Hot Stuff

by Janet Evanovich

  She looked at her watch and grimaced. Almost ten o’clock. Half the day was gone! She was going to have to start a vitamin regimen if she was going to keep up with Kellen. He wore her out . . .in a very good way.

  She took a long, hot shower and realized she hadn’t any clean clothes. She rummaged through Kellen’s dresser and came up with a T-shirt. The rest of yesterday’s clothes would have to make it through the morning until she could get back to the condo and change. She fluffed her hair dry, and she and Beast plodded downstairs to the kitchen in search of breakfast.

  A cereal box sat out on the counter. Plus coffee in a cardboard take-out cup. Cate stuck the cup in the microwave to reheat and read the sticky note on the cereal box.

  WALKED AND FED BEAST AND GOT YOU SOME CEREAL. MILK IS IN THE FRIDGE. MARTY TURNED HIMSELF IN THIS MORNING. I’M MEETING WITH THE PROSECUTOR. WILL BE BACK SOON.

  Cate poured out some cereal and added milk. She retrieved her coffee and ate standing up in the kitchen. There were papers accumulating on the counter, Kellen’s cereal bowl in the sink, Beast’s bowl on the floor, keys and loose change on the counter. One of those keys was for Kellen’s front door. He’d left it on the counter for Cate. The kitchen was starting to have a life.

  “I love this cozy little brownstone,” Cate said to Beast. “And I know this is dumb because it’s been such a short amount of time, but I love Kellen too. He makes me feel happy and sexy and safe. I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping a clear head and looking brave through all of this, but the truth is I was scared. Truth is, I kept going because I love you and Kellen, and I knew I had to fight to keep you both. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how Kellen feels about me. I know he likes me. And I know he’s a good guy, and he’s working hard to be nice to me. I just don’t know how deep his feelings go.

  “And just between you and me, I’m not sure this is such a great time in my life to be falling in love. I still have dreams about finishing school and teaching. And then there’s you. I’m a new dog mommy. I haven’t totally got it down. How am I going to juggle Kellen, you, school, and work all at the same time? What do you think?” Cate asked Beast.

  Beast stopped drinking water. He looked up at Cate, water ran from between his lips, and he burped.

  “You’re probably right,” Cate said. “A walk might help clear things up. Not to mention I need clean clothes.”

  Cate snapped the leash onto Beast’s collar, and they headed out the door into the midday heat. They took it slow, leisurely strolling the route to Cate’s condo, pausing occasionally in the shade to watch couples walk past on their way to Sunday brunch and families returning from church.

  Cate had mixed feelings when they reached her building. It was home, but it had never really been home. Not in the same way her parents’ house had been home. Not in the same way Kellen’s house could be home.

  “We’re an odd pair,” Cate said to Beast. “Sort of in limbo, but at least we have each other now. And maybe we have Kellen.”

  The lobby was empty, and the elevator ride was quiet. Cate rang Marty’s bell and held her breath. No answer. She rang again and punched the code into the lock. She stepped inside with Beast and called out to Marty. She didn’t know a lot about the process when someone confessed to a crime. She supposed they went to jail, but maybe not right away.

  “Anybody home?” Cate called a second time.

  No answer.

  Cate resisted the urge to snoop in Marty’s bedroom and check his closet for telltale signs of a last-ditch flight to Buenos Aires. Instead, she led Beast straight to her little room, where she changed into clean clothes and packed a few more essentials into a bag, just in case Kellen wanted her to stay longer.

  Cate locked up after herself and took the stairs to the third floor. She knocked on Julie’s door. No answer. She knocked on Sharon’s door. No answer.

  “Nobody home,” Cate said to Beast. “We’ll have to visit some other time.”

  Chapter

  NINETEEN

  Kellen was working at his laptop when Cate and Beast came into the kitchen.

  “I have a suite of offices,” he said, “but I like working here, at the table. It’s comfortable.”

  There were two sandwiches on the table and one in Beast’s food bowl, complete with chips and a pickle.

  “I see you cooked lunch,” Cate said to Kellen, smiling at the Beast bowl.

  Kellen grinned back. “I thought he deserved a special treat for being such a good guard dog.”

  “How’d it go today?”

  “Great. Marty confessed to everything and turned in the pieces he had locked away. I think the prosecutor really felt for him. Plus, the prosecutor was a fan. He said Marty once sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him Marilyn Monroe–style. And here’s the best part. Turns out one of Kitty’s charities is the Police Benevolent Association. And if that isn’t enough, Kitty and Marty have been funding the Crime Stoppers program. Marty’s Robin Hood defense hit close to home. Marty will probably only have to serve six months in jail, a year on probation and a hundred hours of community service. They specifically mentioned performing at seniors’ homes and the annual Policemen’s Ball.”

  “That’s fantastic.”

  “I know. That means we can plan our wedding for the fall of next year.”

  “What?”

  “Our wedding. Remember a couple nights ago when we got engaged and had some incredibly hot and passionate gorilla sex?”

  Cate was speechless. Surely he was joking.

  “I figure by next fall you will have graduated and be ready for your next challenge, namely me. But I don’t think we should wait too long to get you a ring. After last night I’m a little worried about Pugg taking over as your hero.”

  Cate tilted her head back and laughed. “He does lead with his heart. But I think, in the end, Pugg’s heart belongs to Julie.”

  “And how about your heart? I love you, Cate. I love the way you find something good in everyone. I love the way wherever you are feels like home. I even love your big, goofy dog.” Kellen picked a large box up off the floor and placed it on the counter in front of Cate. It was wrapped in white paper with a green ribbon and a Williams-Sonoma sticker. “And possibly most of all I would love to try one of those fantastic cakes I’ve heard so much about.”

  Cate looked at Kellen, and slid the ribbon off the box and then the paper. Inside were two cake tins, a hand mixer, a spatula, and some red oven mitts.

  “I’m not sure what else you need,” Kellen said. “But I thought this was a good start.”

  “It’s a great start!” Cate said. “It’s so sweet of you. It’s the perfect gift. It’s symbolic and sensitive, and it even has a whisk attachment. I’ve always wanted a mixer like this.”

  Kellen hadn’t actually noticed the whisk attachment, but he was glad Cate liked it. For that matter, Kellen hadn’t previously seen the symbolic importance of the gift. Although now that Cate pointed it out to him he was pretty damn impressed. Truth is, Kellen had just wanted a cake. He was hoping it would be chocolate with lots of those colorful sprinkles on top.

  A tear slid down Cate’s cheek.

  “Is that a good tear or a sad tear?” Kellen asked.

  “A good tear. It’s one of those hormonal things.”

  Kellen had a bunch of sisters. He knew all about hormonal things, so he hugged Cate to him. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes. Probably. Yes.”

  Kellen snuggled her closer. “Am I rushing you?”

  “A little, but it’s okay. We’ll have a long engagement. Give you lots of time to back out.”

  “I’m not going to back out.”

  “Me either,” Cate said. “I’m almost positive.”

  EPILOGUE

  Cate stomped the freshly fallen December snow from her boots and crossed the lobby to the mailboxes. It was starting to feel like the holidays. There were garlands on the streetlights and wreaths on door fronts and twinkle lights everywhere.

  Cate
stuck the key into the box for 4A and removed a stack of catalogs, a couple of bills and some personal mail addressed to Marty. The catalogs would get tossed. She’d pay the bills from the account Marty had set up for her. The personal letters she would put in a growing pile on the kitchen counter. Marty had preferred this to forwarding them to him. He was scheduled for a February release. He’d be out for Valentine’s Day, and Evian was already advertising his first performance.

  Better than Kitty Bergman’s future, Cate thought. Kitty was still embroiled in a messy trial and an even messier divorce.

  Cate was alone tonight. No Beast. No Kellen. They were at Kellen’s townhouse, eating their traditional once-a-month guy’s-night-out dinner in front of the television. And Cate was having her traditional once-a-month dinner with “the girls.”

  Sharon was hosting. That meant a cosmo when Cate walked through the door, and later a slab of Sharon’s fabulous lasagna.

  Cate took the elevator to the third floor and rang Sharon’s bell. The door opened and the cosmo was offered. Cate took the drink and held it high. “Let the monthly meeting of ‘the girls’ begin,” she said to Sharon and Julie.

  “To the girls,” they said in unison, and each took a ladylike sip of their cosmo.

  “It doesn’t feel right that you’re not in the building anymore,” Julie said to Cate, “but at least we have our monthly.”

  “I stop by every day to get Marty’s mail when I walk Beast,” Cate said.

  “Yeah, but it’s not the same,” Julie said.

  “I agree,” Sharon said. “And last week Julie was gone, and I was here all alone.”

  “You weren’t alone,” Julie said, gulping cosmo. “You were with the Mystery Man. You’re always with the Mystery Man.”

  “It’s true,” Sharon said. “I have a boyfriend. A serious boyfriend.”

  “You always knew he was the one,” Cate said.

  Sharon nodded. “I had a feeling. And now that I know him I have a feeling it’s going to last.”

  “How’s it going with Mr. Yummy?” Julie asked Cate.

  Cate settled herself in a club chair. “It’s terrific. At first it all seemed so sudden, and I wanted to wait a while for the wedding, but now we’re thinking about moving it up. We’ve been living together for almost four months, and I can’t imagine life without him.”

  “I know just what you mean,” Julie said. “I’ve gotten real used to havin’ Patrick around. It’s like havin’ a big ol’ bear in the house. And the best part is he can make pancakes. And last week we went home to my cousin Shirley’s wedding and Patrick was a big hit. Shirley had her wedding in Uncle Ed’s garage and they had a luau theme. You should see Patrick hula dance. I swear, you’d think a person’d need a waist for that, but turns out he don’t. Patrick says he’s so good at it on account of he studied that ritualistic gooney bird dance. I think Patrick just has natural dancin’ talent. He’s got a real good sense of rhythm, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Sharon said, setting a bowl of nuts on the coffee table and taking another sip of cosmo.

  “And after having said those nice things about Patrick I have two excitin’ things to show you girls,” Julie said. She stuck her left hand out and displayed a ring. It was a platinum band dotted with tiny diamonds.

  Cate and Sharon gasped at the ring.

  “It’s not!” Sharon said.

  “It is,” Julie said. “We got married when we were in Birmingham. He was just so cute doin’ that hula gooney bird dance that I lost my head. And that isn’t all. I have somethin’ else to show you.” Julie pulled an envelope out of her pocket. “Look at this! It’s my first ever check from my publisher. My book won’t be published for a whole year yet, but I got a check for signing. It’s not like it’s millions or anything, but it’s a start. And I can buy a couch and a bed now. Patrick’ll like that. Poor thing’s wearing the hair off his knees.”

  Cate raised her glass again. “To Julie!”

  “To all of us,” Julie said. “We’re like the three princesses who found their Prince Charmin’s and lived happily ever after.”