“Not when you snuck down to the Emergency Room.”
“Oh, so that is what this is all about? You’re still angry about that.”
Moving away, he did his best to keep his elevating temper at bay. Yeah, he was ticked about it, but not for the reasons she thought. He almost wished she would end up pregnant so the decision to keep her by his side would be easy. Maybe it was a coward’s way out of admitting his feelings for her, but he didn’t care. Somehow marching up to her and saying, ‘Well, okay you’re pregnant. Guess that means we’re getting married,’ would be easier than asking and possibly being rejected.
“Just stay inside.”
“For how long? My arm’s nearly healed and my rent is due. Sooner or later I need to get my life back.”
He swallowed hard. A life without him wasn’t an option. “I don’t want you going back to that apartment.”
Her mouth gaped open. “Who died and left you boss?”
“I mean it, Katie. You’re not going back to that rat trap.”
“Who the hell do you think you are? Sleeping with me doesn’t give you the right to dictate my life.” A quick pivot and she moved toward the living room.
He grasped her arm and turned her towards
him. “You can’t go back there.”
Tugging her arm free, she met his glare and lowered her voice to an icy pitch. “I can go where I want, when I want. If there is such a threat to me here, maybe I should just pack Joey up and get the hell out of Dodge.”
This conversation was digging a very deep hole, and he started to realize what the woman in front of him was capable of doing. The last thing he wanted was her disappearing into the night.
Alone.
“I didn’t mean…”
A small voice reached them from the stairs, “I don’t want to go away, Mommy.”
Joey held his life-long blanket in one hand and wiped away tears with the other.
“Oh, Joey.” Kate rounded the stairs and knelt by his side.
“Are we going away?”
Richard watched while she pulled her son into her arms, lifted him, and went down the remaining stairs. Once seated on the couch she leaned back to consider his tear-streaked face.
“We can’t stay here forever. The Ritters have been very gracious, but this isn’t our home.”
“Can we stay with Richard?”
Kate glanced beyond her son directly at him.
Uncertainty crossed her face.
“Of course―—”
“No, Joey,” she interrupted him. “Richard and I are friends, but that doesn’t mean we can live with him.”
He wanted to correct her, but doing so would confuse the child and make matters worse.
“Can’t Richard move in with us? You like me and Mommy, don’t you?”
Everything was simple in the eyes of a six-year-old. “You and Mommy can sleep in the same bed like
you did at your house. That would be okay, right?” Kate sent Richard a pleading look.
“It’s really late, sport. How about we talk about this in the morning?” Richard knelt down next to them both and placed a reassuring hand on Joey’s shoulder. He was trembling. “Every thing is going to be okay.”
“But you and Mommy were fighting.”
“We were talking, Joey. Sometimes grownups talk a little loud, but that doesn’t mean we’re fighting. Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.” Kate stood, put Joey’s tiny hand in hers, and led him up the stairs. She glanced at him over her shoulder, lowered her eyes, and left him staring after her.
****
“That was stupid, f**king crazy.” L.J. ran his finger through his hair and wished his partner had more of a backbone. Putting fight into Cutter proved fruitless. She was standing right there, no one around, and nothing to stop them from nabbing her. Then Mr. Dickhead showed up. All Cutter could do was moan.
“Pick another broad!”
“Shut up! Just shut the hell up!” He had to think. Time was running out. With only two days until the full moon and no chance at bagging the chick his monthly quota wasn’t met. By now he normally had them pegged, bagged, and caged if they weren’t already turned.
L.J. took the curve at a high rate of speed, putting distance between his soon-to-be conquest and himself.
“Sally was giving you the eye. Why not stay with her for a while? She has big tits and everything,” Cutter called from the passenger seat.
Sally did have a set, but an old set by his standards. He’d already seen them and done them, he needed someone new to get him going. It was
time for new.
Ideas formed in his head. New, fresh ideas.
Tomorrow would be a better day.
A much more fruitful day.
****
Kate snuck out of Joey’s room as quietly as she could to keep him from waking. It had taken over an hour to get him back to sleep. In the hall, beside her bedroom door, Richard had fallen asleep. She stopped and stared at his head fallen back against the wall, his hand limp in his lap.
What was she going to do with him? Just when she thought he was the most unreasonable person in the world, he goes and does something like this…
sleeping in the hallway waiting for her.
Kate gave his shoulder a little shake. He came to life immediately.
“Is he asleep?” he asked, trying to act as though he hadn’t been in slumberland himself.
“Much like you. What are you doing out here, Richard?”
He stood and signaled for her to follow. Inside his room, he flipped on the light and motioned for her to sit.
“I don’t think he needs to hear us argue.”
“I agree,” she wiped the tired from her eyes. She was sick of arguing, too.
“Listen…”
“Listen…” they both spoke at the same time.
Kate smiled and lowered her head. “We’re both tired.
We can talk in the morning.”
Richard watched as she stood but didn’t move away from the door. “I’ve had a lot of things on my mind, a few of which I need to tell you about.” Something in his voice kept her wondering exactly what he was thinking. “Can it wait, until we’re both awake?”
He nodded, “Yeah, it can wait.”
Kate moved around him, shoulders touching. He stopped her with his arm, gazed into her eyes. In one stealthy move, he placed his lips to hers, which sent her heart to flight. He wanted her. God help her she wanted him, too.
Pulling away before a simple kiss turned into something more, he stood back. “Try and get some sleep,” he told her.