you’re going to shower because you look like hell.”
With a skill refined by mothers throughout time, Cara joined in the face-making, keeping all of her attention centered on her baby while she held onto the thread of the adult conversation. “Thanks for the confidence boost.”
“I’m here for ya. Ash is going to watch me while I eat and read the paper.” Katie gave Ashleigh a kiss but it was only a pretext so she could inhale her baby powder little girl smell. “That sounds like fun, doesn’t it, baby girl?”
Cara lit up at the sound of her daughter’s laughter. “You’re good with her.”
“Because she looks like me.”
Cara snorted. “No, she doesn’t.”
She didn’t. Not one bit, but Katie covered Ashleigh’s ears in mock horror anyway. “How dare you?”
The shine behind Cara’s smile faded a bit. “I wish she did.”
Bill. Damn him. Katie could tell Cara was thinking about her no-good, run-for-the-hills ex. The guy had cut out before Ashleigh was even born. Abandoned his wife and child without a thought. The anger-fueled memories flashed through Katie’s mind. Cara alone in the hospital. Cara alone as she applied for benefits to make sure Ashleigh had somewhere to live. Cara alone as she walked into that attorney’s office and dumped the dumb bastard.
More than once Katie wanted to hunt the weasel down, drag him back home, and beat him with a frying pan. It wouldn’t do Cara or Ashleigh any good, but the revenge would be sweet. Making him face his past, rubbing his nose in his failure by forcing him to witness the awesome woman Cara had become, appealed to Katie. Letting Bill see that his idiocy had changed all of them, including her.
Katie often wondered where she would be if Bill had stuck around. It was Cara’s begging call for help when she was six months pregnant that had scared Katie straight. She knew that, but refused to give Bill any credit for the transformation. All her gratitude went to Cara and Ashleigh.
“Don’t do that. Don’t think of him unless you’re fantasizing about castrating him with a melon baller,” Katie said.
Cara waved off the sisterly concern. “I don’t regret it.”
That’s not exactly where Katie wanted Cara’s thinking to go. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. You should definitely regret Bill. Just don’t kick yourself too hard. He seemed like a catch at first. Who knew he’d lose his job and fall in love with beer and the women who served it so soon after you got married?”
“I’ve learned.”
“We all have.” But had she? Katie thought about the kitchen sex with Eric the night before and wondered how far she’d really come.
Then her phone buzzed again with another text. As if she needed an additional reminder of Eric and why they’d met. Obviously, her job contact wanted attention.
She kept telling herself the stalking of Eric was over. She’d followed him around the wedding, watched him, and reported back on what he did. Well, most of what he did. The rest was off the books. As far as she could tell, the guy was clean and avoided any secret meetings with his ex. At least Katie sure hoped that was true.
The phone went silent, but it started again two seconds later. Same number. Same text message—Call
